Was Harry unwitting? Was Cheney too chary?
Howard Sutherland, who is from Texas, has known Harry Whittington all his life, and has hunted with him, very much doubts the official story that Whittington inattentively exposed himself to the line of fire of his fellow hunters without alerting them to his presence. He writes:
Harry Whittington is a life-long family friend of mine. He has been hunting longer than Cheney has been alive. The official story is patent nonsense to anyone who knows Texas bird shooting.
LA replies:
You must expand on this. You’re saying that Whittington would not have walked up behind the other hunters without letting them know he was approaching? And therefore that the accident really must have been Cheney’s fault and they’re covering this up?
Mr. Sutherland replies:
First, how I know Harry. He and his wife are life-long friends of my mother’s. I have known Harry and Merce all my life and see them when I visit Texas—they still own land and a house in the country in Goliad County. Caveat on all that follows: I have not discussed any of this with Harry, and these suppositions are entirely my own.
Harry is a very devoted Republican, going back to a time when Republicans were very rare anywhere in the Deep South, including Texas. Here is a decent profile of him. Here is Molly Ivins, of all people, on Harry. I doubt the Republicans are worried that he will contradict whatever story they put out to exonerate Cheney. Katherine Armstrong, the hunting party’s hostess and a Texas GOP fixer herself, presented the story in a way that makes it seem that Harry unintentionally set up the mishap. The White House and Cheney’s people have spun it the same way: “Whittington walked forward of the line to retrieve a downed bird, without telling anyone, then stood up to walk back, again without alerting anyone to his presence, while Cheney—doing nothing wrong—shot at some flushed birds and hit Whittington, who had put himself in harm’s way” or words to that effect. [LA note: my impression was that Armstrong’s story was that Whittington had walked in a different direction from the other hunters and then had come up behind them, not that he had walked forward of them.] I’m a sometime Texas bird hunter—who has been in the country with HW—and I don’t buy it. Relatives of mine in Texas who (i) know Harry well and (ii) hunt in South Texas a lot more than I do don’t buy it either. Harry is a very intelligent and alert countryman who has I suspect has been hunting longer than Dick Cheney has been alive—very unlikely, I think, that he would make such an obvious novice mistake. I wonder if he would have gone forward of the line at all; if so, I find it hard to believe that he would have without announcing it clearly (he has a strong voice). Likewise, I wonder if he would have stood up forward of the line (if he really was out there) without announcing that. At 78, Harry is in full possession of his faculties and in very good shape. Far more fit, I suspect, than the 65 year old VP.
For what it is worth (more on this at Sailer’s site), this kind of accident has become increasingly rare in Texas. I suspect that Cheney may have shot out of his fan, and down the line. He either didn’t pay attention to the line, or forgot for the moment that birdshot spreads in a fan pattern as it leaves the barrel. That is not a consideration in rifle or pistol shooting.
Here is how it is supposed to work. Whoever is in charge of the hunt (this is fairly informal, but it is usually the host or the most experienced hunter) sets up a line—not drawn on the ground or anything. On the Armstrong Ranch, I’m sure the hunters were well-attended. Shooters are on the line when you are trying to flush birds to shoot. Everyone else is clear behind the line. Shooters need to be aware of their rounds’ spread pattern and ensure that they do not shoot down the line. That doesn’t mean merely not aiming parallel to the line; it means ensuring that your aim is always sufficiently forward of the line to ensure that none of your spread is anywhere near traveling down the line. My best guess is that some birds were flushed that were down the line from Cheney and he swung and shot at them, possibly even shooting a little earlier (hence lower) than he intended. While no one has confirmed how much shot Harry absorbed, it sounds like a lot—and one managed to find its way to his heart in less than 48 hours. That makes me suspect that he was hit from closer to 30 feet than the 30 yards we are hearing about. At the longer range the spread would be greater and the shot pattern much less dense.
All in all, and I reiterate that this is mostly speculation on my part, this feels like a fairly basic shooter error. For what it is worth, Cheney is better known as a fly fisherman than as a hunter. Also for what it is worth, I do not believe drinking was involved, on Harry’s part, Cheney’s or anyone else’s. I’m afraid that, while no longer pretending that Cheney did everything right, the GOP’s PR people want to leave us with the impression that Cheney was really the victim of his hunting companion’s inattentiveness. I think that would be very unfair to Harry’s reputation—he is no bumbler. As I said above, though, I doubt very much that he would do anything to correct that impression. HRS
Mr. Sutherland’s view would explain a lot of things. If the shooting was Whittington’s fault, as the official story tells us, then Cheney’s 18 hour delay in letting the press know about the accident (and his day and a half delay in telling the president) is simply inexplicable. But if the shooting was Cheney’s fault, then he and his party needed time to get a handle on the situation, including putting together the story that Whittington had caused the accident.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 17, 2006 02:43 PM | Send