At least now they're not using the word "peppered"

[XOKCowboy]

anymore. I sure hope Whittington pulls through this. It looks like he got it good.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. They've over-salted the media with "peppered"

Yes, I know -- that was inexcusable.

:evilgrin:

--p!

[rox63]

2. "Peppered" makes it sound

like he was just well-seasoned.

[booksenkatz]

3. They're not? Damn!

[XOKCowboy]

4. LOL Love it!

:rofl:

[swimboy]

5. Everyone who tried to minimize the severity of what happened

is going to get smeared.

[mikeytherat]

9. I was raised in a family of hunters, and got my first gun safety lessons

from the NRA! Deadeye Dick violated every cardinal rule of gun safety, and it nearly cost someone his life (and it still might, as Whittington went into cardiac arrest this afternoon from "migrating" birdshot, as I predicted he might - ask "Mrs. Rat").

I learned all about REAL hunting in Utah, and stopped once we came to Virginia. Why? Virginia hunters! Booze and guns, shooting at sounds, all rules of gun safety and basic cognitive thinking dismissed - lifetime hunters, we hung it all up out of a fear of getting shot.

The attempt to downplay the severity of someone with 80-100 pellets of No. 6 birdshot in his face and chest absolutely sickened and infuriated me (again, ask Mrs. Rat - I was pissed!). If, as Dickless Cheney claims, he was using a "half-load" of No. 6, that means Whittington absorbed about 50% of the load. If he'd been using No. 7 or 8 shot and been a little closer, it would all be over.

Also, point out to everyone you know that Cheney is NOT a hunter, he's a shooter (hunters stalk their prey, shooters have the prey delivered to them to shoot. Essentially, he's a skeet and target practice shooter using LIVE ANIMALS as targets. Sick, and totally anathema to hunting). And, more to the point, he's what hunters call a "sluicer" - he shoots low, and shoots on sound, not sight (in bird hunting, the barrel of your shotgun should not dip below 45 degrees, for obvious reasons). If he was in my hunting party, we'd take his gun away from him and make him sit in the car for the rest of the day!

mikey_the_rat

[XOKCowboy]

12. For the NRA poster boy he showed terrible skills here...

The people I grew up would never go hunting with him again. People who HEARD about it would never hunt with him. There are rules you follow with firearms and he broke every one of them. What infuriates me is the effort being made to show it being Whittington's fault! If he was walking up behind Cheney then Deadeye had to swing almost 180 degrees at horizon level and then fire. That's 3 Stooges kinda stuff and it would never be tolerated by the hunters I know.

[giant_robot]

6. Yes. Over 100 pellets in the face, neck and chest isn't "peppered"

That's "fucking shot".

[XOKCowboy]

13. "in the face, by the Vice President, of the United States, of America

Sorry I can't get last night's TDS skit out of my head! :)

[Skidmore]

7. This poor man. I know he's got a stinky past and hanging out with

Cheney does not indicate he has good judgement, but no man deserves this.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. I knew they were lying when I heard "peppered". It's like when they

use the word "spoof".

[central scrutinizer]

10. Jon Stewart said it best

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/13.html#a7149

hysterical - must see video

[Peace Patriot]

11. There are a couple of things that are really botherering me. Anybody else

got any clues?

1. How could they let Whittington out of ICU with birdshot (or whatever it was) still in his body? Wouldn't an MRI show up where it was? And if he had pellets anywhere near or in an artery--which could be pumped to his heart--how could they not have, a) sought to remove them, or b? kept him under close watch/monitoring in ICU?

2. How could the Secret Service have let an old guy with a rifle wander off to an unseen location, from the V-P's hunting party, then return and "surprise" Cheney? Was the Secret Service drunk, too?

I think #2 is a phony story.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. I'm no expert but,

I expect that poor man is going to have loads of shot in his body for the rest of his life (however short a period that is). They can't keep him hospitalized indefinitely for that. Alot of the time, it's safer just to leave it in than it is to remove it. Also, there is no way they would do an MRI on someone with metal in him. That would create a very ugly scene indeed.

My guess is that nobody in that hunting party who values their life is ever going to squeal about what really happened out there.

[XOKCowboy]

16. Oh didn't think about an MRI with birdshot in your body... shudder

I also doubt we'll ever really know what happened.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. I've been Peppered, You've been Peppered, She's been Peppered..

When you hunt quail with Cheney you'll be Peppered too!