Regarding your timeline:

1) Cheney has an ambulance nearby at all time wherever he goes, so calling 9-1-1 to get help was unnecessary. An Ambulance was already there.

2) Anytime the Veep goes anywhere, an entourage follows. They actually drove Harry to one medical facility and then airlifted him to Corpus Christi. That big entourage could get in the way while they’re trying to save Harry’s life.

3) The police were notified within the hour. Joe Six Pack wouldn’t call the media as a top priority.

Also, Joe Six Pack might not do this the same, but Joe Six Pack isn’t Vice-President of the United States, Dick One Beer at Lunch is and the way he handled it was appropriate.

You said it right there “REGARDLESS of whether it was an accident or there was any alcohol involved.”
.
That’s all you have. Just a metaphor for a theory you can’t prove. There is nothing substantial.

Since we are dealing in metaphors, this latest attack is emblematic of all the excuses you invent for all your failures. There is always a convenient excuse to blame the other side.
Dielbold was the last lame excuse. What will it be next time?

russ

There wasn’t a decent segue in there. That just shows your agenda. Cheney was involved in an accident. End of story. As for the average guy, go read some moderate sites and consider the reactions I posted. As for who reads the public better, go back and read your own musings prior to the last major elections. Go look at the media predictions as well. You are simply out of touch.
Not to mention bitter .

How does that read now? Still want to stick with your justifications?

There are three types of people in the world: those who are bad at math, and those who are not.

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who do not.

As for Middle America? Seems like they are still talking about it, six days later. You can blame it on the “liberal media in bed with America’s enemies” all you want, but this is resonating with Joe Six-Pack, big time.

Question: have any of you here actually hunted? I have, not lately, not successfully, but I was in hunter’s safety at age 12, and all my uncles and all my male and half my female cousins hunt. (I know, I’m using the term loosely in reference to driving an SUV out onto a field and blasting away at cage-raised, clipped-wing, ranchhand flushed quail, but go with it for a sec.) The reason this is resonating is that Joe Six-Pack *has* hunted, or knows people who do, and knows darn well how much good-time, party-hearty drinking can go along with a hunting expedition. They are also mighty angry about the way this casts a pall over the perception of the shooting sports.

But beyond that, let’s even give Cheneyburton the benefit of the doubt and assume that he really only had one beer and that in no way interacts negatively with the plethora of medications he’s on for his bum ticker. Let’s even assume his version of events is absolutely true, that he accidentally turned and fired in violation of all hunter safety protocol at his friend 30 yards away, and his shotgun was choked so that Whittington was hit by 4/5ths of the spray of birdshot (and not the 1/5th or less he’d been hit by at what is a fairly long range for a 28-gauge.)

You still have the stinky residue of what appears to be a cover-up. Joe Six-Pack knows someone who knows someone who was in a hunting accident… or has been witness or party to one himself. What’s Joe’s course of action?

(1) Oh, geez, I shot Harry!
(2) Quick, call 911! Get an ambulance now!
(3) [Police or F&G arrive] Yeah, we had an accident. I feel awful. Sure, I’ll tell you exactly what happened, show you my weapon, show you the accident location, and fully cooperate with you RIGHT NOW.
(4) [Ambulance arrives] OK, Harry, you’re gonna be all right. Let me get in the ambulance with you. Oh, not enough room? OK, I’ll follow behind you in one of these SUVs. I want to be there at the hospital with you, good buddy, cuz I just feel awful!

Notice that nowhere is Joe Six-Pack’s chain of events is “hang out at the ranch, mix a cocktail, have dinner, and wait eighteen hours before telling anyone about it.”

Read some of your readers’ comments above. It’s the secrecy, it’s the cover-up, it’s the stonewalling, regardless of whether it was an accident or there was any alcohol involved. It’s the perfect metaphor for this entire administration; running off half-c*cked, shoot first think safety later, and deny, lie, and obfuscate if things go wrong. Before Whittington’s heart attack, you righties were even floating the, “well, he shoulda called out his location and not got in the way” balloon, so add “blame the victim” to the list.

And, awwww, it’s the worst day in *Cheneyburton’s* life? April 4, 2004, was the worst day in a California mother’s life, too, but Cheneyburton doesn’t give her much sympathy. And double-awwww, he’ll never forget the sight of his friend falling down shot? There are plenty of men who didn’t get five draft deferments who’ll never forget the sight of their squad buddy’s legs getting blown of by an IED.

Chappaquiddick? ShottaQuailDick?

The depressing thought of the day if everyone can be divided into just those two groups.

