So here's the questions that still remain:
1. What did Cheney see when he took the shot?
A. From AmericaBlog:
If you could see him the split second AFTER you shot him, then you could see him the split second BEFORE you shot him. So either Cheney could see the guy, and shot him anyway (which completely contradicts what Cheney's people have been saying for 5 days now), or Cheney couldn't see the guy and he's now lying to the nation in order to incur our sympathy.
"The image of him falling is something I will never be able to get out my mind," Cheney said, somberly. "It was one of the worst days of my life."
Nice.
B. From firedoglake (you may need to scroll a bit depending on your browser):
2. How close was Cheney to his victim?In the report Cheney also notes that Whittington was at a lower elevation than him, and that's why he got hit in the face. From the GPS coordinates given I did a 100ft circle around that to see the changes in elevation and they are less than 1 Foot.
From the International Herald Tribune:
Veteran hunters and shooting experts said Thursday that they still did not understand how the vice president injured his fellow hunting partner so badly if he was actually 30 yards away as Cheney says.3. Why was the "designated witness" someone in a car over a football field away?
"It just doesn't add up," said John Kelly, a quail hunter from New York with more than 36 years of experience. "With a shotgun, the pellets spread out the further you get, and for that many pellets to hit such a small part of this man's body means Mr. Cheney was far closer" than the 27-meter distance cited.
From BarbinMD at Daily KOS:
4. Was the reason why Armstrong was used as the "designated witness" because Cheney was trying to hide his own Lewinsky?Armstrong said she saw Cheney's security detail running toward the scene. "The first thing that crossed my mind was he had a heart problem," she told The Associated Press.
This is Armstrong admitting that the first evidence she saw that alerted her that something was wrong was the Secret Service running to help. And that she thought it was Cheney who was in trouble.
This says, to me at least, that she did not see the accident at all.
A. From Bob Cesca at the Huffington Post:
Sirius radio's Alex Bennett just broke a rumor that the delay in reporting the news that Cheney shot an old man in the heart was due to an effort to hide or spin Cheney's female companion.
Pamela Willeford (shown right), ambassador to Switzerland and -- yes -- Liechtenstein, was part of the hunting excursion with Cheney and Whittington. And according to Willeford's account, Cheney and the ambassador were side-by-side when the shooting of Whittington took place.
The vice president's Secret Service detail had to decide what to do with Willeford by way of perhaps covering up her relationship with Cheney, and thus the delay in reporting the news.
The rumor goes that Lynn Cheney isn't happy with Cheney's close relationship with Willeford.
Again, just a rumor.
B. From firedoglake:
***MISSING WHITE WOMAN ALERT***5. Why didn't the White House Doctors send a trauma victim to the nearest trauma hospital?
name: Pamela Willeford
race: white (duh...)
age: 50ish
sex: f (duh...)
occupation: US Ambassadress to Switzerland
last seen: Sat. 2/11/06, on a ranch in Texas, in the company of the V-POTUS
details: Ms. Willeford is missing after an incident involving firearms and alcohol. SHE MAY BE IN GRAVE DANGER. Please report any information immediately to the authorities.
From firedoglake:
6. What role did alcohol play?
I have every reason to believe the White House docs in Cheney's traveling ICU have excellent trauma medicine skills.
So I have all the more reason to ask what they were thinking of when they decided that the 78 year old victim of severe gunshot wounds needed the slow ambulance ride to the local non-trauma hospital - rather than the fast chopper ride to the trauma center?
[snip]
At the smaller hospital there would be fewer prying eyes- and it's possible some of em knew a doc there who could be counted on. Once they went to the big hospital- the chances of keeping it covered up evaporated.
From Think Progress:
The sheriff’s report does not address this question. The report does not indicate that the sheriff’s office ever took a breathalyzer test or any other blood-alcohol test. Moreover, the report indicates that although the sheriff’s office was contacted at 5:30 pm on Saturday night, they waited until 8:00 am the next morning to interview Cheney.7. Why didn't Cheney go to the hospital with the man he shot? Wouldn't you?
The report does claim that when Harry Whittington was finally interviewed on Monday, the interviewing officer said Whittington “explained foremost there was no alcohol during the hunt.” Today, Whittington’s doctors said again that they had “no comment” about whether blood tests have revealed any alcohol in his blood.
The sheriff’s report doesn’t address the question. That’s why McClellan needs to.
From Crooks and Liars:
FRANKEN: And you have to ask yourself the following questions. Why didn't he go to the hospital if-he went back to the ranch and had dinner. Now, if you are so worried-he said that he didn‘t get the story out because he wasn‘t sure how serious this was.
If you are so concerned about how serious this is, you go to the hospital. He said-when he was asked by Brit Hume in this very softball interview, you know, did you go on—in the ambulance, he went, well, no. There wasn‘t enough—it was very crowded, and they didn‘t need another body.
Well, the—he—there‘s plenty of vans that he could have gone to the hospital in. So, it begs the question...
SCARBOROUGH: You are making a good point. You are making a good point, that, had I shot somebody, had you shot somebody, we certainly would have rushed to the hospital, even if we were vice president of the United States.
I'm just asking...
**********************
And because I could use a laugh (and you probably could too):
(Not work friendly!)
(Not photoshopped by me)
You guys are pathetic. The Sheriff's office down there closed the case. You guys just cannot let it go. Cheney even admitted and took FULL responsibility for what he did, and yet that's not good enough for you guys. Hmmmm, I don't remember you guys getting upset when the Clintons didn't step up to plate regarding Vince Foster.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/FOSTER_COVERUP/foster.html
Let's move on to more. What are your comments on the tapes that have been uncovered with Saddam Hussein talking about future terrorism to hit the United States? He even admitted to weapons of mass destruction being in Iraq. Gee, I don't hear you guys talking about this. Why? Because the "no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq" card would be a complete nose dive on your part. Your silence on this speaks volumes.
Again, when a Democrat is involved, it's just different...right?
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/FOSTER_COVERUP/foster.html
ReplyDeleteNumber 2 is easily demostrated at 30 YARDS by this video I posted a couple days ago over at my place.
ReplyDeleteMost of the confussion with this is the gauge of the gun, which took some time to be confirmed. Cheney used a 28 gauge, not a 12. By choosing that weapon the spread of the pellets is actually more compact over longer distances. That is why it is typically used for smaller game.
The pattern that is generally shown in the media in computer mock ups I have seen on tv show the diameter of the spray even tighter, so one can presume that the actual distance was closer. Still from 30 yards 200 pieces of shot can land in the face, neck, and chest of a human target.