The Dickie Fudd story is veritably exploding out there. The press corps is on fire, the blogosphere is practically vaporizing, and there are now so many angles exposed, it's hard to keep up.
First of all, an alert commenter hooked us up with some background on Whittington's role in the funeralgate scandal during Georgie's last days as TX guv, one in which his Chief of Staff Allbaugh played a key role (and then went on to head FEMA, turn it over to Brownie so he could go lobby, ending up in NOLA to milk that tragedy for all it was worth while his protege floundered in fashion). Evidently a lot of covering up of a lot of stuff was going on, and a whistleblower who was fired, then filed suit (and then evidently settled for a paltry $50,000?), has seemingly vanished from view. That settlement datum is the most recent info I could find on that story, now I can't relocate it, and Robert Bryce appears to have moved on from the whole shebang. Anyone have more?
But that's all deep background stuff, and there's enough surface slime going down here to slide clear off the planet. Big questions, like why were wounds that were reported by Ms. Armstrong to be so superficial keeping the victim in the ICU for 48 hours? Was the shot fired from 30 yards or 30 feet; both have been reported? Why did it take almost three hours to get this poor guy admitted to the hospital after said incident, even with a medical crew at the scene? When were authorities notified, as per TX law? Why was the press not informed for 22 hours? And was the sheriff allowed to interview Cheney or not; the reports are conflicting (though not really)?
Though the sheriff's office issued a statement that ruled out alcohol, there is no indication that any real tests were taken to verify this. All manner of hunters have weighed in on these details, and the consensus is pretty clear: the only way this sort of thing does happen - and it does - is if the shooter is dumb or drunk or both.
For the best reading on all these questions, visit Josh Marshall at TPM and Jane Hamsher and friends at firedoglake. They raise a boatload of fascinating points, including the fact that Cheney only "hunts" in areas stocked with prepped prey (oh so manly), the 28 gauge he used is often referred to as "a lady's gun" (even more manly), and - again - Cheney has a medical team hovering likely inside the Secret Service comfort zone, courtesy of us taxpayers (the ultimate in today's 'manly').
Of particular interest, though, is the fact that Jack Reed and George Allen were on Fox this morning blasting Cheney not for blasting his buddy, but for declassifying a NIE (National Intelligence Estimate), which has apparently been alledged by Libby. Firedoglake raises the tantalizing observation that these two hyper-repug dogs were not brought out to protect the VP but to hound him. Et tu, Rupert?
Could it be the time has come to put this ol' huntin' dog down?
dr. elsewhere
UPDATE: Like I said, hard to keep up. Smoking Gun has the sheriff's press release and Cheney's citation for the incident.
Note that the report does not have a time associated with the report itself, only for the incident. And note that the safety position for Cheney's gun was marked "unknown." Note also that Cheney's "hunting education" is marked "unknown," and Whittington's "no." And take particular note of the second paragraph of the press release; not only does it not make very good sense, but it does not note the times at which Whittington was moved to the two medical facilities.
5 comments:
I'm so surprised. You'd think a guy like Cheney who spent so much time in the military would be better equipped to handle a gun.
After all, he spent 5 deferments serving his country. He should know how to handle a litle rifle like that.
Then again, maybe he did. I mean, the guy was a lawyer and probably told him the spying game was illegal.
I only wish it had been the other way around for him.
At the bottom of page 2 of the Parks and Wildlife citation you linked to (calling it a Sheriff's report) there's a date on the signature: 2/13/2006
I also find it interestin to note that that the NYT reports:
On Monday, a news release from the sheriff's office said that "Mr. Whittington's interview collaborated Vice President Cheney's statement" and that the department was "fully satisfied that this was no more than a hunting accident."
I have to wonder whether this is a typo for corroborate, or whether there really was some sort of collaboration on their stories.
I say Whittington doesn't last the week. Once he dies, then the story can go away and die with Whittington.
on a slightly different topic:
Whittington suffers a heart attack as a result of birdshot moving around his heart area. sounds like Cheney shot him near the heart as well:
from the chicago tribune:
"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-cheney-whittington,1,7752109.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true"
Hospital officials said they knew that Whittington had some birdshot near his heart ever since Cheney accidentally shot him Saturday evening while aiming for a quail. The pellet always was at risk of moving closer since scar tissue had not had time to harden and remain in place, they said.
They said they are not concerned about other birdshot -- widely estimated to be between six and 200 pieces -- that might still be lodged in Whittington's body. Cheney was using 7 1/2 shot from a 28-gauge shotgun.
The doctors said Whittington did not experience classic symptoms of a heart attack, but they estimate that he probably had a minor one around 7:30 a.m. EST. They said they decided to treat the situation "conservatively" rather than conduct surgery to remove the pellet. They said he could live a healthy life with it left in place.
Asked whether the pellet could move further into the heart and become fatal, hospital officials said that was a hypothetical question they could not answer. But they said they are extremely optimistic that he will recover.
The shot was either touching or embedded in the heart muscle near the top chambers, called the atria, they said. Two things resulted:
* It caused inflammation that pushed on the heart in a way to temporarily block blood flow, what the doctors called a "silent heart attack." This is not a traditional heart attack where an artery is blocked. They said Whittington's arteries, in fact, were healthy.
* It irritated the atria, caused an irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation, which is not immediately life-threatening. But it must be treated because long-term it can spur blood clots to form. Most cases can be corrected with medication.
