<DT>We live in dangerous times. There is a war being conducted on multiple fronts. Our children are dying every day in the haze of desert sands. There are deficits in excess of 400 billion dollars which threaten our currency. There are civil liberty abuses occurring daily because people have the temerity to politely dissent to the way this country is being run. Fifty million people have no healthcare. We have three straight years of increases in the number of families living in poverty. The specter of a military draft hangs over the lives of our children. Our environment is in rapid deterioration. There are reports of coordinated, widespread voter fraud and disenfranchisement of the poor in this country. In the midst of all of the salient issues of our lives and in the heat of the most important election season in our lifetimes, we see the media focusing on what? Mary Cheney. <DT><?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><o
> </o> <DT>That’s right, Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of vice president Dick Cheney. You see in the middle of the third presidential debate where George Bush was once again exposed as a faux president, John Kerry mentioned Cheney’s gay daughter. Now, if the exchange was: <DT><o> </o> <DT>Moderator: Mr. Kerry, we would like your views on the increasing violence in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Iraq</st1lace> </st1:country-region>. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Kerry: Well, I would like to point out that Dick Cheney’s daughter is a lesbian. <DT><o> </o> <DT>I would understand some being upset, or even as confused as most of us were when Bush started talking about No Child Left Behind when asked about the minimum wage. But that is not what went down. The moderator asked Bush if he thought homosexuality was a “choice”. Bush, realizing he could not answer honestly, passed on it by answering, “I don’t know”, like he was on Jeopardy. Kerry responded by saying that if you asked Mary Cheney, an open lesbian, she would not say that it was a choice. And in an hour and a half debate filled with so many important issues, the focus from the corporate media has been this one, innocuous comment. <DT><o> </o> <DT>What you have to ask yourself is if you really care that Mary Cheney is gay and her father does not support her with policy. You have to ask yourself if you care that John Kerry mentioned her name, for a period of two seconds, in an hour and a half debate. Here is a simple chart to help us stay focused down the stretch and highlight the absolute transparency of this: <DT><o> </o> > </o></CENTER>
<DT><o> </o> <DT>Choice A Choice B<o> </o><DT><o> </o> <DT>Mary Cheney Our children dying in the desert <DT>Mary Cheney Possible raise in the minimum wage <DT>Mary Cheney Skyrocketing healthcare costs <DT>Mary Cheney 413 billion dollar deficit <DT>Mary Cheney Loss of over 1.6 million private sector jobs <DT>Mary Cheney Loss of over 800,000 jobs overall <DT>Mary Cheney Voter fraud <DT>Mary Cheney Civil liberties being destroyed <DT>Mary Cheney The environment <DT>Mary Cheney Planned Bush wars in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Iran</st1lace> </st1:country-region>and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Syria</st1lace> </st1:country-region><DT>Mary Cheney The draft <DT>Mary Cheney $148 Billion to the top 1% under the Bush tax cut <DT>Mary Cheney McJobs replacing skilled jobs <DT>Mary Cheney Outsourcing, outsourcing, outsourcing <DT>Mary Cheney Halliburton <DT>Mary Cheney Seniors buying medication from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Canada</st1lace> </st1:country-region><DT><o> </o> <DT>Now, watching corporate media one must conclude that they believe the first column is the most important issue for you down the stretch as you pick the president. If you hear the republican spin-meisters tell it, you need to stay focused on column A. The substance that is contained in column B, is why they want you focusing on column A. Every day you spend talking about Mary Cheney, an issue from column B is ignored. Every day the media focuses on Mary Cheney, is another day Bush breathes easier because he does not have to answer a question about column B. Sound cynical? Let’s take a look at the shameless media coverage so far. <DT><o> </o> <DT>For the first hour and a half following the debate, Mary Cheney was all MSNBC could talk about. The outrage was nothing more than a cheap and tawdry political stunt coming from staunch republicans such as Ben Ginsberg, Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan. The hypocrisy of the artificial indignation from the very people who do not support gay rights was disgusting and translucent. It did not end there though. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Thursday night on Hardball, Chris Matthews interviewed vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Within the first segment, Matthews grilled Edwards about the Cheney comment. Not about the economy. Nothing about voter fraud. Nothing about healthcare or the Iraq War. Mary Cheney. Are you kidding me? Thankfully Matthews eventually moved on. Once again though, it did not end there. