’)According to Ian “Everyone Who Disagrees With Me Is A Librul” Schwartz and a bunch of other right-wingers, the fact that the Vice President shot someone and didn’t tell the press isn’t news, and to report so is liberal bias.
But the upside is – this has got to be the first time in history a press secretary has been asked: “When did the president know the vice president had shot someone?”
‘Nuther mountain out out a pile of birdshot in the face. At least the guy was a Rupublican, so he knows it was OK for Cheney to shoot him. A wussy librul might have complained about it.
Q: Is this the first time in history a press secretary has been asked: ‘When did the president know the vice president had shot someone?’
A: No. Alberto Gonzales’ Department of Justice disclosed earlier this afternoon that Jefferson’s press secretary fielded the question at a televised press conference after Burr shot Hamilton.
I was going to remind Oliver of his historical ignorance, but infoshaman beat me to it.
So does that mean you’re taking back your seconding of infoshaman?
I may have missed something. Was this Whittington character in a barrel when Cheney killed him?
scratch, the reference goes back a couple of years. Cheney took part in a pheasant “hunt” that involved pen-raised birds released just so the “hunters” could shoot them.
If I recall, Cheney bagged several dozen, as did the others in his party.
What’s funny is that Infosham was clearly joking, and Jay took him/her seriously.
It’s also funny that the wingnuts are so desperate to sweep this under the rug that they’re digging up the mouldering corpse of Aaron Burr and yelling “See! Democrats (or at least Democrat-Republicans) are just as bad!”
It’s par for the course with them: what with the way they go back sixty years (FDR) to prove that Democrats have as little respect for habeas corpus, fifty years (George Wallace, the young Robert Byrd) to prove that Democrats are as racist, and forty years (Chappaquiddick) to prove that the Democrats are just as culpable on any other area one might criticise Republicans of 2006 for.
Oh please Oliver. Your implication was that it had to be asked because this is the first time in history a vice President had shot somebody.
You forgot about Burr killing Hamilton. You goofed. Deal with it.
If no one told the press, how do you know about it?
Yes, I’m sure Jefferson’s press secretary was asked the question… at his televised press conference, right Jay.
Sometimes its like fish in a barrel and I’m the vice president.
Other than to show Cheney’s carelessness and highlight the fact he shouldnot be handling guns and make him the butt of jokes, this really has no relevance.
Maybe, just maybe, Cheney has shot other people and we just never heard about it. Bush had better start sleeping with one eye open.
He killed 70 birds in one weekend? That’s disgusting.
Jay, I love how you think you can crawl in my head and restate what I said. The Burr incident is elementary history, that’s why I specifically said “press secretary”. I could have said “this is the first time in history a vice president has shot someone” but that wouldn’t be true. Unlike the kids on the right, I crack a book open on occasion.
If I recall, Cheney bagged several dozen, as did the others in his party.
More, actually.
What a disturbing display. I’m pro-hunting and come from a family of hunters (both bow and rifle), yet to me, this story is the most pathetic, grotesque abomination of “sport” I’ve ever heard.
It clearly illustrates bloodlust and depravity. I mean, wouldn’t you get sick of blowing away pheasant after, like, 10…let alone 30…35, 40, 45, 50, 60, 65, 70? Then an “unknown” number of ducks?
Wtf?
It’s laughable to refer to any such canned shooting as “hunting,” unless you count the effort it takes to find such a business in the Yellow Pages.
Actually, I don’t see it as liberal bias, or even an attack on Bush or Cheney. I see it more as the press acting like the most important part of the story was their not being told.
I find it interesting “that Jaime Powell of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times… had built up a strong source relationship with… Katharine Armstrong.
She “called the paper Sunday morning looking for Powell, who was not at work.” If she had found him then, that’s when the story would have come out.
Who was this Whittington guy that a reporter had an informer at his ranch?
This is just one more reminder that a little “collateral damage” is a matter of course for this administration.
