Jason Linkins, Huffington Post - "The End Of A Decade: We Are All Harry Whittington"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

The End Of A Decade: We Are All Harry Whittington

Jason Linkins

[e-mail]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/31/the-end-of-a-decade-we-ar_n_408657.html

First Posted: 12-31-09 04:47 PM | Updated: 12-31-09 05:20 PM



Let's cast our minds back to Saturday, February 11, 2006. Harry Whittington was, at the time, a 78 year old lawyer who lived in Texas, and whose life, as far as history was concerned, was largely unremarkable, save for one thing: he was an intimate of Vice President Dick Cheney. And on that day, Whittington and Cheney were members of a hunting party, casting after quail at the Armstrong Ranch in Texas. The two men were reportedly friends. Maybe even BFFs -- I do not know. What's important is that on the morning of February 11th, Harry Whittington awoke safe in the knowledge that Dick Cheney was among his well-wishers. That's not nothing! There are billions of people across this planet who Dick Cheney literally wishes to be visited with some sort of indiscriminate harm.

***

And so, Dick Cheney and Harry Whittington and four other hunters went out for quail that day, and by the end of the day, Dick Cheney had shot his friend in the face.

Now, there are all sorts of diverging accounts about what happened, who was standing where, who was drinking what, whose fuck-up set off the whole unfortunate chain of events. The official summary of what happened goes like this: "Whittington downed a bird and went to retrieve it. While he was out of the hunting line, another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest."

Whittington ended up hospitalized for his wounds. On Monday, he was moved out of the intensive care unit. The following morning, Whittington suffered a small heart attack because of shrapnel that had strayed too close to his heart. He was subsequently moved back into intensive care and treated anew. With the Christmas Crotchfire attack fresh in our memories, should I point out that the Bush administration waited a day to inform the world that the second in line to the Oval Office had shot a guy? No? Okay. Moving on!

The most extraordinary thing about this whole story occurred on February 17, when the finally discharged Whittington held a press conference, and said this:

My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with. We hope that he will continue to come to Texas and seek the relaxation that he deserves.

That's right. Harry Whittington, late of being shot in the face, went in front of the press and apologized for that time he allowed his face to get in front of somebody else's bullets. Gosh! My bad!

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. Bwahahahaha

It's almost like someone had a gun in his... oh, nevermind.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. He should have known better than to stand in front of Cheney while Cheney was holding a loaded gun!

He was just begging to get shot in the face.
His apology was to be expected....


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Hannah Bell]

3. Excuse me, but Whittington is no everyman. The "Ranch" in question

belongs to one of the wealthiest families in the country, & Whittington is a solid member of the ruling class. Which is why he issued the statement he did.