Dick Cheney

Family Research Council senior fellow Robert Morrison yesterday chided former Vice President Dick Cheney for his support of marriage equality, particularly his role in garnering Republican support for the bill in Maryland. Morrison bragged that he didn’t respond to media inquiries at the 2000 GOP convention in Philadelphia to goad him into criticize Cheney, even though FRC president Tony Perkins attacked the Cheney family after Mary had a child with her partner. He also said that just because Cheney has an openly gay daughter, that is no reason he should support equal rights for gays and lesbians. He even called on Cheney to follow in the footsteps of Ben Franklin, who supported the American Revolution even though his son was a prominent loyalist who fled to Great Britain after the war. “In this great cultural clash,” Morrison lamented, “Dick Cheney has enlisted with the forces of dissolution”:

Consider this thought experiment. Twin brothers announced on a TV talk show that they were gay. Under the laws proposed, can they marry? If not, why not? They’ve certainly had a “committed relationship” since before they were born. What constitutional principle could you invoke to say these twins cannot marry each other? And if these twin brothers may marry, why not a twin brother and sister?

Dick Cheney probably never met Mae West. For younger readers unfamiliar with one of Hollywood’s original blond bombshells, I’ll simply say: sailors in World War II called their large life jackets Mae Wests. (This is a family blog, after all.)

Mae West famously said: “Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution.” How strange that Mae West had a better understanding of civil marriage than a former Vice President of the United States, a man who was twice elected to national office by pro-family voters.

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In 2000, Dick Cheney might have considered Philadelphia’s most famous son, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s own son was the royal Governor of New Jersey. It was a patronage job Ben had secured for him. When his son remained loyal to the Crown, Benjamin Franklin did not refuse to sign the Declaration of Independence citing a “personal situation.” That’s one of the many reasons why we remember Ben Franklin with admiration and respect.

Dick Cheney is said to be worth hundreds of millions. His family may not suffer the devastation that comes from the breakdown of marriage. But in his recent book, Coming Apart, Charles Murray shows how the loss of marriage for the white working class in America has already had catastrophic consequences. If we seek the reason behind the great disparities in wealth that the Occupy crowd is howling about, we need look no further than the collapse of marriage. In this great cultural clash, Dick Cheney has enlisted with the forces of dissolution.

• Jason Hancock @ Iowa Independent: Branstad speaks out against impeaching Supreme Court justices.
• Stephanie Mencimer @ Mother Jones: Dick Cheney's Disappearing Clout.
• Alvin McEwen: Anti-gay hate group has problem with California not being forced to find a 'cure' for homosexuality.
• Joe.My.God: Chick-Fil-A Vanishes From Anti-Gay Event.
• Igor Volsky @ Wonk Room: VA Delegate Presses Case For Banning ‘Active Homosexuals’ From Virginia National Guard.

Michael Farris weighs in on the fact that lots of conservatives suddenly seem less gay-unfriendly by noting that while people like Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck might be "friends" of the conservative movement, they are not "true heroes." 

And he says he knew all along that Ken Mehlman was not a "true hero" because once, when he was meeting with Mehlman at the White House, the meeting was cut short so that Mehlman could speak with Dick Cheney's daughter - the lesbian one:

This came on the heels of news that Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, had confirmed long-standing rumors that he is gay -- an announcement in which he also declared himself a supporter of same-sex marriage. I can personally confirm that Mehlman, a dynamic, articulate conservative strategist when he was working in the Bush White House, was, even then, an effective supporter of the concept.

One day I was in his office talking to him about the political necessity of the Federal Marriage Amendment -- which he was decidedly cool towards -- when he abruptly terminated our meeting because he had to speak with Vice President Cheney’s daughter. And, yes, it was the Vice President’s lesbian daughter.

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Christians must be able to distinguish between the so-called "good ideas" of conservative spokesmen like Beck and Coulter and the authentic moral truth found only in Scripture. Generic faith never saved anyone and it will not offer political salvation to America ... Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter are admittedly pretty good friends. On many issues they take a strong stand for traditional values and conservative principles. But they are not true heroes to those who hold to a biblical worldview. They get a lot of issues right -- and we can work with them whenever our interests align. But we should not hold them up as champions and allow our movement to be defined by their convictions, because they are so radically different regarding important fundamental presuppositions.

