Andrew Sullivan on Kerry mentioning Mary Cheney : Something about Mary

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

http://www.andrewsullivan.com/

SOMETHING ABOUT MARY: I keep getting emails asserting that Kerry's mentioning of Mary Cheney is somehow offensive or gratuitous or a "low blow". Huh? Mary Cheney is out of the closet and a member, with her partner, of the vice-president's family. That's a public fact. No one's privacy is being invaded by mentioning this. When Kerry cites Bush's wife or daughters, no one says it's a "low blow." The double standards are entirely a function of people's lingering prejudice against gay people. And by mentioning it, Kerry showed something important. This issue is not an abstract one. It's a concrete, human and real one. It affects many families, and Bush has decided to use this cynically as a divisive weapon in an election campaign. He deserves to be held to account for this - and how much more effective than showing a real person whose relationship and dignity he has attacked and minimized? Does this makes Bush's base uncomfortable? Well, good. It's about time they were made uncomfortable in their acquiescence to discrimination. Does it make Bush uncomfortable? Even better. His decision to bar gay couples from having any protections for their relationships in the constitution is not just a direct attack on the family member of the vice-president. It's an attack on all families with gay members - and on the family as an institution. That's a central issue in this campaign, a key indictment of Bush's record and more than relevant to any debate. For four years, this president has tried to make gay people invisible, to avoid any mention of us, to pretend we don't exist. Well, we do. Right in front of him.

[cybildisobedience]

1. glad Sully finally figured this out

He's probably still supporting Bush, though

[freesqueeze]

3. Sullivan has Endorsed Kerry

For him, it all came down to Kerry's idea of supporting civil unions.

[MISSDem]

2. Sullivan is 100% correct IMO.

There was a letter to the editor in The Commercial Appeal after the vice presidential debate and the writer said that John Edwards had "embarassed the Vice President" by making the reference to Mary, the gay daughter. Why would anyone be embarassed? These people need to get over it and get a life. Why or why do people want to tell other people how to live their lives? Mind your own business.

[baby_bear]

4. Mary Cheney is not Valerie Plame

...but the uproar over uttering her name would make one think that Kerry not only outed her (not true) but put her life (or reputation) in danger (also not true).

Where is the Republican/Cheney/Bush outrage over the outing of Valerie Plame?

And why don't the Dems talk about this? (Or am I missing it?)

s_m

[Andromeda]

5. This is sure a big turnaround for Sully...

His articles never left any doubt that he was a conservative Bush supporter.

What changed his mind?

[Disturbed]

6. Maybe he realized...

that the Rethugs held him and all gays & lesbians is disdain. The RW Platform is real anti-Gay Rights.Gay Rights are not special rights, they are civil rights.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. It's because he's gay

And Sullivan has come to realize that Bush* has zero tolerance for such citizens, including the daughter of his own Vice President, who just happens to be managing her father's campaign.:shrug:

[Insomnicole]

10. The Defense of Marriage Act.

I think he had a David Brock moment and realized he just can't continue to support an administration that wants to deny him his basic human rights.

Sure was a strange morning today -- I read the first several items on Sullivan's blog and couldn't find a single thing to disagree with.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Thank you.

I am sent right over the edge by the hypocrisy on this. What the Cheneys say, publicly, about their gay daughter, is to be admired. John Edwards' remarks to Dick Cheney about this very personal issue and Cheney's very gracious response, compromised the very best of the VP debate. However, suddenly, this topic is off-limits and Mrs. Cheney, since the VP has already weighed in, is supposed to be the heavy on this, is ridiculous. This is an issue that is out on the table, cannot be pushed back into the closet, and is no big deal except for the one that Bush* makes of it. He and Cheney may part ways on Bush*'s insistence on a Constitutional amendment, and they should. Bush* is dead wrong and Cheney should stand up for his daughter and his beliefs. Mrs. Cheney is only playing partisan politics at the expense of her child.:shrug:

[Demit]

9. The Cheneys have wanted to play her gayness as "such a cross to bear"

kind of thing, in front of the fundies, while showing how bravely they're holding up under the burden. No doubt they are proud of their daughter, and I'll bet it doesn't bother them at all that she's gay. But they put that special emphasis on saying they "support" their daughter--letting the fundies hear the quotes. Like, "Yes, she's a perversion of nature, but we love her." Sleazebuckets.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. I agree. They are just parents who love their child

For them to let this become an issue is truly hypocritical.:-(

[Rhiannon12866]

12. For Lynne Cheney to call John Kerry "a bad man" because he

mentioned her gay daughter during the debate, in response to a direct question, is just hypocritical. The Cheneys have spoken about this, publicly, before. I've heard Dick Cheney say that he was opposed to the Constitutional amendment against gay marriage, as if he wasn't a mover and a shaker in authoring the Republican platform. I've even heard George Bush* say the same thing, as if this idiotic idea didn't come straight from him. And Mary Cheney is not exactly in the closet. Her former career was working for Coors, traveling to gay bars, trying to convince the people that she encountered, that Coors had changed. This attack on Kerry is just a distraction from the horrific news that continues to come out of Iraq, every single day.:-(