Afterward, Mr. Cheney Had to Suppress the Desire to Shoot Someone Else.

Quote:  "He didn't do what he was supposed to do."  Katharine Armstrong, owner of the Texas ranch where Dick Cheney shot a fellow hunter. 

Figure of Speech:  pareuresis (pa ROOR eh sis), the great excuse.

Harry Whittington, a bigshot Texas lawyer, was hunting quail with Cheney when he got in the veep's line of fire.  If you've ever been quail hunting, you know that's easy to do.  The damn little birds fly in all directions.

Indeed, Whittington should have said something before he walked up behind Cheney.  But a prime rule of hunting is to look before you shoot.  So we'd place the blame at 50-50.  Instead, Karen Armstrong uses a pareuresis (Greek for "pretext"), an overwhelming excuse that often comes in the form of blaming the victim.

We're guessing that Ms. Armstrong is a Republican.

Snappy Answer:  "Then he deserved to be shot."