Speaking at the National Press Club today, Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, offered a full-throated endorsement for same-sex marriage. "I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," he said. But lest you take this as some sort of breakthrough, recall that Cheney said almost the same thing all the way back in 2000, during a vice-presidential debate with Joe Lieberman. "We live in a free society and freedom means freedom for everybody" is how he put it at the time, three years before gay marriage would be legal in Massachusetts, and eight before Connecticut followed suit. Many people associate Cheney more with waterboarding or poorly lit bunkers (or laughing maniacally while waterboarding people in poorly lit bunkers) than with gay rights, but the man has been pretty consistent.It would happen on a day when I’m running errands and thinking about things other than politics when one of my political heroes says something which shows why I so respect him.
And how wonderful it is that we gay Republicans can in one week hear a man deliver a speech which becomes a rallying cry for conservatives, then barely two weeks later, break ranks with the party on gay marriage. Rare that we gay conservatives see a man so outspoken on issues near and dear to our hearts. As most of you know by now, since the news broke while I was away from a computer, in response to a question at the National Press club, the former Vice President said he believed marriage should be a state issue:
And I think that’s the way it ought to be handled today, that is, on a state-by-state basis. Different states will make different decisions. But I don’t have any problem with that. I think people ought to get a shot at that . . . .
Thank you, Mr. Cheney.
And we know that he has dared speak out because, well, not only he is a smart man, bu he’s also a good Dad. He would likely not have spoken out if he did not have a lesbian daughter.
While gay groups regularly fault Mary Cheney for not being the activist they believe she should be, she, simply by being herself, has done more to advance understanding of gay people. With her Dad, beloved on the right, publicly expressing his support for a federal approach to same-sex marriage, many conservatives may reconsider their views on same-sex marriage. After all, they’re more likely to listen to a man they respect than those who insult their political confrères. Cheney has credibility with the people whom most need to be moved if Prop 8 is to be overturned.
When will gay activists thank Mary for bringing her Dad around on this issue?
In her own quiet way, Mary Cheney has accomplished a lot more than the activists who take to the streets shouting left-wing slogans. For our part, we say to her, “Thank you”
Dick Cheney rarely takes a position that places him at a more progressive tilt than President Obama. But on Monday, the former vice president did just that, saying that he supports gay marriage as long as it is deemed legal by state and not federal government.
Speaking at the National Press Club for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation journalism awards, Cheney was asked about recent rulings and legislative action in Iowa and elsewhere that allowed for gay couples to legally wed.
"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," replied the former V.P. "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. ... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."
It's not surprising when Vice President Dick Cheney disagrees with President Obama. But it is surprising when he takes a more progressive position than the president.
Said Cheney: "I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay, and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that... historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."
Dick Cheney rarely takes a position that places him at a more progressive tilt than President Obama. But on Monday, the former vice president did just that, saying that he supports gay marriage as long as it is deemed legal by state and not federal government.
Speaking at the National Press Club for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation journalism awards, Cheney was asked about recent rulings and legislative action in Iowa and elsewhere that allowed for gay couples to legally wed.
"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," replied the former V.P. "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. ... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."
We hate Dick Cheney here at AMERICAblog.com. Hate him. But, even a broken clock is right twice a day. And, as Sam Stein, who wrote the article above, notes, this statement make Cheney more progressive than Obama on marriage equality. If Cheney can support marriage equality, there's really no excuse for Obama and other leading Congressional Democrats.
Cheney has been using similar language since 2004, when he broke with his boss, George Bush, over the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage:
At a campaign rally in this Mississippi River town, Cheney spoke supportively about gay relationships, saying “freedom means freedom for everyone,” when asked about his stand on gay marriage.
“Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it’s an issue our family is very familiar with,” Cheney told an audience that included his daughter. “With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.
“The question that comes up with the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government? Historically, that’s been a relationship that has been handled by the states. The states have made that fundamental decision of what constitutes a marriage,” he said.
And, Congress should stay out of it. But, in 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which put the federal government in a position to regulate marriages at the state level. DOMA needs to go.
And, this further confirms all the polling that shows when people know someone gay, it makes them more likely to be supportive of issues like marriage equality. Frankly, I don't think Dick with be with us absent that. But, he is -- and here's the video. Cheney almost sounds human:
There's the national security side to Dick Cheney, noted hawk, and then there's the personal side, family man.
The former vice president, whose daughter Mary is gay, said today that people "ought to be free'' to enter into the union of their choice. He does not, however, support a federal law on marriage, but believes the question is best left to the states.
At the National Press Club today, where Cheney discussed the threat of terrorism after 9/11 and defended the Bush administration's interrogations and prosecution of the war against Iraq, the vice president also was asked about gay marriage, at a time when growing numbers of states, though still few, are legalizing same-sex marriages.
""I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," Cheney replied. "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay, and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family.
"I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish -- any kind of arrangement they wish,'' Cheney said. "The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that, historically, the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue, and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis...
"But I don't have any problem with that,'' he said of the same-sex marriages that most of the states in New England, Iowa and the District of Columbia have authorized. "People ought to get a shot at that."
LAlthough Mary Cheney, one of the former vice president's two daughters, who helped her father campaign for reelection, has been open about her life, her parents have been more guarded about it.
During the 2004 campaign, the candidates for president were asked if they believe homosexuality is a choice. Then-President George W. Bush did not mention Mary Cheney, but Democratic rival John Kerry did. The senator from Massachusetts, which since has legalized gay marriage, said: "If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as." Bush, during his second term, continued to speak of marriage as "a union between a man and a woman,'' but failed to gain any support for a federal marriage amendment.
But Cheney's wife Lynne made it clear in a post-debate rebuke before a crowd near Pittsburgh what she thought of Kerry's debate tactic. "The only thing I can conclude is he is not a good man. I'm speaking as a mom," she said. "What a cheap and tawdry political trick."
Former Vice President Dick Cheney once again reiterated his support for same-sex marriage, as long as it’s handled at the state level.
Cheney was asked about recent rulings and legislative action legalizing same-sex marriage, specifically in Iowa, at the National Press Club for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation journalism awards. His response was “I think that freedom means freedom for everyone.”
This is not the first time Cheney, who has a daughter who is a lesbian, has said publicly that he supports same-sex marriage. During a 2004 campaign stop in Davenport, Cheney differentiated himself from President George W. Bush by saying people “ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.” The caveat, of course, is that marriage laws should be decided on a state-by-state basis, Cheney said.
Cheney joins a growing chorus within the Republican Party calling for greater acceptance of same-sex couples. Earlier this year, Steve Schmidt, the senior campaign strategist for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid, and McCain’s daughter, Meghan, saig the GOP’s opposition to same-sex marriage is wrong on both political and moral grounds.
"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," he said. "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that [marriage]." Take a look:
In a totally unrelated story, researchers say that fathers who have daughters instead of sons become more progressive in their political thinking.
No comments:
Post a Comment
use