Cheap And Tawdry

by digby

So, the religious right now claims they are all upset about the gay Republicans in their midst.

“It’s time for what we call a ‘Come to Jesus Meeting,'” said Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition. “Homosexuality is a dysfunctional lifestyle, and it must be addressed.”

“Has the social agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members and/or staffers?” Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council wrote in an e-mail to activists. “Does the party want to represent values voters or Mark Foley and friends?”

Excuse me, can I just inquire where in the hell they were when this little kabuki took place during the last campaign?

Mary Cheney, one of two Cheney daughters, is openly gay and an official in the Bush-Cheney campaign. The vice president has spoken at length about his daughter’s sexuality and his view of gay relationships, even disagreeing with the president about the need for a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages.

Asked Wednesday night by debate moderator Bob Schieffer whether homosexuality is a choice, Kerry said: “We’re all God’s children, Bob, and I think 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. I think if you talk to anybody, it’s not a choice.”

Kerry issued a statement Thursday after the Cheneys had expressed anger over his remarks: “I love my daughters. They love their daughter. I was trying to say something positive about the way strong families deal with this issue.”

Cheney told supporters at a rally Thursday in Fort Myers, “You saw a man who will do and say anything to get elected, and I am not just speaking as a father here, although I am a pretty angry father.” He made no other reference to Kerry’s remarks about his daughter.

Mrs. Cheney, introducing her husband in a post-debate appearance Wednesday night in Coraopolis, Pa., also avoided a specific reference to her daughter’s sexuality when she made clear she thought Kerry had crossed a line into family privacy.

“Now, you know, I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man,” Mrs. Cheney said. “Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick.”

That was one of the most frustrating moments of the campaign. Here they were with an openly gay daughter, working on their campaign, but they had the chutzpah to claim righteous parental indignation at Kerry for mentioning it when asked about gay marriage — a campaign issue stoked by Bush and Cheney to turn out their religious right base to vote against it. I’ll never forget how the crowd cheered wildly when Lynn Cheney made her nonsensical statement.

The only thing I could conclude from that episode is that the religious right is phony or stupid. This recent Claude Rainsing about the “gay cabal” has not changed my mind on that.

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