really officer, it was just one drink...

On February 13 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department issued a report on Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a fellow quail hunter. The VP accidently shot a 78 year old man in the face, neck and chest with a 28-gauge shotgun. He had a license to shoot (game, not people), but lacked the "upland game bird stamp". As a result, he received a warning citation, which has no fine or penalty. The local Sheriff's office issued a press release noting that no alcohol was involved. Fine. Except...

The initial report said there was no drinking, but now Cheney has admitted he had "a beer" at lunch. So he's gone from none to at least one, keeping in mind that he did shoot a guy in the face. He also mentioned that he'd had a cocktail after the shooting, presumably to calm down. Interestingly, in the incident report, where it said "was alcohol involved?" the answer was "no" rather than "unknown".

The matter was covered up for a couple of days, which apparently was "not a question of cover-up. Private hunting accident made public because it was the Vice President who shot someone. If the Veep had been shot, it would have been another matter." Very nice. It doesn't matter if it's the other guy that gets shot (from a national perspective), as long as it's not the VP.

Well, it'll be interesting to see what plays out now that alcohol is in play. Lesson for the rest of us: don't go quail hunting with the VP of the US, and never drink before picking up a shotgun (duh).