The real problem for many of these lefties is that they are ignorant about politics and political terminology. It’s not that Democrats are failing to hold on to values. It is that Democrats don’t have the same values as most of those who call themselves radicals. Often times people self identify out of ignorance. There needs to be some sort of primer to educate those who lack a true understanding of correct political terminology.

As you debate online keep in mind that some people refuse to listen to reason while others simply don’t understand the issues in question.

It is not an issue of the administration.It is a personal matter involving someone in the administration . That is a very different matter .Do you know the difference?

As for any silences, you can blame that on a media in bed with America’s enemies.

Russ

russ
All that tied into a hunting accident ?

But I should just relax and take Cheney at his word.
Russ

This isn’t an issue of national security . It should only matter to those who intend on going hunting with the VP.

Kelo v. New London. Your Supreme Court
russ

This is as bad as the Nixon wiretapping the MLK blunder. The conservative justices were in disagreement. A scathing dissent was written by the Thomas to back up the official dissent written by O’Connor. Rhenquist and Scalia also voted with Thomas and O’Connor.

Justice Stevens ,Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer voted for the majority .
REPEAT
Justice Stevens ,Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer voted for the majority

http://www.cafepress.com/inktees/1203333

“No, officer. What’s wrong?”

“Well, you were swerving all over the road and driving a little too slowly. have you had anything to drink tonight?”

“Gosh, officer, I only had one beer…”

Oldest line in the book, fellas. Plus, if you shoot someone in the face, cops tend to ask questions like “was there alcohol involved?” The fact Cheney mixed himself a cocktail AFTER the shooting shows he knew damn well nobody was going to be allowed to ask the question or take a Breathalyzer.

Was he drunk? Who knows? There is no way of knowing because he wouldn’t deign to allow local law enforcement to investigate immediately. But it sure is fun watching the “law and order” party tell me that wasn’t necessary.

It’s also interesting to watch the party of Impeachment for a Hummer tell me I’m overreacting to something that is really no big deal.

But I should just relax and take Cheney at his word. After all, his word is golden:

“I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.”

“My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.”

“We know he’s been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.”

“In Iraq, a ruthless dictator cultivated weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. He gave support to terrorists, had an established relationship with al Qaeda, and his regime is no more.”

“We know he’s out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know that he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al-Qaeda organization.”

“We know he’s out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know that he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al-Qaeda organization.”

“The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.”

“But to suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations cease, after the conflict ends, I don’t think is accurate. I think that’s an overstatement.”

“In Iraq you’ve got a nation that’s got the second-largest oil reserves in the world, second only to Saudi Arabia. It will generate billions of dollars a year in cash flow if they get back to their production of roughly three million barrels of oil a day, in the relatively near future.”

Yup, no reason for me not to believe Cheney is telling the absolute truth, is there?

9/11. Your President. Record Deficit. Your Senate. Poverty Increasing. Your House. Katrina. Your FEMA. Kelo v. New London. Your Supreme Court. Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Scooter Libby. Your Party.

robert bell
I see no reason not to take Mr. Cheney at his word. To do otherwise would be to suggest that he would shoot his hunting buddy and not feel any remorse, and I just don’t buy that.

It seems to me that had he made this speech hours after it happened, there would have been no jokes or anything else, but that seems to me more an issue of media management than it is of how Cheney feels about it …

Alan S.C.
I’m not sure why he needs to say anything much. This hardly has anything to do with the running of the nation—unless you believe he shot the guy on purpose. It was an accident. A dramatic one, sure, but an accident.

Cheney is Cheney. He’s not going to emote in public. I’m not going to hold his silence against the guy. God knows there’s plenty of much more important things to hold against him.

Even a Cheney hater can see reality:

Elrod
I agree with Alan here. What exactly is the purpose of a “public apology” by Cheney? The guy is an atrocious man through and through, but this incident does nothing to augment that perception. Yes, he should have informed the public earlier but that’s just par for the course for him. As for the incident itself, it was a hunting accident. That’s all.

How about this for perspective:

uncarvedblock
The conservatives want us to believe that this isn’t a story, which it is, while the liberals are salivating at the chance to make this a major story, which it isn’t. When a Vice President is involved in a hunting accident, it’s a legitimate news story. The Whitehouse not being immediately forthcoming concerning the incident, however, is not a story unless we’re still pursuing an accomplice for the “lone gunman”.

As much as Cheney would love to sweep this embarrassing episode under the rug, the opposition would love to parley this into proof that this administration lacks credibility. Politics, as usual.

I could give you dozens more examples. When you cut out the rabid partisanship you get middle America which has the ability to filter out the nonsense. In the end the radicals end up looking like the little child stomping his foot and crying. Just shoo them away and pay them little attention.