UPDATE
A great bumper sticker:

END UPDATE
I really wasn’t even going to comment on this story since I saw it as no big deal. So there was an accident involving two friends. Big freakin deal. But after hearing about this press conference today you know there was no way I was going to stay out of this one.
First of all, look at this .pdf file of hunting accidents in 2004 which details 17 pages of accidents throughout the United States in one year alone. Many of these were described EXACTLY like Cheney’s accident. But to hear the press conference today you would have thought this was a REAL crime, something like chappaquiddick.
Just imagine if chutzpah destabilized the space-time continuum. Then imagine Ted Kennedy taking to the floor of the Senate to denounce Cheney’s accident reporting protocols. Space and time would fold in on themselves in the well of the Senate and while Ted would vanish in a fzzztt…spork! and a burst of ozone, maybe a cool pterodactyl or woolly mammoth would escape through the rip in existence and terrorize the capitol.
Do these reporters understand how foolish they look?
They went on and on about the fact that they feel they HAVE to be notified seconds after an accident happens during a personal trip by the VP:
Q Scott, do you think that the shooting accident involving the Vice President on Saturday should have been disclosed to the public on Saturday?
Q Well, I assume that people — he got immediate medical attention. Aside from the medical attention, which I’m sure was swift, isn’t there a public disclosure requirement that should have kicked in immediately?
Q But let’s just be clear here. The Vice President of the United States accidentally shoots a man and he feels that it’s appropriate for a ranch owner who witnessed this to tell the local Corpus Christi newspaper, and not the White House press corps at large, or notify the public in a national way?
Poor widdle reporters got their feelings hurt since a local paper got notified first. I love this response after Scott answered the above question:
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think we all know that once it is made public, then it’s going to be news and all of you all are going to be seeking that information. And the Vice President’s Office was ready to provide additional information to reporters. There was no traveling White House press corps with the Vice President, as there is with the President in a situation like this —
Q Right, that’s a distinction without a difference, really. I mean, we have Blackberries —
Yeah, Cheney should have stopped whatever he was doing and yelled for a blackberry “we need to get the press notified NOW!”
Come on people, get a grip. They make sure the injured party gets to a hospital, gets treatment, gather all the information:
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in terms of my involvement, first of all, Saturday night I find out that there was a hunting accident — it was late Saturday night — of a member in his party. But I did not know who was involved in that hunting accident. It wasn’t until very early Sunday morning that I found out that the Vice President was involved in this accident. And, of course, in a position like mine, I was urging that that information be made available as quickly as possible and the Vice President’s Office was working to get that information out.
Q So as of Saturday night, you didn’t know, the White House did not know that Vice President Cheney was involved?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, there were details coming in throughout that night and into the morning. There was additional information coming in at 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., and even after that.
Q But, again, Saturday night, you did not know the Vice President was involved, you just thought someone from his hunting party was —
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I, personally, was informed by the Situation Room that there had been a hunting accident, and that is was a member of the Vice President’s hunting party. But I didn’t have additional information other than that at this point. Obviously, I asked questions about — is he okay, and who was involved — and they didn’t have those facts at that point.
Q So Sunday morning you first learned that it was the Vice President?
MR. McCLELLAN: Early Sunday morning, that’s correct.
Q And then what was your reaction about letting the public know? Did the Vice President’s Office tell you that they would turn this over to Katherine Armstrong, and that —
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I had additional discussions, and I knew that the Vice President’s Office was working to get information out. I’m not going to get into all the discussions that I had — but it was the Vice President’s Office that took the lead on this.
Q But were you aware they were just going to allow a private citizen to inform a local paper of this, and not beyond that? Did you not have a suggestion on how to inform the public?
What a private citizen! How DARE he!
They then go on and on about “when did the President know, when when when….”
Then more yelling and snivelling, more digging for any dirt such as:
Q Has the Vice President always had a hunting license whenever he’s gone hunting? There was an item in one of the wire stories this morning that he had a license prior to November, but other stories say he goes every year to Texas —
Oh puhlease, these people are insane.
Want some more proof of where these idiots biases lie?
Q Is it proper for the Vice President to offer his resignation or has he offered his resignation —
Can’t get any better then this.
Here this dummy tries to equate this with the Levee story:
Q Scott, when you consider the chronology you’re trying to go through here, and all of the various wrinkles of how long it took for the primary information that the Vice President was the person who shot this fellow to get through to the President, himself, is there any notion here of reviewing your own communications apparatus? I mean, this is sort of reminiscent of the levee story, frankly, you know?
So let me get this straight. The lefties contend the President had the levee information early and didn’t act on it…here he tries to say what? That the President received the information on the shooting early on and didn’t do what? Slap the VP? Tell the press? Anyone help me with this one?
Argh:
Q Scott, under Texas law, is this kind of accidental shooting a possible criminal offense?
Already answered by the Sheriff prior to this press briefing, guess the information didn’t get to this dummy in a timely manner.
Q Will the Vice President — and the President, for that matter — continue to go hunting? And is there some thought about maybe this is too dangerous an activity for such an important person?
