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Mary Cheney's Pregnant

VP Dick Cheney's daughter Mary is pregnant. The co-parent is her long-time partner, Heather Poe.

I'm sure Dick and Lynn will say they are delighted and looking forward to grand-parenting their sixth grandchild.

Good for Mary and Heather. Since they now live in Virginia which has banned both gay marriage and civil unions, I hope they make time to lobby for equal rights. It sounds, however, like they are embracing a more traditional lifestyle where one parent works for the bucks while the other attends to the home.

Cheney, 37, was a key aide to her father during the 2004 reelection campaign and now is vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL. Poe, 45, a former park ranger, is renovating their Great Falls home.

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    Still waiting (5.00 / 0) (#41)
    by jondee on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 11:17:54 AM EST
    for some kind of cogent explanation from anyone of  the religious right for this morbid fixation on a   line from Leviticus at the exclusion of so many of  the other requirments of their favorite desert-warlord-in-the-sky.

    They live in Virginia? (4.00 / 0) (#8)
    by Jen M on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 10:54:11 AM EST
    Those poor women.

    I just hope Grandpa doesn't take the kids quayle hunting.

    Quayle (1.00 / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 06:01:30 PM EST
    Well, if he does he'll have to go to Indiana..

    Quail are in Texas

    Among other places...

    Parent

    hey (4.00 / 0) (#26)
    by Jen M on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 10:05:09 PM EST
    was I the ONLY one that thought Bush's Vice President was hunting Quayle.. e.. quail?

    Parent
    Joke? (1.00 / 0) (#38)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 10:46:46 AM EST
    uh.... I was playing along with what I thought was a joke since Quayle was from Indiana..

    Maybe I had the wrong joke...

    Parent

    yeah (4.00 / 0) (#44)
    by Jen M on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 11:48:30 AM EST
    joke  

    I didn't know he was from Indiana
    or I forgot

    Parent

    Maybe, just maybe the religious... (4.00 / 0) (#10)
    by Bill Arnett on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 12:41:52 PM EST
    ...right will keep up their relentless program to deny rights to gays and that the addition of a new grandbaby suffering through such nonsense might actually inspire Dick to change some attitudes.

    Nah, Satan doesn't change, does he?

    Wrong (1.00 / 0) (#5)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:34:48 AM EST
    cpinva - She wasn't running for VP.

    So why was her sexual orientation of interest to anyone beyond herself and those of mutal interest??

    The answer is, of course, it wasn't and Kerry and the Demos brought the issue up because they thought the red staters would be angered if Cheney supported her. He did, they didn't and Kerry lost.

    And that is the worst kind of politics and got the results it deserved.

    BTW - Don't play the old Jim is.... game. There are numerous examples in the archives of my stated support of gay rights, including marriage.

    Kerry? (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by squeaky on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 11:12:26 AM EST
    Why must you always try to divert the thread to your RNC talking points.

    If you think that Mary Cheney should have some privacy, think again, she is a public figure.

    Google Results 1 - 10 of about 1,280,000 for Mary Cheney . (0.07 seconds)

    Parent

    Hogwash. (1.00 / 0) (#11)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 03:02:13 PM EST
    Squeaky, if you can be bothered to read a few comments up, you will note that cpinva started the conversation by claiming that it was okay for the Demos to bring her into the race.

    Now if you think every campaign worker is fair game for attacks, I say hogwash, and that was my point. It has nothing to do with Demo or Repub, it is just common sense and common courtesy.

    The Demos tried to make it a wedge issue and it boomeranged on them.

    Good-O!! Bad behavior should not be rewarded.

    Parent

    Nonsense (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by squeaky on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 03:19:17 PM EST
    The Demos tried to make it a wedge issue and it boomeranged on them.

    She was out front and center long before Kerry mentioned it. The only ones that turned it into a democratic talkpoint were the RNC and spinnmeisters like you.

    Parent

    Hogwash redux (1.00 / 0) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 05:59:25 PM EST
    squeaky - Outside of Kerry bringing up the issue I had never heard or read about her sexual orientation. And, like most people, didn't care, and saw no reason to care.

    Perhaps you are more interested in people's private lives than most of us.

    I repeat. She was not and is not a public person. To try and use her is, at best, low politics and hypocritical coming from someone who is always accusing others.

    BTW - I find this comment funny.

    The only ones that turned it into a democratic talkpoint were the RNC and spinnmeisters like you.

