News > Politics > Religious Conservatives Hate Dick Cheney's Daughter

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 6 2006 11:03 PM

Religious Conservatives Hate Dick Cheney's Daughter

Submitted by legionnaire

Edited by legionnaire

Tags: Cheney, lesbian, pregnant, conservative

Mary Cheney scored some political points for her father in the 2004 presidential election when her sexual orientation became a card played by the Kerry campaign. The idea was to make the Bush/Cheney ticket appear hypocritical given their support for the Federal Marriage Amendment which would have redundantly banned gay marriage by altering the US constitution. The ploy backfired, however, when Cheney came off as a sympathetic political pawn being crudely manipulated by the Kerry campaign for their own, selfish gain. But really, could the conservative and religious right be satisfied having an open lesbian in their midst, even if she is the daughter of one of their heroes? Apparently not, as news of Cheney's recent pregnancy sparked outrage and hand wringing from some of the more vicious American conservative groups.

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America described the pregnancy as "unconscionable."

"It's very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father," said Crouse, a senior fellow at the group's think tank. "They are encouraging people who don't have the advantages they have."

Crouse said there was no doubt that the news would, in conservatives' eyes, be damaging to the Bush administration, which already has been chided by some leaders on the right for what they felt was halfhearted commitment to anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights causes in this year's general election.

Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, expressed empathy for the Cheney family but depicted the newly announced pregnancy as unwise.

"Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea," said. "Love can't replace a mother and a father."

So by that logic, a child whose father dies before he or she is born is also "unconscionable," seeing as that baby will never have a real father either? Typically the Concerned Women for America don't rush off to every pregnant widow looking to scold them for the atrocity they're about to wreak upon the world, nor does Focus on the Family tell those mothers that their love will never replace a real father for the child. The half-hearted attempt to shame the Bush administration into speaking out against the pregnancy seems fated to be unsuccessful, seeing as most everyone hates George W. Bush already, and he can't run for another term, so it's hard to see what sort of leverage these groups have.

Interestingly enough, Dick Cheney's own position on gay rights is oddly reasonable (considering his positions on virtually everything else) and the sort of thing that most Americans might actually agree with.

at a vice presidential debate in 2000, Cheney was asked, "Should a male who loves a male and a female who loves a female have all the constitutional rights enjoyed by every American citizen?"

Cheney responded, "People should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. It's really no one else's business, in terms of trying to regulate or prohibit behavior in that regard."

He added, "I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions, and that's appropriate. I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area. I try to be open-minded about it as much as I can and tolerant of those relationships. ... (I) wrestle with the extent of which there ought to be legal sanction of those relationships. I think we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kind of relationships people want to enter into."

At the very least, it hardly seems appropriate for political or religious groups to make an issue about one particular couple's decision to have a baby, regardless of who that couple happens to be. Of course, these are the same people whose idea of a perfect country would be them having unfettered access to everyone's bedroom to make sure that our conduct meets their own, arbitrary standards. That is, until they're revealed to be raving hypocrits and then we're all expected to forgive them.

Hopefully Bush (and the Democrats) will just ignore these people, and maybe they'll finally just go away and leave politics to the adults. They're clearly not capable of acting like respectable grownups, so until they are the rest of the political world should just ignore them.

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Comments

Ecto_Cooler

Bronx, NY

April 2004

DEC 06, 2006 11:19 PM

But really, could the conservative and religious right be satisfied having an open lesbian in their midst, even if she is the daughter of one of their heroes? Apparently not, as news of Cheney's recent pregnancy sparked outrage and hand wringing from some of the more vicious American conservative groups.

But really, could an SG "news editor" hinge his entire argument on quotes from two think tank flaks? Apparently so, as he doesn't bother to include quotes from any real people.

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

DEC 06, 2006 11:20 PM

Hmmmmm... I guess some people will do anything to fill the empty void they call their lives.

squerk

Seattle, WA

December 2004

DEC 06, 2006 11:35 PM

While I still don't like him, I do have to admit some level of surprise to the open minded statement Cheney made about same sex relationships. I heard about his daughter being a lesbian, but I hadn't heard he was at all supportive of her lifestyle. Again, it doesnt really help that most of what comes out of that man's mouth makes me boil, but for a split second I actually believed he was maybe human. Sorry to sound so disgustingly optimistic...

MrCrisp

I'm lost

August 2004

DEC 06, 2006 11:37 PM

like it's anybody's fucking business.

AlphaX

Fargo, ND

November 2006

DEC 06, 2006 11:37 PM

Anyone see jesus camp? If there was ever a case for Lithium, it would be for those of the extreme religious right, same goes for any of the politicians who listen to them...

Gringo

Spokane, WA

May 2006

DEC 07, 2006 12:47 AM

squerk said:
While I still don't like him, I do have to admit some level of surprise to the open minded statement Cheney made about same sex relationships. I heard about his daughter being a lesbian, but I hadn't heard he was at all supportive of her lifestyle. Again, it doesnt really help that most of what comes out of that man's mouth makes me boil, but for a split second I actually believed he was maybe human. Sorry to sound so disgustingly optimistic...

Although I appreciate Dick's outlook on gays, the cynic in me wonders if Cheney would have a completely view of gays if his daughter was straight. My second thought is, "Well, what else is he going to say? That his daughter is a product of Satan and have all of sane America look at him as a COMPLETE creep?"