Look, we all agree right that it’s really horrid what happened to that ppor man. I mean jesus, my MOM is 79. I cannot imagine some 78 year old man getting shot in the face AND neck and so forth. And the news is just so disgusting – between the “handling” of the story, the fact that the poor schmuck had a fucking “mild heart attack” today. Oh yeah, he’s fine. 78 yeasr old, in the ICU and shot at relatively close range.

Some days, I said to Stu as we watched "The Daily Show" last night, it must be real hard to write stuff for the headlines. Then there are other days. I think they’re called “gimmes.”

But I did find something VERY useful today and asked permission to reprint it. This is from author William Tapply responding to questions regarding hunting and what’s required of hunters. This is not someone with an axe to grind.

Here’s Bill Tapply:

“I have hunted birds, including quail, since I was a kid. Close to 50 years. We ALWAYS know where everybody else in the party (including the dogs) is. The thing that's ALWAYS foremost in our minds is: That is a deadly weapon we're carrying, and we don't want to kill anybody. Hunting quail in flat open land, there is NO EXCUSE for losing track of a member of your hunting party. Whether this guy was where he shouldn't be or not is irrelevant. If he was lagging behind, they should've waited for him. Cheney clearly was hugely irresponsible and careless. If the guy was coming up from behind everybody, lagging behind, as they say, and if the quail flushed and flew back behind the hunters, they would instinctively pivot around to shoot . . . except they should know that somebody was back there. It's their Number One responsibility to know that. But even if, for some inexcusable reason, they didn't know he was there , they should ALWAYS look before they shoot. In bird hunting, the rule is: Know where all your partners are. See the bird against the sky before you shoot. You do NOT shoot into the sun if it's blinding you.

I don't know how far away the victim here was from the gun, but if it was 30 yards or less he could've been killed and he was incredibly lucky if he didn't lose an eye or two. Don't let anybody tell you it was "only" birdshot.

This event is (should be) scandalous, and it's hard to resist drawing political conclusions from the cavalier attitude toward it that we're being given.

As most hunters and all sympathizers of the NRA (including Dick Cheney) will tell you: Don't blame the gun; blame the person who shoots the gun.

This is an apalling event. For one thing, it reflects badly on people like me, who've hunted birds all these years and never once come close to shooting in the direction of another person. For another thing, Cheney could've killed the guy (and I wonder how much they're downplaying his injuries).”

In a later post, Tapply said

“Okay, a bird flying at the same height as a standing man's head . . . into the sun (rising or setting) means that they either got up before dawn or were still hunting out there close to dusk. Picture it. The sun would have to be right on the horizon. The best time to hunt birds (except ducks) is mid-day, when they're out foraging for food. But, okay, if they really were hunting at this time of day, late afternoon, looking toward the sun would blind you -- not just blind you in that little area the size of a man's head, but blind you if you look to the west. It's not that the bird would fly into the little round space of the setting sun. You would have no idea where the bird was. If you pulled the trigger, you'd have no expectation of hitting anything, and so you, or I, or almost anybody would not pull the trigger. Responsible hunters NEVER pull the trigger if they can't see clearly
what in their line of fire. NEVER.

The whole scenario stinks. But it's not the first one . . .

By the way, don't confuse deer-hunting "accidents" with bird-hunting accidents. Deer are always on the ground (just like people) and they're generally shot with rifles, which are lethal for a mile or more. Moreover, deer lurk in thick areas and careless hunters often shoot at movement or something that sort of looks like a deer. Rifle bullets are, of course, deadly. Compared to deer hunting, quail hunting in open fields with shotguns and light loads (a #8 pellet is about the size of a pin head) is, or should be, quite safe. It takes a truly careless (and/or arrogant) hunter to shoot one of his buddies in the face.

What I particularly hate about this story is that it's probably going to inspire jokes about hunters instead of jokes about Cheney. No hunter will defend or excuse what he did.”

I tried really hard not to have the image in my head of Cheney shooting wildly like a madman – it seemed too cartoonish. You know, like “Woody Allen goes hunting”, taking a gun and just shooting – yeah – blindly at anything moving (including a man in a BRIGHT ORANGE VEST). Elmer Fudd hunting wabbits. Too stupid right?

Then I read Tapply’s remarks.