It was without a hint of irony that Liz Cheney smugly spent her entire speech at CPAC blasting the Obama administration's national security policy as fundamentally dangerous, harping on the Christmas Day/Underwear Bomb attack as evidence that Obama's wisdom and judgment cannot be trusted and that the administration's incompetence is getting people killed.

Then, at the end, she brought out her father (who just so happened to be Vice President on the day of the worst terrorist attack in US history) as an example of someone with the proper foreign policy and national security expertise (I didn't include any of Dick Cheney's short remarks because, frankly, they weren't very interesting other than his assertion to Barack Obama would be a one-term president):

• Not surprisingly, right-wing groups are not happy with Sen. Ben Nelson or the Senate's health care bill.
• On a related note, Mike Huckabee headlined a hastily organized anti-health care reform rally in Nebraska where he compared Sen. Nelson to Judas.
• Ralph Reed has big plans for his Faith and Freedom Coalition as he launches its Georgia chapter.
• Dick Cheney has been named Human Events' "Conservative of the Year." What an honor.
• On a similar note, I can't wait to find out who will win Peter LaBarbera's "Gay Grinch of the Year Award."
• Finally, anti-choice groups are outraged that activist Lila Rose was supposedly "attacked" by a Planned Parenthood, though said "attack" seems to have consisted of having anti-choice literature knocked out of her hand.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Alan Keyes has reached the outer limits of the right-wing fringe movement, which is saying something considering that he had always pretty resided on the fringes to begin with and has only been heading further out  since the election of Barack Obama.

But his latest WorldNetDaily column defending Rev. James David Manning, pastor of Atlah World Missionary Church, really is remarkable, even for him.

Normally, I'd post some of Manning's bizarre rantings here to give you a sense of who he is, but his account has been suspended from YouTube, so I'll simply point you to Wikipedia:

Manning came to public attention in the 2008 presidential election after ATLAH posted several sermons of his that were harshly critical of Democratic candidate Barack Obama on the website YouTube. Among other accusations, he called Obama a "good House Negro" in one sermon while in another he referred to Obama as "trash" due to circumstances surrounding his mixed race heritage and accused him of being a "pimp" (pimping "white women and black women") and "long-legged mack daddy," and an "emissary of the devil", citing the viral video "I Got a Crush... on Obama". He stated that Obama "has the cadence of an Islamic person,"and he called Obama's mother "trash" for becoming pregnant by a black man out of wedlock. Manning revisited this latter issue during a press conference at the National Press Club on 8 December 2008: "Generally the most noble of white society choose not to intercourse sexually with African men. So it's usually the trashier ones who make their determinations that they're going to have sex."

Manning defended his sermons in an interview on Fox News, saying that "we also have to talk about his character."He compared TV personality Oprah Winfrey, who supported Obama's campaign, to the Whore of Babylon, the "Queen of the Universe", and an Antichrist.

According to Manning, one of his recent video postings prompted a visit from the Department of Homeland Security ... and it is not hard to see why, considering that somewhere around the five minute mark, Manning begins screaming:

You gotta clean house. You got to take Obama to trial, put him in jail for the rest of his life, or hang him.  Shoot him on the Washington ... first try him, find him guilty, and the punishment for treason is a death sentence. And then clean the rest out, go get Hillary, go get John McCain, go get George Bush, got get Dick Cheney too, get 'em all.  And then we can start over again.

So what does Keyes' have to say about Manning, who is seemingly calling for the execution of several current and former high-ranking government officials? That he's right:

I have followed Rev. Manning's broadcasts and statements for some time. He is forthright and outspoken in his religious and political views. He speaks with a boldness that is surely offensive to people who believe that civility requires silence even in the face of the stratagems of deception now being perpetrated against the American people. But I see nothing that he has said or done that warrants interference with his freedom of speech. Both YouTube's actions and those of the federal and New York City officials who visited his church appear to be in clear violation of his constitutional rights and part of an effort to intimidate him and others who are outspoken critics of the coup d'état being perpetrated by the Obama faction and its fellow travelers among the elites, who are working to accomplish the overthrow of our constitutional republic.

