I can't believe the person who said this wasn't news--what planet are you living on?

A gun is a deadly weapon, and its misuse by someone who even I assumed would know better (& I'm a liberal democrat) shows some serious lack of judgement. Moreover, Cheney's actions since the actions show severe defects in character.

I come from a family a deer hunters. Pulling the trigger while aiming at a human is always the hunters' fault. Yes, even though accidents tragically do sometimes happen. Yes, even though the victim in this case didn't actually die.

If Cheney was really a sport hunter and a person of any integrity he would own up (in person!) to his tragic mistake, misjudgement, and turn in his hunting license.

Yet, incredibly, Cheney "the nobel hunter" has allowed his mouthpieces to blame the victim for this accident and to pooh-pooh its seriousness (even though the poor guy was put in the ICU and his face will probably be permanently scarred).

The NRA should decry Cheney's minimization of his role in this accident as cowardly and shameful.

Cheney deserves to be raked over the coals. His behavior in this case tells volumes about his personal integrity and willingness to take responsibility for his mistakes.

To Mr. Stein,

It ain't the news "they" are making of it. It has been way over-done, way over insinuated, and vilified.

To Ms. Carey,

I too am qualified. My wife and I both carry concealed (legally so), and we have a pistol range in our backyard. Shooting sports are an any-day (not every day, though generally once or twice a week) occurrence for us.

You obviously did not pick up on the emphasis of my response to Cary's article. First it is not the story that the media is making of it, i.e. that Chaney is a bloodthirsty killer "the shooter", the "trigger man", etc. Second, that Cary attempted to make humor writing about a topic that he is obviously ignorant about, and third that there seems to be a lot of people reading this magazine that think it is a laughable event. I also question your sources: "two things are clear . . .he was visible, and he got a facefull." Neither of those two statements is necessarily true.

As a shooter you should recognize the obvious tone of all this. This event, and the publicity that it generates will be one more argument used to ban all offensive and defensive weaponry.

Poco

P.S. I am not a republican. I am not a democrat. I am a conservative. Not a lying, cheating, thieving "conservative", a real conservative.

Friendly fire accidents are up 90% in the recent months. With the insurgency on the decline, it seems some of our soldiers are turning to each other--or rather against each other--to combat the boredom, stress, and fatigue of military life. The road to Austin is long and hard. The tough conditions in Texas make progress slow, but our troops are slowly making their way there. A few casualties on our side is a small price to pay for the peace of mind that will come once we disarm the WMDs that we are sure to find once we conquer the capital and end this disastrous regime. We will not fail to bring Democracy to Texas and other states in Middle America!!! Our future depends upon stability in this region and the steady supply of oil that powers our SUV tanks. We have high hopes and nothing will stand in our way, not even ourselves!!!

Now you know it's just a matter of time before El Presidente confers a Congressional Medal of Freedom on Cheney for being a hero. Heck, you just never know when a quail might turn out to be a threat to our way of life. Hmm, I wonder if the situation was reversed and Whittington had shot Cheney?

Imagining the incident, all I can picture is Elmer Fudd with a sneer.

Other facts:

*Weapon of Mass Destruction discovered... in White House.

*Guns don't shoot people. Vice Presidents do.

*Whittington might have avoided injury had the Pentagon issued him proper body armor.

*Maybe it really is a good thing Cheney never went to Vietnam.

*"Back and to the left... back and to the left..."

It also ain't news when people read picture books to elementary school classes, clear brush on "their" ranches, choke on a pretzel, tell a colleague "fuck yourself," fall off their mountain bikes, go on vacation, scream wildly in celebration of a victory, make out with their wives, receive oral sex from people who are not their wives, misspell the names of vegetables, recede into dementia, go jogging, send their daughters to college, or give speeches.

Oddly, these things somehow become news when they are performed by people in high-ranking governmental positions...

Okay, I have to respond to Poco. I have hunted, both with a rifle and with a compound bow. I have hunted: deer, elk, pheasant, ducks, geese, and a bird served under another name, but which is famous for living on statues in city parks. I have taken weapons safety classes, and competed in pistol shooting.

To minimize the shooting of a hunting companion is to overlook the basic rule of using a weapon . . .we are responsible for making sure the barrel of our weapon is pointed only at things we wish to hurt or kill.

To say "it happens" is bullshit. So do many other things, including negligent homicide (accidental shooting of a person resulting from careless use of a weapon) . . .that does not mean that it is not a serious event.

Bird shot is little, but there is a lot of it, and if it Whittington was close enough to get hit . . (within 25 yards) two things are clear . . .he was visible, and he got a faceful.

We'll see what he looks like when and IF a picture of him appears.

But I did not expect it to be in the form of attempted humor. Now, understand that I enjoy funny stuff as much as the next redneck (Animal House, Monty Python, Will Farrell [sometimes], Jon Stewart, etc), but I just did not find this humorous, probably because I dislike all politicians equally, and because it is clear the writer has no experience in the topic. I think Cary's columns are funnier than this. I suppose one reason I find it un-funny, is because so much as been made of it. White House reporters repeatedly (ad nauseam) asking subtle questions like "DO YOU MEAN TO TELL US THAT THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DICK (RICHARD) CHENEY, PULLED THE TRIGGER ON A DEADLY WEAPON AND SHOT A POOR INNOCENT FELLOW HUMAN IN THE FACE? HE WAS 'THE SHOOTER'?".

I mean, for you candy butts that have never been hunting, or have never shot a weapon, here's some news: IT HAPPENS, IT AIN'T NEWS! Perhaps, on a local level only. If it was national news, there would be plenty to write about, come hunting season.

Here's the other thing that irritates me: writing on topics about which you are clueless, and not fact checking, to whit: "What's a little buckshot in the face?" A little "buckshot" to the face would render one faceless! Buckshot is about as big around as your pinky, and is designed to kill... BUCKS! (as in deer, or other large game). Chaney shooting someone in the face with "buckshot" would have certainly been news.

Birdshot (as Cary so clearly points out, they were hunting quail), for hunting quail is less than the diameter of a common BB (if you don't know what a BB looks like, stop reading and go polish your Birkenstocks), and is designed to kill a small bird, and not destroy it in the process. Its effective range is about 25 yards.

Since I am an excellent judge of what is funny for humor's sake, and this is clearly not very humorous, I think the reason that some of you have enjoyed this so much, is that you actually delight in the idea of someone in the political party that you oppose shooting someone else in the face. You are laughing at his pain. How sad is that?

Poco

P.S. I am not a republican. I am not a democrat. I am a conservative. Not a lying, cheating, thieving "conservative", a real conservative.