Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006 - 11:23 p.m.

Let's set the record straight on a few things regarding this Cheney thing, because some things just aren't jiving.

It bugs the living hell out of me that property owner Katharine Armstrong said that Harry Whittington did not announce himself upon rejoining the hunting party, and that it's being repeated ad nauseum as absolute truth. For one thing, if it is indeed true, why isn't anyone who was in the party repeating it, and for another, how the hell would she know, since she was sitting in the car and was not, in point of fact, with the hunting party? Frankly, I don't think she is in a position to say whether Whittington announced himself or not.

Second, when the sheriff's deputy came to the ranch to take statements after the shooting, why was he turned away? The story is that well, Cheney was going to talk to the police the next morning. The next morning? Fourteen freaking hours later??? On what damn planet do you shoot another human being and then tell the cops - via Social Service - "you know, I don't feel like it today; I think I'll come see you about it tomorrow"? Frankly, I think Cheney and/or other members of the party had been drinking and did not want that fact communicated to law enforcement.

Third, the morning following the shooting, the incident was misrepresented as a minor incident, nothing more than some scratches and broken skin. To quote Armstrong: "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good." She went on to say, "It broke the skin. It knocked him silly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open. It didn't get in his eyes or anything like that. Fortunately, the vice president has got a lot of medical people around him and so they were right there and probably more cautious than we would have been." The incident was further played down and reporters were told that while Whittington was in intensive care, it really wasn't warranted or that serious.

The man was in intensive care for close to 48 hours. They don't put you in intensive care just for a lark. If you're in intensive care, stable or no, you're there because you need to be. That is not the result of some broken skin from a "peppering." And seeing as he was out of the ICU for less than 24 hours before having to be moved back again, obviously Mr. Whittington was more seriously injured than has been released. I'm not saying he's at death's door. I'm saying he's got more than a freaking scratch, and that the incident was a serious one. What offends me is that at least until today, it was being played off as utterly inconsequential. Oh, and for the record? I hope to GOD I'm never seriously injured around someone as unbefuckinglievably moronic and cavalier as Katharine Armstrong. If I am ever shot in the face, neck, and upper torso, I WANT YOU PEOPLE TO CALL ME AN AMBULANCE. I don't care if I tell you I'm fine. I don't care if I say it's stupid. Sit my ass down, cover me with a blanket, apply some sort of something to stem the bleeding, and call the goldamn paramedics.

Also, hello? The guy was wearing bright orange. I understand he had come up "behind" the hunting party, but dude. If you are hunting and someone leaves your group, you behave even more cautiously than you would if everyone was accounted for. Someone please explain to my what in good christ Cheney was doing whipping around in a wide arc and shooting when a member of his party had stepped away from the line, and then doubled his sin by not keeping an eye out for safety freaking orange. You can bet your ASS the Secret Service pounded the rules for safe hunting into Cheney's partner's heads and put the fear of god into them if they so much as thought about squeezing the trigger when safety orange was anywhere NEAR their line of sight; do the same rules of safety and caution not apply to the fucking Vice President? And then, in a serious breach of common decency and good etiquette, the Vice President not only refused to announce the incident or speak to police until the next day, but he has yet to make a public apology. More than anything else about this whole unpalatable incident, I find that a total disgrace.

You just shot someone, dude. Take some responsibility and freaking say you're sorry. Say it loud, say it often, say it publically. The man has had a heart attack. You shot him in the frigging face.

SAY YOU'RE SORRY.

Jeez.

Katie D

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