Religious Conservatives Hate Dick Cheney's Daughter
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.
The Spider Girls Wreak Havoc in Chile
There's a new SG in town.
While I don't really think of the SuicideGirls as good girls per se, should they ever take up comic book style crime fighting, I know who their arch-nemesis would be. SuicideGirls, meet the Spider Girls.
The Spider Girls are an elite band of teenage girls who strike fear into hearts of jewelry owners the world over, but mostly in Chile. Like their eight-legged counterparts, they glide up through luxury apartments undetected, ensnare your most prized jewels in their webs, and then casually slip through the front door back into the night as though you'd invited them. You probably did, walking around, flossin', thinking you're All That.
In 2005 alone, before their capture, the Spider Girls were responsible for a spate of crimes, crippling the jewel lovers of Santiago and sinking their teeth into thousands of dollars worth in jewelry. Asked why they did it, Spider Girl Jocelyn spit cold venom.
"We did it because we wanted money in our pockets. We like to buy new clothes."
The Chileans were especiall angered by the fierce-some foursome, because all but one of the girls were under the age of 18 and had to be tried as juveniles. The girls vowed to renounce their ways, but since their release from reform school, one Spider Girl, Yasna, returned to a life of crime, recruited and trained a new girl, Marceille, and together the duo have weaved a shiny, glittering, jewel encrusted web of fear.
Upon their red handed capture, climbing the third floor of a luxury building, both Yasna and Marceille were found to be heavy with child. Who knows what danger lurks within? Until next time
...Say. by the way--if the SuicideGirls were a comic book, would it take a Missy's Angels (à la Charlie's Angels) kinda vibe? Would any of them even take direction well? Who'd be Bosley? Could I be Bosley? I live in New Yorkcould there be an East Coast Bosley and a West Coast Bosley?
The Pope Skips Out on Vatican Movie Premiere
The Nativity Story made its world premiere this Sunday at an unlikely location: the Vatican. The story of Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus drew big names, including the man known as the Deputy Pope.
The audience of some 8,000 people who attended a benefit gala premiere in the Vatican's vast Paul VI Hall broke into applause five times during the screening and again at the end. It was the first feature film to premiere at the Vatican.
"It is well done," said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State, who ranks second only to Pope Benedict in the Vatican hierarchy.
"It re-proposes this event which changed history with realism but also with a sense of great respect of the mystery of the nativity," he told reporters afterwards. "It is a good cinematic event...the judgment is positive."
Despite the glowing reviews, there were two notable faces missing from the premiere; the films star, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and the big guy in charge, Pope Benedict. Rumors swirled before the premiere that the Pope felt uncomfortable attending the premiere because of Castle-Hughes delicate condition; the 16-year-old actress, who played the role of Mary, is pregnant and unwed. Insiders claimed that Castle-Hughes, who also starred in 2002's Whale Rider, skipped the event in an effort to convince the Pope to attend. Vatican reps stated the decision had nothing to do with teenage pregnancy. Officials said the 79-year-old chose to rest before his upcoming trip to Turkey.
Pregnant Pop Star Equals Cash Cow for Baby Daddy
In April of this year, a glowing Britney Spears made a surprise appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. She stopped in with a purpose; Brit announced to the world she was five months pregnant with her second child.
"Don't worry, Dave, it's not yours," the singer joked.
"Oh. Well, I think that's good news for both of us," Letterman responded.
The admission shocked everyone since her first baby, Sean P., erupted forth from Brits loins in September. In a span of just four months, K-Fed knocked up his former-pop-star wife again. Letterman and his sidekick Paul Shaffer wasted no time in making jokes.
"I think that K-Fed is, you know, would have to be getting awful busy at a quick rate," to be expecting another child, said Shaffer.
"Well, what else does he have to do?" Letterman quipped.
Maybe hes getting busy counting the money Brit agreed to pay him for each child. The contract entitled K-Fed to a larger share of her fortune, with their second shortie on its way.
Before he got married, Kevin was sitting down with lawyers, discussing legal and financial issues, says a source. He was sitting sort of slumped over with a baseball cap over his eyes and a lawyer was talking about how he had to sign a pre-nup and Kevin looked sort of bummed out. But then the lawyer explained that for every child the two of you have together, you would receive X amount of dollars. His eyes really lit up.
Im sure they lit up with dollar signs.
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Brooke Burke Expecting a Baby with Slacker Boyfriend
Rock Star host Brooke Burke (not to be confused with Brooke Burns) is pregnant, courtesy of Baywatch actor David Charvet. (Sadly, 11 years later thats still what he is best known for.)
The pair have been together since last year. Burke, 34, already has two daughters with her ex-husband, Extreme Makeover plastic surgeon Dr. Garth Fisher. They separated about a year ago.
Charvet, 34, has been off the small-screen for years, but much like fellow lifeguard David Hasselhoff, hes found fame overseas as a singer in his native France.
Burkes burgeoning belly was first spotted as she left a cosmetic surgery center in Beverly Hills.
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Ani DiFranco Announces Pregnancy
National Organization for Women awarded Ani DiFranco the prestigious Woman of Courage award Friday during their 40th annual convention.
Latifa Lyles, NOW's vice president of membership, presented the award and called Difranco an inspiration, not only for her music but for her independent ideals. DiFranco founded her own record label, Righteous Babe, in 1990 after becoming frustrated with other music labels.
Past recipients of the annual award include Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and playwright Eve Ensler. Difranco, a Buffalo native, is the first musician to receive the honor.
While accepting the award, DiFranco announced she, along with her partner/producer Mike Napolitano, is pregnant with her first child, due sometime in February.
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Pregnant Pop Star Offered at a Deep, Deep Discount
Britney Spears never guessed gum-chomping and see-through clothing wouldnt help her repair-my-image interview. The publics reaction to her car-crash-like performance with Matt Lauer surprised Brit. The interview garnered huge ratings for NBC, but turned into a public relations nightmare for the Spears camp; according to an Us Magazine poll, 87% of respondents claimed they have less respect for the former pop princess after the interview. To help soothe the sting, Spears hatched another ill-fated plan, destined for failure.
Spears had a photographer take pretty pictures of her - this time with professional hair, makeup and wardrobe. And despite tearfully begging for privacy, saying she hates media attention, and calling the celebrity weeklies "trash" in the interview, Spears then tried to sell the photos and an "exclusive" interview to those same trashy weeklies for $200,000. There were no takers. OK! finally bought the shots and the interview for a measly $5,000. A rep for the magazine declined comment but did say, "Who doesn't love a discount?" Spears' rep didn't return calls.
"Who doesn't love a discount?" Is this an indication the sun finally set on Spears career?
