Dick, Lynn lighten up she's a lesbian and you're
cool with that. Good for you.
For some reason this whole exchange reminds me of
the scene in the 80's send-up of teenage suicide, "Heathers." The scene that
comes to mind is funeral of the two homophobic football stars who were basically
murdered in what was made to look like two gay lovers taking themselves out in a
suicide pact using little more than tighty-whiteys and mineral water. The above
paraphrased line occurs when the equally homophobic father of the quarterback
comes to postmortem terms with his son's gayness. You would have to see it to
believe it. Oh boy, these Republicans are a whiny bunch aren't they? Throwing
the President's issue right back in his face by pointing out that it directly
affects the family of his Vice
President.
I agree that Mary Cheney's
sexual orientation should be a private matter. It's a private for everyone who
is gay, lesbian or has a gay and lesbian family member. Kerry didn't raise
sexual orientation in this campaign Bush did, when he flip-flopped about asking
for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. For all of those gay and
lesbian people feeling attacked by this politically motivated ban, it's also
intensely personal and private.
So why
did Kerry and Edwards do it? Because Bush and Cheney have pandered to a segment
of their base that HATES homosexuals. By raising this Kerry and Edwards show
that when it comes to their own family that instead of acting like strong
conservatives (like Alan Keyes when he turned his back on HIS lesbian daughter)
the Cheneys embrace their daughter like morally compromised liberals. By
exposing the Cheneys' hypocrisy in pandering to this small fraction of the
President's base while at the same time respecting and loving their daughter,
they hope that some of the more hateful fundamentalists will feel betrayed and
stay away from the polls. If you think the Bush-Cheney campaign would not take a
similar shot at Kerry or Edwards you're
dreaming.
I think that Kerry should
apologize, immediately AFTER the President apologizes to the entire nation for
making something as private and personal as sexual orientation a campaign
issue.
If they start finding bottles of
mineral water all over the state of Ohio, I suspect that the Bush-Cheney rampage
will be all but through.