Bravo Mr. Cheney
August 25, 2004
Four years ago in the Vice Presidential debate, Dick Cheney took what was, at the time, a rather bold and progressive position on gay rights, especially marriage. He has been silent on this issue for months. But yesterday he restated his position of four years ago and his disagreement with the President. Bravo.
I do think that this is sincerely Vice President Cheney's view. He has always tended more to the libertarian style of conservatism instead of the Far Right (and he's never been a fundamentalist religious zealot).
I also think that the timing of the statement was politically motivated, which is realistic, I'm not making a pejorative statement. Bush has nailed down the Far Right. But the campaign is probably beginning to realize (and I don't want them to!) that they have lost significant numbers of libertarians, traditional conservatives, and many of the moderates who voted for Bush in 2000. The gay Republican contingent has virtually abandoned the President and feels abandoned by the party (and is also quick to remind folk that Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act and that Kerry does not support gay marriage either). So, I think Cheney's remarks were some attempt to stop the blood-letting from the Republican Party.
Evenso, Bravo Mr. Vice President.
agreed, he's reigning in us liberal conservatives, lol, or at least those of us who recognize gay marriage as a state's issue. things are going to get pretty nasty pretty quick...
Posted by: Robanne | August 26, 2004 at 01:18 AM
i wonder if the polariztion we experience in our nation now is any sharper than that in the late 60s and early 70s. I liked to say no and that we can move past this in a similar kind of way. Maybe todays polariztion is the final settling of those two broader world views and we'll soon be gearing up for some truly nasty ideological wars.
I know this kind of cultural speculation is doing like alchemy, I just wonder in what ways others out there are a little worried about the divide. I'm mean, neither general worldview (broad strokes I'm painting here) is going to go away, you know? So what do we do? Fight it out till someone wins? That's a creepy thought but one I've been having. What do you guys think?
Posted by: Tim | August 26, 2004 at 08:12 AM
I think we are waiting for the leader to arise who can work to bridge that gap. An FDR-type figure.
Posted by: Scott Jones | August 26, 2004 at 08:21 AM
Barney Frank!
Posted by: marty | August 26, 2004 at 12:37 PM
Obama?
Posted by: lindsay | August 26, 2004 at 09:01 PM
Obama is actually realistic, I think. I mean, if somebody was going to do something proactive, I guess he'd be likely to do so. I thought Barney Frank was a funny choice, though. Nothing FDR-ish about him. I'm very clever.
I fear, though, that Obama is going to be ruined by the expectations of people like me. Angry Young Men and Women, jaded, disenfranchised by the sameness of the Republicrats, wishing for Paul Wellstone and Paul Simon to come back from the dead and become president and vice president and appoint Nader as Sec. of State. I see Obama and I almost can convince myself to feel a half-ounce of patriotism. He invokes all the good things (there are supposed to be) about America.
How high of a pedestal can the poor guy stand on? We do have a habit in America of forcing our heroes to disappoint us.
Posted by: marty | August 27, 2004 at 12:59 PM
I really liked Obama. Maybe he's the guy. Yes, we need to be careful not to put him on a pedestal.
Posted by: Scott Jones | August 27, 2004 at 01:17 PM