At least on this occasion Big Time wasn’t hunting birds raised in captivity…
Whatta jackass…
According to the local sheriff’s department:
Again, the usual rightwing suspects will defend anything this administration does.
This story is really fishy, even by the usual AWOL George standards.
You have Cheney nearly killing a man and yet the story doesn’t get released for over a day? The police aren’t informed as is the law in all cases of shootings.
When the story comes out—it is spun by GOP quislings to imply the victim was somehow to blame.
It’s not to hard to figure out what happened. Cheney was probably liquored up and blasted his friend. They wait a day before going public –and telling the cops–so Cheney’s blood alcohol gets normal and they concoct a story.
On the lighter side, everyone seems to be forgetting what happens when Democrats go on nature outings …
Conspiracy enthusiasts should note that it took “months” for that story to be reported in the press, and almost a year and a half for a photo to turn up.
We’ll see if a shotgun mysteriously turns up a year from now in the White House library with Cheney’s fingerprint on it.
Quaker, would you have felt better if I called him “Mr. Whittington”? Worry about minutiae much?
Memo to Mr Rove. Brilliant as ususal, sir. Whittington took one for the team and it was hard on Cheney to do it, but now nobody is talking about our spying. We can put those bugs back in all the liberals bedrooms and catch them aiding and abetting those Ayrabb terrorists. This message has been encoded (I think- at least Libby said he would take care of it).
Operative Dugger, On the front lines of the Blog Battlefield
scratch refers to him as “this Whittington character”; Frank calls him “this Whittington guy”.
Wow.
As soon as somebody becomes a source of embarrassment–even as an innocent bystander–you guys start marginalizing him.
OW..don’t mind Jay. They’re reeling. And reeling bad. Watching them all…Jay, Dugger, Frank and Dr.Putzo….it’s cartoonish, and nearly magic, were it not for the fact that we have a victim here who got shot in the face and chest.
They’ve been on the defensive for almost a year now. We read today, that a pretty tough report is going to come out on Katrina response by the Feds.
It appears that the right is not only metaphorically shooting their own, but literally.
Tune in tonight to Letterman and Leno. Let the evisceration of Vice President Dick Cheney begin.
JK
The problem here is ….. the press acted like “Oh my god, you did not tell me”. Oh wait, that was David Gregory!
There’s a time to poke fun at “liberals” for being obsessed with the choice of Kleenex at White House. This is not one of those times.
The VP *shot a guy*.
VP. Gun. Shot. KABOOM! Guy.
VP — shoots (BLAM!) –> guy
This is not one of those times.
Unlike the canned hunt Dick Cheney was on, Frankie.
What kind of evil person goes on a canned hunt, liquored up?
Well, which is it, Jay?
Are both Cheney and Kennedy embarassments, or just Kennedy?
I have a guess.
JK: I don’t know who you think is reeling, but I’m not. You lefties need a hobby, besides being fixated on the White House.
It was accidental, a hunting accident, said Ramon Salinas III, Kenedy County sheriff, adding that the Secret Service notified him Saturday of the incident. They did what they had to according to law.
Not quite:
Still more:
What kind of person gets liquored up and kills? A certain senator from Massachusetts comes to mind.
They do that and help their nephews try to cover up their rapes after spending the night being liquored up with them.
But remember, Cheney’s an embarassment. Yet, guys like Jadegold have their heads so far up Kennedy’s ass, it’s hard to tell where he ends and Kennedy begins.
I’ve got plenty of hobbies, Frank. This is sport.
JK
“What kind of evil person goes on a canned hunt, liquored up?”
What kind of person gets liquored up and kills? A certain senator from Massachusetts comes to mind.
Jay C – Apparently the distinction between an accident and an intentional act is completely lost on these people.
See, what I don’t understand is the “this or that” mentality.
Ted Kennedy’s drunkfest has nothing to do with Cheney. It’s like so many other irrational political arguments: If I can find your guy(s) doing something stupider, my guy is okay! If Cheney does something stupid, it’s because he does something stupid, not because of Ted Kennedy.
