Isn't this a bit too flippant? I don't think 'By Jove, he got peppered pretty good' is what I'd want to hear after someone shot me in the face.
I hate to come to the defense of anyone even associated with Cheney, but it's actually not that flippant. Getting "peppered" is what it's called, not just by hicks, when hit at a distance by shotgun pellets. Because 28-gauge shotguns are not meant for shooting targets from any sort of distance, it's really not that serious to get hit by them from afar. Further, the ammo they were using is called birdshot, which are very small pellets.
For those of us non-hunters (me included), when we hear "shotgun" we immediately picture The Terminator, either on foot or on a motorcycle, blowing giant holes in trucks, liquid metal *****s, or the kneecaps of police officers. However, while Cheney is, we all suspect, at least 75% *****, the weapon and ammo he was using is not very powerful and not very useful for destroying assassin *****s or conservative lawyers. Obviously you don't want to get hit in the eye, groin, or any sort of orifice, but otherwise it's no big deal. Note that the article has to mention explicitly that his skin was pierced, because very often it won't be. Some people -- in this case, yes, hicks only -- even play a game, with lots of different names but sometimes called "Pepper," where they stand very far apart and shoot each other.
Still: the vice-president just shot a dude. That is pretty funny.