Posted on 05/02/2006 1:10:54 PM PDT by meandog
New York, N.Y. – In her new memoir, NOW IT'S MY TURN(Simon & Schuster/Threshold Editions, 2006), Mary Cheney writes that when she told her parents she was gay, the first words out of her father’s mouth “were exactly the ones that I wanted to hear: ‘You’re my daughter, and I love you, and I just want you to be happy.’”
VANITY FAIR editor Todd Purdum reports that Mary Cheney tells her story in a voice very much like her father’s, and that she came out to her parents when she was a junior in high school, on a day when, after breaking up with her first girlfriend, she skipped school, ran a red light, and crashed the family car. Cheney writes that her mother hugged her, but then burst into tears, worried that she would face a life of pain and prejudice.
When Purdum asks the vice president whether he thinks gay people are born that way, Cheney scrunches up his mouth, fixes him with a look that says “Nice try,” then says: “I’m not going to get into that. Those are deeply personal questions. You can ask.”
Mary Cheney tells Purdum that her father “has very little tolerance for bullshit, pardon my French.” She also says that one common reaction from people who have read the manuscript of her book is “‘Wow, you guys really have this close-knit, loving family,’ and it always strikes me as ‘Yeah, of course we do.’ It was very surprising to me that people would think we didn’t.”
When Purdum asks Cheney if he is fatalistic about his heart disease, Cheney says, “I am. I don’t even think about it most of the time. You do those things a prudent man would do, and I live with it.” Asked what he would have for breakfast at Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, his favorite pre-fishing spot in Wilson, Wyoming, Cheney responds without missing a beat: “I’d probably have two eggs over easy, sausage and hash browns,” then hastens to add that that is not his normal breakfast. “The day I go fishing, I get off my diet,” he says.” At a roundtable lunch with reporters a couple of years ago, two who were present tell Purdum that Cheney cut his buffalo steak in bite-size pieces the moment it arrived, then proceeded to salt each side of each piece.
Cheney tells Purdum that he has not changed over the years, but perhaps many of his contemporaries think he has “because of my associations over the years, or because I came across as a reasonable guy, people have one view of me that was not necessarily an accurate reflection of my philosophy or my view of the world.”
Purdum asks Cheney if, during his “darkest night,” he has even “a little doubt” about the administration’s course. “No,” he tells Purdum. “I think we’ve done what needed to be done.” Of the debate over whether or not the administration hyped the pre-war intelligence, Cheney says, “In the end, you can argue about the quality of the intelligence and so forth, but ... I look at that whole spectrum of possibilities and options, and I think we did the right thing.”
Cheney rejects the caricature of him as the power behind the throne, insisting, “I think we have created a system that works for this president and for me, in terms of my ability to be able to contribute and participate in the process.” When Purdum says that the cartoon characterization of him must not be accurate, Cheney says, “My image might be better out there, this caricature you talk about might be avoided, if I spent more time as a public figure trying to improve my image, but that’s not why I’m here.”
Purdum reports that Cheney travels with a chemical-biological suit at all times. When he gave his friend Robin West and his twin children a ride to the White House a couple of years ago, West commented on the fact that Cheney’s motorcade varied its daily path. “And he said, ‘Yeah, we take different routes so that “The Jackal” can’t get me,’” West tells Purdum. “And then there was this big duffel bag in the middle of the backseat, and I said, ‘What’s that? It’s not very roomy in here.’ And [Cheney] said, ‘No, because it’s a chemical-biological suit,’ and he looked at it and said, ‘Robin, there’s only one. You lose.’”
Purdum talks with former New York Times reporter and former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, James Naughton, who asks of Cheney: “Does he acknowledge that he is not as pleasant as he used to be?” Naughton knew Cheney as a fellow prankster during the 1976 campaign, and all but sighs in search of an explanation as to why he is so different now. “I guess I would like to believe,” he says, “without any evidence to support it, that coming very close to death has somehow compelled him to act as though he only has so much breath and so much life, that he’s only got so much time to accomplish what he has to do. But the public figure is nothing like the private one that I remember.”