    Do you fail to understand cause and effect? Think very hard on this.

    IF KERRY hadn't said what he said...

    NO REPUB could have made any claim.

    Come on squeaky. You can make the connection.

    Parent

    Public Figure (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by squeaky on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 06:34:27 PM EST
    Mary Cheney..... In 1993, she became one of the first employees of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, working in promotions when the team began playing in Denver. Thereafter she was a public relations manager for the Coors Brewing Company and worked as a gay and lesbian outreach coordinator, helping to end a national gay boycott of Coors.

    Mary Cheney was one of her father's top campaign aides and closest confidantes. In July 2003 she became the director of vice presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney 2004 Presidential re-election campaign.


    From Wikopedia.
    Need I go on.

    Regarding the Kerry answer about gays...The shameless opportunism by Dick and Lynn Cheney to score political points by feigning outrage was pathetic. Just days earlier The Veep was asked about his daughter. Go knock yourself out with the non spin version of events.

    BTW- You seem to have no problem when Bush asked Webb How's your boy? Did not hear you even bring up the notion that that was off limits or an invasion of privacy.

    Hypocrisy or just another spin job for the sake of partisan politics?  Not that they are any different.

    Parent

    Says it all (1.00 / 0) (#16)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 08:03:05 PM EST
    squeaky - Now let me see. We have a PR person for a major league baseball team. That makes her a public person subject to having her sexual orientation discussed?

    Good grief. That is dumb.

    Tell me, squeaky. What does her sexual orientation have to do with her job?

    Squeaky. Repeat after me. Kerry brought the subject up. All he had to do was not try and score cheap political points and there would have been nothing for the Repubs to talk about.

    Kerry was his own problem. Nothing new there.

    You are funny... Remember when you blamed Rove because his Grandfather supposedly was a German engineer who worked for the Nazis???

    Do you have no memory? Let me refresh it again to demonstrate your basic thought process for all to see. I quote.

    Posted by Squeaky at September 19, 2005 11:19 PM

    Rove never needed proof for his smear machine, why should I.

    That pretty well says it all, eh??

    Parent

    Please Stay on Topic (none / 0) (#27)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 10:33:49 PM EST
    PPJ, the topic is Mary Cheney's baby not John Kerry.  Or other commenters.  Please stay on topic.

    Parent
    welcome to another ... (none / 0) (#24)
    by Sailor on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:37:05 PM EST
    ... psychotic episode of All About Jim.

    Mary was out, everyone knew it, and ppj and the other rethugs keep defining the discourse.

    My only comment on topic is "Does she know who the mother is?"

    Thanks, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

    Parent

    Surf meets turf (none / 0) (#45)
    by aw on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 01:21:25 PM EST
    I'll pass, thank you.

    Parent
    It (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by aw on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 08:50:30 PM EST
    Outside of Kerry bringing up the issue I had never heard or read about her sexual orientation.

    It was public knowledge before Kerry brought it up even though you hadn't heard it. Lots and lots of us knew about it, didn't really care.  Still don't care except to wish them well under the regime.

    Parent

    aw - So? (1.00 / 0) (#37)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 10:44:40 AM EST
    Just for argument's sake let's say that her sexual orientation was public knowledge.

    Was it right for Kerry to use her sexual orientation  for political gain? Isn't wrong to use a person's color, sexual orientation, etc. in such a manner?
    Isn't that very close to racism??\

    BTW - I would bet that before Kerry's comments less that .00001% of the public knew she was a lesbian.
    You call that "public?"

    LOL.

    Parent

    Off topic (none / 0) (#43)
    by aw on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 11:46:11 AM EST
    You haven't done much reading on Mary C (none / 0) (#20)
    by Molly Bloom on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 08:48:30 PM EST
    She was in charge of gay lesbian outreach at Coors brewing- that required her to be out in the limelight as an openly gay public figure.

    Furthermore, as an aide to her father (on the frickin public dime), she is a public figure.

    As a member of the board of directors for the Republic Unity Coalition, She said that sexual orientation should be "a non-issue for the Republican Party", with a goal of "equality for all gay and lesbian Americans." She was using her position as the daughter of a leading Republican to speak out on behalf of equality for gays and lesbians-  she was  a public figure.

    When she stepped into the limelight and spoke out publicly (while campaigning with her father) for the Bush Cheney ticket, she was a public figure.

    As director of vice presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney 2004 Presidential re-election campaign, she was a public figure.

