White House Livid About Handling Of Cheney Incident -CBS

[ECH1969]

A source described as close to the Bush administration said people inside the White House are "livid" about the way Vice President Dick Cheney's office has handled the hunting accident he was involved in over the weekend, CBS News reported Tuesday.

CBS News reported that private signals were being sent that the matter has been handled badly and Cheney needs to come out and say something.

On Saturday Cheney accidentally shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old lawyer, while on a quail hunt in Texas. The news wasn't made public until Sunday, and all this week the White House has been peppered with questions about how slowly the information was made known.

Cheney's office issued a written statement saying the Vice President had called Whittington on Tuesday, wished him well and asked if there was anything he could do.

Link

[bliss_eternal]

1. Yeah, right...

:eyes:

Quote:
Cheney's office issued a written statement saying the Vice President had called Whittington on Tuesday, wished him well and asked if there was anything he could do.

Why should we believe anything they say, given their track record thus far?

[TankLV]

33. They are livid the whore media is reporting it!

That's the only thing their livid about.

They can go CHENEY themselves!

[bliss_eternal]

42. Exactly!

LOL! I totally agree! :hi:

[SammyWinstonJack]

83. Yep! They're livid that they even have to address this too us lowly

little people, in the first place.

[smtpgirl]

2. Cheney could maybe issue a statement

That he feels bad about what happened and I am sorry.

This Will Never Happen.

I am sorry

[C_U_L8R]

14. How about a press conference....

DICK ?????

[Efilroft Sul]

77. Two reasons why Cheney hasn't gone public

1) He really is a Dick.
2) Lynne found out that the Dick has a mistress, and he's too busy trying to get back into his wife's graces. Don't rule this one out, folks.

[kayice]

81. I think it is fishy why he is at that ranch with 2 other women sans Lynne.

How come no one questions that? Even men with heart problems can still be dirty old men, especially with alcohol involved.

Personally, I don't believe those people when they trot out their grandchildren at every function like the State of the Union speech, what for? So they can look like they are a happy, healthy family?

[martymar64]

86. Did you see Lynne at the SOTU?

Those were the deadest eyes I've ever seen on anybody! Kind of like the wife of Joel Steinberg, the guy that went to prison for beating his 6 year old daughter to death. I forgot the wife's name, but she had those same dead eyes. Creepy.

[AnneD]

91. No....

they trot out the family to show the world they have functioning balls. In Dick's case, that was important (what with all those deferments and all). Why do you think he goes after quail and not some VC in the rice patties? Pardon my crudeness but these chickenhawks are just a bunch of boot pissing pussies.

[calimary]

82. I didn't rule that one out - at all. Once I heard that there were four

people, two men, two women, nobody married to anybody else in this four-person party, and the two women were attractive middle-aged women (uh-HUH - makes sense - they're the appropriate age to be "acceptable" "companions" and they've all known each other for a long time - and they were NOT the wives-of-record of these two elderly men. One of those men being extremely powerful. And believe me, POWER is an aphrodesiac to women like nothing else in the world. Especially for attractive middle-aged women who've reached a certain status in their lives - in the same general class as the powerful men. If they move in the same social/political circles, don't think for a moment that this is beyond the realm of possibility.

My initial reaction about all the secrecy was three-fold:

1) Alcohol - improper at a hunting setting, when you really do need all your wits about you, and your mind clear. Maybe they needed time to dry him out.

2) Affairs - what's this about a "hunting weekend" with a couple of nice, attractive, friendly ladies not their wives? Can you tell me with a straight face that this kind of thing just would never happen?

3) Audacity - the none-of-your-business mentality of a guy like dick cheney - who, in his current position AS A PUBLIC SERVANT, HIGH-LEVEL BUT STILL A PUBLIC SERVANT, has NO business operating under an attitude like that. Repeat - he is a PUBLIC SERVANT. As such, he is EMINENTLY answerable to the public. Everything he does is public. His ass belongs to US, the American people, and he owes EVERYTHING to us, because in that kind of job, he serves at OUR pleasure. Anything that's his business is automatically, by definition, OUR business as the people of the United States of America. You know - the people who ostensibly hired him and pay his salary and benefits. When he hired people and paid their salary and benefits, they were answerable to him, and you can bet he expected answers on demand, at the snap of his fingers. The same ethic applies here. But as the typical CEO-mentality-type he is, he's come into this still believing that anything he does is somehow still nobody else's business and he's entitled to all measures of privacy and you do not question this omnipotent authority, just because that's the way it is. Only problem is: he is NOT a private citizen. He is a PUBLIC SERVANT. In his position, that kind of secrecy and privacy is NOT in the equation. If you want privacy and you don't want to have to answer to people about what you're up to, THEN DON'T ASPIRE TO GOING INTO PUBLIC SERVICE, especially at the highest levels of government - when you are answerable to an entire nation full of people.

