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.

 

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

What do you mean I'm right? I never made any statement whatsoever. I just asked a question. Can you answer it?

[k2blader]

You're new here. Try to learn some class before you post.

[Chef Dajuan]

Another Taliban member speaks!

Here, try this on for size:

http://www.wavsite.com/sounds/57075/bugs10.wav

[Goodgirlinred]

Anytime. I got slammed on another thread for saying the same type of thing. I am glad you said it this time. :)

[Flyer]

Thanks.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

You're a pantload.

Is that in the Bible too? Or is that just the way you show love?

Huh? Reference what?

Reference "hate the sin but love the sinner."

[Ignatius J Reilly]

Hey Joe, do you realize sodomy is specific to the act of anal intercourse, something I would imagine not many lesbians partake of

[highlandbreeze]

Well, that is why I'm glad you agreed with me. I thought for sure I was going to get my first flame.

=0)

[Flyer]

Oh, I forgot to mention, you just cost Free Republic $180 a year in donations.

[Chef Dajuan]

Social conservatives aren't really conservatives. They want to force their ways down everyone's throat. Like the Taliban.

Real conservatives believe in LIMITED gpvernmnet and that they have no business in anyones bedroom.

She doesn't HAVE to give you the answer you want. Get your nose out of the Bible and try reading the Constitution and "The Federalist Papers" for once. You might learn something.

Plus, didn't Jesus say something about NOT making a show of your religion? About NOT judging?

[Ignatius J Reilly]

" I just asked a question. Can you answer it? "

Jesus forgave Mary M publicly.

Let he who be without sin cast the first stone.

If you need specific quotations and sites from the new testament to know that Jesus was an advocate for forgivenss of sin, loving your enemy etc. then you didn't read very carefully.

[Dolphy]

I guess I didn't come down from Sinai with God's holy writ in stone like YOU did.

Sure you did, you just have all of the message...mercy, love, casting the first stone, etc :)

[dsutah]

So are a lot of the rest of us! Mrs. Cheney might not like her daughter's choice of lifestyle; but she loves her daughter. In other words, "love the sinner, but not the sin". Shouldn't we do the same, and leave the judging others to God? Thanks

[stands2reason]

Welcome to FR.

[Spiff]

Well, Lynne Cheney deserves it. Her daughter is a sinner and represents everything wrong with America. Why she hasn't publicly repudiated her daughter's perverted lifestyle is beyond me.

Love the sinner, hate the sin.

[Paul Atreides]

Didn't she star, as a man, in The Year of Living Dangerously, with Mel Gibson?

[Hand em their arse]

Well, Lynne Cheney deserves it. Her daughter is a sinner and represents everything wrong with America. Why she hasn't publicly repudiated her daughter's perverted lifestyle is beyond me.


And, the daily winner of the "dumb fu*k" award goes toooooo....... (drum roll.....) "JOE MAGNOLIA!!!! Yeeaahhhhhhh!!!! Congratulations Joe, johnny tell him what he's won...

[Orbiter]

"Alan Keyes is an idiot.

Do mean this Alan Keyes?:

Ph.D., Harvard University, Government Studies and Constitutional Scholar. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (1983-1985). Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations (1985-88). Interim President of Alabama A&M University (1991). Speaks French. Studied Spanish, Russian, and ancient Greek.

Your brand of quasi-intellectual reflux reminds me of virtually all liberal balsa-head's oft-times snarling assertions that GW is an addle brained dolt. Really!? This GW Bush... MBA, jet aircraft Commander, owned a business, elected Governor of Texas, twice-elected POTUS...

Care to post your CV, fryboy?

[dsutah]

I just wonder what Alan Keys would do if he was in the same position as the elder Cheneys? Sure it's easy to say what he says when he's not in that same position! I don't seriously think Alan Keyes would try to condemn that person in public.

He might deal with it in private, perhaps. But if he were to repudiate, as you say, a loved one's behavior in public; he wouldn't be the man I thought he was! He's stern, but not a cruel person. I don't think he would handle it much differently than Mrs. Cheney did!

[Hand em their arse]

HA!! I love it, great response!