The repression of Rev. Manning's views is an intolerable assault on the constitutional freedom of every American. However disagreeable his voice may be to others, including the present occupant of the White House, his right to voice his criticisms is clear and undeniable. So is his right to seek redress of grievances that threaten the sovereignty of the American people and of every American as a member of the sovereign body of the people. Respect for these rights is one of the bedrock prerequisites of government of, by and for the people. Efforts to thwart and repress their exercise constitute a clear and present danger to the liberty of all Americans. Like the darkening skies and rising winds that announce the landfall of a hurricane, this move to silence Rev. Manning ominously foreshadows the next phase of the elite assault against the Constitution and people of the United States.

Wiley Drake, who is praying for President Obama's death, breathlessly reports that his name has turned up on President Obama's "enemies list" ... at least according to the eminently trustworthy tabloid Globe Magazine:

According to GLOBE Magazine, "the President has drawn up a secret enemies list. In a blockbuster world exclusive, GLOBE bares 25 names - and sources tell you how and why the White House intends to shut them up."

Pastor Wiley Drake is listed as enemy number 23 of those Obama would most want to "shut up."

Drake has not only prayed Imprecatory prayer against Obama but is one of the plaintiffs in a Federal Case to be heard Oct. 5 in California Federal District Court.

Drake and others believe that Obama needs to prove whether or not he is a Natural Born citizen, as required by the Constitution. If he is not, they believe he should be removed

Pastor Wiley said, "I would have never believed we would have Czars in America. I thought that was Russia and the communist countries."

Unfortunately, the Globe article isn't available online, but this blog reports that the 25 names on Obama's supposed list include the following:

Glenn Beck, Larry Sinclair, Joe Wilson, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Orly Taitz, Pat Boone, Jon Voight, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Rupert Murdoch, Jesse Jackson, Dick Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, Toby Keith, Rex Rammell, Hank Williams Jr., Steven Anderson, Saul Anuzis, Bill Cunningham, Paul Krugman, John Rich, Wiley Drake, Alex Jones and Michelle Malkin.

Last week, Gallup released a poll showing that, not surprisingly, people who know someone how is gay are more inclined to support marriage equality:

While 57% of Americans oppose legalizing gay marriage, Americans who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian are almost evenly divided on the matter, with 49% in favor and 47% opposed. Among those who do not personally know anyone who is gay, 72% oppose legalized gay marriage while just 27% favor it.

Andrew Sullivan saw the poll as evidence that gays "need to accelerate the process of coming out," but  Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission sees it differently ... primarily as evidence that Christians need to disassociate themselves from gays and everyone else who doesn't share their right-wing values:

The polling discovered that one of the most important factors that control a person’s opinion about homosexual marriage was that of association, it even trumps a person’s political ideology ... In fact, former Vice President, Dick Cheney, is a perfect example. Cheney is reliably conservative on virtually every issue except homosexual marriage. This is likely as a result of the fact that he is the father of an open, practicing lesbian.

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The natural human tendency is to be deceived in situations when we associate with openly sinful people. Human sentimentality kicks in and biblical thinking is set aside. We rationalize and justify behaviors in people we know more than in people we don’t.

This applies to more than homosexuality; it touches other sins as well. Of course, because there is a powerful deceptive dynamic you will be tempted to say, “Having close relationships with the ungodly will not affect me.” Don’t be deceived!

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You are who you associate with ... We must find our significant associations with our Lord and His wise people. Associate daily with Christ by spending time in His Word and in prayer. Listen to His voice and cultivate a conscience that is informed by God’s Word.

Find like-minded servants of Christ with which to fellowship and to whom you can be accountable on a regular basis. Sit under the sound biblical teaching of a biblically qualified pastor. These are the ways that God will keep you from the corrupting associations of this world.

Be very careful out there in the world. Remember, “Don’t be deceived; Bad company corrupts good morals.”

• The Judicial Confirmation Network has sent its own Sotomayor letter to Senate Republicans.
• Speaking of Sotomayor, Rick Santorum says that if he were still in the Senate, he'd vote against her.  Of course, if people wanted him to be casting votes on their behalf, he'd still be in the Senate.
• What do you know? Dick Cheney supports gay marriage.
• Tony Perkins is not happy with the coverage of George Tiller's murder because "what he [Tiller] did is being glossed over." 
• Peter LaBarbera freaks out over the nomination of Kevin Jennings to become Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Department of Education's Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools.
• Finally, let me clarify something for Matthew Vadum, "Kyle" is not my "pen name" ... it's my name.