Assorted Stuff on the Internet
Dec. 7th, 2006 01:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geminigirlMary Cheney, Pregnant
Groups Mixed on Mary Cheney's Pregnancy
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 9:09 PM
NEW YORK -- Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.
Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby in late spring, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for the vice president.
Mary Cheney, left, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, sits with her partner, Heather Poe, in Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention in New York in this Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 file photo. Mary Cheney is pregnant, according to a published report. Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are
Mary Cheney, left, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, sits with her partner, Heather Poe, in Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention in New York in this Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 file photo. Mary Cheney is pregnant, according to a published report. Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are "ecstatic" about the baby, due in late spring, The Washington Post reported in Wednesday's editions, quoting an unnamed source close to the couple. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, FILE) (Charlie Neibergall - AP)
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, flanked by fellow House leaders Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi, says Democrats are trying to repair the image of Congress. (Caleb Jones -- AP)
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"The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation" to the arrival of their sixth grandchild, McBride said.
Mary Cheney was an aide to her father during the 2004 campaign, and now is vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL. She and Poe moved from Colorado to Virginia a year ago to be closer to the Cheney family.
Family Pride, which advocates on behalf of gay and lesbian families, noted that Virginia last month became one of 27 states with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
"Unless they move to a handful of less restrictive states, Heather will never be able to have a legal relationship with her child," said Family Pride executive director Jennifer Chrisler.
The couple "will quickly face the reality that no matter how loved their child will be. ... he or she will never have the same protections that other children born to heterosexual couples enjoy," Chrisler said. "Grandfather Cheney will no doubt face a lifetime of sleepless nights as he reflects on the irreparable harm he and his administration have done to the millions of American gay and lesbian parents and their children."
For years, Mary Cheney's openness about her sexual orientation had posed a dilemma for conservative activists who admire Dick Cheney's stance on many issues but consider homosexuality a sin.
Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America described the pregnancy as "unconscionable."
"It's very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father," said Crouse, a senior fellow at the group's think tank. "They are encouraging people who don't have the advantages they have."
Crouse said there was no doubt that the news would, in conservatives' eyes, be damaging to the Bush administration, which already has been chided by some leaders on the right for what they felt was halfhearted commitment to anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights causes in this year's general election.
Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, expressed empathy for the Cheney family but depicted the newly announced pregnancy as unwise.
"Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea," said. "Love can't replace a mother and a father."
The vice president's office declined to elaborate on the circumstances of Mary Cheney's pregnancy.
The news was welcomed by the president of the largest national gay-rights group, Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign.
"Mary and Heather's decision to have a child is an example that families in America come in all different shapes and sizes," he said. "The bottom line is that a family is made up of love and commitment.
Very little attention has been paid to the fact that Dick Cheney's other daughter is also pregnant. Why? Because Mary Cheney is gay? Is that really a good reason to make a big deal out of it? More important, as far as I'm concerned, is that Mary Cheney and her partner of fifteen years live in a state where that partner will not be permitted any legal rights to the child that she helps raise. Suppose, fifteen years from now, a tragic accident takes the life of Mary Cheney (should have known better than to go hunting with Dad or something)-then what?
Assorted thing number 2:
Hornymanatee.com I didn't believe it when Conan O'Brien mentioned it on his show, but they made it happen. (Reasonably work safe, by the way. Unless your work doesn't like furry manatees)
Assorted thing number 3:
"Avenue Jew"-a piece performed by the casts of the musicals Avenue Q and Fiddler on the Roof, spoofing both.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
melebeth was kind enough to provide a link to the script, too.
Groups Mixed on Mary Cheney's Pregnancy
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 9:09 PM
NEW YORK -- Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.
Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby in late spring, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for the vice president.
Mary Cheney, left, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, sits with her partner, Heather Poe, in Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention in New York in this Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 file photo. Mary Cheney is pregnant, according to a published report. Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are
Mary Cheney, left, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, sits with her partner, Heather Poe, in Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention in New York in this Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004 file photo. Mary Cheney is pregnant, according to a published report. Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are "ecstatic" about the baby, due in late spring, The Washington Post reported in Wednesday's editions, quoting an unnamed source close to the couple. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, FILE) (Charlie Neibergall - AP)
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, flanked by fellow House leaders Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi, says Democrats are trying to repair the image of Congress. (Caleb Jones -- AP)
SEE FULL COLLECTION
Feedback
In Today's A Section
• Iraq Panel Proposes Major Strategy Shift
• Area Students Lead Country in AP, IB Tests Taken
• The Realists' Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region
• Threats Wrapped in Misunderstandings
• In Theater of War, It's Iraq Study Group's Turn to Take the Stage
» More in Today's Print Edition
Save & Share Article What's This?
Digg
del.icio.us
Yahoo!
"The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation" to the arrival of their sixth grandchild, McBride said.
Mary Cheney was an aide to her father during the 2004 campaign, and now is vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL. She and Poe moved from Colorado to Virginia a year ago to be closer to the Cheney family.
