The Cheney Hunting Incident

The Cheney Hunting File:

The traditional media and the blogosphere are abuzz with questions about the drinking Cheney did before hunting; whether his medications, combined with alcohol, may have played a role; and whether this explains why he didn’t alert the media for so long about the accident (i.e., did he need the time to get the intoxicants out of his system?).

Some of the best writing on the alcohol issue:

• Think Progress: McClellan Ducks Questions on Role of Alcohol
• AMERICAblog: What did Cheney drink and when did he drink it?
• Tucker Carlson: You CanӒt Drink A Beer If You Shoot. Period.
• Think Progress: Inconsistencies in statements of Cheney’s “star witness”
• Raw Story: ‘Beer quote’ scrubbed from MSNBC story
• The Nation’s John Nichols: Cheney has a lot more explaining to do

Earlier articles and commentary

• Molly Ivins: Welcome back to the paradoxical Bush/Cheney “responsibility society,” where no one (starting with the administration) takes responsibility. column https://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060213_accident_hunting_cheney/
• The president says, “I thought the vice president handled the issue just fine,” but declines to discuss details of Cheney’s late disclosure of the hunting accident.
• In a gesture admirable in its sentiment but inexcusable in its belatedness, the vice president tells Fox News that he alone is to blame for the accident. He called it “one of the worst days of my life.” (video or story) He does not, however, apologize for having a private citizen break the news to the world–almost 24 hours late.
• Republicans are chastizing the vice president for his slow and unapologetic disclosure of the hunting incident. As well they should. For an administration that orchestrated Bush’s aircraft carrier photo-op, this episode seems particularly bush league.
• Harry Whittington, the 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident, has a birdshot pellet in his heart and had “a minor heart attack” Tuesday morning. He is back in intensive care. | story
• The ER chief at the Texas hospital, asked if the birdshot could endanger Whittington’s life, responded: “When birdshot is in your body, there’s always the risk they can move. We’ll watch very closely for any migration.”
• Account of Doctors raises questions on heart injury
• Think Progress: Scott McClellan concealed the heart attack from the press.
• A White House spokesman cracked jokes on the record about the incident (before Whittington suffered the heart attack).
• The Smoking Gun surfaces the Texas hunting accident report. (hat tip: Huffington Post)
• The lowdown on what hunting rules Cheney broke.
• Slow Leak: Time publishes an inside account of why Cheney didn’t publicly disclose news of the accident for 24 hours.
• Unloading on Cheney: Comedians take aim at the vice president.