OH NO Cheney is in trouble!....this guy might die! Hunter Shot by Cheney Has Heart Attack



Tuesday, February 14, 2006

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(02-14) 10:31 PST Corpus Christi, Texas (AP) --



The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident has some birdshot lodged in his heart and he had a "minor heart attack," a hospital official said Tuesday.



Peter Banko, the hospital administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial, said Harry Whittington had the heart attack early Tuesday while being evaluated.



He said there was an irregularity in the heartbeat caused by a birdshot pellet, and doctors performed a cardiac catheterization. Whittington expressed a desire to leave the hospital, but Banko said he would probably stay for another week.



Whittington, a prominent Republican attorney from Austin, was accidentally sprayed with shotgun pellets when Cheney was aiming for a quail Saturday.



Whittington had initially been placed in intensive care. He had been moved to a "step-down unit" Monday after doctors decided to leave several birdshot pellets lodged in his skin rather than try to remove them.



A Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report said Whittington was retrieving a downed bird and stepped out of the hunting line he was sharing with Cheney. "Another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest at approximately 30 yards," the report said.



The wildlife department issued a report Monday that found the main factor contributing to the accident was a "hunter's judgment factor." No other secondary factors were found to have played a role.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Call out to you weapons experts: is it to be expected that shotgun shells, used to hunt quail (and I assume to keep them from becoming "pink mist"), can penetrate a man's chest (and clothes and orange vest :-) into his heart, from 30 yards? I really have no idea. Describe the kind of shotgun needed to do this, if it is possible with some guns and not others. Thanks.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I'm not an expert, but i have killed a man.

Dead Eye Dick was using 7 1/2 size pellets for shot (these are about as tiny as you go), and a 28 gauge, which is a pretty damn small gun. It seems a bit surprising to me that they could penetrate through what someone typically wears while hunting.

Oh no Ken. Please tell me this isn't the begining of the 'magic pellet' theory? I suspect there was even a grassy knoll near the shooting.

Hey, I'm just wondering if the facts fit. Would he have to have been closer than 30 yds, or is the wound a reasonable one?

Where is Zapruder when you really need him?

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I KNEW it. This guy will die but it will be of "natural causes" (heart attack my ass). I wrote this back on the first page.

According to the initial reports, he was "very stable" and had a "great night" or something like that (as great as you can have when you've been shot in the face/chest with a shotgun).

I'm just wondering if the facts fit. Would he have to have been closer than 30 yds, or is the wound a reasonable one?

I would think that he would have had to have been significantly closer than 30 yards to get penetration like that. Significantly.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

On the other hand, a 78 year old might be kinda "spongy". Plus, as a lawyer, he may not have much substance.

(cheap shot, yes)

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Your attempt at humor pales in comparison to the fun the administration and Bush family are having with this:

Looking for the humor
Just before the latest news on Whittington's health, the White House had apparently decided that the best way to deal with the incident was to joke about it.

President Bush’s spokesman quipped Tuesday that the burnt orange school colors of the University of Texas championship football team that was visiting the White House shouldn’t be confused for hunter’s safety wear.

“The orange that they’re wearing is not because they’re concerned that the vice president may be there,” joked White House press secretary Scott McClellan, following the lead of late-night television comedians. “That’s why I’m wearing it.”

The president’s brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, took a similar jab after slapping an orange sticker on his chest from the Florida Farm Bureau that read, “No Farmers, No Food.”

“I’m a little concerned that Dick Cheney is going to walk in,” the governor cracked during an appearance in Tampa Monday.

Ah, restoring dignity to the White House. That makes me puke. Leno and Letterman can joke, but not the White House.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Gelatin Testing: #8 Birdshot Statistics

• Range: 3 yards
• Shotgun: 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnumn
• Round: 12 gauge 2¾ Remington Heavy Dove 1-1/8 oz #8 Birdshot
• Gelatin: 9'x9'x19' 10% ordinance gelatin block
• Measured Average Permenant Cavity Penetration: 4.5 inches (11.4 cm)
• Temporary Stretch Cavity: 1.0 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm)
• Calibration BB Velocity: 623 fps
• Calibration BB Penetration: 12.5 cm

Note the range and the gauge. This is a test in ballistic gelatin, in which penetration is typically deeper than in a human being. And the calibration BB penetrated about 50 percent deeper than it should have, which means that the penetration recorded should be even less.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

You've been thinking about this way too much - I much prefer the jokes.



After Cheney's Shooting Incident, Time to Unload
Episode Triggers a Fusillade of Wisecracks, And a Withering Blast From White House Press


By Mark Leibovich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 14, 2006; C01




It was one of those "everyone's a wise guy" days in Washington yesterday, thanks to Dick Cheney. Quipping at the vice president's expense was like shooting fish, or quail -- oh, never mind.

