Hey George - you wrap that lethal weapon of your's (w129) around any
pickups lately?
p.
George Gregory wrote:
BZZZZZZZZT Wrong....
TPWD incident report pins the blame squarely on Cheney.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/washington_wire.html
Monday, Feb. 13
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's incident report on Vice President
Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting partner Saturday pins the
blame largely on Cheney.
In evaluating "contributing factors," the game warden checked off the box:
"Victim covered by shooter who was swinging on game." In its summary, the
report says that 78-year-old Harry Whittington "downed a bird and went to
retrieve it. While he was out of the hunting line another covey was flushed
and Cheney swung on a bird and fired striking Whittington in the face, neck
and chest at approximately 30 yards."
Lydia Saldaña, spokeswoman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said
Cheney would also receive a warning citation because he did not have the
proper "upland game bird stamp" required to hunt quail, but that he would
not be fined.
The game warden's report contradicts earlier claims from the White House and
Katharine Armstrong, the owner of the Texas ranch where the shooting
occurred. Earlier Monday, the White House cited Armstrong's view that
Whittington was at fault. "She pointed out that the protocol was not
followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying the others that he was
there," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Some hunting groups chastised the vice president. "It's incumbent upon the
shooter to assess the situation and make sure it's a safe shot," Mark
Birkhauser, president-elect of the International Hunter Education
Association, told the Associated Press.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the paper that first broke the story,
identified the third hunter in the party as Pamela Willeford, the U.S.
Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and a former chairman of the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Cheney's office would not confirm
the report that Willeford was the third hunter. --Christopher Conkey
On 2/14/06 11:33 AM, "Rich Thomas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
The shootee walked into the field of fire without announcing his
presence, a dumb maneuver and he should have known better or should have
stayed on the porch. Has nothing to do with whether the veep or some
random Bubba shot him, the guy did something stupid, and the shooter had
no reason to expect that someone was there. In this type of hunting,
that's how it is. No laws broken, except perhaps another supporting
observation for Darwinism. It was an accident, which happen in many and
varied ways to most everyone.
The permit he didn't have was recently newly instituted, TDFW says many
hunters do not yet know about it, so if they are found without the
permit they get a small fine and the sticker. It's no big deal, like a
parking ticket. Yeah, he should have known (or somebody should have)
but it hardly ranks up there with murder by the imperial class.
Not really a whole lot to rant about here, but bandwidth is cheap.
--R