Wha-wa-wa-what? Now since they are important they can no longer continue to enjoy themselves? I just don’t understand these people.
Then there is this dummies, aka David Gregory, blow-up:
Why was the White House relying on a Texas rancher to get the word of Cheney’s hunting accident out over the weekend, asked Gregory, accusing McClellan of “ducking and weaving.”
“David, hold on? the cameras aren’t on right now,” McClellan replied. “You can do this later.”
“Don’t accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras,” the newsman said, his voice rising somewhat. “Don?t be a jerk to me personally when I?m asking you a serious question.”
“You don’t have to yell,” McClellan said.
”
I will yell,” said Gregory, pointing a finger at McClellan at his dais. “If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don?t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that?s wrong.”“Calm down, Dave, calm down,” said McClellan, remaining calm throughout the exchange.
“I’ll calm down when I feel like calming down,” Gregory said. “You answer the question.’
“I have answered the question,” said McClellan, who had maintained that the vice president’s office was in charge of getting the information out and worked with the ranch owner to do that. “I’m sorry you’re getting all riled up about.”
“I am riled up,” Gregory said, “because you?re not answering the question,”
McClellan insisted he understood that reporters deserve an answer.
“I think you have legitimate questions to ask,” the press secretary said. “The vice president?s office was the one that took the lead to get this information out? I don?t know what else to tell you… That’s my answer.”
This whole thing is ludicrous. The VP is on a personal trip with friends, no press corps. The shooting happens, they get him medical treatment (which is a bit different in this kind of rural area then say downtown DC), they make sure all the facts are in then they authorize the property owner to tell the press. So the hell what?
The lefties have completely and utterly lost it.
As for the incident itself, I am not a hunter but do know many hunters. Most of them say it appears it was both of these guys fault. The shooter for not being totally certain the field of fire was clear and the victim for breaking protocol: (via David Drake)
My dad hunted, as did his brothers and his brothers-in-law. My brothers hunt. I hunt. Many of my friends in high school and college hunt. Many of those I hang with today hunt. So I think I have some insight into the safety of hunting.
The number one rule in hunting is that you never point your gun at something unless you intend to kill it.
The number two rule is you never forget Rule One.
I’m sure fellow hunters may debate the order of what rules follow Rules One and Two. But essentially, when hunting in a group, you always advise the members in your hunting party when you are leaving the group AND when you are returning to the group. Mr. Whittingon did not advise the hunting party of his presence.
You also do not shoot in the direction of your kill if you are not certain that it is clear of people. This is very different from following and tracking a bird in flight in your site, say a pheasant, waiting for the moment to know you have said prey in your site and pulling the trigger. At this fraction of a second, as you pull the trigger, if someone unknown to you suddenly sticks their face or body in front of or near the barrel of your gun, they have put themselves in harm way. And this is what happened, from all that I’ve read and heard today, to the man hunting with VP Cheney.
People get shot in hunting accidents, that is a fact. Most are non-life threatening, otherwise Sarah Brady and those like her would be making sure that hunting accident stories resulting in a death were never taken off the front page.
The other big “scandal” is if he had a hunting license…gasp:
It has been brought to the Vice President?s attention by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department this afternoon that, although he had acquired a 125 dollar Texas non-resident season hunting license, he lacked a 7 dollar stamp for hunting upland game birds. To address any questions about the licensing:
A member of the Vice President?s staff wrote a check for 140 dollars understanding that this would purchase a Texas non-resident season hunting license that would permit the Vice President to hunt quail in Texas. It appears now that the license itself cost 125 dollars, and an extra 15 dollars covered the cost of a Federal migratory bird stamp. The Vice President did not need the Federal stamp, as he already possessed one.
The staff asked for all permits needed, but was not informed of the 7 dollar upland game bird stamp requirement.
Because the requirement is new, the Department has informed us that it is issuing warnings, and the Vice President expects to receive one. He will take whatever steps are needed to comply with applicable rules.
In the meantime, the Vice President has sent a 7 dollar check to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which is the cost of an upland game bird stamp.
Omg, impeach him NOW!
The real story in this whole thing is the Press is going bonkers because they didn’t get the story first. My opinion? Eff them and the horse they rode in on.
IF ONLY (via SondraK)
Other’s Blogging:
- Sister Toldjah
- Michelle Malkin
- Riehl World View
- In The Bullpen
- Blackfive
- Say Anything
- Macsmind
- Mike’s America
- Rightwing Nation
- Moonbattery
- Ed Driscoll
- Daily Pundit
- Gina Cobb
- Never Yet Melted
- Expose The Left
- Iowa Voice
- Joe’s Dartblog
- The Baltimore Reporter
- The New Editor
But to hear the press conference today you would have thought this was a REAL crime, something like chappaquiddick.

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Thanks for the mention Curt, much appreciated. You analyzed the entire MSM reaction very well.
Nice photo too, of Sheehan and El-Lardo.
Stay well!
Thesmokinggun blog has a copy posted of the police report. Rather average. Note the “no hunter course required” for those born before sept 1971. Unhinged would be a good adjective to describe these biased “vultures”.