what is the scoop on the other shooting party members?

[Kali]

Any good info? What is this reference to "Swiss Miss" or possible mistresses I keep seeing?

[endarkenment]

1. The US Ambassador to Switzerland

It seems according to another DU post that she is quite good looking. So the hunting party is two old farts and two relatively young women. I'm going to engage in some wild and crazy tinfoil hat conspiracy babble: they were shooting more than guns and drinking more than branch.

[CottonBear]

2. See this DU thread on Mrs. Armstrong & the Ambassador to Switzerland:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=406465&mesg_id=406465

They are wealthy and well-connected Texas Republicans who are tied to the BFEE and Halliburton etc.

edit: a post about Mrs. Armstrong (Former Texas Parks & Wildlife Comm. Chairman: Katharine Armstrong Idsal):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2459883

[HamdenRice]

3. Katharine Armstrong has over $4 billion in business w/ Bush admin ...

In a research post I wrote, I explained the connections between Bush, Cheney and the owners of the ranch.

To put it bluntly, the ranch hostess, Katharine Armstrong is a lobbyist for companies doing business in Iraq and with the Pentagon.

One of her clients, Parsons, has over $4 billion in contracts in Iraq, which I presume, Cheney has a big role in distributing.

If this was a freebie junket, Cheney could be in big trouble for illegal lobbying

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=417384&mesg_id=417384

[Cleita]

4. Anybody got photos?

It might be fun to look for them in official photos, like the picture of Monica in the beret hugging Clinton.

[ClayZ]

5. Armstrong Ranch

http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPaybacks/pioneer_profile.cfm?pioneer_ID=509

Pioneer Tobin Armstrong’s ancestor, Texas Ranger John B. Armstrong, bought the beginnings of the Armstrong Ranch in 1882 with the $4,000 bounty he received for capturing outlaw John Wesley Hardin. In 1944 Tobin’s older brother wed an heir of legendary King Ranch (see Fausto Yturria), linking two of the biggest ranches in Texas. The Armstrong Ranch has since gone global, with tracts in Australia and South America. In recent years, Tobin and his wife, Anne, have hosted many GOP dignitaries--including the first and second President Bush--on their 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch in South Texas. “We go out when the dew is still on the grass, and then hunt until we shoot our limit,” Tobin said in 2000 of his ranch outings with Dick Cheney. “Then we pick a fine spot and have a wild game picnic lunch.” True conservatives might choke on their javelina steaks if they knew that Tobin Armstrong dunned the government for $11,336 in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2002, according to the Environmental Working Group. Anne Armstrong served as: a close advisor to President Nixon; President Ford’s British Ambassador; and approved covert actions on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under Reagan. A veteran of blue-chip corporate boards, Anne Armstrong was a Halliburton director when that corporation hired Cheney. She is Kay Bailey Hutchison’s best friend, having helped launch the senator’s career as Republican National Committee co-chair in 1971. George W. Bush appointed Anne Armstrong as a Texas A&M regent in 1997. She and her husband were part of Laura Bush’s delegation to the funeral of Queen Mother Elizabeth in 2002. As a Kenedy County Commissioner in 2001, Tobin Armstrong expressed serious reservations about a short-lived Bush administration plan to relocate a Navy bomb-testing site from Puerto Rico to the fragile sand dunes of a local beach. Daughter Katharine Armstrong--formerly Katherine Idsal--and ex-son-in-law Warren Idsal also are Pioneers. President Bush invited Tobin, Anne and Katharine Armstrong to a White House sleepover.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. Hmmmmm, let's see

Two old geezers and two nice looking younger ladies none of whom are married to each other - out on a hunting expedition - together?

Well. Well. Well. I've heard more than my share of fundie preachers condemn even the most innocent meetings between a man and woman who are not married to each other. No business lunch meetings in a public resturant. Or private office meetings with door closed. Gotta have a third party present, keep both feet on the floor and, by all means, avoid direct eye contact. Better yet just keep those women home and out of the workforce.

Seriously, the fundies need to be reminded over and over again just how inappropriate the outing was - even before shots were fired. I mean really if it is inappropriate for me to meet a colleague of the opposite sex for a working lunch in a public environment then pairing for this little hunting expedition ought to set off all sorts of alarm bells among those same fundies.