# Possible reason for VP Cheney's big delay in reporting shooting comes to light **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767 "2006-02-23T07:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/1 "2006-02-23T07:56:40Z")
Via Fark [Apparently he may have been well toasted when the accident occurred and needed to sober up.](http:// [http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article\_8184.shtml](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8184.shtml)) > [@](#): > > Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago say Cheney was “clearly inebriated” at the time of the shooting. > Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited “visible signs” of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions. > > According to those who have talked with the agents and others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/2 "2006-02-23T08:01:22Z")
[Let’s try that link again](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8184.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/3 "2006-02-23T08:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Fixed link. > [@](#): > > But we will never know for sure because the owners of the Armstrong Ranch, where the shooting occurred, barred the sheriff’s department from the property on the day of the shooting and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III agreed to wait until the next day to send deputies in to talk to those involved. Huh. I wonder if a guest of mine were the subject of a law enforcement inquiry I’d be able to tell the cops to bugger off. The words “obstruction of justice” and “impeding an inquiry” spring to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/4 "2006-02-23T08:06:31Z")
Fixed link. > [@](#): > > But we will never know for sure because the owners of the Armstrong Ranch, where the shooting occurred, barred the sheriff’s department from the property on the day of the shooting and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III agreed to wait until the next day to send deputies in to talk to those involved. Huh. I wonder if a guest of mine were the subject of a law enforcement inquiry I’d be able to tell the cops to bugger off. The words “obstruction of justice” and “impeding an inquiry” spring to mind. ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/5 "2006-02-23T08:09:11Z")
What a reliable source… ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/6 "2006-02-23T08:43:56Z")
- always suspected those Secret Service guys were a bunch of babbler mouths… \* Bawahahahahhaa ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/7 "2006-02-23T11:45:34Z")
If true, not horribly surprising. Nothing will come of it. Imagine this was Bubba… not Bill, just a Bubba and his friends, and they get plastered and go hunting unsafely. Doc’s got to cut a bullet out, and everyone feels really bad about it, but… there wouldn’t be any charges pressed either way. Shame, as far as gun safety is concerned, a bad example, but… Eh. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/8 "2006-02-23T17:19:35Z")
Since when do Secret Service agents talk to anyone about the people they protect? Smells like garbage to me. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/9 "2006-02-23T17:21:25Z")
While I wouldn’t put it past Cheney, I too doubt the SS agents talked. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/10 "2006-02-23T17:38:59Z")
I thought it was the Secret Service’s job to protect the people they work for… Get them plastered and give them guns doesn’t sound like that. But maybe they don’t get to tell them no either. I dunno. Wish it was true and he gets busted for intox manslaughter or something, but it probably isn’t and he never will. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/11 "2006-02-23T17:43:51Z")
In other news the CIA has said the White House had prior knowledge that Cheney was going to shoot someone in the face. > [@](#): > > In a Presidential Daily Briefing given to Bush in August 2005, the CIA warned that the vice president was a potent threat to the senior population at large, and in particular “possessed the capabilities and intentions to spray a senior citizen with projectiles fired from a shotgun or other weapon.” [Source](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/45572) Oh wait, this isn’t a joke thread? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/12 "2006-02-23T18:00:02Z")
Unless they’re standing in front of a Congressional committee, Secret Service guys typically don’t talk about what they’ve seen until many years later, after everyone who might possibly be embarassed or incriminated is dead. I’m skeptical of this reporter and/or his source. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/13 "2006-02-23T18:21:44Z")
Capitol Hill Blue exists, IMHO, because nature demanded a counterbalance to bad right-wing sources from WorldNetDummy to the Swift Boat Liars. Now we’ve got a source of too-good-to-be-true stories on the left as well. Wonderful. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/14 "2006-02-23T18:25:16Z")
The so-called direct sources are all unnamed, as well as the second and third-hand accounts. One minute its “we talked with a number of administration officials who are privy to inside information” and the next minute “according to people who talked with the agents and others present at the outing” and that “the report notes” people in the hunting party had been drinking and “sources said” an agent requested reassignment after the accident. Doug Thompson seems really comfortable putting his name to an article with no direct attribution identifying the people making these accusations. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/15 "2006-02-23T21:21:35Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Via Fark > > [Apparently he may have been well toasted when the accident occurred and needed to sober up.](http:// [http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article\_8184.shtml](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8184.shtml)) That statement is total bullshit. The Kennedy County Sheriff’s Office was notified twice within 20 minutes of the incident. Their investigation showed that it was an accident, plain and simple. > **[Texas Cops Release Cheney Shooting Report](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/texas-cops-release-cheney-shooting-report)** > > FEBRUARY 16--Five days after Vice President Dick Cheney shot a hunting partner, a Texas sheriff today released his department's report on the incident, but declined to make public statements and affid ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/16 "2006-02-23T23:17:32Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > That statement is total bullshit. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. > [@Clothahump](#): > > The Kennedy County Sheriff’s Office was notified twice within 20 minutes of the incident. Their investigation showed that it was an accident, plain and simple. Unfortunately, the people who would desperately like to believe that the link in the OP is reliable information are likely to dismiss the official documentation out of hand, since there’s no mention of those calls in the original report, the supplemental report documenting those the calls wasn’t filed until four days later, and the person who called it in is identified as “Captain Kirk.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/17 "2006-02-24T02:04:00Z")
> [@Translucent Daydream](#): > > Wish it was true and he gets busted for intox manslaughter or something, but it probably isn’t and he never will. Especially since nobody actually, you know, **died.** ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/18 "2006-02-24T07:49:40Z")
“He pulled the trigger drunk” is no improvement over “He pulled the trigger out of incompetence”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-reason-for-vp-cheneys-big-delay-in-reporting-shooting-comes-to-light/345767/19 "2006-02-24T08:58:58Z")
> [@](#): > > The words “obstruction of justice” and “impeding an inquiry” spring to mind. Those are only serious issues if a blowjob’s involved. Although there has been another set of rumors about Pam Willeford’s role in the incident.