Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer

[ponto]

A written report from Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago says Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting.

Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions, the report said.

"This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."

[dpolley]

OMG, here we go again. We'll see nothing on the evening news except this "major" story for the next two weeks!

[nickleahevan]

The man didn't die from it and I wouldn't be surprised if they were both drinking. Get over it already. I can see other countries laughing at us now. They probably wonder how our country will make it if this is the only problem we are looking into.

[HARLEYDUDE]

Once again this party does nothing but lie and once again all you people say: its ok!!!!!! Sex and shooting someone ???? Whats wrong with this picture ?? Come on boys I want to hear it, as i'm sure you will defend it.
You know the truth about all this (all parties) Their are so many good people out here that could run this country and why dont they run ? They are to smart......

[nickleahevan]

So, they are too smart? What do they do? They sit on their butts saying "I'm smart enough not to run, so the idiots can keep control." When we elect these people, we are trying to pick the lesser of two evils. If there are smarter ones out there who don't run, then they would rather be smart, but not contribute much. As for this topic, i'm not defending it, but If they want something to be done, this is not the way. If the lawyer wants to press charges, that's up to him, but he hasn't, so why should others worry so much. Like Clinton and his sex acts. It didn't affect how he ran the county (wether you thought he ran it good or bad). That should have stayed between him and his wife. But, as always, someone had to stick their nose in. If it is a problem that will affect this country, I would like to here. I know it's the press' job to report it, but sometimes it just gets old.

[plumcrazy]

Below was my post to an earlier post about Cheney. I nailed this one! Give him 24 hours to let his system clear up.
My only other comment, is that it seems anytime Bush or Cheney screws up, which is daily there's a couple folks on here that get very upset if anyone post it. If you ask me, the media are just doing their jobs, don't get mad at the media because the republicans make such stupid mistakes guys, just consider changing your political affiliation.

"My thought is this, Cheney as well as the others in the party had too much to drink at the lunch prior to the accident. Now before you start screaming, I know he said he only had one drink,but how many times have we heard that one? Had Cheney reported it too fast, someone may have requested a breathalizer. Had to wait until they were sure it was out of his system.
Still and accident though, I'm sure he wishes it had never happend.
Again just my thoughts."

[HARLEYDUDE]

Yes Mr. Nick they are too smart. They ask themselves: why the HECK would anyone with a brain and truthful want the job ? Of course you proby think like them. I'm done with this story. Post on!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nickleahevan]

Actually HARLEYDUDE, I just wonder why they would rather have dumb people in office instead of trying to get in there themselves. I'm not trying to start anything, I actually agree. Who would want the job? I would rather have smarter people running, instead of the ones we have now. The sad thing is, they do probably think the way you do. Why bother?, seems to way the world is today and that is the attitude that causes nothing to ever get accomplished. The sad truth is, if you are a Bible reading person(and this goes for anybody, I'm not attacking HARLEYDUDE), things are only going to get worse no matter what our opinion is. I say we let bygons be bygones and agree that smart people or not, I doubt that there would be much improvement. There hasn't been so far.

[Chuck]

1st thing to remember is if you have a beer and pick up a loaded gun, even if you do not shoot the gun, are going to go to jail. It is against the law.

It is illegal because people who get a few drinks in them then go out an play with guns always seem to accidental shoot their friends.

The question is will he be punished for his crime or does he get to play the rich man card?

[kdown]

I question the source of the lead story. Ponto had the source on the post and then took it off.

[Chuck]

Good point Ken. Need a source on the info before we chat about.

[dpolley]

1st thing to remember is if you have a beer and pick up a loaded gun, even if you do not shoot the gun, are going to go to jail. It is against the law.

It is illegal because people who get a few drinks in them then go out an play with guns always seem to accidental shoot their friends.

The question is will he be punished for his crime or does he get to play the rich man card?

Come on, what do you think? If the story is true, there's no excuse for it, but I still think we have more important issues to take care of before we worry about this (I know, I'm a Republican voter that can't see the forest for the trees).