It's never a good thing to be a punch line in politics, and the vice president had the field to himself after accidentally shooting his hunting companion, Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, at a Texas ranch late Saturday. The accident left the 78-year-old man seriously injured. He was released from the intensive care unit yesterday.

Meantime, the incident provided a laugh bounty for gallows humorists, particularly those of the anti-Bush persuasion. Have at 'em, kids:

"Bush-Quail '06," cracked Democratic strategist Jenny Backus.

"The CIA assured Cheney that Harry Whittington was actually a pheasant," added Democratic speechwriter Jeff Nussbaum.

"The worst part is, he was aiming at the special prosecutor," contributed John Kerry spokesman David Wade.

Democratic staffers on the Hill could be heard singing a parody of Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun," using the words "Cheney's got a gun." Or marveling at how "Republicans really don't like lawyers, do they?" or circulating a quote from Bush, in a 2000 interview with the Houston Chronicle, in which he hailed Cheney as "somebody who is going to shoot straight with the American people."

This was just a small sampling, taken from amateur jokesters willing to attach their names to the one-liners.

As for the professionals: On "The Daily Show" last night, Jon Stewart, speaking as a "concerned parent," urged viewers never to let their children go on hunting trips with the vice president. "I can't emphasize this enough," Stewart said. "I don't care what kind of lucrative contracts they're trying to land, or energy regulation they're trying to get lifted. . . . He'll shoot them in the face."

Likewise, David Letterman's Top 10 list was devoted to "Dick Cheney's excuses," which included that he "thought the guy was trying to go gay cowboy on me."

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"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin
"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here." - Alvy Singer, "Annie Hall"

Here's a follow-up from Jon Stewart:

With no word from Cheney, "The Daily Show" stands in

Dick Cheney still hasn't appeared in public to discuss his accidental shooting of a 78-year-old man, but there are plenty of people willing to speak on the veep's behalf -- among them, Comedy Central's Rob Corddry. Playing the role of a "vice president firearms mishap analyst," Corddry explained it all Monday night for "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart:

Stewart: Rob, obviously a very unfortunate situation. How is the vice president handling it?

Corddry: Jon, tonight the vice president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. According to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time there were quail in the brush. And while the quail turned out to be a 78-year-old man, even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. He believes the world is a better place for his spreading buckshot throughout the entire region of Mr. Whittington's face.

Stewart: But why, Rob? If he had known Mr. Whittington was not a bird, why would he still have shot him?

Corddry: Jon, in a post-9/11 world, the American people expect their leaders to be decisive. To not have shot his friend in the face would have sent a message to the quail that America is weak.

Stewart: That's horrible.

Corddry: Look, the mere fact that we're even talking about how the vice president drives up with his rich friends in cars to shoot farm-raised wingless quail-tards is letting the quail know "how" we're hunting them. I'm sure right now those birds are laughing at us in that little "covey" of theirs.

Stewart: I'm not sure birds can laugh, Rob.

Corddry: Well, whatever it is they do -- coo -- they're cooing at us right now, Jon, because here we are talking openly about our plans to hunt them. Jig is up. Quails one, America zero.

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"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin
"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here." - Alvy Singer, "Annie Hall"

Three weeks from now we'll get a report how he died from natural causes.

You wrote this yesterday.

Scary.

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You sir, are my new hero! - Trifan 11/13/2008

Casey, you are a wise man - blueraider_mike 11/13/2008

Casey, This is an astute observation. - Slowbern 11/17/2008

Well, apparently birdshot in the heart can be called "natural" if you're so inclined..

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"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin
"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here." - Alvy Singer, "Annie Hall"

Uh oh. Cartoons of Cheney might drive republicans into the streets to burn cars, KFC restaurants, Danish flags and....

"It happened yesterday and they were able to keep it quiet until today. Don't accidents like this usually have a formal police investigation? A 78 year old was peppered with buckshot in his face and chest. Yeah, I'm sure he's just fine. Three weeks from now we'll get a report how he died from natural causes."

Post dated 12 February

Very perceptive Mr 826

I think Mr Cheney will have more than cartoons to worry about.

Cheney must have been using a turkey load by mistake and the lawyer must have been topless. I can't fathom how a quail load could penetrate that to his heart at 30 yards, also assuming the guy was wearing some kind of jacket.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Cheney must have been using a turkey load by mistake and the lawyer must have been topless. I can't fathom how a quail load could penetrate that to his heart at 30 yards, also assuming the guy was wearing some kind of jacket.


I know this is crazy talk but maybe, for once, the VP (his office) is not telling the truth.

There, I said it.

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You sir, are my new hero! - Trifan 11/13/2008

Casey, you are a wise man - blueraider_mike 11/13/2008

Casey, This is an astute observation. - Slowbern 11/17/2008

What a guy does in his spare time is his business. Whether it is molesting an intern or winging a lawyer, it doesn't matter. Isn't that the code?

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man