    She sought out the limelight and the glory, she cannot claim not to be a public figure.

    As an aside, how come Lynne Cheney had a hissey fit when John Kerry and John Edwards said Dick was a good father by being accepting of his daughter's sexuality, but said nothing when the 2002 GOP Senatorial candidate in Illinois called Mary (in reference to her sexuality) a "selfish hedonist"? IOKIYAR?!

    Why is it ok for Lynne to publically discuss the private personal relationships of her other (heterosexual) daughter, but Mary is off limits?

    BTW: why was this such at bad thing to say:

    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.

    Is it because the rest of the GOP were angry that Dick actually had the moral high ground on this topic?

    As an aside Jimbo, kudos for your willingness to accept gay marriage. Too bad most of your fellow travelers don't.



    Parent

    Molly (1.00 / 0) (#23)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:36:23 PM EST
    The issue was, is and will be this. The Demos brought her name into it. If Kerry had just kept his mouth shut there wouldn't have been a problem.

    And keep your condescending remarks about my belief that gays should have all the rights the rest of us do to yourself. I am a social liberal who happens to believe in a strong national defense and have been stating that ever since I have been posting on this blog, coming up on four years.

    I neither need or desire your approval.

    Parent

    Translation (1.00 / 0) (#31)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 09:08:20 AM EST
    The Democrats are not allowed say nice things about Dick Cheney's acceptance about his daughter's sexuality, but the GOP can tolerate the 2002 Illinois GOP's candidates' hateful statements about Mary Cheney's sexuality. Anything that a sentient being could observe about this contradiction is off limits to Democrats.

    I gather you don't have a response to the overwhelming evidence that Mary Cheney is a public figure who has and continues to use her sexuality in a public way and was so before the 2004 election.

    You would be on better ground if the argument were about David Drier or Ken Mehlmen and their sexuality, as they have not chosen to make it a public issue.

    FN: A collary to the translation is: Democrats are not allowed say anything nice about Jim either!



    Parent

    Molly (none / 0) (#34)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 10:05:26 AM EST
    To restate the obvious, no. I do not think that someone's sexual orientation should be subject for discussion, be it good comments or bad comments. Both lead to identifying a person by genetics rather than their actions. That's wrong.

    And no, I don't think she really is a "public figure."

    So yes, I believe Kerry was wrong to bring the subject up, especially since his reason for doing so was obvious. And I think you understand all three of my points, but your politics keep you from doing so.

    As for what the GOP can tolerate, I really don't know. Especially since I am a Independent and social liberal. I recommend you ask the GOP that question.

    And if you want to provide practiculars, and if you want to discuss what was said, I will give you a blanket, "That was wrong," if the facts are what you claim. That's the nice thing about being being Independent and having base values. You don't have to parse words and try to ignore the wrongful actions of your party's heroes.

    BTW - I urged Lott's resigniation for his wrong comments, and disagreed with his recent return. And so posted both on this blog.

    Pity that I never see anything like that about Byrd coming from the Left.

    Parent

    Another revelation by PPJ (none / 0) (#35)
    by aw on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 10:17:43 AM EST
    That's the nice thing about being being Independent and having base values.


    Parent
    aw - Try it. (1.00 / 0) (#36)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 10:40:33 AM EST
    You might actually like to have your very own opinions.

    Parent
    And (none / 0) (#40)
    by aw on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 11:09:35 AM EST
    you might try not doing this

    Parent
    Indepedent? (none / 0) (#46)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 01:21:56 PM EST
    I think your comments belie that, but that is just my opinion.

    1) I am arguing what constitutes a public figure based upon law and fact. She has sought out the limelight and she has used her sexuality on at least 2 occasions in using that limelight.

    If you are going to make thinly veiled accusation of intellectual dishonesty, at least know what you are talking about. Or are you now arguing that being a Democrat makes your opinion or argument inherently biased?

    2) Byrd? Trent Lott made his comments in the 21st century, some 40 years after the civil rights act of 1965. Byrd joined the KKK in the early 1940's, left the organization in 1952. He did not support the civil rights act of 1965, but did support it in 1968 and thereafter. Byrd has recanted and apologized- what 35 years years ago?  And has not argued for segregation since.

