Cheap and tawdry political tricks
by digby
I certainly get why liberals are sick and tired of the silly dance the administration’s doing on gay marriage, particularly after the controversy over Biden’s comments this week-end. Come on, this isn’t buying them even one vote and it’s insulting to people’s intelligence.
Still, nothing beats the sheer chutzpah of the right wingers decrying the administration’s “confusing” rhetoric and demanding that they clarify their position. Let’s take a little trip back in time to 2004, when Lynn and Dick Cheney, parents of an openly gay daughter, turned the issue into an incomprehensible mush. 8/25/04:
Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary is a lesbian, drew criticism from both proponents and foes of gay marriage Tuesday after he distanced himself from President Bush’s call for a 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.
Bush backs a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage, a move Cheney says was prompted by various judicial rulings, including the action in Massachusetts that made gay marriage legal.
“I think his perception was that the courts, in effect, were beginning to change, without allowing the people to be involved,” Cheney said. “The courts were making the judgment for the entire country.”
Addressing Bush’s position on the amendment, Cheney said: “At this point, say, my own preference is as I’ve stated, but the president makes policy for the administration. He’s made it clear that he does, in fact, support a constitutional amendment on this issue.”
Ok, so the Cheneys disagree with the president on this issue. They clearly support their daughter and do not believe in the constitutional amendment to deny her equal rights. Fine. Two months later those hypocritical Cheneys had the gall to do this. 10/14/04:
Vice President Dick Cheney called himself “a pretty angry father” on Thursday after Sen. John Kerry mentioned their gay daughter during the final presidential debate — comments Kerry said were meant to be positive about families with gay children. The vice president’s wife, Lynne Cheney, called Kerry “not a good man” and his remarks about daughter Mary Cheney “a cheap and tawdry political trick.”
It was one of the weirdest displays of cognitive dissonance I’ve ever seen. It worked though. To people who hadn’t followed the campaign until the last few weeks, it felt as if Kerry had called their daughter a lesbian out of the blue, and plenty of people thought it was a dishonest smear. Certainly, you would have thought so after watching Lynne Cheney growl, “this not a good man….”
It was a cheap and tawdry political trick alright, but they were the ones who pulled it.
Watch the video.
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