A 78 year old guy got shot! Quick, let's mine the comic potential in it so we can prod the administration. It's not like it's something really serious, like the funeral of a civil rights leader, or something.

Well, I'll give you the cameras thing, but it's debatable that what he was doing could be called "hunting".

Gee, why not just ask PETA what they think? (And while we're at it let's slam streams that are cruelly and brutally stocked with trout, too.)

I do hope you noticed that the press release you cite doesn't actually refer to "what Cheney was doing when the accident happened", but rather to something back in 2003?

I didn't say anything about morals. I eat meat. I just wouldn't say that meat packers are hunting cows or that skeet shooters are hunting skeet. And the differentiation between canned hunts and actual hunting is made by hunters (who look down on canned hunts in paticular) more than activists (who dislike hunting in general).

But I will offer a mea culpa on the date. I pulled the trigger too fast on my post, shall we say.

Or if his plan was merely to "shock and awe" Whittington, with a pre-emptive strike?

Spexxvet, made me laugh out loud.

(PS-I always want to make your name SEXpet. Isn't that weird?)

hahaha Spex. That was a funny one!

ha ha, yes, but when you posted, did you do it with your eyes closed?

I checked the link, despite the date on that story I'd be shocked if this wasn't a stocked hunt. Or mike hunt maybe. sorry.

and another thing: C– You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

Dang! Is the movie as funny as the quotes lead one to believe?

Moreso.

You MUST see this movie.

Actually, how the heck have you missed seeing it? For the last couple of years it has been run for 24 contiguous hours on either TNT or TBS on Christmas Eve.

The beauty of the 24 hour marathon is that no matter when you flip it on, it's always a good part.

Cool, thanks!

On a different note, browsing the Google News (NOW! Out of Beta!) one of the funnier headlines was "Open Season On Cheney". I didn't read that article, but the next two were interesting. How Did Dick Cheney Break the No.1 Rule of Hunting? which contained this excerpt:
And then this one, Cheney and shooting victim were hunting illegally, officials say with this quote:I am not a hunter. I appeal to the hunters in the audience to educate me. I'm not looking for an indictment of Cheney, he's already done enough for me to make my own decisions. And I understand the responsibility for safety afield is a shared responsibility, not all one and none for the other. But I am looking for some clues here as to how this happened and how / who should have acted differently to avoid it.

I have another thought...

What would be the story if everything else was the same, but Whittington shot Cheney? It could have happened... Would there have been a 24 hour delay in the reportage? Would the reaction to the shooter have been the same? It's an interesting thought exercise.

Oh, and if there are only three to a hunting party, where the hell was the Secret Service?

When I first saw the news about this I couldn't help but think "what the hell?".
I shoot in matches, and hunt as well - I always identify my target before pulling the trigger. I'm sure he used to do the same, but it's looking like he's an elderly man that needs to get his drivers license taken away.
Scary.

Why do you feel Cheney should have immediately notified the press?
I don't believe he had any obligation to tell the press at all. I think it's a sad commentary of the state of the press when they expect to be handed stories without any investigating.

I also think that Clinton, when asked about the Ho, should have said it's none of your business. :p