Cheney Snaps at Wolf

Dick Cheney's interview with Wolf Blitzer made it onto the front page of the Washington Post this morning. I suppose the newsworthy part was where he bragged about the "enormous successes" we have had in Iraq. Well, the newsy part really was how cranky he was.

For us, the interesting part was seeing how he handled Blitzer's questions about Cheney's pregnant lesbian daughter.

From the transcript:

BLITZER: You know, we’re out of time, but a couple of issues I want to raise with you: your daughter, Mary. She's pregnant. All of us are happy she’s going to have a baby. You’re going to have another grandchild. Some of the -- some critics are suggesting -- for example, a statement from someone representing Focus on the Family, "Mary Cheney's pregnancy raises the question of what's best for children. Just because it's possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father doesn't mean that it's best for the child." Do you want to respond to that?

CHENEY: No.

BLITZER: She's, obviously, a good daughter --

CHENEY: I'm delighted I'm about to have a sixth grandchild, Wolf. And obviously I think the world of both my daughters and all of my grandchildren. And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question.

BLITZER: I think all of us appreciate --

CHENEY: I think you're out of line.

BLITZER: We like your daughters. Believe me, I'm very sympathetic to Liz and to Mary. I like them both. That was a question that’s come up, and it’s a responsible, fair question.

CHENEY: I just fundamentally disagree with you.

BLITZER: I want to congratulate you on having another grandchild.

Wow, this is uncomfortable.

I don't know how these guys keep all this straight. Without Focus on the Family and the other Family Blah Blah groups supporting them, Satan Cheney would not have the VP job. But he doesn't even want to talk about what they said.

This is called cognitive dissonance: an ordinary person would be forced to make a choice, and a statement, in this situation. Everyone seems to agree that Cheney loves his lesbian daughter and supports her desire to have a child within her monogamous relationship. So what would happen if this guy said out loud what he must believe? Just think of the good that could come of that, the opportunity that's been handed him.

Here's the problem: cowardice. He won't say what he knows to be true, because it might cost his party votes. He'll support his daughter privately, but he thinks people are "out of line" if they talk about it in public. In the meantime, his political machine is making life as miserable as possible for gay people.