Hurricane I

I would like to throw my two cents into the Mary Cheney debate.

Why are we so upset about this? Now, I admit that I was stunned when Kerry uttered the L word, but more because he had the balls to say it than because I think it's a bad thing to say (if that makes sense.) It's not like Cheney had a black daughter and Kerry used the N word (Total tangential aside: does anyone else remember all that nasty stuff the Bush 2000 primary campaign said about McCain's black daughter? The McCains had adopted her, but the Bush people started a whisper campaign about his "love child" after McCain won New Hampshire by a landslide.) "Lesbian" is not a bad word, though I've noticed that some people like to say it in a whisper. Kind of like "penis" when you're 12. Or 22, depending on who you are . And that's why I was surprised that Kerry skipped all that crap and came right out and said what he did. I thought it was awesome, but I was still surprised that he thought it was a good idea.

So what, exactly, is the issue? Kerry didn't call her a bad name. It wasn't a gratuitous reference, it was in response to a question on DOMA. (Another tangential aside: I am henceforth refusing to use the phrase "Gay Marriage." I don't think civil union between a same sex couple should be any different than a civil union between a different sex couple, and thus, we should not use different words to describe them. If I must differentiate, I will refer to it as "Civil Marriage." That way, we can include all things, like interracial marriage in Alabama. Stupid Alabama...) Politicians like to use real people to put a face on the issue they are talking about. Kerry picked Mary Cheney, which is totally fair since as the liaison to the gay community both for Coors Brewing company and her father's campaign and she is both completely out of the closet and in the political arena. Kerry wasn't even pandering, he says he doesn't think that Mary should be able to get "married" to her partner...but she can have some basic rights afforded to married couples. This wasn't even the first time that she's been mentioned. Cheney mentions her. She was mentioned in the Veep debate, and no one had a fit. So what gives?

The argument that Kerry was talking to the religious folks is to get them to not vote for Bush because of Cheney has a lesbian daughter is crazy. I think that Kerry just picked someone that people know and can sympathize with. And I really don't understand why supposedly liberal people are having a fit, saying that Kerry was pandering to bigotry. I don't get it, and I hope it backfires for the Bush team.

I would like to hear from Mary Cheney. I would like to hear her either condemn Kerry (And then we can watch the monkeys fly out of her ass) or tell her Daddy and the President that this wasn't a big deal. As long as we don't hear from her, I think we have to assume that her Daddy told her to shut her trap, which really disgusts me. Elizabeth Edwards (how I love this woman) told ABC News Radio that Lynne Cheney's response had made her sad. Money quote:

"It indicates a certain degree of shame with respect to her daughter's sexual preferences that I'm certain makes her daughter uncomfortable."

I completely agree. (Yet another semi-related aside: after the Veep debate when the wives went up on stage to hug their candidates, as Elizabeth Edwards was shaking Dick Cheney's hand, she said, "You first met him at the prayer breakfast." BEFORE the campaigns found the picture, BEFORE the spin rooms, BEFORE anyone had time to look anything up, she knew. This woman is awesome.) And, in a way, I feel bad for Mary Cheney, and even worse for Mary's partner.

And thus, the L word of the evening was not "liberal" or "liar" but "lesbian." Who knew? Politics is awesome.

// posted by IRMcK @ 1:27 PM