New at Reason

Julian Sanchez | February 16, 2006

Kerry Howley goes hunting with Dick Cheney for the funding behind his vacations—and discovers we're all footing the bill.

Comments

|2.16.06 @ 2:16PM|#

Come on guys...Where are the "it's none of your fucking business what Cheney does on vacation" toadies. I'm really surprised you're all this slow on the draw.

|2.16.06 @ 2:23PM|#

Yeah guys. You know how it is with all us SUV-drivin', suburban Republicans over here at H&R. We need to get on the ball here.

|2.16.06 @ 2:26PM|#

Cheney shot somebody?

|2.16.06 @ 2:30PM|#

Cheney shot somebody?

Sounds like a rumor that only the enemies of America could be spreading.

The Owner's Manual|2.16.06 @ 2:31PM|#

I had no idea I could yawn so hard.

|2.16.06 @ 2:33PM|#

Lets face it. Had it been a company trip where an executive shoots a client in the face, the stockholders would most likely have him removed. Of course the reason for the removal would be the millions that company would most likely be paying out in the ensuing lawsuits. Being that a lawsuit here is very unlikely. I don�t think the stockholders (American people) should give this much serious consideration..
I do enjoy the jokes, however.

|2.16.06 @ 2:33PM|#

The vice president is on duty 24 hours, seven days a week.

When I was in the military, that exact phrase was used, except with "soldiers are" in place of "the vice president is." If I'd only realized that this meant I was entitled to have the taxpayers foot the bill to get me to my vacation spot, I'd have used military vehicles for every leave and weekend pass.

"Come on, kids! We're going to Disneyland! In a Blackhawk!"

|2.16.06 @ 2:38PM|#

Jake, I'll bet they could really boost enlistments with that policy. :)

|2.16.06 @ 2:40PM|#

ed,
Apparently so drunk that he was unable to speak coherently for fourteen hours after the event, Cheney whirled around and shot a 78 year old man in the face and heart.
Cheney does claim that he was drinking the non-alchoholic version of Wild Turkey, Penned Flightless Quail, but is unable to come up with a good excuse for why he had to sleep it off before meeting with the authorities.

|2.16.06 @ 2:49PM|#

Jake, I'll bet they could really boost enlistments with that policy. :)

|2.16.06 @ 3:02PM|#

Actually Jake, you could have taken military flights to your vacations. Probably not as convenient as Air Force 2, but free nonetheless. And who wouldn't want to go to Diego Garcia for vaca. I don't really like it that people in the government get special treatment on the public's dime, and that it really can cause inconvenience sometimes (remember Bill and his haircut on the LA airport tarmac?). But it has been going on for some time now. All the kvetching in the world won't stop it. And revolutions are so messy, and just create another group who will get special treatment. Plus le change....

|2.16.06 @ 3:26PM|#

Actually Jake, you could have taken military flights to your vacations. Probably not as convenient as Air Force 2, but free nonetheless.

Well, there's a notable difference between a) flying space-available between one military base and another, on a plane that was already going there anyhow; and b) actually expecting the taxpayers to buy you special trips to whatever specific places you feel like going.

Besides, I like kvetching.

James B.|2.16.06 @ 4:24PM|#

The vice president is on duty 24 hours, seven days a week.

I know Cheney copped to having "a beer" at lunch. Here's my question: if the Vice-President is on duty 24-7 and at any moment he might be called upon to order a hijacked aircraft shot out of the sky or heaven forbid launch a nuke, shouldn't he really abstain so he's in the best frame of mind to make that decision?

I remember this issue came up during the John Tower confirmation hearings. And understandably you don't want the SecDef going off on a bender. But I am just talking about "one beer". Pilots who are not on durty 24-7 have to refrain from drinking (not just avoid being drunk) for a set number of hours before they fly. Is it too much to ask executive branch officials who could literally kill billions of people with their decisions to refrain from drinking for the duration of their term?

|2.16.06 @ 4:27PM|#

I hope he, at least, pays for his own ammo.

Tim Cavanaugh|2.16.06 @ 4:35PM|#

Is it too much to ask executive branch officials who could literally kill billions of people with their decisions to refrain from drinking for the duration of their term?

The only abstinent presidents I can think of in the modern era are Carter and Bush II. Is that what you want in the White House?

Timothy|2.16.06 @ 4:41PM|#

You know, I'm guessing that "goddamn, I just shot a friend of my by accident, BETTER CALL THE NYT!" is not likely to go through anybody's mind.

Maybe it should when one is a public figure, but still.

|2.16.06 @ 4:42PM|#

Really, who's finger would you rather have on the button: a tripping, drinking, and whoring JFK or Jimmy "lust in my heart" Carter?

|2.16.06 @ 4:44PM|#

I have to ask myself whether I want Dick Cheney to be the poster child for second amendment rights...

|2.16.06 @ 4:51PM|#

Thoreau,

Well, he's well featured in the NRA, so as much as the NRA is the poster child for the 2nd amendment, he's put pretty high on a pedestal.

James B.|2.16.06 @ 4:55PM|#

The only abstinent presidents I can think of in the modern era are Carter and Bush II. Is that what you want in the White House?

I think not drinking when having the authority to launch nuclear weapons is neccessary but not sufficient to be President or Vice-President.

|2.16.06 @ 5:14PM|#

The Vice-President gets vacations? Why? ...I haven't taken a vacation in years. ...and before that vacation, I hadn't had a vacation in years.

|2.16.06 @ 5:16PM|#

Ken-

Do you really want the VP to actually earn his salary and perks? Would you actually want our leaders to spend all of their time figuring out things that they're absolutely convinced will make our lives better?

I suggest that he spend the next 3 years on vacation. Let him keep hunting, and let members of Congress go hunting with him. We'll start with Sensenbrenner.

|2.16.06 @ 9:04PM|#

thecoach, that's the second time you repeated that "drunken hunting trip" tidbit. It sounds like a complete crock o shit to me. Links? Good ole boys may do that, but I expect the veep is politically savvy enough to not do something like that. In addition, you would never do that among a group of serious hunters - wrong atmosphere entirely. Oh wait, I get it, "Cheney was drunk, pass it on". Actually, I heard he had just snorted some cola and then smoked a bong to take the edge off.

|2.16.06 @ 10:14PM|#

("He's an absolute expert shot," longtime friend and former Sen. Alan Simpson insisted to Wolf Blitzer, an interesting defense of a Vice President who had just shot a friend in the face.)

Very nice, Kerry.

And may I suggest some other hunting partners for marksman Cheney?

Larry A|2.17.06 @ 1:33AM|#

So let's say you're with your family in the airport lined up for the TSA experience. All of a sudden twenty-seven members of the press, eighteen secret service agents, the aide with the backup football, and the VPUSA get in line behind you.

No thanks. Let him take his own plane. Please.

amazingdrx|2.17.06 @ 8:23AM|#

Did WE buy the beer too? How about the expensive ammo for that thithy 28 gauge shotgun?

And who bought off the sherrif? Did the ranch owner, Ms. Armstrong, pay for that with cash ripped off from taxpayers by the second largest Iraq contractor, which she is a lobbyist for?

|2.17.06 @ 11:43AM|#

"The Vice-President gets vacations? Why? ...I haven't taken a vacation in years. ...and before that vacation, I hadn't had a vacation in years." - Ken Schultz

Wow, that's just about the saddest thing I've ever heard. I don't get a vacation so the VP shouldn't either. Waaaah!

Besides, do you really expect anyone here to believe your claims that you used to vote Republican when you can't even scratch together enough money to take a yearly vacation?!?