This isn’t an exercise to choose who is more ridiculous. Unless your point is that, “As long as Cheney doesn’t do what Ted Kennedy did, he’s okay in my book.” Which I don’t think it is.
And I don’t care that “People like Ted Kennedy!!!1″ I know. And he did something *incredibly* stupid. But that doesn’t take away — or add to — Cheney, our VP, shooting someone.
Cellulose, yes, Cheney did something stupid. Yes, its a newsworthy story and yes, any comedy that comes of it is well deserved thanks in part to the fact that the man he shot will be ok. Hell, that fake CNN story that Oliver posted was great.
My problem with the whole thing is a portion of the anti-Bush brigades trying to attach some kind of sinister motives to the fact that the story wasn’t report 30 seconds after it happened. It’s absurd.
Jay C – Apparently the distinction between an accident and an intentional act is completely lost on these people.
What’s funny is I have no idea if you’re talking about the guys saying Cheney really shot the guy or the guys accusing Ted Kennedy of murder.
JD, Jadegold wouldn’t know a fact if it hit him upside the head. That’s why he’s earned the title of the ‘Tommy Flanagan’ of the blogosphere.
And cellulose, what happened with Cheney was an ACCIDENT.
What happened with Kennedy was a CRIME. Unlike Cheney, he Kennedy was drunk, admitting to having consumed 6 rum and cokes and 2 beers that night. He saved his own drunk fat ass while Mary Jo Kopechne drowned.
Yeah, the two really compare. Now, if the loons had stuck to making jokes about the whole incident, it wouldn’t be necessary to raise the spectre of ole Ted’s crimes. BUT, as usual, the left cannot help themselves, so they’re talking ‘cover up’ and accusing Cheney of being drunk and getting all self righteous about it. Considering they still support Ted, the self-righteousness comes off as super-duper phony.
Curmudgeon…
I’m not even sure I’d want to fire 70 shots from a shotgun in one day!
Quaker…
scratch refers to him as this Whittington character …As soon as somebody becomes a source of embarrassment…”
Come now. I know 6:19 isn’t past your bedtime, and I know my post didn’t miss its mark that badly.
And cellulose, what happened with Cheney was an ACCIDENT.
And you know this how, Jay Caruso?
Because the GOP told you so?
Again, the facts are that no independent law enforcement agency got to see Cheney until 8AM the next day.
No. we’re not asking that a shooting be reported within 30 seconds. But any reasonable person would suggest that it not be nearly 20 hours later that a shooting suspect actually be made available to police.
jadegold – Since you assert is as fact, please point us to any shred of evidence that liquor was involved in this,
Tell us, JWG–why would Cheney refuse to be interviewed by the local police until nearly 20 hours after the shooting?
And let’s face it, Cheney has had his problems with alcohol in the past. He has at least two DWIs that we know about and he was asked to leave the University of Wyoming because his partying interfered too much with the academic agenda of that institution which is hardly renowned for its academic agenda.
It’s pretty well known in DC that Cheney likes his sauce.
For the love of God, stop going on about Chappasoddingquiddick. You realise you’re pissing all over the corpse of Mary Jo Kopechne for the sake of a temporary feeling of superiority over those Demmycrats? No, Cheney shooting someone in the face doesn’t compare with Chappaquiddick, because CHAPPAQUIDDICK HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING GODDAMMIT.
And it’s not as if you’d be screaming OMG MURDERER IT WAS CRIME CHAPPAQUIDICK LOL if it had been a REPUBLICAN senator. No, then it would have been a tragic accident and damn the liberal press for reporting it.
Have you no shame at all? Let the dead rest in peace.
What kind of person gets liquored up and kills? A certain senator from Massachusetts comes to mind.
Really? I keep on being reminded of a certain former schoolteacher who’s now the First Lady…
jadegold : Then it shoud be easy for you to demonstrate this, not by anecdotal evidence of past behavior, but show it, in fact, to have been involved in this incident.