Here's another angle Joe -- Was this illegal lobbying through interconnected business/family ties? If this trip was a freebie, then Cheney may really be in trouble. Here's a post from DU:
The NYT's coverage of the fallout from Dick Cheney's shooting accident was subtly snarky, especially when it comes to the business connections among those in the "shooting party."
The owner of the ranch is identified in news reports merely as Ann Armstrong, a "prominent Republican supporter and whose family ranch is a familiar destination for Republican politicans." Katharine Armstrong, the hostess of the party, and the distraught lady who was tasked with providing information to the local press, is identified merely as a lobbyist, "with a limited list of lobbying clients in Texas and in Washington" and who said, "I don't believe I've ever lobbied the vice president." Just for good measure, the NYT quotes Katharine, the daughter, as saying none of her clients "that I know of" are involved in Iraq.
But the connections between the Armstrongs, the Bushes, Cheney and Texas royalty are twisted and deep. Maybe the best way of making this intricate web of relationships clearest is by dilineating each family connection.
Ann Armstrong, the "prominent Republican supporter" is actually a prominent Republican functionary, a corporate businesswoman of astonishing breadth and Texas royalty.
Ann Armstrong, the mother, was the first woman appointed counsellor to the president with Cabinet rank by Presidents Nixon and Ford (1973-1974). After a stint as US ambassador to the Court of Saint James (ie ambassador to Britain), she became chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1981 to 1990, that is, under Reagan and Bush I, where one of her jobs involved approving covert actions (and given the timing, this would presumably include Contra activities in Central America supervised by George HW Bush). One suspects that Ann knows quite a bit about Bush the elder's adventures in El Salvador and Nicaragua, which have always been suspected of involving cocaine trafficking, if not in Iran, as well. She also is a member of the Seven Revolutions Global Strategy Institute, which tries to project out the structure of the future until 2025 in areas like population, resources, geo-political conflict and economics.
http://7revs.csis.org /
http://7revs.csis.org/AdvisoryCommittee/b_armstrong.htm
In later years, mother Anne has been a member of the boards of directors of many major corporations, including American Express Company, Boise Cascade, General Motors, and Halliburton Company at the time that it hired Dick Cheney as CEO.
In Texas, it seems corporate profits are never enough for the rich, and they must dine at the trough of the public sector, as well. Gov. George W. Bush appointed Ann Armstrong as a regent of Texas A&M University System in 1997 and she is chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at the Iraq War friendly Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. The trusteeships of Texas public universities and other public boards are infamous as rewards for campaign contributions:
http://www.tpj.org/docs/2000/10/reports/appointments/bo...
Ann is married to Texas royalty Tobin Armstrong, and the couple were "Pioneers" for Bush, meaning that they donated at least $100,000 to the 2000 Bush campaign. It is through this marriage to Tobin that Anne is part owner of the gigantic Armstrong Ranch where the shooting incident occurred.
http://www.tpj.org/docs/pioneers//pioneers_view.jsp?id=...
An earlier marriage in the 1940s, between an elder brother of Tobin and the Tex-Mex Fausto Yturria clan, brought together the Armstrong Ranch owners and the family of owners of the super-gigantic King Ranch. The Yturria family's various real estate holdings, including the 150,000 acre King ranch make them the 58th largest landowners in the United States -- and this does not include their connection to the 50,000 acre Armstrong Ranch.
http://www.tpj.org/docs/pioneers//pioneers_view.jsp?id=...
Katharine, the distraught hostess, is a former investment banker turned lobbyist. She is also the heir apparent of both the Armstrong and King ranches, making her potentially one of the biggest landowners in the country when Mom, Dad and uncle Fausto finally kick the bucket.
Katharine is co-listed with her parents as Pioneers, and this was just around the time that she had been appointed to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission by Gov. George W. Bush in 1999. She turned lobbyist in 2004 claiming a need to make a living to support her children after a divorce. Among Katharine Armstrong' clients are Parson, an engineering company with contracts in Iraq. She also represents Lockheed Martin the military aircraft behemoth, and Baker Botts, the law firm of super lawyer and Bush family consigliere James Baker, who oversaw the Bush family 2000 Florida election "strategy."
http://www.tpj.org/docs/pioneers/pioneers_view.jsp?id=6...
Now here's the big question. Just what do you think that Katharine Armstrong, representing both aircraft military contractors and Iraq engineering contractors, might have been discussing with Dick Cheney -- despite her claims that she had never formally lobbied Cheney.
Perhaps this is just the way business is done in Texas. After all, long before the shooting, in 2000, father Tobin had acknowledged of his hunting trips with Cheney, “We go out when the dew is still on the grass, and then hunt until we shoot our limit,” ... “Then we pick a fine spot and have a wild game picnic lunch.” If you represent James Baker as a lobbyist, do you really need to "lobby" George W. Bush or Dick Cheney?
Do you really need to "lobby" Dick Cheney when your mother hired him as CEO of Halliburton, which made him a multimilionare? I'm sure that his gratitude is worth millions. It's not lobbying -- just pleasant conversation among long time family friends about current events, developments and opportunities while shooting quail.
Could the cover-up of the shooting have as much to do with the embarrassment of poor marksmanship as the embarrassment of disclosure of how business is done among the Bushes, Cheneys, Armstrongs and other well-connected western royalty?
Whistleblower Eliza May hasn't vanished. She is currently President of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Salon.com article did say that she had threats on her life and was being protected by a bodyguard for a while during the Funeralgate ruckus, however.
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