[Chuck]

Come on, what do you think? If the story is true, there's no excuse for it, but I still think we have more important issues to take care of before we worry about this (I know, I'm a Republican voter that can't see the forest for the trees).

I heard him personally on TV admit to a drink before handling a firearm. I hope we are not going to have a double standard conversation. It is not a political position conversation. It is a legal discussion about a politician I think.

It is a law for a good reason and Dick just proved the reason we have the law.

[dpolley]

I heard him personally on TV admit to a drink before handling a firearm. I hope we are not going to have a double standard conversation. It is not a political position conversation. It is a legal discussion about a politician I think.

It is a law for a good reason and Dick just proved the reason we have the law.
Not at all. Wrong is wrong, man or woman, republican or democrat, black or white. I'm just tired of hearing about it. It's time to move on. All of the complaining in the world isn't going to change the fact that nothing will be done about it if he did do something wrong. No politics here; just boredom with the subject.

[Daphne]

I question the source of the lead story. Ponto had the source on the post and then took it off.

Ponto took the source away at my request because there was inappropriate content on the site that he got the story from. Ponto and I discussed it and it was agreed that the source would be removed. Ponto usually has the source listed. Some of you should have known that there was a good reason for the source to be removed once it was there.

[GirlColumbo]

that is what is wrong with this country and why most regular folks dont care about politics anymore, see no evil hear hear evil, sweep it all under the rug has become the COMMON thing to do, and it is sickening! Why dont we chane it with our votes, hmmph......no common man has a say in the matter, for he/she does not have the right connections.
folks when you do wrong, even if you are president or in some government office and even in small town government and in our schools, we the people need to see the correct action take place. Are you not elected to represent us? So then why should we not care about your values................

[plumcrazy]

The man didn't die from it and I wouldn't be surprised if they were both drinking. Get over it already. I can see other countries laughing at us now. They probably wonder how our country will make it if this is the only problem we are looking into.

Yea your right nickle, we're too busy to worry if our vice prsident was drunk when he shot a man, funny thing though, we wasn't too busy to worry if Bill Clinton had an affair??? To me shooting a man while being drunk far outways an affair. I read once were 60% of married people admit to having affairs, never read where 60% of people admitted to shooting someone???

[mark]

...............what surprises me is.........while all this was going on about Cheney & the liberal press all bent out of shape, Al Gore was overseas giving a speech bashing the U.S. yes, being a traitor in front of the Arabs.

The part I found the most interesting you ask???

He was paid/funded by Bin Ladin's family.

Read it here:
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/13/182926.shtml?s=ic

Here's a portion of the story:

Although family members claim they've disowned bin Laden, his mother told reporters after the 9/11 attacks that she received advanced warning from him that something big was about to happen.

I don't care if OSB's family funded algore or not. What concerns me is......a potential Prez is overseas bashing the good ol' US of A. How unpatriotic is that?? ....& this guy could have been our President.

Why isn't this a story?? It should be !

Here's why. The dems & their willing friends in the press hate "W" soooo much, they will go to any extreme to print anything bad about Bush & give their own party a "free ride." Fair & balanced reporting, huh??

I've posted plenty of examples on another thread a few months ago about the dems getting free rides from their buddies in the press.

This is just another thing you won't hear about in the press.......but.........I'll be glad to inform you anytime about the real story whenever I find it.

It's tough finding these stories when the press is one-sided ............see ya mark

[Jeremy]

Gore was telling the Saudis what they already knew. They watch the same news we do. They know how Arab-Americans are treated. It's no big secret. What he was doing is what politicians are supposed to do, be diplomatic and try to smooth things over. Would it have been more effective to lie and say, "What abuses? There's no abuses," to people who know better? When you lie, you instantly lose credibility. Might as well call the diplomacy over.