Oops – Xanax Putsch was pretending to be a librarian, not a schoolteacher, when she killed her ex-boyfriend while driving under the influence.
We apologize for the inconvenience…
Tom : Is it even reported anywhere that alcohol was involved in Laura Bush’s incident ?
JD –Don’t humor these people. As JadeMold has demonstrated, they are driving on fumes. And probably inhaling them, too.
JD: Please tell me where it is reported that Kennedy intentionally drove off that bridge (as you implied earlier in one of the comments above). Until then, I shall choose to make unverifiable insinutations about Publicans in the same manner as the rest of you with BFS here are doing with regard to yet another incident that occurred long long ago.
Or is this just some more of that gool ol’ “You need to provide facts, but I can make up anything I like” school of Repugnicant spin?
Tom,
The suspicion, which I strongly share, is that Kennedy was drunk (not unheard of), and in motion to -err- play hide the Johnson 9nort unheard of) and was going to a lonely place to play the game. As such, the crime committed would have been ( I believe) vehicular homicide. No one believes, as you stated, that he intentionally drove off the bridge. Walk the Chappaquidick roads and you will understand how much BS the Senator and his staff were putting out. It was and is a travesty of justice and much, much, much worse than Cheney’s accident.
I have never understood the Kopechne family’s docile reaction For that matter the only person I understand out of the OJ murders is Ron’s father.
Dugger
Jadegold is very confused.
The media may have been out of the loop for nearly 20 hours, but why do you state that the local authorities were not involved for 20 hours?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0213061cheney3.html
The fact that they have to go back 36 years to find something, is mildly pathetic.
Ted Kennedy did not intentionally kill anyone. He got drunk, had a horrible accident, and a young lady lost her life. He was not convicted of murder, Jay. Neither was Laura Bush–even though she ran a stop sign and killed her boyfriend in that particular accident.
Of course, Jay isn’t burdened by the necessity for fact in making an argument, which is one reason why he’s now using his own kilobytes to blog about movies and sports, while using this platform to spread his usual misguided social commentary and disinformation.
JK
Dugger,
The suspicion, which I strongly share, is that Pickles was drunk or under the influence of an illegal substance (not unheard of), and in motion to -err- play “vengeance is mine” (not unheard of) and was waiting for an opportunity to present itself. As such, the crime committed would have been (I believe) vehicular homicide. Many believe that this incident was covered up, and the guilty party has gotten away with murder. Drive on any roads with stop signs in broad daylight, read any police reports about similar “incidents” occurring to everyday non-rich non-white non-elitists, and you will understand how much of a coverup it looks like. It was and is a travesty of justice and much, much, much worse than Kennedy s accident.
I have never understood the bereaved family s docile reaction to Laura Welch’s getting away with killing a member of their family.
“Ted Kennedy s drunkfest has nothing to do with Cheney.”
I know that. It was my feeble attempt at humor.
If you want to compare apples to apples, how about the Clinton/Reno “hunting” episode in Waco? buh-dump-dump!
Tom, your analysis is idiotic and unsupported by the police investigation. But don’t let facts get in the way.
Point out where I spoke about Kennedy, tomy.
But, since you bring him up, I suppose he did not intentionally drive off of the bridge. He did, however, intentionally drink before driving. He did intentionally not manage to rescue his passenger from the car. And he did intentionally not notify the authorities until the following day.
tomy : Never let those pesky facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory. Your charge/allegation was that drugs or alcohol was invovled in Laura Bush’s accident. Surely you can point us to some documentation of that being the case.
yes, Tom. You erroneously claim that other posters claimed Kennedy intentionally ran off Dike bridge. The big picture was painted for you and you revert back to young Laura Bush. Does this mean you surrender on currently active and powerful US Senator Ted Kennedy?
