Mary Cheney has been smearing John Edwards to sell her book on what a proud lesbian she is: she just couldn't tell you until now. The anatomy of the smear follows.
John Edwards appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos to answer whatever George thought was appropriate, and of course he had to jump on the pile.
Now I know some of you see the Edwards clip and you wince. And you think it's awkward. And really, you've been suckered into the whole argument that he needlessly brought Mary Cheney into the Vice Presidential debate in 2004 to embarass the Vice President. But what we need here is a history lesson. Let's start on August 24, 2004.
Q We have a battle here on this land, as well. And I would like to know, sir, from your heart -- I don't want to know what your advisors say, or even what your top advisor thinks -- but I need to know what do you think about homosexual marriages.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, the question has come up obviously in the past with respect to the question of gay marriage. Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue that our family is very familiar with. We have two daughters, and we have enormous pride in both of them. They're both fine young women. They do a superb job, frankly, of supporting us. And we are blessed with both our daughters.
Mary Cheney has been out for years, now Dick Cheney uses her at a stump speech as an example of his position on gay marriage.
Now we go to the VP debate, October 5, 2004. This is six weeks later.
IFILL: The next question goes to you, Mr. Vice President.
I want to read something you said four years ago at this very setting: "Freedom means freedom for everybody." You said it again recently when you were asked about legalizing same-sex unions. And you used your family's experience as a context for your remarks.
Can you describe then your administration's support for a constitutional ban on same-sex unions?
(Cheney Talks)
IFILL: Senator Edwards, 90 seconds.
EDWARDS: (...)Now, as to this question, let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy.
And I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and so does John Kerry.
I also believe that there should be partnership benefits for gay and lesbian couples in long-term, committed relationships.
But we should not use the Constitution to divide this country.
No state for the last 200 years has ever had to recognize another state's marriage.
This is using the Constitution as a political tool, and it's wrong.
Edwards is replying to the question. The question mentions that Dick Cheney used his daughter to highlight his position on gay marriage. Edwards says, I know Dick Cheney loves his daughter, but he shouldn't be pushing a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. (And here I should say that I didn't agree with everything that John Edwards said that night. The "man and a woman" thing truly IS pandering to the wingnuts. But he wasn't off track with that remark).
Now Mary Cheney is running around talking to anyone who will listen while pushing her book implying that John Edwards injected her into the debate for political purposes. She has led some people to believe that she was outed publicly at that moment. Here's what she said on Fox recently:
WALLACE: And I want to start by going back to the 2004 campaign and the vice presidential debate where your father and John Edwards were asked a question about a constitutional amendment on same sex marriage, and John Edwards decided that he would say the following . Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS: I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)WALLACE: You were sitting in the audience that night in Edwards' line of sight. What did you think and what did you do?
CHENEY: I was in the very front row, and I was very angry, as was the rest of my family, because it was such a cheap and blatant political ploy on behalf of Senator Edwards.
You know, my initial reaction was one I'm not necessarily sure is appropriate to share on television, but...
WALLACE: You mouthed an expletive, correct?
CHENEY: That would be a good way to put it, yes.
WALLACE: And your mom and your sister?
CHENEY: My mom and my sister took a slightly higher road. They stuck their tongues out at him.
WALLACE: And did the senator see the Cheney women?
CHENEY: I honestly don't know. We were in the front row just a few feet from him. I don't see how he could have missed us. But I honestly don't know.
WALLACE: Why do you think that Kerry and Edwards went out of their way to point out your sexual orientation in the middle of a presidential campaign?
CHENEY: You know, obviously, I was not part of any of John Kerry or John Edwards' debate preps, and I've heard different theories about why they would have done it. I think probably the one that's most believable is that they wanted to make sure that everybody who might have a problem with it knew that Dick Cheney had a gay daughter.
WALLACE: And what do you think of that?
CHENEY: I think it was a pretty sleazy thing to do.
Listen to Wallace: Edwards would decide what he would say. And he said it oblivious of the Cheney women. Why would they do that? Cheney: They outed me. It was a sleazy thing to do.
Fast forward to today. John Edwards is interviewed on This Week. The same clip is shown. But Edwards' answer is edited out. But you wouldn't know it if you saw it on TV; I only found this out by reading the printed story of the interview here. What's been edited out is in the inner box:
Edwards: I think what I said then was appropriate. And I do believe that it was in a very partisan political environment. We were in the middle of a very hot campaign, very close campaign.
What happened ... is that the vice president had mentioned in several public appearances the fact that he had a gay daughter, had talked about some differences in policy that he had with the president. He was asked a question in the debate where that was referenced by the moderator, Gwen Ifill. He responded. I said that actually the fact that they had a gay daughter and embraced her is something that should be applauded for.
He said thank you.
When your Dad is rich and your family is supportive, it's hard to write a book about the difficulties of being gay when you're standing on the people who have to face that difficulty every day because you helped elect the administration that is stabbing them in the back.
For Mary Cheney, being gay is a convenient stepping stone. Why worry about the benefits of marriage when Halliburton has your back?