The thinking women behind The Thinkingwoman are not given to praising Republicans too often, so imagine our surprise when we have good things to say about two of them in a given week. However, in a New York Times article by Robin Toner this morning (Aug. 25) Cheney was quoted about his opinion on gay marriage.
--- In a political season marked by Republican efforts to outlaw gay marriage, Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday offered a defense of the rights of gay Americans, declaring that "freedom means freedom for everyone" to enter "into any kind of relationship they want to."
--- Mr. Cheney said the issue was what kind of government recognition to give those relationships, and indicated that he preferred to let the states define what constitutes a marriage.
The critics immediately started sniping that Cheney was only trying to soften the harsh tone of the Bush administration calling for a constitutional amendment to prevent gay marriage. We believe otherwise. Back in 2000 we were struck by the civil and intelligent content of Cheney’s debate with then vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman. During their discussion the issue of the place of homosexuals in our society came up and both men agreed that they needed to learn more and remain open-minded about the topic. Since that time, Cheney has admitted that one of his two daughters is gay and has stated that he is as proud of her as her sister.
This doesn’t sound like a man who is playing a game for his administration. This strikes us as a good father who is standing by what he believes in spite of his party’s platform. We’d like to offer our praise and encouragement for this principled stance. We only wish we saw more of this in politics.
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