The Gore ties to Osama bin Laden's family are apparently a non-issue. Seems that every high-level politician had some tie to the bin Laden family, including both senior and junior Bush. Bush Jr.'s business partner in the 1970s was Osama's brother Salem according to this article:

http://www.americanfreepress.net/10_07_01/Bush___Bin_Laden_-_George_W__B/bush___bin_laden_-_george_w__b.html

Together they founded the Arbusto Energy oil company in Mr. Bush's home state of Texas ("Arbusto" means "shrub" in Spanish, but the Bush family interpreted it as "bush").

James R. Bath, a friend and neighbor, was used to funnel money from Osama bin Laden's brother, Salem bin Laden, to set up George W. Bush in the oil business, according to The Wall Street Journal and other reputable sources.

The information above is from the article I linked to, but it is also in the controversial book Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President by James Howard Hatfield. Quote from the book, "Like his father who made his fortune in the oil business with the money of others, George W. founded Arbusto with the financial backing of investors, including James R. Bath."

Hatfield, 43 and author of Fortunate Son, was found dead of an apparent prescription drug overdose in a hotel room in Springdale, Ark. on July 18, 2001. Police declined to investigate.

This business relationship between Bush Jr. and Salem bin Laden continued until Salem met his death in 1988 through what police call a "freak" accident. He was flying an ultralight when it unexpectedly swerved into some power lines. He was considered to be an expert pilot. Police declined to investigate.

-------------------

Now, back to Cheney. Personal opinion, accidents happen. Still, when the person involved in the accident is a well-known public supporter of guns it is a news issue. I agree totally with the statement that guns don't kill people, people kill people. If the shot was a few inches over though, his friend would quite possibly have died, and Cheney would have been one of those people, not guns, that kill people. That's news.

I have the shortest attention span here, and believe me I am already over this story and moved on to something else with my ADD in full force. I'm like most Americans in that way. But the simple fact is that although my attention switches every week, news itself unfolds over time. Investigations aren't supposed to wrap up in a few days and then get buried. Good investigations take longer than the... what's it been? A week or two? I've already lost interest, but I'm not a reporter. I'd be very disappointed if they gave up after less than a month. I'd be really disappointed if they spent less time on this story than say Britney Spears getting married, which seemed to drag on forever.

I say, let them investigate. Let them spend some time on the story. If not, some guy bored on some forum five years from now will say: "Yeah, Cheney shot some guy back in 2006. Police declined to investigate." ;)

[GirlColumbo]

what jeremy said

[uprivergirl]

LOL, what Jeremy said DOUBLE! Wish I had his way with words.

[nickleahevan]

To PlumCrazy.All I was saying is, no matter how much what happened is wrong, I can almost guarentee nothing will be done, so why can't it rest. I didn't agree with them dragging the Clinton thing out either, which I stated earlier if someone would have read it. I wish the same rules applied to the Vice President, but they don't no matter how many times we are told they are. That is not hard to figure out. I understand why you took it the way you did, but i'm not saying it was alright, just what good is it really doing?

[plumcrazy]

My bad Nickle.

[GirlColumbo]

the case will not rest simply because it SELLS news.......advertisers will jump to spend their money because of that very reason, it is not who the party is, really ya'll it has everything to do with tv channels and newspapers making money! same way with when a famous person is doing something that our inquiring minds want to know about. Supply and Demand is what it boils down to......

uprivergirl i say we should nominate Jeremy for president! Foxy and Chuck could be his opponents! Lets have a debate, then we will vote right here! Come on all you good debaters run for office, then we will cast our votes right here on the boards!

[Jeremy]

President? Heck no! I pay good money in taxes for them to do that work for me. :) Besides, if I did a political job, I'd rather be one of those diplomats to an obscure fun-loving country... like the Netherlands. You get paid the same as being a diplomat to China but sooo much less stress.

[GirlColumbo]

girlcolumbo is now researching what a diplomat does in the netherlands.....

jeremy....LOL that there frog is freaking me out!

[Foxy]

hmmm.. poor white trash... and a female... ummm i don't think anyone would get off the moonshine long enough too vote for me. To many things that I say make people REALLY mad, or think WAY too much.