ANY way you slice it, it's FISHY AS HELL. Especially considering the sneaky-ass track record of this sneaky-ass schmuck.

[kayice]

84. Damn well said, calimary! :)

[Catrina]

94. Excellent post! I imagine the words 'public servant' would be viewed

as insulting to these royal wannabes. He has managed to get away with acting like some old king from the middle ages for way too long ~ it's time to let him know who is boss really is. And that goes for the rest of them. I hope the press will make this point, as effectively as you have, the nest time Scotty tries to treat them like 'poseurs'.

I hope one of them will point out to Scotty that his salary as well as all of their salaries, comes from the people of the US and that they, the press, are there representing his boss, the people, attempting to find out what kind of job they are doing. And we are not happy with what we've seen so far ~

[cliss]

95. Very well put, Calimary.....

That post was dead-on.

[Jawja]

71. Yes, as I recall,

President Clinton apologized for Monica. Of course, that didn't call off the attack dogs....
but Cheney could at least come out and apologize for the pain and suffering he caused due to his failure to observe proper gun handling... maybe? :shrug:

[av8rdave]

88. "Sorry?" from the Dickster??? You've got to be kidding!

A word that thing will never utter in it's life!

[Catch22Dem]

3. PEPPERED with questions...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

:rofl:

[Nevernose]

8. Do you think "peppered" was an intentional or unintentional pun?

n/t

[hexola]

9. Genius!!!!!

Has to be intentional...!

[Catch22Dem]

30. Boy, I don't know, but what a great one! (n/t)

[Matariki]

64. i heard it used on NPR this afternoon as well

i'd say it definitely is. clever little news monkeys

[uppityperson]

66. Cheney sure isn't shooting straight

:rofl: indeed

[AlCzervik]

4. Did the WH just figure out that Cheney will tell them to Cheney off

just like he tells everyone to?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

5. Livid is as livid does. Methinks there's been much of that emotion

in the WH.

The implosion continues. MKJ

[Scout1071]

6. The White House has been "peppered" with questions.

Clever.

[Atman]

7. "private signals were being sent"

Hey, W...

You're the fucking president! Pick up the goddam phone and CALL CHENEY and TELL HIM what you want him to do! You're the boss, remember?!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

44. Exactly.

What would Truman, Eisenhower, JFK have done?

Certainly not just sit there and whine.

Unfuckingbelievable.

:freak:

[fooj]

50. The rat bastards have no soul.

You're right. Unfuckingbelievable!

Peace.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

51. That's telling the rat bastards . . .

Are you feeling any better, ms. fooj?

Happy Valentines Day! :hi:

[fooj]

52. A little...can see much better today! Thanks for asking.

:hug:

Peace.

[myrna minx]

87. Who knew that the President of the USA was a little passive aggressive

:rofl: toward the VP. Private signals?!?

[calimary]

90. Maybe that's because we finally see who bush's "higher father" is.

Not his dad, as we all suspected. Isn't even God. It's dick.

[yorkiemommie1]

10. cheney's statement sounded cold and distant

any of us would have been distraught and deeply sorry, apologetic, dismayed.

[Lorien]

17. He hasn't apologized yet, has he?

this administration seems incapable of admitting any wrongdoing whatsoever.

[TankLV]

35. Only statement so far is that it was the VICTUM's fault!

Not a shred of an apology.

[0007]

41. None what-so-ever

[Vanje]

45. No remorse

Not a shread of remorse from Dick Cheney.

[Auntie Bush]

36. You gotta have a heart to feel "distraught and deeply sorry, apologetic,

and dismayed."His is just a black box with batteries...but he's doing the best he can with the equipment he has. Too bad it didn't short out.

[tularetom]

11. What Cheney does now will tell us a lot

about who really calls the shots in the White House. My bet is that he will continue to hide out or at best will make a grumbling grudging half assed apology for his secrecy while continuing to characterize his friends injuries as minor flesh wounds. The "white House" will then shut the fuck up until the furore gets loud enough again for Cheney to have to say a little more. And that's how it will end unless Mr. Whittington should pass away or flatline. And the White House will be damaged more than Crashcart but nothing else will change.