    Lott, OTHO, said in 2002 we would be better off and not had "all those problems" if Strom had been elected. Keep in mind Strom's platform was segregation and his excsue for running was Truman and the national party supported civil rights. Lott voted against renewing the voting rights act, against continuation of the civil rights act, against the MLK holiday and, inth 1990's  has associated himself with the CCC, which has been described as a hate group by such mainstream organizations as the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

    Can you spot the similarities and differences in the two? I thought so.

    Parent

    In a corner (none / 0) (#25)
    by squeaky on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:50:09 PM EST
    If Kerry had just kept his mouth shut there wouldn't have been a problem.

    Obviously the volume of information in response to your ignorant and partisan comment has been lost on you.

    The fact is that Kerry had nothing to do with making it a problem. Bush and his homophobic party who think that Lesbian is a dirty word, made it a problem. You on the other hand have no problems with lesbians. Your stake is this is to mindlessly echo RNC talking points. If you had thought past your duty to the party and reached into your alleged social liberal framework you would have been cheering Kerry on.

    I always can tell when you have lost an argument, because you bring up your big ammunition: my comment about having no problem smearing Rove.

    Always satisfying to hear your towel hit the floor.

    Parent

    squwaky's smeat machine (1.00 / 0) (#28)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 06:53:05 AM EST
    Dear Squeaky .... The question is, why should her name be brought up? Did it have any interest to the public if she was not Cheney's daughter?

    And the answer is, NO. Catch a clue. Kerry was the root cause of the discussion and cpinva, way back at the beginning of this thread/nest thought it was bad that the Repubs jumped on him.

    Tell us some more about Rove's Grandparents and your smear machine, squeaky.

    Parent

    Cheney and Webb and Kerry (1.00 / 0) (#18)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 08:31:04 PM EST
    Squeaky - Since you brought the subject up, let's examine James Webb's actions and relate them to Kerry's comments re Ms Cheney.

    Webb went to an event that he did not have to go to.

    An event in which it was understood he would meet the President and have their picture taken together.

    He refused to do this.

    So, why did he go? It appears to me that he had an agenda.

    When the President asked about his boy , a term that you know is perfectly normal in the southwest and the south, he spewed political rhetoric.

    That was his agenda, and why he went.

    When the President reminded him that he hadn't asked about that he spewed more venom and stalked off. Again, that was his agenda.

    Do you see the similarities???

    In both cases Demo politician aggressively took actions and made statements that were unworthy of their office and unacceptable in a world where cooperation must be had if anything is to be accomplished.

    Can't you see the damage these actions caused??

    Hijack (none / 0) (#19)
    by squeaky on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 08:46:28 PM EST
    Webb's son is really a private citizen. He did not write an autobiography or chair anyone's re-election campaign. He is in a life threatening situation and Bush put a target on his back out of political spite and meanness.

    The fact that he is fodder for you and Bush while the very public Mary Cheney, out as a Lesbian long before Kerry mentioned her name, shows you to be nothing more than a two bit partisan hack.  

    Are you ashamed that the Veep has a Lesbian daughter? She isn't and neither are her parents. In fact Kerry's remark supported gay people and pointed out this administration's bigotry.  To feign outrage for the sake of scoring political points was not only deeply disingenuous on the part of her parents and the RNC, but a slap in the face to all gay people in America.

    That is what they are good at, being mean.

    Parent

    Wedge (1.00 / 0) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 07:14:47 AM EST
    Squeaky - You still don't understand. She wasn't on the national stage, and Kerry brought her into a national debate intent on using her sexual orientation as a wedge issue, believeing that the red staters would not support him because he had disowned her. Catch on? He was using her.

    Well, it didn't work. And why complain when Kerry brought the subject up?

    Judges have said, "No, you opened the door Lawyer Jones. The witness must answer the question."

    BTW - I have to laugh when you try to make Bush look bad when he inquired about the welfare of someone's son. That is just so weak. Can't you do better??

    I mean, how many posts/comments have we seen on TL in which he was condemned for not going to funerals??? And then there was Mrs. Sheenan...

    squeaky, your comments have trapped you again. When all is politics to a person, then that's what  happens.

    Parent

    Au Contraire! (none / 0) (#32)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 09:10:39 AM EST
    Squeaky - You still don't understand. She (Mary Cheney) wasn't on the national stage

    See my previous post for how and when Mary made it to the national stage using the issue of her sexuality



    Parent

    Social Liberal??? (none / 0) (#42)
    by squeaky on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 11:22:56 AM EST
    Sounds more like a social fascist to me. Ever hear about gay rights? Do you think that that movement should stay in the closet?  

