Lynne Cheney, the worst woman on earth

Maggie says:
With all the attention on VP Dick Cheney as the embodiment of evil, we got a reality check last week when we were reminded that it’s none other than his wife, Lynne Cheney, who’s neck and neck with him in the terrible person race.

Lynne Cheney’s outrage at John Kerry for talking about their lesbian daughter Mary (who has been out of the closet for a decade, and very publicly out at that) was absolutely unjustified. Her gasping remarks on stage that John Kerry is a “bad man” for using such “cheap and tawdry” tactics during the campaign scores as the lowest display of public antics we’ve seen since Bush donned the flight suit last year.

What exactly is so cheap and tawdry about a candidate mentioning the lesbian daughter of a vice president – unless of course, her parents are ashamed and embarrassed that she’s a lesbian? Unless they’re scared as hell that Kerry’s reminder will close the checkbooks of their backward followers? While Lynne Cheney was shouting and sputtering and expressing outrage on stage to her fellow close-minded bigots (oops, I mean Republicans), what was most vivid was her deep shame bubbling to the surface, reddening her face and making her voice tremble. If she was crazy with anger, it wasn’t Kerry’s fault – it was her own daughter’s. And that’s what’s so sad.

By all accounts, Mary Cheney is a pretty active Republican. She works on her father’s campaign and did GLBT outreach for Coors Brewing in Colorado for years, as conservative a corporation as they come. So by Republican standards, the Cheneys should be really proud of their daughter.

Except that they hate who she is. Except that her core being is at odds with the so-called “family values” they proclaim to protect.

As much as I hate Lynne Cheney, I feel incredibly sorry for Mary. What must it be like to have your parents shun you – even as you work for their reelection that could irreparably harm your own constitutional rights? How must it feel to know they will never be proud of you, will never really accept you, while the opposing candidate of all people finally admits something your own parents never will: that simply, you’re just being who you were born to be?