Dick Shot the Man in the HEART!

[Stephanie]

Wow. It's not really that funny any more. If he dies is it manslaughter?

[LiberalVoice]

1. Maybe he was trying to tear it out of him...

I hear if he eats it it becomes his :P

[Patriot_4_Peace]

29. Joke

What did Dick Cheney say to Patrick Leahy when he was angry at him.

Hey pat? Want to go hunting?

[Stanchetalarooni]

2. Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

3. Link??

I hadn't heard this one.

[arcos]

9. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Top banner...

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

43. Thanks

As soon as I asked for a link I went to the latest news and geez, heart attack, birdshot in the heart muscle.

What a maroon our VP is!

[Mutley]

31. heres another

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/14/cheney/

[goclark]

4. Stephanie, is there a link to the heart story? nt

[SillyGoose]

7. Its on CNN right now...Mr. W had a minor heart attack; birdshot lodged

in his heart.

[goclark]

15. Just saw the link ! Horrible

When I think how he must be suffering, it reminds me of the injuries to our soldiers and the Katrina victims.

My prayers go to the victim and his family.:scared:

[cliss]

5. Maybe this is going to be the way

to get rid of Cheney. The world has been waiting. We've all been waiting.

Although, I thought Cheney would be taken out the legal way - through the court system.

This should just hasten his demise - Thank God.

[warrens]

13. Maybe Bush too, for covering it up for 20 hours

[LisaM]

6. I heard face, neck, and chest

I didn't think it had actually hit his heart.

[NanceGreggs]

8. Hospital spokesman on CNN just said ...

... when asked about what treatment Whittington would undergo immediately, "We've discussed it with White House staff, we've discussed it with our cardio specialists ..."

He rattled off a list of specialists who are currently deciding on a treatment plan.

"WE'VE DISCUSSED IT WITH THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF ...?"

WTF is THAT all about?

He then assured reporters that the medical team in charge would be using 'conservative' methods initially ... good thing for Whittington they're going with the 'conservative method', rather than the 'Neo-Con method', which would be to declare him an enemy combatant and ship him off to Gitmo ...

[Stephanie]

12. Discussed it with WH STAFF??!!!

What business is it of THEIRS? The man has a FAMILY. His daughter commented yesterday. WTF is the WH butting into his health care decisions for? Who did they discuss it with, Rove???

[libnnc]

14. What kind of HIPPA laws are there in TX?

Why are the WH staff discussing ANYTHING with the docs?

[Lars39]

17. HIPPA laws are basically suspended whenever bush or cheney

are in the vicinity.

on edit: I meant that this administration can snoop amongst the records if need be, for security reasons.

[EFerrari]

26. Yeah. We need to pre-empt those terrorist doctors. n/t

[Lars39]

40. I was told this by a research doctor at Vanderbilt.

Anytime Cheney or Bush or whoever high up in the food chain comes to Vanderbilt, they request all the patient records so that they can see if someone(or their family) would be a threat. No warrant.

[NanceGreggs]

18. My reaction exactly!

The guy rattled off a list of medical personnel who have been called in to consult - but the FIRST 'team' he mentioned was 'White House staff'.

Maybe a slip of the tongue (wasn't supposed to mention it) - or maybe a way to let the public and press KNOW that there's something amiss here ...

[WePurrsevere]

10. According to the other DU threads it migrated to his heart... scrap metal

and bird shot will do that depending on where it hits. It doesn't necessarily mean that he was hit in the heart directly.

News is on CNN.. It may be on the website by now.

[sandnsea]

28. Yes he certainly WAS

The graphic on Smoking Gun clearly shows the guy was hit in the left upper chest and neck. He wasn't life-flighted to Corpus with 2 days in ICU for nothing. This was always alot more than a superficial gun shot and everybody involved damned well knew it.

[WePurrsevere]

46. Sorry I missed the graphic. There may very be more then stated but

I also stand by what I said about bird shot, etc can migrate as the articles I originally read had suggested.

