WASHINGTON - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Vice President Cheney went quail hunting last week, and the senator lived to tell the tale. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford joined Cheney and Graham for two days of hunting on a private plantation that friends of Chambliss own in southern Georgia. | He's slipping, damnit. Graham would've been worth the publicity hit. |
The outing was only Cheney's second hunting trip since he accidentally wounded a close friend, Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, last February by spraying shotgun pellets into his face, neck and chest.
Even though almost 10 months have passed since the embarrassing episode, it was fresh on the minds of the Cheney group - and still remembered by some of the folks they met.
A local gun-shop owner cracked a joke about the incident when Cheney and the rest of the hunting party walked in, Graham said.
"It was brought up a couple of times," Graham said in an interview. "He [Cheney] makes people feel comfortable so they can joke about it."
Cheney broke up other guests at a dinner by recalling President Bush's reaction when the vice president returned to the White House after the incident.
"Dang, Dick, you shot the only trial lawyer who supports me!" Bush mock-scolded Cheney.
| Now if he'd have taken Baker & Hamilton out... |