[muriel_volestrangler]

75. "It's only a flesh wound ... I've had worse"

And, looking for an illustration for this, I came across this:

Monty Python's The Black Knight (from Monty Python's The Quest for the Holy Grail). This item is plush, stands 14-inches tall, and features details from the special world of Monty Python, including velcro assisted dismemberment. Almost Indestructible! Mostly Invincible! Pretty much unbeatable on a good day! Care for your knight: Like a hamster, the Black Knight enjoys its solitude, and does not get along well with others of its kind. Or, if truth be known, with others at all. The knight does best in an environment of pathways, bridges, escalators or other thorough fares. Naturally territorial, it will defend its chosen area fiercely against other knights, door-to-door salesmen, or people needing to go down the hall to use the bathroom (one reason Black Knights are so much fun at frat parties). In the process of defending his territory, your knight may occasionally lose on or all of his limbs. DO NOT PANIC. This is a natural defense on the part of your knight, and rarely fatal.

http://paizo.com/store/brand/montyPython/v5748btpy7d6q

:rofl:

[lovuian]

12. NO ACCOUNTABILITY!!! NO APOLOGY!!!

this is typical cheney... He is out of control even Bush sees it...

[MichiganVote]

13. Don't look now--new terror alert coming right up

[Straight Shooter]

15. No kidding. "Yoo-hoo, Osama, we need another favor." n/t

[IndianaGreen]

18. New Osama video where he threatens to send terrorist quails over US

Cheney was first to shootdown one of those terrorist quails.

[daleo]

46. LOL, good one

He was actually stopping the spread of bird flu by Al Quaila.

[hatrack]

56. Yeah, don't forget the robotic Death Drones spraying ANTHRAX!!!

The Pterodactyls of Pterror, loaded with NERVE GAS, heading for an East Coast metropolis sometime soon!!!

BOOGA BOOGA!!!!!!!!! RUN AND HIDE!!!!!!!!!!

[IndianaGreen]

57. Oh, no! Not the Pterodactyls of Terror!

Run and hide!

[Redstone]

16. No question. Expect it by morning.

Redstone

[hatrack]

55. Yup - hours, not days, until the next Osama Video - Terrorists Gone Wild!

Spring Break in Kandahar - Osama like you've NEVER seen him before!!!!

[DearAbby]

19. Self Delete...just watching this.

:popcorn:

[fishnfla]

20. the gang that couldn't shoot straight eom

[demgrrrll]

21. He isn't sorry. If he says he is sorry it won't mean a damn thing eom.

.

[stepnw1f]

22. Any Sane Person Would Be Livid... This Admin is not Sane (nt)

[Gman]

23. The shooting wasn't planned but it was convenient

in that it serves as a great fog bank to obscure the ton of bad news for Bush this week such as the slamming of Homeland Defense Katrina response.

[Jane Austin]

24. Gee, are they just now noticing that Cheney holds the people in

utter contempt?

We noticed it a long time ago.

[deadparrot]

25. If Cheney makes a public statement,

I'm having a party, dammit. That'll make for some good TV. :popcorn:

He won't...but still.

[VegasWolf]

26. Get real CBS, Cheney will tell Bush when he wants to talk. nt

[dweller]

27. livid?

yeah, that the news even got out, and as far as what dead-eye Dick can do?

Resign.

dp

[madrchsod]

28. ya right

what`s the "whitehouse" going to do? it`s dick`s house and he`ll do anything he wants to do.

[DearAbby]

29. You're Right. THIS IS A SHOWDOWN...

We are going to find out just who is in charge...Bush as the BOSS can order Cheney to get out there and clean up this mess...If Cheney blows this off...WE KNOW...and so will joe sixpack.

Its the VALENTINE'S DAY SHOWDOWN


tick tock tick tock

What is going to happen?

:popcorn:

[mitchum]

31. Yeah, when Dick turns on that personal charm, that will make it all better

[Tin Man]

43. Bahawahaha - good one !!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[otohara]

32. I Say We Have An Investigation

find out who's at fault "this time" for this bungle

[jazzjunkysue]

34. "I'm just wild about Harry, and Harry's wild about me...."

Give me a break.

They were out there with their whiskey, at a minimum, and some broads, probably, too.

[agincourt]

37. Yeah sure,

After McClennan tried to swiftboat Worthington today. Lying pigs anyway.

[WinkyDink]

38. Tell me another one.

I guess Dubya wanted to be notified faster. Except NOT.

Oh, Dubya's p.o'ed, for sure...that Whittington didn't DIE right there, so he could've been trundled away to anywhere.

