Late night show hosts, cartoonists and bloggers are all sinking their teeth into the Dick Cheney shooting, and the latest news that Whittington was admitted into intensive care after suffering a mild heart attack has offered up a whole new world of potential punchlines…

  • Now, I imagine that Cheney and the President have hunted together. What would have happened if Cheney had shot the President? – Al Franken, The Huffington Post

  • Whittington has been moved back to the intensive care unit as a result of this heart attack. The news is probably very worrisome to Dick Cheney — who, of course, knows a thing or two about heart attacks… – Wonkette

  • Play the Dick Cheney Quail Hunting Game – The Huffington Post

  • Cheney cited for breaking hunting law. OK, besides the one that says look before you shoot, asshat. – WTF is it now.

  • Slate has rounded up all the “best Cheney hunting cartoons“.

American TV’s late night hosts are falling over themselves to outdo each other:

  • “We can’t get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney.” – David Letterman

“Dick Cheney accidentally shot a fellow hunter, a 78-year-old lawyer. In fact, when people found out he shot a lawyer, his popularity is now at 92 percent.” –Jay Leno

“Now, this story certainly has its humorous aspects. … But it also raises a serious issue, one which I feel very strongly about. … moms, dads, if you’re watching right now, I can’t emphasize this enough: Do not let your kids go on hunting trips with the vice president. I don’t care what kind of lucrative contracts they’re trying to land, or energy regulations they’re trying to get lifted – it’s just not worth it.” – Jon Stewart

And even White House spokesman Scott McClellan got in on the stand up act:

  • President Bush, he announced, would be on the South Lawn with the national champion University of Texas football team. “The orange they’re wearing is not because they are concerned that the vice president will be there,” he deadpanned….From the tone of his remarks, McClellan had evidently not heard that the man who was shot by Cheney had suffered a heart attack. – The Washington Post

    And on a more serious note:

    • The question the press should ask itself when it has time to pause and (ha-ha) reflect is: Why has Dick Cheney been allowed to be secret-agent vice president since 9/11? – James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
    • There are lots of lessons to be learned from Vice President Cheney’s accidental shooting of a hunting buddy on Saturday, and the ensuing press blackout. But the evidence suggests that Cheney isn’t interested in learning any of them. Instead, the public is getting an opportunity to learn some lessons about Cheney. And lesson number one is that Cheney gets his way. – Dan Froomkin, The Washington Post