Man shot by Dick Cheney: "I was lucky" to escape death

[Doc Savage Fan]

Minimizing his injuries, allowing the White House to blame him for the shooting and no apology from Dick Cheney??

This sheds lights into what kind of human being Cheney really is...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39666953/ns/us_news-life/?Gt1=43001

This story is 5 years old! This sheds some light for sure...on MSNBC and the kind of human being you are.

 

[Lemon law]

I basically hate Dick Cheney with a passion, but this was a late evening hunting accident, and Wittington and the entire hunting party joined forces to try to cover it up until the wounds became infected.

A regrettable accident certainly, but still a human mistake.

That is not why I hate Dick Cheney as an inhumane monster.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

cheney needs to apologize to him, as well as to the country, to iraq, to afghanistan and to the whole human race for his crimes against humanity

 

[Perknose]

This story is 5 years old! This sheds some light for sure...on MSNBC and the kind of human being you are.

Yup. He's the kind of human being who remembers and is interested in his own country's recent political and social history. I join you in applauding him.

You were applauding him, right?

 

[trenchfoot]

"Shooting" is an exaggeration. I have it on good authority (second highest in the land at the time) that he actually just "peppered him pretty good". So while Cheney did mistake his hunting partner for a bird, he actually just seasoned him with pepper accidentally when he went to prepare the bird for roasting.

lol, yeah it looks like he almost got seasoned too much actually, especially if he got seasoned in his eyes more. But then, Cheney would have really gotten off the hook easier because the guy wouldn't be able to identify him in a lineup.

From the spread pattern on the guy's face it looks like he was pretty close to Cheney when he got sprinkled. And just for the fact that the guy was facing Cheney when he got capped has a lot of significance liability-wise.

 

[trenchfoot]

I basically hate Dick Cheney with a passion, but this was a late evening hunting accident, and Wittington and the entire hunting party joined forces to try to cover it up until the wounds became infected.

A regrettable accident certainly, but still a human mistake.

That is not why I hate Dick Cheney as an inhumane monster.

You brought up an interesting point. Is it even legal to hunt birds at night? And if they weren't actually hunting why was Cheney lugging around a loaded unlocked firearm outside of the hide?

 

[werepossum]

You brought up an interesting point. Is it even legal to hunt birds at night? And if they weren't actually hunting why was Cheney lugging around a loaded unlocked firearm outside of the hide?

It was still legal hunting hours. One of the most important rules in group hunting birds is to maintain the line, because when you're swinging a shotgun tracking a fast-moving bird it's easy to miss someone where they aren't supposed to be. Therefore the victim does have some culpability. One of the most important rules in any hunting is to make sure you have a clear, safe field of view, which in group bird hunting you do by keeping track of everyone's position before a bird is jumped. So Cheney has even more culpability. Wolfe explained why Cheney hasn't apologized, although I doubt he wrote a check for this. The guy wasn't seriously injured, and he's quite wealthy. I've known quite non-wealthy guys hit as bad with no charges and no money changing hands; this kind of stuff happens. (Which is just another reason I don't do ANYTHING in a group with a bunch of men.)

 

[Lemon law]

Tweaker maybe I should have said late afternoon, but the setting sun was in Cheney's eyes, and in those conditions its very hard to clearly see everything in the line of fire.

Anyone, hunter of not, who has flushed a covey of quail understands the shock and noise that those flushed birds creates, and quail often fly low to the ground. And if an the shot must be made at some acute angle, rather than straight away, you have to lead the the bird. So yes I can understand such hunting accidents are possible under those type conditions.

 

[bfdd]

I basically hate Dick Cheney with a passion, but this was a late evening hunting accident, and Wittington and the entire hunting party joined forces to try to cover it up until the wounds became infected.

A regrettable accident certainly, but still a human mistake.

That is not why I hate Dick Cheney as an inhumane monster.

Dick Cheney is the man and you don't fuck with the man LL.

 

[Thump553]

werepossum: read the article linked in the OP-the guy was actually pretty seriously hurt, unlike as was disclosed five years ago.

 

[HomerJS]

All the people supporting Cheney, do you think the results would have been the same if the shooting had been reversed?????

 

[Lanyap]

Really? You're making a thread about this?

It's close to elections and they don't have much left to talk about except evil republicans.

 

[woolfe9999]

This guy seemed like such a loyal soldier at the time, I'm astonished that he finally came forth publically so many years after the shooting.

woolfe9999, I think you are reading far too much into it. I'm not sure where this shooting took place and what the statute of limitations is, but it almost certainly has passed. Cheney's apology would create no liability-as if there was any question as to who the shooter was in the first place. If there was a confidential settlement, the victim/lawyer would never have strayed beyond "no comment." I worked with an elderly lawyer who seems to be a clone of Whittington. Based on my experience and the comments made in the article, I think the article's conclusion that Cheney never manned up and apologized privately is almost certainly correct.

