From Time:
But that did not happen right away. Cheney insisted on carrying out a strategy he had worked out with the ranch owner, Katharine Armstrong, in which she was to call a trusted reporter at the local paper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, to disclose the news. Caller-Times Managing Editor Shane Fitzgerald told TIME that the newspaper had done its usual nightly checks with local law enforcement agents on Saturday and had been told nothing was going on. Armstrong started leaving messages at the newspaper at 8 a.m., reached a reporter by 11 a.m. and the newspaper posted its story on the Web at 1:48 p.m. local time Sunday. At 3:34 p.m. eastern time, The Associated Press finally flashed the news: “Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a hunting trip in Texas.” Fitzgerald said he is “mystified” about the chain of events and that the public should have been notified much earlier, even if the shooter had been some random guy. Even on Monday, the newspaper struggled to get a copy of the accident report. “I think it has become a bigger deal than Mr. Cheney and/or the White House anticipated,” the editor said.
That is perhaps the understatement of the day. McClellan endured two of his testiest briefings ever, with NBC’s David Gregory saying at an off-camera morning briefing that the Administration neglected its duty to put out the information and that White House reporters “don’t care if some ranch owner calls a local paper.” McClellan accused Gregory of grandstanding: “Hold on. Cameras aren’t on right now. You can do this later.” That infuriated Gregory. “You don’t have to yell,” McClellan said. Gregory shot back: “I will yell. If you want to use that podium and try to take shots at me personally, which I don’t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that’s wrong.” McClellan said: “Calm down, David.”
I don’t even believe this story about Cheney orchestrating the leak to the local paper. But let’s pretend. What did Katherine Armstrong say?
“He got peppered pretty good,” Ms. Armstrong said. “He fell with his head toward me.” She said she ran over to Mr. Whittington, who had fallen, but stayed out of the way while Secret Service agents tended to him.
“There was some bleeding, but it wasn’t horrible,” she said. “He was more bruised.”
Right. It wasn’t horrible. He was bleeding a little and he was bruised. Never mind this:
“Some of the birdshot appears to have moved and lodged into part of his heart … in what we would say is a minor heart attack,” said Peter Banko, administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial.
Give me a f’ing break. Cheney blasted this guy so hard that a pellet penetrated his chestplate and lodged in his heart. It’s obvious the reason that no one in the White House made any statements for 20 hours….they were not certain the man would live.
Can we impeach Cheney already? Or just fucking resign. You’re a disgrace.
