NPR Badgers Lynne Cheney on Daughter

NewsMax ^ | February 18, 2005 | Carl Limbacher

[Stoat]

 

NPR Badgers Lynne Cheney on Daughter

It didn't get much attention - probably because National Public Radio has so few listeners - but the taxpayer-funded network's Terry Gross recently tried to pull a John Kerry on second lady Lynne Cheney, by repeatedly hectoring her about her gay daughter Mary during a Feb. 9 interview.

After saying she knew Mrs. Cheney didn't want to discuss her daughter's private life, Gross proceeded to do just that, peppering the second lady with one question after another about the proposed constitutional gay marriage amendment and its impact on parents of gay children.

 

Mrs. Cheney, who was invited on the show to discuss her new book, "When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots," actually responded to the initial inquiry with a fairly detailed answer (see full transcript below). But the NPR host wasn't satisfied and kept pounding away on the issue.

Here's a snippet from folks who used to maintain that the private lives of elected officials are none of the public's business:

GROSS: When [President Bush] said that this amendment would be for the good of children, families and society, I couldn't help but wonder if parents of gays and lesbians would see it as being good for their families. And ...

CHENEY: I don't support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and I'll leave it right there.

GROSS: Is it because of the issue of gay marriage itself or is it because it should just be a state issue and not ...

CHENEY: Terry, I don't support the idea of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and I will leave it right there.

GROSS: Just one more question about the position that you're in.

CHENEY: Terry, I really think that we came hear to discuss history more than current events and I've made my position clear.

GROSS: Is it difficult to be in a position where you're different from the president?

CHENEY: Well, not too difficult, since I've done it - how many times now in the last ten minutes? Perhaps six? I've made my position clear. END OF EXCERPT

We trust that the next time Sen. Clinton pops in for a sit-down at NPR, Ms. Gross and her colleagues will be equally tenacious about why - to pick a topic at random - neither Hillary nor her husband have ever responded to questions about Juanita Broaddrick's sexual assault allegation.

The full Cheney-Gross exchange went like this:

GROSS: I don't want to ask you any questions about your daughter Mary because I know that you don't like to do anything that would be an invasion of her privacy. But I do want to ask your position as the mother of a gay daughter, because I think this impacts on public policy, and on the lives ...

CHENEY: How?

GROSS: Well, because the Republican Party and the President of the United States has [sic] called for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. And because that would impact, not only the lives of gays and lesbians, but the lives of parents of gays and lesbians, I think that it would be interesting to hear your position on that constitutional amendment.

Now I know you've said you think the issue should be left to the states [but] I'd be interested to hear what you think about the issue of banning gay marriage, since it's not only an important issue in the party - you know, the president spoke about it in the State of the Union - um, and, you know, it was an important issue, I think, in getting out the evangelist vote.

CHENEY: I don't support an amendment to the Constitution banning gay marriage.

GROSS: Could you tell me why?

CHENEY: Well, I think it's a matter that should be left to the states. As a conservative I don't support constitutional amendments in general unless the cause is clear and evident. The issue here is that some people think a constitutional amendment is necessary in order to preserve the right for the states. I happen to not to come down on that side of the issue. And, indeed, there are many Republicans who do.

If you looked at our national convention, for example, among the prominent speakers - Governor Schwarzenegger, Rudy Giuliani - feel the same way. It's not an issue that sets the Republican Party apart in one great mass. It's an issue where people differ.

GROSS: In his State of the Union address, President Bush said that because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be redefined by activist judges. "For the good of families, children and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage."

When he said that this amendment would be for the good of children, families and society, I couldn't help but wonder if parent of gays and lesbians would see it as being good for their families. And ...

CHENEY: I don't support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and I'll leave it right there.

GROSS: Is it because of the issue of gay marriage itself or is it because it should just be a state issue and not ...

CHENEY: Terry, I don't support the idea of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and I will leave it right there.

GROSS: Just one more question about the position that you're in.

CHENEY: Terry, I really think that we came hear to discuss history more than current events and I've made my position clear.

GROSS: Is it difficult to be in a position where you're different from the president?

CHENEY: Well, not too difficult, since I've done it - how many times now in the last ten minutes? Perhaps six? I've made my position clear.

 

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Let me just say that I have gotten into trouble with a small number of people on this board because I have consistently stood up for minorities.

Having said that:

If the racist is a relative - someone I love - what would you have me do? Never speak to them again?

This is probably a matter of degree. If my grandfather is in the KKK, then yes, I would want nothing to do with him unless or until he changed completely. If my grandfather harbors certain notions about people of color - something unfortunately very common for his generation - that's something I would confront and correct, but it's not enough to make me reject him entirely.

Rather, I would take my black friend's advice: "Pray for him."

The world is loaded with otherwise decent people who are bigots. My black pastor once hated white people, because a relative quite literally beat the belief that white people were his enemy into him when he was a kid.

It's a good thing every Christian in his life didn't decide that associating with him was a bad idea.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

... that's something I would confront and correct, but it's not enough to make me reject him entirely.

I never said you should reject him entirely. Confront and correct is the loving thing to do, imo. And pray for him.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I never said you should reject him entirely.

Though you did say: "You do not reject a racist?"

That is what I was responding to.

Otherwise, we are in agreement.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

"confront and correct" is a form of rejection. I gave you examples of other forms -- you would not vote for, hire, ask to teach your child..... You changed it into being about your grandfather.

There is a time and place to reject someone's behavior entirely, and them along with it: Osams, Timothy McVeigh, Charles Manson.... It is up to God to deal with them mercifully or not. Society has a right -- no a DUTY -- to reject them entirely.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

You changed it into being about your grandfather.

My intent was not to "change" anything, but to illustrate reality - that sometimes the racists are people we don't just choose not to vote for or refuse to hire to babysit our children.

They are often important people in our lives.

(My grandfather is deceased and was never in the KKK, by the way - that was hypothetical, in case I didn't make that clear.)

Furthermore, to "confront and correct" is not rejection of a person, in my mind.

I honestly thought we were done with this, but I guess not.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Your concession on the "confront and correct" part is all I was really looking for. We can leave it at that. Nice talking to you.

[Meldrim]

"You sound like a really disgraceful person, using that term."

Sodomite? Like "Liar" or "Adulterer" or "Draft Dodger" or "Coward"...it is merely a descriptive term. And all I did was ask whether Gore Junior was indeed one, since it was referenced in the thread and seemed to imply that he was.