# I always knew Cheney was quick to temper after that, "Go fuck yourself,"... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164 "2006-02-12T21:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/81 "2006-02-13T11:26:20Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > And I don’t know if Cheney was operating his gun in an unsafe manner. You seem to be assuming that he was, which seems like quite a big assumption to make at this point. Correct. It’s entirely plausible that someone got shot in the neck strictly through safe gun practices. For example, Whittington could have unexpectedly taken flight, and looked much like a quail in that moment. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/82 "2006-02-13T12:18:58Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Oh geez, now I’ve got a mental picture of a group of people trying to sight quail with glocks. And isn’t it funnier if the people you’re imagining are secret service? 😃 It’s okay, but it loses something without the more modern gun held sideways badass pose. Of course, if you picture the secret service agents as Sam Jackson and John Travolta… Just heard on the news, Whittington will be getting a purple heart for injuries recieved during the war on terror. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/83 "2006-02-13T12:44:29Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > I’m not anti-hunting. What Cheney does isn’t hunting, however. It’s akin to fishing from a stocked pond. That’s hardly sportsmanlike. He has animals rounded up so he can shoot them. That rather defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? I’m not a hunter. I’m also not anti-hunting. I roomed with hunters in college in Missouri, and for most of them I had a great deal of respect. I just don’t think that anything that might involve the phrase “Pull over. I think I saw something!” qualifies as respectable hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/84 "2006-02-13T12:49:34Z")
Oh, and **Moto**? Such a desparate and shameless partisan tu quoque effort? Pathetic. You are a sad, sad little man. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/85 "2006-02-13T12:57:00Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption, both in hunting accidents and car accidents, that at least one person involved did something stupid. > > > [@](#): > > > > Whittington “came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn’t signal them or indicate to them or announce himself,” Armstrong said. > > In this case, it appears to have been Mr. Whittington: Let’s work with that for a moment. To save my typing fingers, let’s call them W and C. C is looking for prey in the brush. W comes up behind C unannounced. Birds get flushed out behind W, and C spins around and aims, following the path of the birds. He pulls the trigger just as the muzzle is pointed at W. What I wonder is shouldn’t C’s periperal vision have alerted him to the presence of W? Even looking down your sight, can’t you still see somewhat to the sides? And shouldn’t W have seen C move his gun to follow the birds behind him, and ducked out of the way? I think both are at fault. I’m just glad that W is ok and we can joke about this. I bet that Leno and Letterman called their writers in for emergency overtime yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/86 "2006-02-13T13:05:35Z")
I first heard a garbled version of the story from a co-worker and got an image of Cheney blasting away at Dan Quayle. And no, I don’t think it has any bearing on Cheney’s fitness, or lack thereof, to occupy the position he currently holds. It is, however, comedy gold. And I will be using it to mock the man for quite some time to come. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/87 "2006-02-13T13:10:22Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Oh, and **Moto**? Such a desperate and shameless partisan tu quoque effort? Pathetic. You are a sad, sad little man. It could have been worse: “Well, Bill Clinton shot Monica in the throat…” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/88 "2006-02-13T13:15:16Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > It could have been worse: > > “Well, Bill Clinton shot Monica in the throat…” Don’t be giving them any ideas! ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/89 "2006-02-13T13:25:18Z")
> [@SuaSponte](#): > > If the Vice-President shoots you, is it proper, either in terms of etiquette or the law, to return fire? I believe Alexander Hamilton set the precident. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/90 "2006-02-13T13:37:30Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Oh, and **Moto**? Such a desparate and shameless partisan tu quoque effort? Pathetic. You are a sad, sad little man. Let’s hang with that a moment, shall we? I linked above to a statement by Jim and Sarah Brady, who obviously are trying to make some political hay out of this accident. Do you find that statement unseemly in any way? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/91 "2006-02-13T13:53:36Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Let’s hang with that a moment, shall we? > > I linked above to a statement by Jim and Sarah Brady, who obviously are trying to make some political hay out of this accident. > > Do you find that statement unseemly in any way? I was referring to your attempt to equate this incident with an accident involving a 12 year old boy. If you are trying to distract from your distraction with another tangent, I would suggest that you nut up and acknowledge that your attempt to link this to Adlai Stevenson was out of line. After that I will address your new concerns about Jim and Sarah Brady. I suspect, however, that in your desperate attempt to find some partisan nonsense that _does_ get some traction, you’ll have some other unrelated anecdote before I even hit submit. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/92 "2006-02-13T13:54:21Z")
