Cheney Too Cold
Henry here. It’s hard to know what to make of Dick Cheney’s hunting accident. I’m sitting here being puzzled with a whirl of thoughts going through my mind.
I’ve fired a shotgun more than I’ve fired a high powered rifle. Sometimes, just for the Hell of it, when out hunting, we would shoot at a tree about as big as your wrist. The charge would cut it off as clean as an axe. I’ve never fired a 28 gage shotgun, like Cheney was using, but I’ve fired a 210. The kick is substantial and the power at the muzzle is impressive.
Our shells would kill a goose at 50 yards. Cheney’s friend was about 25 years away when hit. I don’t know how much force there is in that kind of shotgun shell, but I seem to remember that the force of 12 gage bird shot leaving the barrel of a gun is somewhere around 2000 - 25000 foot pounds. Such a force could definitely kill someone within range.
But what puzzles me the most is that I know if I shot my good friend, no matter how or who was responsible, I would be shattered. Everyone would know I was broken up. I would feel guilty, responsible and stupid. What amazes me is his office did not release anything about the shooting until many hours later and that Cheney himself took days to make a statement. I could not keep such a catastrophe private, no matter how I tried. He seems to be traveling in a private little world, which does not include anyone else. He seems to have a profound need for secrecy, fear of emotional “spectacles,” little need to act on his supposed deep compassion, and, apparently, gross carelessness.
I’ve never met Mr. Cheney or ever expect to but, because of his very distant, secretive way of dealing with this incident, which is a hunter’s worse nightmare, I wonder about his ability to connect at depth to someone who is supposed to be his close friend. How connected is he with what’s actually happening in the world around him?
You know: “With friends like that…”