Family Pride, which advocates on behalf of gay and lesbian families, noted that Virginia last month became one of 27 states with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
"Unless they move to a handful of less restrictive states, Heather will never be able to have a legal relationship with her child," said Family Pride executive director Jennifer Chrisler.
The couple "will quickly face the reality that no matter how loved their child will be. ... he or she will never have the same protections that other children born to heterosexual couples enjoy," Chrisler said. "Grandfather Cheney will no doubt face a lifetime of sleepless nights as he reflects on the irreparable harm he and his administration have done to the millions of American gay and lesbian parents and their children."
For years, Mary Cheney's openness about her sexual orientation had posed a dilemma for conservative activists who admire Dick Cheney's stance on many issues but consider homosexuality a sin.
Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America described the pregnancy as "unconscionable."
"It's very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father," said Crouse, a senior fellow at the group's think tank. "They are encouraging people who don't have the advantages they have."
Crouse said there was no doubt that the news would, in conservatives' eyes, be damaging to the Bush administration, which already has been chided by some leaders on the right for what they felt was halfhearted commitment to anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights causes in this year's general election.
Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, expressed empathy for the Cheney family but depicted the newly announced pregnancy as unwise.
"Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea," said. "Love can't replace a mother and a father."
The vice president's office declined to elaborate on the circumstances of Mary Cheney's pregnancy.
The news was welcomed by the president of the largest national gay-rights group, Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign.
"Mary and Heather's decision to have a child is an example that families in America come in all different shapes and sizes," he said. "The bottom line is that a family is made up of love and commitment.
Very little attention has been paid to the fact that Dick Cheney's other daughter is also pregnant. Why? Because Mary Cheney is gay? Is that really a good reason to make a big deal out of it? More important, as far as I'm concerned, is that Mary Cheney and her partner of fifteen years live in a state where that partner will not be permitted any legal rights to the child that she helps raise. Suppose, fifteen years from now, a tragic accident takes the life of Mary Cheney (should have known better than to go hunting with Dad or something)-then what?
Assorted thing number 2:
Hornymanatee.com I didn't believe it when Conan O'Brien mentioned it on his show, but they made it happen. (Reasonably work safe, by the way. Unless your work doesn't like furry manatees)
Assorted thing number 3:
"Avenue Jew"-a piece performed by the casts of the musicals Avenue Q and Fiddler on the Roof, spoofing both.
melebeth was kind enough to provide a link to the script, too.Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 08:32 am (UTC)I think that's obviously why a big deal is being made of this, and I think it's quite possibly for a good reason. Mary Cheney herself doesn't need to contribute anything here, I think, but her Vice President and President surely do—there's an obvious conflict here between the VP's personal life and his politics that should be explored, though preferably tactfully.
I think the sticking point is that Cheney is one of the very few people who are in a position to get laws passed to simplify his daughter's life and ours, but obviously he is politically incapable or unwilling to do so. He must have a very good reason to not want his own family afforded the rights he has, and I think he owes it to rest of us an explanation on that point.
I'd put even money on it being the case that Cheney and Poe have signed the relevant papers to have the child adopted by Poe in the event of Cheney's death, and then friends or family, and that the Vice President is aware of this and considers it to be how these things should be arranged for gay couples.
Finally, I can't really have a lot of patience for someone with her level of clout who disagrees with Republican politics but waits until after the election to say so. "Traitor" is a strong word, but I feel a little betrayed because Mary Cheney will not speak up and help us—well, okay, me—get some answers from Republicans.
I guess she ranks somewhere near the Log Cabin guys. Possibly mislead, possibly wilfully ignorant, probably not actively harmful, and not as deserving of my disdain as the Republican party itself.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 07:05 pm (UTC)Sure, I know that the Vice President has reiterated this any number of times, but the problem is that "it's a matter for the states" is mostly code for disallowing gay marriages and other civil rights for gay couples. The problem is that it's hard to guess how, if it all, he reconciles his public position with his daughter, her partner, and come the spring, his grand-daughter. If he is presenting one face to the party and to the voters and another to his family, then that's of public interest.
Lastly, these issues have everything to do with the Feds, thanks to the passage of DOMA and associated legislation, not to mention the President's (admittedly weak) pushing for constitutional change to ban gay marriage, or even the larger issue of what will happen when a full faith and credit case is brought before the Supreme Court.
Vice President Cheney, like it or not, is only ever a few hours away from becoming President, whether he wants the job or not (he's very similar to Vice President Johnson in this respect). More insight into apparent contradictions in his position on party issues is vital given the actual and potential power that he wields.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 05:57 pm (UTC)I think he's been consistent about his opinions on this particular issue. I've seen none of the contradiction you seem to see. (The classic conservatives within the Republican party will agree with him on the "it's a matter for the states" and the neo-cons are just wacky so who knows what they think. Essentially, I don't see any need for him to present one side to one person and another side to a different person.)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 11:51 pm (UTC)