WHAT have we learned from Whittington? "S**t Happens." THAT'S what.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060217/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - His face marked with tiny birdshot wounds, the lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney while quail hunting left a hospital Friday, saying "accidents do and will happen" and apologizing for the trouble the incident had caused the vice president.

"My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with," Harry Whittington said, his voice a bit raspy but strong in his first comments since being shot on a South Texas ranch six days earlier. The Austin attorney spoke less than 20 minutes before Cheney made his first public appearance since the shooting, receiving a rousing ovation from legislators in his home state of Wyoming. "It's a wonderful experience to be greeted by such warmth by the leaders of our great state. It's especially true when you've had a very long week," Cheney told lawmakers in Cheyenne.

Whittington, 78, was hit in the face, neck and chest with birdshot Feb. 11. After a shotgun pellet traveled to his heart, he had suffered a mild heart attack Tuesday while being treated at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial. Whittington, who did not answer questions after giving his brief statement, had what appeared to be a line of cuts on his upper right eyelid and scrapes on his neck. "We all assume certain risks in what we do, in what activities we pursue," Whittington said. "Accidents do and will happen."

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. And ANOTHER thing...

The part where Whittington forgives Cheney for shooting him?

YES, that's pretty much universally. Christian.

The part where he mourns all of the burdens that Cheney's had to bear?

That's WHITTINGTON'S BRAND of Christianity.

Enjoy your new FACE, sir.

[patrice]

5. What burdens? He Owns Everything. He can do Whatever he wants.

. . . burdens? Oh, I get it!! That's Us.

So, go the fuck home Dick.

Just go Away!!!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. But Whittington INSISTS on mourning Saint Dick.

OH, he's suffered.

OH, his trials.

OH, his TRIBULATIONS.

As I've said elsewhere..."Mr. Whittington, ENJOY your new face."

[patrice]

15. He chose this un-necessary War. He WANTED it.

And now it's a burden to him? Hah! I wish.

And/or - His life would be perfect if it weren't for Us. All of us should just do whatever he wants AND not "be a burden"/require anything of him for the pleasure of serving him.

[NanceGreggs]

2. I think we can all safely assume ...

... that Whittington's statement was vetted by, and cleared with, Cheney himself.

Which begs the question: If YOU had accidently shot a friend, and his statement included an APOLOGY to you and your family, wouldn't your first reaction be, "No, please, you don't owe ME an apology. Please take that out of your statement."

But NOT Mr. Dick 'Personal Responsibility" Cheney. HE leaves the apology in there, so as to further promote the concept that it was Whittington, not HIM, who was responsible for what happened and its aftermath.

We've always known that Cheney has no shame - but this is WAY over the top!!!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. I no longer feel pity / sympathy / ANYTHING for Whittington.

Regardless of what he said and where it came from, fuck him.

Fuck him and his buckshot-ridden face.

Just...fuck him.

[NanceGreggs]

9. I wasn't commenting on Whittington ...

... I was commenting on Cheney.

What you or I think of Whittington is moot. He is supposed to be Cheney's friend.

Would you shoot a friend in the face (or even a stranger, for that matter) and let them go public with an apology to YOU?

Most people would be totally humiliated at having someone WE HAD SHOT apologize to US, even privately. To allow Whittington to offer an apology to the SHOOTER, in public, is just another (as if we NEEDED another) display of Dickhead's total lack of humility or CLASS.

But then, what can we expect from a man who represented our COUNTRY at the Holocaust Remembrance ceremonies dressed like he was attending a football game ...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

12. Last night on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann"...

...KO mentioned how Cheney has vacillated between Whittington being a "close friend," a "friend," and an "acquaintance."

Based on EVERYTHING...the whole ENCHILADA, the words out of WHITTINGTON'S OWN MOUTH....

...I feel that he's got everything he deserves right now.

A face full of buckshot, a pay-off check from Karl Rove, and a "friend" who doesn't know if he's a "close friend," a "friend," or an "acquaintance."

