As I read SusanG's diary (excellent)and the following comments (over 200), I couldn't help but wonder how Mr. Whittington is feeling about all of this. I mean, the man wasn't doing anything except
GETTING SHOT BY THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
Now, it's his fault, and Cheney is the VICTIM?
We have truly arrived in Orwellville, and it's not a pretty sight. It wasn't pretty in 1949, when Orwell wrote "1984". And it appears that Karl Rove has engaged in what gets kids thrown out of college: the art of plagerism. Lies are the truth.
Like I said, I'm wondering about Whittington. If he's conscious, he has to be hearing the reports that Cheney's appearing to blame him for Cheney "peppering" him in the face with buckshot. He's suffered a mild heart attack. He's 78 years old. And Cheney, while uttering platitudes
"I take responsibility", that came out as unapologetic as a hooker for not satisfying her john and he demands a refund.
Dick Cheney has never looked good to America in any shape, form or fashion - his 24% approval rating is evidence of that. But to attempt to spin this situation to portray him as the "victim" is an all out affront and insult to the intelligence of every American who has tuned out Fox News, and their "enabler" Brit Hume.
All I know, is that, if I'm Whittington, and I'm laying in the hospital, listening to Cheney spin this situation as though I purposely wanted to get shot and walked into the line of fire, I would be on the phone to the authorities and to my lawyer, accusing Cheney of attempted homicide. We have to ask: why is Whittington, or Whittington's wife, being so quiet? Yes, I've heard about the speculation that two women not Cheney and Whittington's wives were along on the hunting trip. That's another diary altogether...
Like some of you, if not most, my father hunted wild game when I was a child. Squirrel, jackrabbit, phesant, raccoon, even armadillos (I'm from Texas orginally). And, we ate whatever he shot and killed. And, he didn't take anyone with him, except my brothers, and even then, that was rare. My father didn't do "canned" hunts; he hunted wild game. So, if he were alive, my father would say that Cheney was getting on the side nookie and had to shoot something to make his hunting trip look legit.
God Forbid, what if Whittington dies from complications as a result? Every time I've read about a person getting accidentally shot by someone pointing a gun in their general direction, I've usually seen the police crawling up and down their asses, and pick apart every inch of their lives for personal motivation in attempting homicide. They do not let up until they are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting was accidental.
Hell, the police will slap handcuffs on a five year old child for throwing a temper tantrum these days. And the fact that Cheney hasn't at least been investigated is smelling like that "five miles of foulness" described by Morgan Freeman in "The Shawshank Redemption". And they are trying to make Cheney come out "clean, on the other side."
So, I'm guessing that either Whittington has been paid off (not likely, since he was a GOP donor) or Mrs. Whittington would rather not draw any attention to the fact that another female was with her husband at the time he gets a face full of buckshot from Dick Cheney, and that's why there's no noise coming out of the Whittington camp about the White House and Cheney's attempt to "swiftboat" Whittington.
All I will say is that I would sing as loud as I could about where I was, what I said, and what I was doing when Cheney shot me, and allow you, the public, to decide why Cheney shot me; if I were Whittington. There's not enough prestiege, party loyalty, or money that would silence my attempts to get the word out that the Vice-President shot me.
God help Cheney if this man's condition gets worse - it may get to a point where even the most wingnuttiest of rightwing pundits can't spin Cheney clean.