Cheney’s Misfire

Who has not been following the story of Dick Cheney mistaking a hunting man for a quail? The story has as many holes in it as the unfortunate victim, Harry Whittington, somewhere between 6 and 200. Most of what we find humorous is at the expense of others, e.g Muhammad and Harry. Both the left and the right, after making the obligatory token expression of primary concern for the health of Mr. Whittington, made light of what happened, until one of the pieces of shot migrated to the wall of Harry's heart and put him back in the intensive care unit. This story has some aspects that were to be expected, one probability that has bubbled up, lots of unanswered questions and some tangents that would be interesting to explore further.

That Cheney has great disdain for the media and avoids news people whenever possible is well known, so it was not surprising that media people were absent from his Texas safari. That Cheney himself was deciding how the matter would be handled, without regard to the “unitary executive”, is also par for the course, since Cheney has made the office of the VP a virtual shadow Presidency. That the mainstream media, which has not always done its job as the “fourth branch of government”, is venting its frustration with Cheney by attacking Scott McClellan,the Bush Press Secretary, was as much to be expected as the attack on the “liberal media” by the “conservative media”. Cheney’s Press Secretary is Lee Ann McBride, a woman so unexposed to the media her name in quotes generates 104 Google hits compared with 1,840,000 for "Scott McClellan".

When I first heard this story, I figured alcohol was probably involved. How else could an experienced hunter on a Texas ranch shoot his hunting partner in the head and chest? Cheney has been known to chug a few, though his DUI offenses were when he was much younger and he has probably been chauffeured for most of his professional career, so is no longer a threat on the highway. He was isolated on a huge ranch among friends with no media around, and spicy barbecue for lunch begs for cooling brew. Like drivers who drink, he has probably mixed alcohol with shotguns many times without causing harm to anyone else, but that excuse is no consolation to the first victim.

The initial word put out was no alcohol was involved. By the time Cheney had to do a damage control interview with Britt Hume, a Fox News critic of the “liberal media” attack on Cheney, he acknowledged that he did have one beer with lunch, but said it did not affect him. It’s almost always “just one”. Of course the accommodating local Sheriff, who knows Cheney’s hosts personally, as would be expected in a Kenedy County of 407 citizens established as a virtual fiefdom of wealthy landowners, congenially agreed to defer any meeting with Cheney until the following day.

I won’t take time here to point out the holes in the story, since lots of people are doing that. Particularly interesting is the input of people who are intent on presenting the esoteric knowledge they possess, with seeming disregard to any political ramifications. For example some quail hunting experts are putting the blame on the shooter rather than on the victim for failing to announce himself [I do wonder how the announcement can be heard by a shooter wearing ear protection], and some Texas locals who have knowledge of the terrain and roads question why Whittington was first taken out of the way to a small, remote hospital rather than to the more accesible and better equipped Corpus Christi facility.

Here are some of the tangents that piqued my interest. What kind of people own 50,000 acre ranches, how did they become wealthy and what are the economics of their spreads [these questions are partially answered at the Kenedy County link above]? Who are all these quail hunters, why do they want to shoot such joyous creatures and what do they do with the dead birds? How many quail hunters are accidentally shot by “friendly fire” and are the victims legally considered to have assumed the risk of being mistaken for a quail? What terrible condition must Cheney be in, to have to drive up to birds in a car and then get out to shoot them, and to have to travel with his own medical team and always have a personal ambulance at the ready. Who pays for the expense of his medical readiness, some of which has been put to the care of Whittington, which may be ongoing? Does executive privilege include the right to ignore local hunting permit requirements? When will the interviews with Whittington and his family be forthcoming? To those questioning the media coverage as intruding into a private matter between consenting adults, cannot they see the comparisons to Monicagate?