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Read other letters about this article
Cary,
This is the first piece of yours I have read that isn't an advice response. You obviously have a talent for humor - I thought this little dashed-off-feeling confection quite amusing and refreshing. I hope that you will turn your pen (keyboard) more often to non-advice subjects, and look forward to your next (hopefully humorous) foray.
"Death is off-message" - I almost spit my coffee on the screen from laughing at that one.
I expected you to use the avian flu - protecting the American people angle, another perfect situational opportunity for fear-mongering satire, but all in all your take was a lot of fun.
As someone who grew up with responsible gun use, shell loading, target shooting, going along on a few (greatly disliked) hunts, etc., I feel safe in saying that yes, accidents do happen with guns and during hunting, but those accidents are usually due to human error or lack of proper training/safety precautions, just as most car accidents are.
Canned hunting is disgusting, and distinctly lacks any element of sportsmanship or fairness to the prey that "hunting" should have. It's about as noble and admirable as shooting fish in a barrel. It is no surprise that Cheney would participate in such a fake macho "sport" -a chickenhawk shooting caged quail.
Of course it's newsworthy - and, sorry, but yes it is funny in a horrible way. Our sanctimonious, war-mongering, NRA-pandering old geezer VP, hilariously without the appropriate 7 dollar permit he is supposed to have, blasts another geezer with birdshot on a canned quail hunt. And why was he shooting so low that someone 20 yards away was soundly hit? Sounds like he was aiming to shoot the birds at an unsportsmanlike time - shortly after being released from their cages. Regardless, you NEVER shoot while turning - you can't visually check the field properly. (I learned that at age 8, for heaven's sake)
Naturally we feel for the victim, but the fact remains that aside from the man's injuries, the situation is absurdly, ironically comic. Cheney will, thankfully, never live this down.