    To restate the obvious, no. I do not think that someone's sexual orientation should be subject for discussion, be it good comments or bad comments.

    Mary doesn't agree:

    "I struggled with my decision to stay on the 2004 campaign," Cheney told "Primetime." Her personal challenge came when President Bush said the nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.....

     Cheney is now back in private life, working at AOL and says inside her family, she and Heather are free to be themselves in love. Sawyer asked Cheney if she and Heather planned to marry.

     "Well, from my perspective? Heather and I already are married," she said. "We have built a home and a life together. Um, I hope I get to spend the rest of my life with her. The way I look at it, is we're just waiting for state and federal law to catch up with us."

    link

    Thank you John Kerry for pointing out a startling social injustice and showing that being gay is as normal as apple pie, even the vice presidents daughter is gay.

    The reason there is gay bashing and homophobia is because people like you believe that it is an embarrassment and should not be talked about.


     Yes, it would be best if such decisions could be left in the private realm, as the Cheneys now ask in refusing to discuss their daughter's sexuality. But it's too late for such niceties because the hate-mongers and their respectable allies in the Republican Party have for decades exploited homosexuality as a hot political issue. It is they who have thwarted every legislative effort to grant to homosexuals the same rights afforded all other citizens.

     One can understand why Mary Cheney does not now want to become a poster woman for gay rights. But she is, by her father's witness, living proof that being gay is perfectly compatible with leading a moral, public-spirited and fully enriched family values life. She is a role model that even the political right might be forced to respect.

    link

    Thanks again Mr. Kerry for exposing hypocracy and standing up for those who some would rather not exist.


    Parent

    Why did Bush bait Webb (none / 0) (#22)
    by Molly Bloom on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:28:16 PM EST
    after being told that Webb's son had just been nearly killed in Bush's Iraq Fiasco AND being told that such inquiry would not be well taken?

    Who was the aggressor here?

    Also be careful spewing about Demo's and their venom, there is a decades long list of Republicans and their venom



    Parent

    Webb's Agenda (1.00 / 0) (#29)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 06:58:39 AM EST
    Molly - As I have pointed out before, since Webb didn't want to shake hands, or have his picture made with Bush, why was he there?

    It's like going to a party and then dumping on the host. Bad taste.

    Face it. Webb wanted to get noticed. He got what he wanted. I wonder if we wanted what he got??

    there is a decades long list of Republicans and their venom

    I love your belief that two wrongs make a right. Mayabe we should put that on CNN.

    Parent

    No I am not arguing 2 wrongs (none / 0) (#33)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 09:15:04 AM EST
    make a right. Try: Physician heal thyself

    Good try at obfustication though.



    Parent

    Two wrongs (1.00 / 0) (#39)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 10:50:11 AM EST
    Sure you are. Webb was wrong. And your response was that Repubs were wrong.

    That's two wrongs.

    BTW - Ever get checked out on Medicare Rx Insurance??

    Parent

    Jimbo heal your party (none / 0) (#47)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Dec 07, 2006 at 01:27:50 PM EST
    and your fellow travelers before you call Webb out on venom.

    Does this sound familar:

    Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.


    Parent
    dear god (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 04:02:28 AM EST
    God... we were this close to ensuring that Cheney's accursed genes died in rightful obscurity.

    but she wasn't a "public" person (none / 0) (#2)
    by cpinva on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 08:19:05 AM EST
    so bringing her up, in the legitimate context of a debate about gay rights was just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo horrible!

    i wish her and her partner well, but i also hope the cheney hypocrisy gene doesn't get passed to the kid.

    I thought.... (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:12:27 AM EST
    my always grumpy great grandfather was scary growing up....imagine Grandpa Dick?  

    Poor kid.

    The privileged ones (none / 0) (#4)
    by aw on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 09:20:32 AM EST
    are immune from condemnation.  The spokespersons for the Christian right will bite their tongues, most likely.  At most, they'll say they're disappointed.

    I think it's a good thing that they're doing myself.

    The Omen... (none / 0) (#6)
    by desertswine on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 10:02:44 AM EST
    The vice president's other, older daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, is on leave as deputy assistant secretary of state after having her fifth child with her husband in July.

    This replication of Chenies must be stopped!

    Re: replication of Chenies (none / 0) (#7)
    by Edger on Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 10:06:04 AM EST
    I thought they just cloned them.

    No?