Enjoy your pay-off check, enjoy your disfigured face, and STFU.

Let's get back to Iraq, Iran, the sucking ECONOMY, Abramoff, and the Plame leak.

Whittington...you pathetic old POS...your 15 minutes are UP.

[NanceGreggs]

13. Friend or stranger ...

... I STILL wouldn't let ANYONE apologize to me if I was the one who had SHOT THEM IN THE FACE.

As for: "Cheney has vacillated between Whittington being a close friend, a friend, and an acquaintance."

I guess ol' Whittington fell into the Jack Abramoff category sooner than he'd thought possible ...

[lynne]

18. Good grief - you sound as though you're pissed -

- because Whittington failed to lay down and die. The nerve of him to disappoint you like that! :crazy:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

19. Nah, pissed because he took the call from Karl Rove.

OK, look...I can accept several scenarios here:

1). Whittington never got a call from Karl Rove.

:spray:

2). All of the connections on this gazillion-acre ranch that ultimately lead BACK to Karl Rove are LIES...damned LIBERAL MEDIA LIES...

:evilgrin:

3). Cheney really isn't the Teflon Don...if he were drinking and shooting guns, we'd KNOW about it, and...wait a minute, we DO know about it, and nothing's going to...oh, SCRATCH this one...

:evilgrin:

Lynne, I honestly believe that Rove (or one of his trained circus monkeys, at Rove's command) called Whittington and laid the "Do you know what will HAPPEN to Vice President Cheney" guilt trip on him, handed him a big-ass CHECK, and then Whittington went before the cameras with his "Hey...shit HAPPENS" speech.

If my Grassy Knoll theory is CORRECT, I stand by my earlier statements: "Mr. Whittington, enjoy your new face."

If I'm WRONG, I retract my statements with a full apology. I will also apologize to George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Karl Rove, and Katherine Harris...no rules were violated in Florida in 2000. That was ONE FAIR ELECTION.



:evilgrin:

[breakfastofchampions]

16. The man got shot

Would you rather he died?

[bliss_eternal]

4. *cough*....payoff *cough*

;)

that's what it sounds like to me...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. That's exactly what I said...

...I'd REALLY like to see the check that Karl Rove signed for THIS one.

And that's NOT me talking out of my tinfoil hat. This senile old fuck was PAID OFF.

:grr:

[NanceGreggs]

10. And with all the wire-tapping discussions going on these days ...

... what WOULDN'T you give to have heard the telephone calls that emanated to and from the ranch that night?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

11. The ranch owner's father...

...was the man who provided funding for Karl Rove's first business venture.

Eventually we arrive at a point where "tinfoil hat theories" are NO LONGER "tinfoil hat theories."

Whittington's 78 years old.

How much would it take to pay off a 78 year old man who is NOT going to live forever?

[bliss_eternal]

17. I agree with you--

no tinfoil hat on either of us. It's just so obvious.

[patrice]

8. WHAT "BURDENS"?? I want to know . . . Doesn't he like his job?

Is he un-happy? Old?? or Drinking? Do his MEDICATIONS need balancing out or something like that? What's wrong with him?

[Igel]

14. Actually, just from the pictures we learned a lot.

He was hit on the right side; the text of the official report was right, the drawing was wrong. I had guessed the other way.

We have a rough estimate to pin down the 5-200 range of pellets. Far from 200, unless all the pellets just lined up in single file so each entry hole was used by multiple pellets.

We know he's alive. We know his face and neck was not hamburger and he's not horribly disfigured. We know he wasn't shot at close range; the scatter pattern is fairly spread out, and even if his face wasn't at the center of the pattern, he was a good ways away. Maybe not 30 yards; but certainly more than 15 feet.

We know that the obvious conclusion that he was hit mostly from the side is accurate. I'm guessing that the discoloration is povidone (or whatever was used , although it might be the vestiges of bruising.

In other words, most of the unbridled speculation about Whittington's been completely shut down.

We don't know how many pellets penetrated his coat, or how deep they penetrated.