Certainly possible, if not probable, that Mr Cheney had been drinking. We do know that wine was being served, local law enforcement was turned away at the gate, and Dick went immediately into sequestration until the next day. My guess, however, is that the accident was not caused by alcohol. It's just that the vice president usually shoots animals as they are released from a cage. He wasn't used to the old-fashioned style of hunting.
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Peppered: Whittington in February 2006
CLOSURE
Mishap On a Texas Ranch
Published Aug 30, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Sep 8, 2008
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In the mass-media age, news stories captivate us, then vanish. We revisit those stories to bring you the next chapter.
STARTING POINT
In February 2006, while hunting quail, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots his friend, 78-year-old Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, in the face, spraying birdshot into his head, neck and torso. Whittington is helicoptered to a hospital.
FEVER PITCH
Whittington suffers a heart attack from a migrating pellet. A few days later, Cheney fesses up: "You can't blame anybody else ... I'm the guy who pulled the trigger." Then Whittington apologizes to him.
PRESENT DAY
Whittington still practices law in Austin. He says he's fully recovered, though pellets in his larynx changed his voice, and he still has birdshot in his chest, throat and eyes. Though Cheney's been "very kind" and calls him to check up, Whittington is no longer involved in Republican politics. "My biggest question," he tells NEWSWEEK, "is trying to figure out, 'Lord, why me?' "
© 2008
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