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.
"To that you maybe should add: "Fear for the sinner.""
Sure. And maybe "Fear the sinner."
There are many sins in the world. You may want to brush up on the list.
Additional .02 - loving someone "warts and all" doesn't mean you love the warts. Especially if the warts can be cured. It means you love the person, even though s/he has warts. Always hoping that s/he will want to cure the warts one day.
Everyone has character flaws, weaknesses, temptations, and so on. But to be human means to be working on these flaws, trying to overcome them, not just "accepting" them and living with them. For instance, someone may have a rotten temper (I know someone like this). She just says "My father has a rotten temper, my mother has a rotten temper, I have a rotten temper" and lives with it - almost proudly. I feel so sorry for her poor children as they are often on the receiving end. I wound up not having a friendship with her any more because her ungovernable temper drove her away.
Character faults should not be "accepted" by the person owning them, they should be worked on. We may accept the faults of those we love, since we certainly can't mold others, but we can help them gently or not. By so-called accepting things that are really wrong and need to be changed and telling someone "you're perfect/fine just the way you are" is not real love. It is possible to love a person and still not love their flaws. In fact, honest and truthful love is not blind to flaws. We've all seen examples of doting parents who don't discipline their children because they think their kiddies are perfect, while the brats leave a trail of destruction where ever they go.
IOW, there's a third way of dealing with loved ones besides "I love you just the way you are and support all your flaws 100%" and throwing them out of your life because of their faults.
Everyone already knows that the Cheney's love their children.
Well, I think there's some posters on this thread who are ready to start advocating public stonings. Would that count?
Why? Sodom and Gomorrah served as a perfect example as Jude pointed out..Perhaps I shouldn't tread on your preferred sin list???
I think it is an impossible line to draw when you say, "One can be concerned about a their child's morality without being openly judgemental." If your concern is kept to yourself what value is it? Parents should instruct and guide their children, sometimes even when they are adults. In the Bible, you learn over and over that those whom God loves, He disciplines and corrects. We love our children best by speaking the truth and guiding them to the right path. Permissiveness, weakness, and lack of moral courage are not love.
Thank you for your support of Alan Keyes. People here love to talk stink about him and all they do is reveal their own ignorance and ill will.
Yes you do. Then point out God's exact words on what will get you damned.
"The intractable issue seems to be if the kid wants to bring the "partner" home for the holidays."
sink: "So the Bible says you should love one sinner, but not two?"
So people opposed to homosexuality (especially those with religious convictions) should welcome relative's illicit sex partners into the house so they can perform their illicit sex acts right there?
Sink, you're unbelievable. In your world, in order to prove that one doesn't "hate" homosexuals, one must open his house to the practice of same sex acts.
Unbelievable.
This is turning into a "hate religion" fest. Maybe the MA listees might like the debate.
durasell, in your world should everyone just shut up if they understand the meaning of "sin" since it makes you and some others uncomfortable?
So how many of you freepers have sex at other people's houses anyway?
I'm so glad there are people like you who get it.
Alan Keyes has his human flaws and foibles, same as all of us, but it's hard to think of anyone who has done more for the conservative movement in the last decade than he has, or that can comprehend and communicate conservatism like he does.
"Keyes didn't make it a public issue. Neither did his daughter for that matter. She told a different story than the reporters who broke the story."
I listened to a speech Keyes gave in Iowa - a townhall discussion - in which he talked about his daughter. Even though I agreed with Keyes on several issues, I didn't think his discussion of her was proper then, and I don't now. We each have our way of dealing with such situations, but my way would have been to tell the person asking his opinion that it wasn't a subject I was willing to speak about in a public forum. That being said, my point to you was that no one can know if Cheney loves his daughter less just because his reaction to her is different than someone elses. I think it's unfair to assume that. That's all.
"I think it is an impossible line to draw when you say, "One can be concerned about a their child's morality without being openly judgemental." If your concern is kept to yourself what value is it?"
I guess I don't see where I said you should keep your opinions to yourself (as a parent). Expressing your beliefs to your children, along with adult-to-adult discussion is always a vital part of relationships with our adult children. However, the ultimate decision is theirs.
Thank you for the polite discussion, btw.
Typical total misunderstanding of Jesus' words about the woman caught in adultery.
Throwing stones is not equivalent to speaking words. Jesus didn't tell the woman - "You're fine as you are, keep on committing adulter, fine with me if that's what makes you happy".
He said "Go and sin no more". Is that throwing stones?
In my world, sexuality, religion and a few other select issues are highly personal. They are best resolved, discussed and dealt with among family, close friends, and clergy.
That's far different that being "fine with it", Mary.
Typical total misunderstanding of Jesus' words about the woman caught in adultery.
Throwing stones is not equivalent to speaking words. Jesus didn't tell the woman - "You're fine as you are, keep on committing adulter, fine with me if that's what makes you happy".
He said "Go and sin no more". Is that throwing stones?
Since I'm not Jesus I don't get to say "Go and sin no more."
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