But it is like I say, ya can just go get happy in the same pants ya getiing ****Y in....lol

[Jeremy]

jeremy....LOL that there frog is freaking me out!

You're right. That frog was pretty weird. I uploaded a new one.

[Santino III]

1st thing to remember is if you have a beer and pick up a loaded gun, even if you do not shoot the gun, are going to go to jail. It is against the law.

It is illegal because people who get a few drinks in them then go out an play with guns always seem to accidental shoot their friends.

The question is will he be punished for his crime or does he get to play the rich man card?

While it is certainly a poor decision, it is not "against the law." You go from having a beer to "a few drinks" and there is quite a difference. The law is against handling a firearm while intoxicated.

The incident could have been avoided by observing basic firearm and hunting safety rules.

[nickleahevan]

My bad Nickle.

That's okay. I just didn't want you to think that I agreed with them getting off.

[Chuck]

While it is certainly a poor decision, it is not "against the law." You go from having a beer to "a few drinks" and there is quite a difference. The law is against handling a firearm while intoxicated.

The incident could have been avoided by observing basic firearm and hunting safety rules.

The AFT has established a regulation that the consuming alcohol and handling a firearm is a crime. I will look up the regulation for this later tonight if that will help.

The guide line for determining intoxication is the same as that which is set for determining being impaired @ .02% (I think it is now) So that is basically a drink or a can of beer.

Now I have no idea what the laws are in the state where the incident occurred but will bet they are close to the same.

This (If all facts are correct) is a classic example as to why you should not handle a firearm while consuming alcohol. Doesn't matter much if it is illegal at this point or not. It is why the put it in the owners manual to all firearms.

[annieap]

Regardless of the amount he had to drink, whether it be one drink or several, if he could not distinguish a man wearing orange from a little bitty bird, then he had too much to drink and did not need to be near a loaded gun.

[Santino III]

The AFT has established a regulation that the consuming alcohol and handling a firearm is a crime. I will look up the regulation for this later tonight if that will help.

The guide line for determining intoxication is the same as that which is set for determining being impaired @ .02% (I think it is now) So that is basically a drink or a can of beer.



Hmmm... Please do. (look it up) I don't think you'll find it but I might be wrong.
The BATF is a regulatory/enforcement agency - They have no such regulation, other than pertaining to law enforcement officers (active and retired) carrying concealed weapons.

This would be covered by state law.

.02 Blood alcohol concentration applies only to persons under the age of 21. Anyone (over 21) below .05 shall be presumed NOT to be intoxicated/under the influence - Greater than .08 shall be presumed to be intoxicated/under the influence. In between .05 and .08 - other things (evidence) is used in making a determination. (these are not universal and all-inclusive levels)

KRS does prohibit the possession of a loaded firearm anywhere that alcohol is sold "by the drink."

[Chuck]

I would be doing that search forever. There is no suck agency call the AFT. You caught a typo cause from my spell checker and me not reading what it was changing.

My spell checker converted CFR to AFT. All cause I did not want to type out Code of Federal Regulations and did not pay close attention to what it was asking.

I do know the BATF is a regulatory/enforcement agency and does not make laws.

2nd as you know I would only be using ORC for my info not KRS but would think they are close. There again I was unsure and stated that .05 is still a good line to judge by.

I know that most states have laws the deal with this. The criteria is close to the same. The do not want people to consume alcohol and handle firearms.

Let me still make this statement cause it is an opinion regardless of what the actual law say:

This (If all facts are correct) is a classic example as to why you should not handle a firearm while consuming alcohol. Doesn't matter much if it is illegal at this point or not. It is why the put it in the owners manual to all firearms.

I would ask you if it is legal in Ky. to go hunting with a firearm while consuming alcohol?

[Daphne]

I would ask you if it is legal in Ky. to go hunting with a firearm while consuming alcohol?


From what I hear, you so much as mention Hunting and its automatic that you take alcohol, around here. Must be a redneck thing.

[Chuck]

Must be a redneck thing.

An Appalachian American Thing, thank you very much.

And Have a Nice Day.