by TChris

Will George and Dick soon be swapping hunting stories over a beer?

When George W. Bush, then a gubernatorial candidate, accidentally killed a protected [killdeer] during a dove shoot in 1994, he and his press aide swiftly decided on a strategy: confess fast.

"People watch the way you handle things. They get a feeling they like and trust you or they don't," said a biography of Mr Bush.

Dick should have called George for expert advice on hunting mishaps.

Dick Cheney: the rare politician who can make George Bush look good by comparison.

Digby finds a chink in the story.

DUI cases. The stories are always the same. How many times have cops heard "I only had one beer" when pulling someone over. And now the latest from Cheney pal Katherine Armstrong: He was so distraught after the accident that he made a drink as soon as he got back to the ranch.

I was fine with the beer at lunch. It's true, that would not make him enebriated. It was a few hours before the shooting. But the drink back at the ranch could mean he wanted an explanation for any alcohol in his system in case he did have to take breath or blood test Saturday night -- in case the investigators weren't as sympatico to Katherine Armstrong, the former Bush-appointed head of Texas Wildlife, or the Secret Service, as he hoped they would be.

As Digby says:

[Cheney's story is] not exactly convincing when the secret service "made an appointment" with the sheriff's office for the next day and ran off the deputy who showed up to interview Cheney at the ranch.

Not to mention, the incident report states alcohol was not involved.

Here is the transcript of Vice President Cheney's interview tonight.

How did he do? My take: If only he'd come out the first day with this interview, it would have been a 15 minute story.

Some snippets:

Cheney: Well, ultimately, I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry. And you can talk about all of the other conditions that existed at the time, but that's the bottom line. And there's no -- it was not Harry's fault. You can't blame anybody else. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend. And I say that is something I'll never forget.

Vice President Dick Cheney will give an interview to Fox News at 2:00 pm today. It will air shortly before 6 p.m. ET.

Democrats have been pressing him to come forward. The secrecy of this Administration and Cheney are unbefitting an open government. The White House is not private property.

The New York Times reports that the White House has dropped its tone of levity over the Cheney shooting of Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, following Whittington's heart attack this morning, caused by a pellet that lodged or migrated to his heart.

The turn for the worse in Mr. Whittington's health changed the White House response to the hunting accident as well as the response of local law officials in Texas. Officials there said that they were monitoring the case and Carlos Valdez, the district attorney in Kleberg County, said a fatality would require a new report from the local sheriff and, most likely, a grand jury investigation.

Cheney's handling of the incident has caused tension between his office and the office of the President. And many medical experts are disputing the Texas doctor's version of Whittington's condition.

Attytood has more on lobbyist and Texas ranch owner Katharine Armstrong. Our prior post on Armstrong and her family's connections is here, and a related post on Kenedy County, hunting ground for the Texas political heavyweights is here.

Happiness may be a warm gun, but it looks like Cheney could get cold-cocked over this. He still hasn't made a public statement and even the White House thinks he should.

Breaking:

The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident has some birdshot lodged in his heart and he had a "minor heart attack," a hospital official said Tuesday.

Peter Banko, the hospital administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial, said Harry Whittington had the heart attack early Tuesday while being evaluated.

He said there was an irregularity in the heartbeat caused by a birdshot pellet, and doctors performed a cardiac catheterization. Whittington expressed a desire to leave the hospital, but Banko said he would probably stay for another week.

Scotty better lay off the jokes now.

Maybe there is a simple answer to this, but if so, it escapes me. Why does Kenedy County have a Sheriff and why is it a county?

More than 22 million people live in Texas. According to the Census Bureau, the population of Kenedy County is 407 persons. There are approximately 138 households. There are 4 non-farm privately owned businesses with employees.

But it has received 1,441 federal grants. Here are more statistics.

Did the ranchers buy themselves a county government? It sure looks like it.

There's an update tonight on lawyer Harry Whittington's condition:

Millionaire lawyer Harry Whittington's condition continued to improve Monday after Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot him during a quail hunt, but doctors said he would probably live out his days with pellets inside him.

[Hospital Emergency Chief] Blanchard said that in cases like Whittington's, where the number of pellets lodged in the skin were "more than I can count on the fingers of my hand, but less than 100," it was better to leave them there than to try to extract them. "In all likelihood, he will continue the rest of his long life and his longevity with those pellets remaining in place," Blanchard said.

Another update on the "miscommunication" over the request to interview Cheney on Saturday night:

Arianna does a great job today of recapping the criticism the Administration is under from those in its own party on a myriad of issues, including "NSA wiretaps, Iraq, Katrina, Plamegate leaks, the budget, the Abramoff scandal, and immigration." After a detailed analysis on each one, she concludes with:

Indeed, with so many Republicans trying to distance themselves from the president, it's clear the wheels are coming off the White House wagon. Just in time for 2006. If the GOP barrage keeps up, the president will soon find himself in the political ICU.

CNN just reported Dick Cheney was in violation of Texas statutes by not having a $7.00 stamp on his license. He has been given a warning. This is small potatoes in the grand scheme of the story.

Much bigger issues: Why did Cheney not give an interview to the Game wardens until Sunday morning? Why did he let Katharine Armstrong notify the press? Why the 24 hour delay? And why did Cheney not speak to the President until today --are they on the outs, as has been reported?

Tonight: Letterman will feature Cheney jokes throughout the show. "We've finally found weapons of mass destruction. They are Dick Cheney." And a top ten list of Dick Cheney excuses.

Leno: Cheney shot a lawyer, his popularity goes up to 92%.

Update: The New York Times has these details from a White House press release:

Smoking Gun has the Texas Warden's report. And a press release from the Kenedy County Sheriff saying there was no alchohol or misconduct involved and that Whittington's and Cheney's statements matched. The Sheriff's office is "fully satisfied" this was an accident.

Did Whittington fall on his sword for Cheney?

And the details about the 24 hour delay in reporting keep getting murkier. From Hardball tonight: Bush knew at 8pm Saturday, after being told by Andrew Card. McClellan not until 6 am Sunday. Bush didn't speak to Cheney until today. Cheney was present at Bush's press conference on Kofi Annan, but left the room before reporters could ask him questions. Former Wyoming senator and Cheney friend Alan Simpson was on doing his best to spin for his buddy. He made no sense. He also blamed Whittington.

Reddhedd at Firedoglake has more on the Texas statutes.

Paul Begala, another hunter with 30 years experience, weighs in at the TPM Cafe and says Cheney's story doesn't hold.

A reader writes in:

Do you find it odd that 2 men are out hunting with 2 women that are not their wives? Maybe this is the reason for the WH cover up?

The four in the hunting party were: Cheney, Whittington, the divorced Katharine Armstrong and as Raw Story wrote earlier, Pamela Willeford, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland.

Before you say it's sleazy to ask this, think about what the press would be reporting if it were John Kerry instead of Dick Cheney.