On Cheney Shooting his Buddy in the Face

Lots of stuff I've gleaned from around the blogosphere: 1) DC had responsibility to not shoot; 2) Seeming lie about how close to sunset this happened; 3) Illegal -- no permit; 4) Seeming lie on distance to target -- #7 1/2 birdshot would be too dispersed and slow at 30' to account for wounds; 5) Account of beer scrubbed; 6) Reporting delay suggests sobering up, making up a cover story and lawyering up; 7) Initial silence and fact that someone else reported it -- was Plan A just to cover it up? 8) Blaming the victim; 9) Joking about it; 10) Fancy rifle of same kind Kerry was ridiculed for using; 11) Phony nature of hunt; 12) W: either out of the loop or participating in coverup; 13) Victim, though a Republican, still cool.

Elaborating on 13: It's always the good ones that get shot in the face and the heart. It's a terrible thing that this happened to anyone, but still, there's just this little thought that if it had to happen, it would be a little more just, or poetically just, to have this happen to someone with the same vicious streak as the Veep.

Elaborating on 11: I remember reading, maybe in the Atlantic, about how Nicolae Ceaucescu like to hunt bears and brag about his brilliant successes in that area. He had a team of helpers that would stock the forest with big bears, and usher them toward the stand where NC would be waiting, overlooking a clearing baited with food. I think some of the bears were drugged. Similarly, DC enjoys fake hunts where the game is raised in captivity and released right in front of the hunters. I'm not a hunter myself, and tend to see it all as a bit barbaric, but I can appreciate there being some challenge and suspense when you must stalk the prey, use your wits, maneuver to gain a target, practice some marksmanship. Here we have hunting for idiots. They do everything but the damn bird in a cage for you. It reduces the hunt to its basest essence: take one of God's creatures that is beautiful and alive, get drunk, kill it, and laugh at the mindless destruction. That sounds just pitiful.

Elaborating on 9: No one has linked to the lyrics of Tom Lehrer's "The Hunting Song" -- so I will.