As for ICU... the victim is in his 70's and what I originally had read said that his face and neck had been hit. I also don't know the man's previous health condition (heart attacks, strokes, etc). Those factors, depending on the severity and location of the wounds in that area, could also potentially put him in ICU where he can be better monitered by the hospital staff and the items needed for rapid care are on site. As for being "life lifted" I hadn't read that however I also don't know the abilities nor localities of the hospitals in the area of the shooting. Up where we are on the border on Canada in NY it's not uncommon for folks to get "lifted" to a hospital in Vermont or occasionally Albany (hundreds of miles away) since those are more specialized then the more local hospitals for certain things. I also would imagine that since the VP shot the man he'd want to make darn sure he had the best care possible.

Mind you I'm also going on rather old medical training and info since I haven't been a practicing nurse in a long time, procedures are subject to change and memories are often subject to fade.

I am certainly not saying Cheney is not at fault, he broke the first rule of hunting and who knows what else happened that may have been covered up to cover Dick's backside. The type of wound this man received would never be considered by me as "superficial" nor did I intend to come across as thinking that. I know what bird shot can do even at 30 yards and having it hit an elderly man in particular and in the face, neck and chest area especially would and does have me deeply concerned for the victim. As for Cheney I'd just as soon see him thrown in Gitmo with all those he and BushCo allowed to be tortured allowed to have some pay back.

[sandnsea]

49. Seems it has been a long time

I can kind of tell. Ten years ago I'd have agreed with you. But I've seen too many people, elderly with good insurance even, booted out of the hospital in worse shape than one would be with a superficial bird shot wound. I had a doctor get mad at me right here at DU because I expressed outrage that an 80 year old woman wasn't kept for observation when she fell at our hospital and blackened the entire side of her face and neck. I have a friend who just got a new kind of neck surgery and will have a brace for 6 weeks, outpatient. He has a serious heart condition too. The situations where people are released from hospitals stun me, that's why I really believe this guy has been in very bad shape to be in ICU. And any hospital can pick some bird shot out of somebody, especially in rural America.

[TornadoTN]

11. I believe the report is that the shot is moving

The pellets that are lodged in his body are moving through his body, perhaps even entering his blood stream (pieces of the pellets) and this caused his heart attack.

[Jim__]

16. How could it be manslaughter?

Aftetr all, it wasn't even poor Dick's fault. Whittington walked right in front of the shotgun blast. Haven't you been paying attention?

[NanceGreggs]

19. If Whittington DOES die ...

... there will have to be SOME investigation, no matter how cursory. Which means the two men/two women pairing on a 'hunting' weekend will inevitably be talked about ...

[im10ashus]

20. CNN says it is a minor heart attack.

He wasn't shot IN the heart. The shots were very near the heart muscle. He will most likely be in there another week for observation.

[Stephanie]

42. no, he has a pellet in the heart

are you playing hooky today?

[FreedomAngel82]

21. Oh my gosh

No wonder they're really down playing this!

[EFerrari]

22. This is horrible. n/t

[im10ashus]

24. The bird shot moved into his heart area.

He wasn't shot in the heart but it is still very serious. At least another week under observation. CNN said the next public appearance for Darth Cheney will be on Friday in Wyoming. Why can't he make a public statement now? What an insensitive ass.

[EFerrari]

25. Now the spinners are saying, "It's not a TYPICAL heart attack"

and "part of the healing process."

:puke:

/'

[im10ashus]

27. I know.

They are doing their own spinning. They've probably sedated him so he can't tell the truth. This man will be lucky if he survives.

[Wind Dancer]

30. This is terrible news.

I wonder how the family is holding up under these circumstances. They have probably been ordered to keep their mouths shut.

They are in my thoughts and prayers.

[im10ashus]

32. It's strange they don't have more interviews with the family.

I've only HEARD of one interview and haven't seen one. Why is the White House speaking for him? It's very strange.

