Harry Whittington, 78, who was accidentally shot by Vice President Big Dick Cheney on Saturday, suffered a mild heart attack after a pellet from the bird shot that had entered his body migrated into his heart, according to numerous news sources, causing arterial fibrillation. A cardiac catheterization was performed at around 10:00 AM this morning, and Mr. Whittington is believed to be in stable condition.
Meanwhile, at the noon White House press conference on Tuesday, Press Secretary Scotty McClellan, who had been informed of Whittington's heart attack, told the press there was nothing new to report from the previous day.
He also made a point to mention his bright orange tie (scroll to the bottom of the article in the link), as well as the colors worn by the White House's guests, the University of Texas Longhorns, telling the press pool that "[t]he orange that they're wearing is not because they're concerned that the vice president may be there. That's why I'm wearing it."
The press conference then turned ugly for the second day in a row when McClellan refused to clarify his answers from the day before:
MR. MCCLELLAN: Again, that's what I've -- I indicated to you yesterday what our views were, and we went through this --
Q I don't recall you sharing the president's view.
MR. MCCLELLAN: Yeah. But can I finish responding? I am glad to answer your questions. I was very respectful --
Q You didn't answer that question --
MR. MCCLELLAN: I was very respectful and responsive to you all --
Q The vice president basically decided on his own to not disclose this, which is at odds with how you do business and how the president does business. Right?
MR. MCCLELLAN: I don't want to make this about anything other than what it is. It is what it is, David. I was very respectful and responsive to your questions yesterday. I provided you the information I knew, based on the facts that were available.
Q (Off mike) -- haven't answered --
MR. MCCLELLAN: And we've been through this pretty thoroughly and I'm just not --
Q Just one final question.
MR. MCCLELLAN: Wait! Wait! I'm just not going to go back through it again. I'd appreciate if you'd let me respond fully before you jump in.
Q All right. But hold on a second, I've got one last question --
MR. MCCLELLAN: Well --
Q Now wait a second!
MR. MCCLELLAN: -- other people in this room have questions and we've got an event coming up.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Governor Jeb Bush, the President's brother, "slapped an orange sticker on his chest from the Florida Farm Bureau that read, 'No Farmers, No Food,' and referred to the shooting," according to the same New Your Times
article linked above. Governor Bush then said, "I'm a little concerned that Dick Cheney is going to walk in."
While many are wondering why Cheney and the White House took so long to inform the national press about the shooting, as well as why they held off the information about Whittington's heart attack, various bloggers are wondering about more sinister items that appear to have occurred.
For instance, blogger
Taylor Marsh noted that the Austin American-Statesman changed its story that Whittington had initially been hit by 200 pellets of birdshot to say that he had only been hit by 100. This may seem like no big deal, but Marsh thinks it is part of the White House's new story line. ReddHedd over at firedoglake went even further,
questioning the entire story from Cheney and Katherine Armstrong, the owner of the ranch.
And it's not just the bloggers. Whittington's friends are starting to ask questions, according to
Slate.com writer:
The official story is that the blast from the vice president's shotgun hit Whittington at a distance of 30 yards. Hunters at the Vaughn Building [the headquarters of Harry Whittington] are skeptical. The hunt took place on a cold, windy afternoon. Whittington and his fellow hunters were probably wearing warm clothing—say, a jacket and a flannel shirt. Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun, a smaller-diameter firearm with pellets smaller than BBs. Whittington's friends question whether the pellets could have penetrated his layers of clothing and skin at that range. Yet two pellets lodged against his larynx, another was in his liver, and another migrated into the heart muscle, causing the heart attack. The pattern of wounds was between the lower chest and the forehead, a pretty tight zone for shot of 30 yards. If the range was considerably less than 30 yards, then it is likely that Whittington's injuries were worse than the initial statement by Katherine Armstrong indicated. (The blast "knocked him silly," but "he was fine.")
So many questions. And with each "answer" the White House provides, they only cause more questions to arise.
More on this as it developes.
All the best,
Derek
(DCF)
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