Posted on 02/17/2006 11:33:55 AM PST by 300magnum
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney during a hunting trip was being discharged from a hospital Friday and told reporters he was deeply sorry for all the trouble Cheney had faced over the past week.
Cheney, speaking to the Wyoming Legislature on Friday, also alluded to the shooting as he thanked lawmakers for their half-minute standing ovation, saying the warm greeting was especially welcome "when you've had a very long week."
"Thankfully, Harry Whittington is on the mend and doing well," Cheney said.
In Texas, Whittington wore a suit and tie as he gave his brief statement outside the hospital. His voice was a bit raspy, but strong, and he had what appeared to be a line of cuts on his upper right eyelid and scrapes on his neck.
"We all assume certain risks in what we do, in what activities we pursue," the 78-year-old Austin attorney said. "Accidents do and will happen."
Whittington was hit in the face, neck and chest with birdshot Saturday during a hunting trip at a South Texas ranch. He had been listed in stable condition in a Corpus Christi hospital since suffering a mild heart attack Tuesday after a shotgun pellet traveled to his heart.
Cheney took full blame for the shooting in an interview Wednesday with Fox News, his first public comments on what happened that day.
"I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend," Cheney said in the interview. He said it was "one of the worst days of my life."
Dr. David Blanchard, chief of emergency care at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial, said Whittington will go home Friday because of "his excellent health," but Blanchard added that "he is not 100 percent."
During his statement, Whittington said the past weekend involved "a cloud of misfortune and sadness that is not easy to explain, especially with those who are not familiar with the great sport of quail hunting."
He said he sent his love and respect to Cheney and his family.
"My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with," he said. "We hope that he will continue to come and seek the relaxation that he deserves."
The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department closed its investigation of the shooting on Thursday without filing any charges. The department released an incident report that supported accounts from the ranch owner and Cheney.
Cheney told an investigator that he did not see Whittington while aiming for a bird. Whittington "explained foremost there was no alcohol during the hunt and everyone was wearing the proper hunting attire of blaze orange," Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr. wrote.
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A truck driver's driving down the road and sees a priest walking down the shoulder. Pulls over and asks if he wants a ride.
The priest accepts and they're tooling down the road, and they see a lawyer walking along.
Well, the truck driver normally would run over a lawyer, of course, when he didn't have a priest riding along with him.
So, he musters all of his self-control and drives on past. But he hears a 'thump-thump' as he goes by anyway!
He turns to the priest and says, "Father, I didn't hit him, really I didn't!"
The priest turns to him and says: "Don't worry about it, my son. I got him with the door!"
No details in yet.
It is not clear whether the man Cheney shot was leaving the hospital; or whether Cheney who was leaving the hospital shot another man. We don't know if alcohol was involved again.- tom
Go Cheney!
Can't anyone in the press write anymore?
what a bunch of maroons!
So was Chaney or the man leaving the hospital when the second Chaney shooting occured?
"With lawyers you take out the entire herd."
No Bag Limit for Scumbags ah?
What, you know the MSP will report Cheney is now shooting people leaving the hospital.
I never thought I could think this, but someone needs to get a body-guard for this guy. Even when he was in the hospital I was thinking someone needs to be watching him just in case there's a nut who might want to help advance his precarious conditon. Maybe I've been spending too much time reading the DUmmies, but they just seem to be such evil people who would do anything to get at Cheney.
Another one??? Someone take Cheney's gun away before he kill someone.
Even better, baiting them with a fake traffic accident is permitted in most red states.
He shot someone leaving the hospital?! That eeeevil Cheny!
/dripping sarcasm
Quick! Someone hand that man (Dash-hole) a shotgun!
Those types would prolly want to be closer to him.
Exactly what I thought.
What a stupid, ugly, totally unnecessary headline.
DAMN THEM.
Naawww, The "Flip-Flopper" was probably just whispering some "sweet nothings" in their ears.
If first you don't succeed....
Rush Limbaugh on his show today predicted the media focus on this would not be on comments, but the fact that no questions would be aloud. Still focusing on Whitehouse secrecy and cover-up.
Right as always, Rush. Here is the first paragraph on the CNN story…….
"The Bush-Cheney campaign donor spoke briefly to reporters at a Corpus Christi hospital around noon (1 p.m. ET) but took no questions."
Also notice they now call him "Bush-Cheney campaign donor"
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