[h1] Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter[/h1][h1]'Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good'[/h1][p style="text-align: left;"][img]vny!://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney.ap/vert.whittington.file.ap.jpg" alt="vert.whittington.file.ap.jpg" border="0" height="242" width="220"][!--===========/IMAGE===========--][!--===========CAPTION==========--]
[/p][p style="text-align: left;"]Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old lawyer,
was in stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.[/p][b style="font-size: 14px;"]CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) -- VicePresident Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion duringa weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter inthe face and chest with shotgun pellets.[/b][/p]Harry Whittington, amillionaire attorney from Austin, was in stable condition in theintensive care unit of a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday, said YvonneWheeler, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System.[/p]Theaccident occurred Saturday at a ranch in south Texas where the vicepresident and several companions were hunting quail. It was notreported publicly by the vice president's office for nearly 24 hours,and then only after it was reported locally by the Corpus ChristiCaller-Times on its Web site Sunday.[/p]Katharine Armstrong, theranch's owner, said Sunday that Cheney was using a 28-guage shotgun andthat Whittington was about 30 yards away when he was hit in the cheek,neck and chest.[/p]Each of the hunters was wearing a bright orangevest at the time, Armstrong told reporters at the ranch about 60 milessouthwest of Corpus Christi. She said Whittington was "alert and doingfine."[/p][a name="1"][/a][a name="rv1"][/a][h3]'Vice president didn't see him'[/h3]Armstrongtold The Associated Press that emergency personnel traveling withCheney tended to Whittington before an ambulance -- routinely on callbecause of the vice president's presence -- took him to the hospital.[/p]Cheney'sspokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president met withWhittington at the hospital on Sunday. Cheney "was pleased to see thathe's doing fine and in good spirits," she said.[/p]Armstrong saidshe was watching from a car while Cheney, Whittington and anotherhunter got out of the vehicle to shoot at a covey of quail.[/p]Whittingtonshot a bird and went to retrieve it in the tall grass, while Cheney andthe third hunter walked to another spot and discovered a second covey.[/p]Whittington"came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn'tsignal them or indicate to them or announce himself," Armstrong said.[/p]"Thevice president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey flushed andthe vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. Andby God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."[/p]Whittingtonhas been a private practice attorney in Austin since 1950 and has longbeen active in Texas Republican politics. He's been appointed toseveral state boards, including when then-Gov. George W. Bush named himto the Texas Funeral Service Commission.[/p]McBride did not commentabout why the vice president's office did not tell reporters about theaccident until the next day. She referred the question to Armstrong,who could not be reached again Sunday evening.[/p]Armstrong, ownerof the Armstrong Ranch where the accident occurred, said Whittingtonwas bleeding after he was shot and Cheney was very apologetic.[/p]"Itbroke the skin," she said of the shotgun pellets. "It knocked himsilly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open. It didn'tget in his eyes or anything like that.[/p]"Fortunately, the vicepresident has got a lot of medical people around him and so they wereright there and probably more cautious than we would have been," shesaid. "The vice president has got an ambulance on call, so theambulance came."[/p]Cheney is an avid hunter who makes annual tripsto South Dakota to hunt pheasants. He also travels frequently toArkansas to hunt ducks, among other places.[/p]Armstrong said Cheneyis a longtime friend who comes to the ranch to hunt about once a yearand is "a very safe sportsman." She said Whittington is a regular, too,but she thought it was the first time the two men hunted together.[/p]"This is something that happens from time to time. You know, I've been peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong.[/p]The50,000-acre Armstrong ranch has been in the influential south Texasfamily since the turn of the last century. Katharine is the daughter ofTobin Armstrong, a politically connected rancher who has been a guestat the White House and spent 48 years as director of the Texas andSouthwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He died in October. Cheney wasamong the dignitaries who attended his funeral.[/p]Cheney waslegally hunting with a license he purchased in November, Texas Parksand Wildlife Department spokesman Steve Lightfoot said. The vicepresident flew back to Washington on Sunday evening, according to hisoffice.[/p][hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]The important questions raised by this hunting accident are:1) *Are* lawyers in season right now?
2) Was the lawyer at least a 4-point?
3) Was Cheney within his permit limit?
4) Was the Cheney aide misquoted about the lawyer's hunting suit havinga target on the back, or that he'd bought it at Target a while back?
5) Will Disney adapt this into a cartoon about a baby lawyer having to adjust to living in the wild without his parent?
6) Is this what you should expect if you don't contribute enough to a political reelection fund in the future?[/p]