[DearAbby]

39. This can get really good...Bush can be shamed into asking Darth for his

resignation, I dont think America is buying the lie, they tried to pass off...there is no reason for the delay in notifying the media about this.

If Bush just lets this pass...People should then begin to ask, Just who is the boss here? Cheney or an "ELECTED" President?

Tick tock tick tock


:popcorn: :popcorn:

[Kahuna]

40. Damn right they're mad. Their polling is likely to take a 4 or 5 point

hit over this matter.

[thebigidea]

47. typical distancing bullshit. Dick Cheney IS the fuckin' White House.

[HuffleClaw]

48. yeah right

they only did what they always do, lie, cover up, lie again, backtrack, lie some more, and then ATTACK those criticising them.

[Mnemosyne]

49. Hey didn't the dick's office issue a statement

that he's praying for his victim? See? He's like someone's nice old grandfather, as a friend's mother so sickly puts it. Eww!

I think it did scrawl across that one news channel that has it running across the bottom. Oops, that's all of them pretty much now isn't it? I haven't watched in a long time, it's changed. Weird. Creepy weird. I can't tell one from another except cspan, TWC and CC.

I hope Whittington's family told him he'd done enough already..

What an evil man. Heartless. I feel ashamed to even say that about another human being, but reality bites sometimes.

Livid is good! Thanks ECH!

In peace and ever increasing hope,
V

[stop the bleeding]

53. NYT has their version now

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/politics/15veep.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[hatrack]

54. Livid they got caught, livid the "press" are asking questions . . .

Livid that even Fux Snooze is beginning to ask about certain lapses in logic in the official story - like, oh, I dunno . . . a female "eyewitness" to the whole incident talking about how she saw everything, but in the same "testimony" saying that she thought it was all about Cheney's bum ticker.

Livid that Acting President Cheney sleazed and weaseled his way out of an incident in which someone was almost killed (and still may be at some risk of dying).

Livid that people are finally (seemingly) catching on to the fact that they've always gotten away with it in the past but apparently aren't willing to cut them any more slack.

"Livid". Oh, really?

[Binka]

70. obey the eleventh commandment, "Thou shalt not get caught." MLK 1963

It is also midnight within the moral order. At midnight colours lose their distinctiveness and become a sullen shade of grey. Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing. Right and wrong are relative to likes and dislikes and the customs of a particular community. We have unconsciously applied Einstein’s theory of relativity, which properly described the physical universe, to the moral and ethical realm.

Midnight is the hour when men desperately seek to obey the eleventh commandment, "Thou shalt not get caught." According to the ethic of midnight, the cardinal sin is to be caught and the cardinal virtue is to get by. It is all right to lie, but one must lie with real finesse. It is all right to steal, if one is so dignified that, if caught, the charge becomes embezzlement, not robbery. It is permissible even to hate, if one so dresses his hating in the garments of love that hating appears to be loving. The Darwinian concept of the survival of the fittest has been substituted by a philosophy of the survival of the slickest. This mentality has brought a tragic breakdown of moral standards, and the midnight of moral degeneration deepens.

MLK 1963

[annabanana]

78. beautiful quote Binka..

And astonishingly apropos!

[Rex]

58. GO FUCK YOURSELVES!

BOOM! Howsthat?

[rodeodance]

59. and Dick speaks in third person!

Cheney's office issued a written statement saying the Vice President had called Whittington on Tuesday, wished him well and asked if there was anything he could do.

[LaCrosseDem]

60. could Fuddgate actually be their undoing?

Dissention is not something typically seen within the cabal.

[JI7]

61. isn't CHeney part of the White House ?

seems like they are trying to make it into some separate thing in which case CHeney would take all the blame and resign and those left will be seen as without fault.

i hate these people.

[NastyRiffraff]

62. Livid? Yeah, what are you gonna DO?

Besides leak to the media that you're "livid"?

Answer: Nothing. Because Big Time will just tell you to go fuck yourselves. Or worse, get out his shotgun.

Wimps.

[bluestateguy]

63. I'm actually inclined to believe that they are angry

Angry that they got caught anyway.

Historically, presidents and vice presidents staffs have had a lot of disagreements and personal/professional conflicts.

[NastyRiffraff]

65. I don't doubt they're angry

Prolly pissed as hell, and muttering in the halls about what an asshole Cheney is.

But mutter is all they'll do, besides having a few drinks together and complaining about the boss. And I include Bush in this.

Wimps.

[calimary]

92. I agree - they're pissed. Mainly that the press is hounding them on this

because they SO prefer flying under the radar.