[Wind Dancer]

33. The whole situation is extremely strange.

We are use to the spin and cover-ups but this is beyond the norm even for these criminals.

[im10ashus]

34. Something bigger will come of this.

There is something WE aren't being told. Dick was loaded or something and that's the cover-up. It's par for the course, however, for this administration.

[Wind Dancer]

37. I hope so.

Scottie will not be able to avoid answering questions for much longer, it's becoming more and more obvious to the public that they are covering up something. We just don't know exactly what that is yet.

[Sydnie]

23. Involuntary manslaughter maybe

People have gone to jail for less in similar situations.

[Ovett]

35. AP is reporting it was Whittington's fault. n/t

[Sydnie]

41. So? AP reports (and doesn't report) lots of things

some are true and some aren't. That is why trials happen in a court and not in the newspapers.

edited to add - that is why it is called INVOLUNTARY. It might not have been your intention, but it is the outcome.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

44. Carry a loaded weapon and it is 100% your responsibility.

Where it's pointed when it goes off.

What's so ironic is that the hunters and fishermen in the Bush/Cheney base know whose fault it is and I don't see this spinning helping any, just making BushCO look bad.

[Stewie]

36. Traveled through the veins. I doubt it hit his heart

It's quail shot, which is smaller than a pinhead. Most of the time it doesn't even pass through the bird.

Much likelier scenario is the pellets in the neck entered a major vein and that's how it got lodged. Same way blood clots end up lodged in the heart (another problem for him to deal with too.)

[CottonBear]

38. Medical post on the topic from Firdoglake blog poster LittleBit:

...snip...

And then there is this bit from one of the medical folks in the audience, reader LittleBit:
Speaking as a 20-year veteran of The-Big-ICU-In-Knife-And-Gun-Club-Territory, there is no way in hell that the victim is relatively uninjured.

Shotgun injuries are some of the worst cases I have taken care of, due to the spread-shot nature of the wounds. If the victim got "peppered" in the neck, there are waaaayyyy too many important structures in that small space (oh, like maybe one of the internal or external carotid arteries) for this to be a "no big deal" situation. If any of the pellets nicks a blood vessel, it may travel as far as it can go--I took care of a kid shot in the chest and some pellets eneded up in his ankle, blocking the bloodflow, leading to an amputation. In this situation, add to that the victim's age and potential underlying medical problems--this is huge.

These days, God Almighty doesn't get to stay in the ICU unless it is absolutely imperative that He do so.

This stinks worse than a gangrenous leg....
Don't know about you guys, but that's an awful lot of questions that need to be asked by the press corps, isn't it? More to come.
more...
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[madokie]

39. for you or I or any of us here but not for dickie boy

Just think if someone in the clinton whitehouse,all the way down to the laundry person, the re:puke:'s would be hollering investigation, impeachment, you just can't trust them dam dem's on anything type shit.
Lock the bastards up where they belong so far back they have to pipe in sunshine and shoot beans to 'em.

[Catherine Vincent]

45. Whittington feels bad for the vice president:

<<Earlier in the morning, one of Whittington's four daughters, Peggy Puckett, said Whittington was feeling well. "It was just a terrible, terrible accident. No one was at fault," she said. "He feels bad for the vice president." Asked if Whittington agreed with accounts by others that the accident was Whittington's fault, Puckett replied, "He hasn't said anything like that." She said her father was an experienced hunter who has hunted for about 50 years. >>

off topic: Her last name is Phuckett? Oh my! :)

[txindy]

50. Oh, so Harry hasn't admitted fault? I'm shocked.

Not. He knows he wasn't to blame. The 'official story' is a crock.

[Dees]

47. Don't know for sure. But one thing for sure...

If this man should pass Cheney is directly responsible.

[LittleClarkie]

48. Truth be known

it was never funny, not when you thought about the guy getting shot in the face, anyway