Statute of limitations (probabaly 2 years) is irrelevant. I'm assuming they settled the matter awhile back, and that it was a confidential settlement. In fact, is there any question that this elderly lawyer sought payment from Cheney and settled out of court? Of course there isn't. Yet we aren't hearing about it, because it's confidential. Notice in the article he is only talking about the injury, not the incident or Cheney's liability.

You are probably right that him apologizing wouldn't add much to liability because there is no dispute that he fired the weapon. However, the political motive for not wanting an apology known to the public is more than sufficient in Cheney's case to explain a private apology accompanied by money and a confidentiality clause.

- wolf

 

[HomerJS]

The legal view is that when you are involved in an incident wherein another person is injured, it is foolish to apologize to that person, particularly where any third party can hear it. An apology is usually considered a tacit admission of legal responsibility. That is separate and apart from the political ramifications of tacitly admitting guilt.

Based on Whittington's refusal to comment on whether Cheney apologized in private, I suggest the following alternative scenario: Cheney did apologize to Whittington in private, and at the same time wrote him a big check, part of the terms of the settlement being that the apology be kept confidential, because Cheney did not want to publicly admit his responsibility.

Cheney is a class A asshole, and I think the White House blaming the victim here was beneath comtempt. However, I wouldn't assume that Cheney didn't apologize in private, or feel bad about the incident.

- wolf

I thought the GOP was all about personal resposibility? Cheney was responsible. Oh yeah, there's that hypocrate thing.

 

[bfdd]

All the people supporting Cheney, do you think the results would have been the same if the shooting had been reversed?????

No it wouldn't because Cheney would have consumed this mans soul as pay back.

 

[trenchfoot]

OK, thanks werepossum, Lemon law. That explains a lot about the incident.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Why can't an accident just be an accident?

 

[bfdd]

Why can't an accident just be an accident?

because Cheney is the devil(or so I heard) so he had to have done it on purpose.

 

[Moonbeam]

Cheny shot that guy in the face. He also murdered thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

 

[rudder]

So fucking what, it's an example of how this works, if you are powerful enough you can shoot people without being charged with even negligence.

ONLY in America.

okay I will bite. What good would it have done for authorities to charge cheney with ordinary negligence? Did cheney blatantly disregard the need to use reasonable care? Did he fail to excercise reasonable care? Did he shoot the guy with criminal intent? Did the victim want charges pressed?

Sure Cheney is a douche for not apologizing publicly but I can see why he would not legally... the guy could die from a pellet and his family would sue Cheney.

If all parties are in agreement why should authorities pursue charges?

 

[Genx87]

Victim:

Harry Dean Stanton:

Seperated at birth?

"Life as a repoman is always intense!

 

[rudder]

You are probably right that him apologizing wouldn't add much to liability because there is no dispute that he fired the weapon. However, the political motive for not wanting an apology known to the public is more than sufficient in Cheney's case to explain a private apology accompanied by money and a confidentiality clause.

- wolf

Cheney pulled the trigger... but that does not necessarily mean he was at fault. An apology would indicate that he was at fault. Same thing with auto accidents and why you keep your mouth shut. You may rear end someone... but that does not automatically mean you are at fault depending on state laws.

The guy who was shot may not seek damages but if he passed away and some doctor said a pellet could have possibly caused his death or that the gunshot was possibly a factor... you can bet his family would sue.

 

[werepossum]

werepossum: read the article linked in the OP-the guy was actually pretty seriously hurt, unlike as was disclosed five years ago.

You're right. I skimmed the article and looked at the picture, then assumed they were consistent with what I'd already read. Those were some pretty serious injuries, much more so than I thought.

 

[techs]

If the guy had accidentally shot Cheney he'd be in Gitmo.

 

[Lemon law]

We now understand exactly how serious hurt Wittman was, but Wittman and the entire hunting party mutually conspired to cover the incident up until Wittman's injuries became infected. And only after he sought medical attention it became clear that his injuries were far more severe that initially suspected.

Nor is easy to believe the Wittman line that Dick Cheney never apologized, because its my understanding that Dick Cheney was very shaken up by the accident, and everyone in the hunting party including Cheney knew a good part of the blame belonged to Cheney. But all were covering for Cheney because as soon as Wittman went to a doctor, the law demanded any gunshot wounds be made public.

As much as I hate Dick Cheney and defending him, honesty demands the truth and not just a another soapbox to spew revisionist history lies.

But the world wonders and many hope that the quail got away unscathed.