If it will help, I will acknowledge that there have probably been miscarriages of justice wherein Republicans have benefitted. I know a little about Kennedy because he is a very important Gov figure. Laura Bush decides where the White Hosue china is placed.
Dugger
Great. Now my comments must await moderation if I only provide one link. When have I ever linked to anything other than a mainstream news source?
You erroneously claim that other posters claimed Kennedy intentionally ran off Dike bridge.
JD Says:
February 13th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Jay C – Apparently the distinction between an accident and an intentional act is completely lost on these people.
What was that you were saying about no one making the claim that what Kennedy did ewas intentional again?
JWG Says:
February 14th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Tom, your analysis is idiotic and unsupported by the police investigation. But don t let facts get in the way.
What police investigation? According to what I have read, there was no investigation to speak of – just a whitewashing of the “incident”. I haven’t seen any police reports on the matter either. They saem to have been flushed down the memory hole. Funny, that…
Oh, and by the way: thanks very much for that insightful analysis, and your thorough debunking of any of the points I made earlier. Having someone with BFS say But don t let facts get in the way is such a meaningful and honest assessment of the situation. When have you ever let facts even enter your traitourous melon?
Dugger Says:
February 14th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
The big picture was painted for you and you revert back to young Laura Bush. Does this mean you surrender on currently active and powerful US Senator Ted Kennedy?
If it will help, I will acknowledge that there have probably been miscarriages of justice wherein Republicans have benefitted. I know a little about Kennedy because he is a very important Gov figure. Laura Bush decides where the White Hosue china is placed.
Dugger
What big picture is this? That Kennedy should have been in prison for murdering someone forty years ago? And painted by whom? A bunch of RNC-bots parroting GOP talking points? That sure gives me confidence in the artist, as well as the quality of the painting…
Try again, Putsch fellators…
Here’s the police report.
You obviously don’t read many of my comments. I’m one of the only ones around here who regularly links to actual facts.
You made the following unsubstantiated accusations:
1) Laura Welch was driving under the influence of either alcohol or some other drug
2) Laura Welch was out for vengeance
3) There was a police coverup even though the boy killed was one of the most popular kids in town
I eagerly await any evidence you might use to support your claims.
Otherwise, I stand by my claim that “your analysis is idiotic.”
So how about it? Or are you all mouth and no facts?
It was 8 pm in November…hardly “broad daylight.”
Wrong again. The AP had access to the report before the 2000 election. Don’t let facts get in your way, though.
Intentionally ran off the bridge Tom. See the difference. He could have intentionally drove drunk (a crime), intentionally left the scene of an accident (a crime), left a young woman to slowly suffocate/drown (a horrible crime), but there is no reason to suppose he was (trying to commit suicide or whatever) by running off the bridge – as you claimed.
I doubt it was a moral murder but the justice system has already let him get away, in essence, scot free (another in my long line of anti-Scottish slurs).
The significance. Well we are talking about a hunting accident with a current powerful political leader. The political left is charging some sort of malfeasnace with the timing of the report. Kennedy went to bed and his accident, dead girl and all, went 8 hours unreported. So, the question are accidents and their details important only when they happen to right wing politicianns and is there any diffrence in rushing someone to the hospital to see them get treated and leaving a girl trapped underwater and going to bed in a comfy hotel. Are we supposed to believe there is anything other than cheap aprtisan politics behind this incident.
Dugger
Tommy : Did he, or did he not, commit an intentional act when he chose to drive after drinking? Did he, or did he not, commit an intentional act when he chose to not rescue her? Did he, or did he not, commit an intentional act when he chose to not notify the authorities?
I have no doubt that driving off of the bridge was an accident.
I would continue, but it appears that JWG has already bitch slapped you.
JD: Time to think.
You have a wounding of a man in what is said to be an accident. The wounding was serious enough to warrant the man being air-lifted to a hospital.
Further, you know the police weren’t notified until several hours after the incident.
I’m not a cop but since when do police take reports over the telephone about a shooting? Since when do the parties involved in a shooting get to dictate when the police can interview them?