I think they may also be pissed because it's a LOT harder these days to just ram something down the public's throats and get away with it scott-free. They're being questioned and challenged now, in many arenas, something they are VERY MUCH not accustomed to. These people think they live up in the rarified air of Olympus, where the rest of us peons aren't invited and to which we dare not try to climb - because we're all supposed to know better. But the natives are now getting restless. Too many chinks in the armor means too many little vulnerable places now showing. The aura of invincibility is gone. Goliath has heel spurs, trick knees, tennis elbow, a cold, a bad case of diarrhea, and no shorts. So suddenly, Goliath himself is fair game. They know it. They know everybody else knows it, too. And they're pissed.

They're simply the charter members of the Ultimate Insiders' Club - the Thou-Shalt-Not-Question-These-Chosen-Ones club. And they expect a high level of kid-glove treatment because they view it as their due. They're unaccustomed to being challenged - in public, AND even worse, from previously friendly forces. It would be akin to the palace guard leaving open mousetraps around in the King's closet shelves, and turds in his shoes. Everybody's supposed to be marching in lockstep, taking and following their orders in silent compliance. And that's not happening anymore.

They're pissed on two levels, small and large. Small: the fact that they're getting shit about this in public every day and it's not going away - beside the fact that everyone's talking about how poorly it was handled (a terrible turn of luck for those who are accustomed to being renowned for never making any mistakes - we all know THAT definition doesn't apply anymore) and the hounding about this incident just won't stop. Large: the VERY IDEA that they'd get any shit from anybody in public or private/semi-private, for any reason, PERIOD. The Dr. Spock book on the care and feeding of these big babies doesn't contain anything about this. We're all supposed to be seen and not heard, like good little girls and boys. And we're not following the script. NOBODY is. And since being IN CONTROL is EVERYTHING to these people (think back to how often, and how forcefully, they always play the "he's the commander-in-chief" card), the shit going on now is making them CRAZY.

The one thing cheney has wanted forever is POWER. UNCHECKED, UNMITIGATED, UNCHALLENGED POWER. And with this shit going on, he has none. He can't even get anybody to shut up about this anymore. He sure can't make it go away, and it's pretty clear that he tried to do just that. It makes me wonder if Mary Beth Cahill was advising him to just sit tight and be above it all, and it'll all just blow over - the way she advised Kerry when the Swift Boat Swifties started in on him...

[Gregorian]

67. Abu Grhaib, NSA, Plame, Iraq----No problem.

A hunting accident-- HUGE!

Another day ends. Good night. Unbelievable.

[Dangerously Amused]

68. Hey Bush! Quick!

Appoint some more unqualified Republican idiots as Federal activist judges and department heads while all the attention is on Cheney.

[free4now]

69. Just the latest drivel!

What else can they say really? A statement will come out, or Bush will make a speech "We gave him a good spanking behind the shed today" He wont do it again! :spank:

PS its nice to see so many hearts in here I would donate if I could!



:loveya: :yourock: DU

[Binka]

76. Welcome To Du! Enjoy Your Heart!

[Orrin_73]

72. At FAUX they are all over this

blaming (you guessed it) the journalists making a big deal out of it. They want you to forget it.

[antonialee839]

73. Who in the White House is livid? The housekeeper?

From Josh Marshall Talking Points Memo:

"We noted earlier that little more than an hour after the Cheney shooting incident, Karl Rove was on the phone with Katharine Armstrong, the ranch owner who witnessed the incident and was designated as the person who would speak to the press. Turns out her dad helped Rove set up his first business."

Looks like the Bush Crime family decided early on how they were going to handle this, so I ask again,
who's livid?

[Robeson]

74. Livid? Yeah, right. You think this guy gives a shit?....

....

[JPZenger]

79. Secret Service Let Cheney Dry Out Before Police Interview?

The question of the day: Did the Secret Service let Cheney dry out from his drinking before he talked to the local sheriff?

[schmuls]

80. These sons-a-bitches are so removed from reality, they don't even

know anymore how to handle themselves. If Cheney had called a press conference right away and explained what happened, the public would be more forgiving. But instead, he presents himself as a coward by hiding.

[4_TN_TITANS]

85. Schieffer did good last night....

despite all his critics here, I think Bob's okay. If he's not on our side, he's the closest to balanced that there is.

[Miss Chybil]

89. Private signals? Why don't they just tell him to get out there and say

something? Who's running this show, anyway? Oh, I forgot. Cheney is.

[gasperc]

93. hey, Cheney called Rove who spoke to Armstrong w/i 90minutes

so uh, what are they pissed off about exactly???