Well the story of Cheney’s shooting incident this past weekend is really
growing. The downplaying of the incident to be minor injuries now appears to
also be fabricated per the
Associated Press:
Cheney apparently did not see Whittington, and the vice president
accidentally hit him in the face, neck and chest with bird shot.
So we know that Cheney damn near killed this poor guy. What really troubles
me is how the White House seems to continue to downplay the actual accident. It
is not the place of the White House to decide if Cheney was at fault or not and
the severity of the injuries. Those decisions are left to law enforcement,
prosecutors and also the medical staff.
From this same article we also learn that Bush was notified on Saturday night
about the accident:
White House chief of staff Andy Card told Bush Saturday night about
Cheney’s involvement in the shotgun accident.McClellan was informed Saturday night that someone in the Cheney hunting
party was involved, but he didn’t know that Cheney was the shooter until the
next morning, the spokesman said.McClellan said when he learned, around 6 a.m. Sunday, he urged the vice
president’s office to get the information out “as quickly as possible.”
Of course McClellan is now saying that “I think you can always look back at
these issues and look at how to do a better job,” when asked about the series of
events.
One big question still remains out there though. This question involves the
notification of law enforcement. Any shooting incident is required to be
reported to local authorities. If the parties involved don’t notify them then
the hospital will.
In an online chat at the Washington Post site, the paper’s White House
reporter Peter Baker said reporters in D.C. are “flabbergasted” by the
shooting. He indicated that the Post was looking deeply into how it was
reported to the local sheriff and the exact condition of the victim.
See full article
here.
If Cheney did not immediately report the incident then criminal charges
should be sought after. This is a serious question and it doesn’t matter how
much Bush tries to claim “if the President does it then it isn’t illegal”, well
if there is a crime the vice-President or President must stand trial. Hopefully
this incident will be examined from all angles. Now wouldn’t it be something if
this ranch is sitting in Ronnie Earle’s district?
UPDATE
Think Progress is reporting that local sheriffs were barred from interviewing Cheney about the shooting.