I have investigated accidents and rule one is to get to the scene as fast as possible and interview witnesses as soon as possible.
The media may have been out of the loop for nearly 20 hours, but why do you state that the local authorities were not involved for 20 hours
Because they weren’t.
WaPo
Sounds to me like they were notified between 7:50 and 8:00 PM, and made arrangements to meet with the Sheriff and/or deputies the following morning. Hardly sounds like they were out of the loop.
You made the following unsubstantiated accusations:
1) Laura Welch was driving under the influence of either alcohol or some other drug
2) Laura Welch was out for vengeance
3) There was a police coverup even though the boy killed was one of the most popular kids in town
Reading comprehension for Repugnicant trash:
The suspicion, which I strongly share, is that Pickles was drunk or under the influence of an illegal substance (not unheard of), and in motion to -err- play vengeance is mine (not unheard of) and was waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
I make no accusations. I merely voice some strong suspicions (similar to the strong suspicions mentioned ad nauseum for over forty years now, and almost the same as the suspicions made about Kennedy in an earlier comment) regarding the state and motives of young Pickles when she killed a fellow classmate and former boyfriend. I see no reason why my suspicions are any more idiotic than those spewed by lying hypocrites like the BFS squad around here regarding Kennedy’s accident.
I also made no claim that Kennedy intentionally drove off that bridge. I challenged someone else’s insinuation that the Kennedy accident occurred the way it was described in an earlier comment by Jay C, when he commented that there is a difference between an accident (which I take to be an inference to Cheney’s shooting of a fellow hunter) and an intentional act (which I take to be an inference to Kennedy’s accident, and specifically, that he intentionally caused his passenger at the time to die by intentionally driving off that bridge).
I merely make a comparison between the unsubstantiated insinuations about Kennedy’s accident, and the unsubstantiated insinuations about Laura Welch’s. Funny how the Reich wing around here claims that one is gospel (even after a trial etc. which officially debunked said claims), and the other is complete fabrication. Almost as though you’re willing to consider the facts, as long as they mesh with your world view.
I stand corrected about the daylight (or lack thereof) at the time of Pickles’ mishap.
If the local sheriff knows about the shooting within an hour and “indicates he would send deputies the next morning around 8,” then he is in the loop. Some people want there to be a conspiracy soooooo badly.
How about when the Secret Service is already on the scene?
It happens all the time to people who know their rights.
Snicker.
Of course, those suspicions are contradicted by the fact that the police were on the scene and observed Laura Welch and her passenger. I guess they never saw a drunk teenager before and couldn’t figure out that alcohol or drugs were involved. Ditto for the hospital staff that treated Laura and her passenger.
And, wow, Laura Welch sure had good aim to purposely hit that the car travelling at 50 mph in a perpendicular path at night…not to mention her ability to recognize the car/driver…at 50 mph…at night…while intoxicated…
Especially considering that he didn’t have the same ability to notice her and realize that she wasn’t slowing down to stop…because she would’ve had to begin slowing down from 50+ mph a little bit before she got to the intersection, right?
Yeah, your “strong [non-accusatory] suspicions” are not ridiculous at all. I’ve been such a fool.
How about when the Secret Service is already on the scene?
You mean the same Secret Service that bails the Bush girls’ boyfriends out of jail? Or the same Secret Service that ejects folks from Bush campaign appearances for wearing the wrong T-shirt?
It happens all the time to people who know their rights.
Sure. Next time you have a fender-bender–tell the police cruiser that arrives that now isn’t a convenient time for you.
Wow. Did I miss the point in which you stopped supporting our constitutional rights?
Snicker all you like, Putsch fellator.
Your wild insinuations about Kennedy are unsupported by the facts, the police reports, the trial, etc. All of the lies you spout won’t change that.
I haven’t said one word about Kennedy. Your confusion with the facts is very consistent. Thank you for demonstrating it yet again.