Well you guys really sucked the fun out of this story. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/93 "2006-02-13T13:56:51Z")
Deadeye Dick Cheney Huntin’ with him’s just insane-y They let him draw up the plan To invade Iran When the plans got back We were in Iraq Don’t ever mess with Deadeye Dick Cheney ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/94 "2006-02-13T13:58:00Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > Well you guys really sucked the fun out of this story. I believe that was Mr. Moto’s intent. See post above for a refreshing antidote! ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/95 "2006-02-13T14:26:31Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > Well you guys really sucked the fun out of this story. How about this, then - the [YTMNDers](http://cheneyhunts.ytmnd.com/) are on it already! (Warning, Sound!) ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/96 "2006-02-13T14:29:34Z")
For the unitiated, hunting quail in many parts of the country do involve vehicles, whether it’s a horse drawn wagon or a Suburban. The terrain and the distance between optimum cover to flush a covey of quail could be hundreds of yards, and a quail hunt could easily cover 5-6 miles of land. The point is to get to the area were the quail has gone to ground. The hunting party disembarks and spreads out, usually about 20-30 yard interval between hunter. The dogs point or flush the birds upon command. Quail fly fast and low and most are taken within 20 to 30 yards range of the hunter. Expert upland bird hunter’s use 20 and 28 gauge at which 30 yards is the about the maximum effective range to bring down the bird. A good guess as to the load he fired was 28 gauge quail load in number 6 shot, of which there would be approximately 100 pellets. By comparison, a 12 gauge quail load in 7 shot would have approximately 380 pellets and delivered at 200-300 more feet per second. If Mr. Whittington was hit with the latter as he was in the face and chest, he would be dead or critically wounded. If he was shot with buckshot(00 designation, which is 9 32. caliber sized pellets, max effective range of 75 yards) at a range of 25 yards, he would have been dead before he hit the ground. Both Mr. Whittington and the VP are guilty of bad hunting practices, Mr. Whittington paying the price by getting shot, the VP by national humiliation and probably the least of which he will pay a (relatively speaking) heavy fine of $1000 or more, if the Texas game warden of that area wishes to pursue it. Oh, other celebrity shootings of note, Greg Lemond was accidently shot by his brother (father?) in law and recovered enough to win his second or third Tour de France (he still has pellets embedded in him), and Bobby Knight (ex-Indiana coach, now Texas Tech b-ball coach) shot one of his hunting companions during a dove hunt just a few years ago. IIRC, neither shooter was fined or prosecuted. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/97 "2006-02-13T14:32:59Z")
Is it true that the penalty for shooting a lawyer in Texas is … free beer? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/98 "2006-02-13T14:41:03Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Let’s hang with that a moment, shall we? > > I linked above to a statement by Jim and Sarah Brady, who obviously are trying to make some political hay out of this accident. > > Do you find that statement unseemly in any way? What, this? > [@](#): > > “Now I understand why Dick Cheney keeps asking me to go hunting with him,” said Jim Brady. “I had a friend once who accidentally shot pellets into his dog - and I thought he was an idiot.” > > “I’ve thought Cheney was scary for a long time,” Sarah Brady said. “Now I know I was right to be nervous.” I don’t see anything “unseemly” about these comments, they’re just making jokes like everybody else. How are they taking “political advantage?” Are they running for something? What’s unseemly is shotgunning an old man in the face and then trying to blame the old man for it. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/99 "2006-02-13T15:07:12Z")
> [@BF](#): > > The hunting party disembarks and spreads out, usually about 20-30 yard interval between hunter. So did Mr Cheney swing round too far and fire down the line of guns (is this called swinging through the line or something similar?) or did Mr Whittington get ahead of the line and into the shooting zone? Even as a city dweller in the UK who has never been on a shoot in my life, I assume these are the two most likely scenarios. I think they are the two most common ways for people to accidentally shotgun each other on organised shoots (followed by the old ‘loaded shotgun carried over the shoulder’ routine leading to the poor sap behind getting shot in the face). Both happen occasionally even on organised static grouse and pheasant shoots/slaughters, never mind on walked-up shoots. But in general they follow from people having a momentary lapse of attention followed by someone else paying the price. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164/100 "2006-02-13T15:22:18Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > My wife mentioned that Cheney had shot someone on a huntin trip. My immediate question was, “Was it LIbby?” Can you imagine if it was? Man, it would still be just a hunting accident, but the humor value would go through the roof. We’d be talking about it a decade from now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-always-knew-cheney-was-quick-to-temper-after-that-go-fuck-yourself/344164.md?page=6)