I thought I'd explain some of the "incivility" some of us are expressing towards Mary Cheney's budding new family.
Our ire is truly not directed towards the baby, in spite of "Cheney spawn" jokes folks are making. Our ire is not soley because Mary is Darth's child. (I mean, we don't hate Luke and Leia, do we?)
Our ire is about the fact that Mary was in a key position to speak out for gay and lesbian families beyond her own, but kept silent. In spearheading her father's campaign, Mary worked very hard to advance the victory of the party that would deny happiness to every other queer family on earth.
Mary thinks she and her partner and her kid are special--that THEY don't need to fight for partner benefits and marriage rights and adoption rights. Know what? Mary's right. They ARE special. Because they are so powerful and wealthy (thanks in no small part to Cheney's war), the adoption and health care concerns that beset regular queer families need never trouble them.
This is why Mary felt so comfortable championing the right-wing during election season. Queer folks like Jeff Gannon and Mary Cheney don't mind tossing other gay people under the bus for political advantage, so long as they've got theirs. Their wealth and power shield them from real-world consequenses of right-wing policy.
Pardon me if that all makes me a little bitter. Double that for queer couples who have tried to adopt or retain custody of children in Florida (uncle Jeb's state) or Virginia, where the happy Cheney family will be residing.
I'm glad people are happy for Mary and Heather, and show deep concern for the child. I happen to be feeling more concern for all the Iraqi children that have been raped, mutilated, burned and murdered because daddy Cheney won another term. I happen to feel more concern about the gay couples who have been unable to adopt or retain custody of children because of the conservative politics Mary et al have helped to enshrine.
Good thing Mary's new family does not need the blessing of us lowly not-rich queer folk. She has been blessed by enough ill-gotten oil and Halliburton cash to buy all the privilege and advantage she and her "special" family will ever need.