Some lady just talked about Kerry bring up Cheney's daughter

[MSgt213]

She said I don't understand why Kerry had to bring up Cheney's daughter being a lesbian. WELL YOU FUCKING MORONS she is a lesbian and your discussing gay issues and rights and one of the top guys influencing those decisions is her father. THAT MAKES HER FAIR GAME!!!!!!!!!

[w13rd0]

1. I compare it to...

...the RW bringing up Hillary everytime a discussion of health care takes place. If a family member assists in shaping policy, but their own position is demonstratably hypocritical in the context of those policies, then they are FAR fairer game than Hillary ever was...

[Hav]

2. .

The point is that Kerry and Edwards did it in a respectful manner.
Wasn't Mary used somehow in the 2000 campaign as well?
I guess people only complain about because they hear pundits complain about it...or they just use anything to attack Kerry.

[liberalmuse]

3. It's a well known fact.

I kind of wish Kerry had left Cheney out of it, but then again, these people are hypocrites. Their trying to legislate bigotry against one select group of people, many of which are their own children is despicable.

[MemphisTiger]

4. In a perfect world the candidates would talk only about their

opponent, but the Bush* team rarely misses an opportunity to bash Kerry's wife. I think it's fair game to bring up Cheney's daughter.

[LizW]

5. Good point

When I stop getting a thousand astro-turf lying e-mails from right wingers bashing THK, THEN maybe we'll talk about leaving Mary Cheney out of the debate.

[Bjornsdotter]

8. Hi....

....Welcome to DU!

Cheers,
Kim :toast:

[liontamer]

14. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[newyawker99]

25. Hi MemphisTiger!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Justice]

6. Brought Her up to respond directly to the question

JK brought up Mary as evidence (in my view, the best evidence) that you don't choose to be gay. Mary's parents are right wing nutjobs, her dad is VP. They don't want her to be gay. She has a close relationship with her parents, she wants to please them. If she could "switch back" she obviously would. What other gay person could Kerry have cited to make that point more crystal clear?

[JBoris]

7. I think it was honestly part of his response to the question

The real issue is how faux and co. are reacting to it They think homosexuality is a crime or sin or something and are acting like Kerry mentioned shrub’s DUI or something.
They seem to believe that people just decide to be gay(to make their lives easier right?)and therefore it is a question of weak character. Some atavist has got his bible so far up his ass that it actually effects them when others are not christian enough. I guess this is why my brother and his HUSBAND are not recognized by the state of California (or Callyphoneya as their gov says)

sad, sad times we live in

[Cha]

10. I didn't hear it...was dumya saying that you

you choose to be gay?

[Fleshdancer]

12. When asked if homosexuality was a choice or not, Bush said he didn't know.

Kerry said no and said something to the effect that he doubts Mary Cheney thinks homosexuality is a choice. He then discusses the need for civil unions because homosexuals deserve the same rights as everyone else.

[hughee99]

26. I think this may have been more effective if

rather than saying he doubts Mary Cheney thinks it is a choice, that someone who he personally knows (like Rep. Barney Frank of MA), doesn't think it's a choice. I don't think Mary Cheney is out of play, but I think it would have sounded better if he pointed to someone he knows personally and said "I KNOW that this person doesn't think it's a choice". He would have avoided all this snipping about brining up an opponents daughter, and still made his point very effectively. Just my opinion, though.

[kskiska]

9. From Talking Points Memo:

(snip)

Not only is Mary Cheney not closeted, her professional life has been explicitly tied to her sexuality. She did outreach to the gay and lesbian communities when she worked at Coors.

It is a delicate issue -- since it's inherently personal and deals with one of the candidate's children. But it was brought up in the context of a question about whether homosexuality is a choice. And more to the point: what's the problem exactly unless you instinctively believe that homosexuality is something to be ashamed of?

If one of Cheney's children was, God forbid, paraplegic and Kerry referred to him or her in the context of a question about people with disabilities, would there be a problem?

I suspect not.

From what some are saying, you'd think he brought up her criminal record, her problem with shoplifting, the unspeakable problem with pills.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/fast.php

[SharonAnn]

21. She has taken a public role with her Dad's campaign

She obviously wasn't concerned about her privacy.

[Booster]

27. Does anyone have an article/ whatever where Mary Cheney

is campaigning for her father, like to the Log Cabin Republicans?
That could really be of use on this issue. They use her when they need her, then discard her in front of Bush's base.

[Fleshdancer]

11. Jeez people! Lesbian is NOT a bad word!

Cheney can tell a Senator to "fuck off" on the Senate floor, George can call a reporter a "major league asshole" they can both lie through their teeth and say there's a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, George can say Saddam tried to buy enriched uranium after the administration received the memo stating that wasn't true...the bullshit that spews out of their mouths is sick.

BUT NO. John Kerry puts a face to homosexuality and HE's the bad one. HE's the one who said something inappropriate? Mary didn't CHOOSE to be homosexual is insulting? Discussing the RIGHTS she should have is SO horrible, he shouldn't have brought it up?? I swear I'm living in the Twilight Zone.

[liontamer]

15. Thanks for saying it

Is bringing up the fact that someone's daughter is a lesbian this big insulting shaming thing? oh wait. I guess it is

[plcdude]

17. excellent

response you have hit the nail on the head here

[Justpat]

13. Maybe Kerry was trying to point out

the willingness of the right wing nuts to legislate against their
own family members when it is politically advantageous to do so.

[Cha]

16. There ya go!

:toast:

[Mixxster]

18. Andrew Sullivan's response

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.

http://www.andrewsullivan.com/

[TahitiNut]

20. One of the rare moments I agree with Sully.

:thumbsup:

[Francine Frensky]

19. ask her if the truth hurts. Does she want Kerry to lie?

I think the point is that it's easy for the republicans to pass discriminatory legislation when it's IMPERSONAL. Kerry put an actual face on it, and it's a double whammy because they don't like to admit that mary cheney exists.

Three strikes and you're out is GREAT for everybody else, but when it's noelle bush, let's just rehab her, no need for prison. Same for rush limbaugh. If he was a black athlete, you know they'd want to throw the book at him. As a white rich man, he's allowed to go to rehab and be all done with that.

It's the hypocrisy, people.

[goddess40]

22. Cheney started it

Seems to me Cheney trotted out his daughter as a lesbian when they needed to pacify the gay Republicans.

[info being]

23. If they're talking about it, that means it bothers them:)

That Cheney's daughter's a lesbian. Hmm, kind of a tight spot Conservatives are in...to talk about it or not.

[democrat_patriot]

24. Out of the whole debate, that's thats the RNC talking point?

* wants gays in camps.(well not really)..Who's better?