October 15, 2004
Oh, Lynne Cheney, Stop Listening to Mary Matalin Feed You Whiny Character Attacks that Backfire Because Your Husband, Dick, is the Witness Against You -- And Himself
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
Since John Kerry bested Bush by 3-0 in a debate sweep against two-faced George, the White House has been fumbling for distracting character attacks to get the media off of discussing Bush's unpresidential performance.
So they trotted out Lynne Cheney, author of a torrid lesbian romance novel some years back, to wax indignant that John Kerry mentioned that her daughter was gay in the context of the need to accept homosexuals as part of the American family [LINK] "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.'"
What did Kerry say about gays and lesbians? “The difference between me and George Bush will be the difference to gay and lesbian couples and individuals across this country — whether rights are afforded them or whether or not they are discriminated against,” Kerry said. He added, “If people take a walk on those things, life’s going to be worse.”
So Kerry was advocating on behalf of people like the Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, whom her father has acknowledged as being gay.
It took the usual Republican hypocrisy for Lynne Cheney to denounce Kerry as "not a good man," given that her husband, Dick, thanked John Edwards for expressing somewhat similar comments during the VP debate [LINK] :
" Edwards: Now, as to this question. Let me say first that I think the Vice President and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy."
After which, Dick Cheney responded: "Well, Gwen [the moderator], let me simply thank the Senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that, very much."
So, because Kerry KO'd Bush in the debates, the Cheneys are sent out to act as if their openly lesbian daughter has been outed, even though Dick thanked Edwards for bringing up how the family embraces her in the VP Debate.
There's really no way to explain this phony indignation except to understand the craven, base, and unrelenting hypocrisy of the White House.
If you can believe this, even Dick took his Mary Matalin character attack points, that contradicted his rare gracious moment of thanks to Edwards during their debate, to take a totally opposite position following the third Presidential debate: "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.'"
Angry? He was pretty thankful during the debate with Edwards.
But you see the truth never gets in the way of a member of the Bush Administration. Not only do they lie their way into a war; they lie about their own family when it suits their needs.
You might say that they are not good people and that they use their family in ways that could be called "cheap and tawdry political trick(s)."
Not that BuzzFlash would ever accuse Lynne and Dick of such behavior.
No, not us.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
Or as one of our readers put it:
This is the height of Republican hypocrisy. When the Republicans needed to paint hearltess warmonger Dick Cheney in more sensitive and caring shades, they couldn't haul their openly gay daughter Mary Cheney out of the warehouse fast enough as a prime example of his capacity for so-called tolerance and acceptance. Then, after making a national spectacle out of the gay issue as it pertains to their own experience, the Cheneys feign moral outrage when Senator Kerry echoes their feelings as a reference point in what was intended to be a positive observation about strong and supportive families dealing with the issue of homosexuality. So, apparently it's okay to exploit your gay daughter for your own campaign agenda, but not okay to have the issue mentioned by the other side. How very typical of this Administration overall. And how very Republican.
Larry Talley
Dallas TX