Guns and Quails and VPs, Oh My!

So the latest buzz from south of the border is the story about Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a fellow hunter while hunting for quail. According to an article I read this morning, Cheney could face criminal charges if Harry Whittington, the man he shot, dies OR recovers. While the situation itself isn't funny - whether you're the person who got shot or did the shooting - it is amusing that Cheney could face criminal charges over this, but that nobody would either think of going after Cheney over his ties to Haliburton or Enron. Very interesting. Of course, I think that even in this case, nobody would press charges. After all, Cheney runs the country, and you don't want to upset the boss. (C'mon...you REALLY think that Bush is in charge???)

And on a different train of thought, why is it that people take such pleasure out of hunting? Cheney is a rich old man who can probably snap his fingers to get his chef to whip him up some quail. Why does he have to go around shooting quail. I never understood the whole hunting thing. I can see how it made sense back in the 'ole days, when humans had to hunt for their food if they wanted to eat - or pick berries if they were into the whole vegetarian thing...but I digress. Now, however, I think that killing for "fun" is just weird. What does that say about you? That you're on the whole civilized, but just once in a while you get the urge to shoot something, and what better way to satisfy that urge than to kill another animal? I know that if you're a carnivore, you need to kill animals in order to eat (I get it - I love my meat as much as the next person); however, hunting for the thrill of it is bizzare...and I don't care if you eat what you killed, because the main motivation for hunting was not hunger.