Gerald Ford tells Purdum: “He may have changed a bit, but that was required for the change of circumstances.” Ford, who will turn 93 in July, adds, “Times change, and people change as a result of that.”
“If you’re looking for a change from one point to another, being vice president is sui generis,” Lynne Cheney tells Purdum. “It’s not quite like any other job.”
The June issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands in New York and L.A. on May 3 and nationally on May 9.
Well, you've got the population of hell pretty well figured out, don't you?
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company -- Mark Twain.
You gave the key. Repentance.
If a thief repents but keeps stealing, is he repentant and forgiven? No. God forgives those who REPENT. And mean it.
Im going where my dogs want to go
Thanks to you too. I think the discussion is important.
I'm going to tell you a personal story. A number of years ago, my sister asked me, "What would you do if your child came to you and said, 'I'm gay!'?" I told her I hoped I would tell him it was wrong but that I loved him anyway. I didn't know it at the time, but she was dealing with that exact situation. Know how the story ends? My sister grew to completely embrace it. She didn't entirely agree, but she kept it to herself. All of her other kids (some much younger) also embraced it. It infected the moral values of the entire family. Oh....up until my niece killed herself because of conflicts with her girlfriend (and there are lingering suspicions about whether it was truly a suicide). During the relationship my niece was allow to be foster parent to two troubled boys and one parentless girl. The acceptance was everywhere. The truth speakers were nowhere. I include myself. I didn't want to make waves. I stayed out of it. One time and one time only I said to my niece, "I think it is a sin but I love you anyway." She responded, "I don't think there is anything wrong with it." The end. Everyone in her life, including government funded counselors, failed her by "loving" her literally to death. Truth is, no one really loved her in any genuine sense.
So there's some light on my position. I give details because no names are mentioned, and even then I don't like to do it. As for Keyes, he was questioned endlessly by reporters. Perhaps he just started answering before he was asked. I don't know. Everything I read about it was during the initial period of revelation. I felt deeply for him. Everyone was trashing him when he was trying to help his daughter see the truth. Almost no one in the entire world really wants to help these people. They are sin accomplices. Enablers.
Im going where my dogs want to go
Sounds like a dicey strategy. You may spend eternity sniffing butts.
Romans Chapter 1.
When I tried giving chapter and verse, I was attacked, and it was suggested that those who speak against sin are in fact really only interested in concealing their own sin...its this backward, childish..."I know you are but what am I?" ... type arguments..
You tell him "Hello". He'll listen anytime. Never a busy signal.
DISCUSSION ABOUT:
"Dad Was Fine When I Came Out of Closet" -- Mary Cheney
At least Mary Cheney isn't trying ot force her lifestyle on everyone else.
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It's up to God to say who repented and who didn't. But I know what he said will get His children a one way ticket in the wrong direction.
or peeing on trees
Homosexuals are sinners...sin is of the Satan...and Satan is the enemy of God and mankind.
Telling us there's no hell doesn't make it go away. And won't change the road there.
James Dickey wrote a poem touching on the subject, The Heaven of Animals...enjoy:
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1658.html
So do you think being gay is 100% choice, 100% genetic or something in between? I think its pretty obvious that gay people didn't just start being gay sometime in the 1960's. Its just that in the old days they repressed those feelings or did it in extreme secrecy.
Try again, those are the words of Paul. I specifically requested God's word's regarding condemnation to hell. He gave them explicitly, the words are complete, in that they cover all matters whatsoever.
I know that. In fact, I'd bet a good part of your day is spent ferreting out sin wherever you find it.
I believe you occupy your time oblivious to truth...confounding all attempt at reason...and I'm sure you'll prattle in the wind.
If "truth" is running around pointing fingers at sinners and thundering denunciations, then I'll revel in falsehood.
How many lurkers do you think are attracted to your brand of Christianity?
You have STILL never used the word "love" except to put it down. That's really sad.
This is none of our business.
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