Ready, Fire, Aim!

The Associated Press reports that Vice-President Dick "Trigger" Cheney showed his conservative restraint once again yesterday by shooting one of his hunting companions while quail hunting in southern Texas. The victim, Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, found himself in the unenviable position of being between the Vice-President and his quarry, and, as property owner Katharine Armstrong said, "by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good." I hate it when that happens.

About a year and a half ago I took a Hunter Safety class with 2 of my sons. One of the primary lessons was to not only have a clear line of sight to your target, but to also know what is behind your target. Mr. Cheney was so anxious to shoot his quail that he didn't bother to follow this basic rule. I hope that Mr. Cheney is forced to attend one of these classes. Nevertheless, I would still advise you to closely follow the Vice-President's schedule, and then plan to always be in a different state.

The unfortunate Mr. Whittington has long been active in Texas Republican politics, and was was once appointed by then-governor George W. Bush to the Texas Funeral Service Commission. I checked out the Commission's website and note that its mission "is to protect the public from deceptive practices". One can only wonder what the mission of the commission was when Mr. Bush was governor. Thinking...thinking...done. " The Texas Funeral Service Commission - protecting Texas businesses from extortion by the bereaved."