Just because everybody else is ridiculing the bumbling Dark Lord Cheney for failing to distinguish an elderly gentleman from a small and tasty bird doesn't mean that I have to join in. Doesn't mean I have to avoid joining in either.
Update: Ignore the news reports that describe Mr Cheney as an avid and dedicated hunter. Thanks to Pharyngula, we find that what he prefers is "an increasingly popular and deplorable form of hunting, in which birds are pen-reared and released to be shot in large numbers by patrons. The ethics of these hunts are called into question by rank-and-file sportsmen, who hunt animals in their native habitat and do not shoot confined or pen-raised animals that cannot escape." This is not hunting at all. As Harry Hutton points out with regard to another pseudosport, "You could create a similar afternoon’s amusement by poking a caged rat for a couple of hours, then blowing its head off with a pistol."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
thepeople who believe everything Rush Limbaugh has to say!
For someone as interested in (although possibly not that proficient in the use of) firearms as Mr. Cheny, it's amazing that he fought so hard to stay out of the military when he was called up, repeatedly, during the Vietnam conflict. Perhaps he was aware of his location and shooting weakness and didn't want to go into the military for fear of shooting one of his own comrades.
What amazes me about this whole episode is that we, the general public, actually found out about it. I would have thought that shooting one's hunting buddy would have fit under the umbrella of National Security and would have been muffled/gagged in that news vacuum.
According to Editor & Publisher, there was a bit of a brief news blockade:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001995719
There is also a little tidbit about the object of Cheney's trigger happiness, a former Bush appointee who was sued (the case was settled and a gag order imposed) for firing an employee in order to quash an investigation.
I've just seen the press conference on this matter and the White House's spokespearson really pissed me off. I mean - reaaallyy.
Three quarters of questions were answered with "You should ask the Vice-President's office for that piece of information" and "Vice-president's office should have an answer to that". At some point he just kept on and on with statements such as "I don't have that answer" or "I'm not the person to answer that" and I couldn't help but wonder "Then what t'hell are you doing here you weasel?!"
Actually the thing that made me roll my eyes the most was his answer to "Is the vice-president thinking of offering his resignation over this matter?". The answer was: "No, why should he, that's absurd!"
Is he from around here or what?
This is of course the skill of the spokesperson, to avoid answering questions. Some people have been amazingly good at this, this fellow is not one of the more talented. But get this: the story as it goes now is that Cheney did not inform Bush about the incident, nor anybody else -- it would have stayed under wraps if the owner of the property where the shooting took place did not call media.
I've been out most of today cuz it's a be there in person looking like an office lady day for me. That Cheney did not inform the President is not a good thing at all on his part!
It also really fascinates me how many guys who never went to war seem to be involved with fire-arms.
I heard about the news blockade yesterday, but I did NOT hear about that Cheney did not even tell the President right away.
Yes Gordy, the background on the victim is pretty interesting.
I know what it reminds me of this business with birds raised to be hunted in that way..
The Austro-Hungarian Empire! They would do something pretty similar.
I forget where I saw this, it was a comment on another blog (my apologies)--
Thanksgiving at the Cheneys: Lynn cooks the turkey, then Dick shoots it.
Post a Comment