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Friday night on Hardball, Matthews opened his show with this ridiculous non-issue again. He even replayed the Edwards interview from the night before, well, only the portion dealing with Mary Cheney. Yesterday, the story of rampant voter fraud was exposed but the lead story was Mary Cheney. As I have previously mentioned this is called framing the news. It is a deliberate attempt to distract you from the real issues. Later on Hardball, nearly every guest was asked to weigh in on the Mary Cheney situation. <DT><o> </o> <DT>On Fox News, Mary Cheney took precedence over all other news stories. Even later, CNN was playing parts of an interview with Kerry today responding to the Mary Cheney incident. I was expecting to see large story headers about “MaryCheneyGate”. This is what is passed off as news today. It should be insulting to your intelligence. <DT><o> </o> <DT>The president does not want you talking about the economy. He does not want you discussing healthcare. He certainly does not want you debating why his GOP has launched a campaign to disenfranchise poor voters across this country. No, he wants you talking about Mary Cheney, the lesbian. Every day that the pundits wax prophetically about the Mary Cheney comment, is another day Bush does not have to answer for his horrific record. It really is that simple. The worst part is that they all do not think you are smart enough to see through it. They are insulting your intelligence with impunity. Compounding the insult however is that the very people, who are pimping the condemnation of John Kerry, are people who do not support gay rights anyway. So, they are upset that Kerry brought up the gay daughter, who they would just as soon deny any rights to anyway. The height of insincerity. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Are you worried about the war in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Iraq</st1:City> </st1:country-region>and the designs Bush has on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Iran</st1:City> </st1:country-region>and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Syria</st1:City> </st1:country-region>? Don’t worry; we can talk about the vice president’s gay daughter. Are you concerned about the impending draft? Don’t worry; we will feed you lead stories about the nerve John Kerry had to mention Cheney’s gay daughter, IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY. Are you disturbed about the revelation that Bush’s party has systematically engaged in a nation-wide effort to defraud this election? Let’s worry about that after we discuss Mary Cheney. You have got to be kidding me. <DT><o> </o> <DT>This administration thinks you are not smart enough to understand what is really going on. Mary Cheney is gay, who cares. The vice president supports policy that is anti-gay, who cares. No one really cares, especially not the self-serving outraged republican operatives who hope that this story continues to lead all media until everyone wakes up in a second Bush term. <DT><o> </o> <DT><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">America</st1lace> </st1:country-region>, you cannot let this happen. Weapons of mass distraction are designed to throw your attention from the real issues they hope to avoid until Election Day. In 2000 the media jumped all over Al Gore because he SIGHED, every time Bush LIED during the first debate. All the lead stories were about Gore sighing and how petulant he appeared compared to how folksy Bush was. Gore tried to change his style in the second debate by softening his demeanor, a tact Bush took in all three debates this year, and the media strung him up. All the lead stories were about how Gore had to “reinvent” himself. No coverage of how Bush was wildly misrepresenting himself on real topical issues such as a patient’s bill of rights. No, it was Gore the Sigher and then Gore the Prevaricator. Al Gore never recovered and Karl Rove must have been laughing his *** off. <DT><o> </o> <DT>They are doing it again. Mary Cheney has NO BUSINESS being the lead story on ANY news show with 20 days left in an election season. Even if the stories were fair and addressed the hypocrisy shown by Dick Cheney in having an openly gay daughter and being anti-gay, I still do not think they rise to the level of import that we should be even vaguely considering this as a credible piece of news. This election season is the most important of our lifetimes. It should not be handled in such a disrespectful manner by the mainstream media that they think we would rather hear about a woman who has nothing to do with the national discourse instead of why our children are dying every day. It is insulting. No offense to Mary Cheney personally. <DT><o> </o> <DT>George Bush and his operatives are hiding behind the skirts of the very people they do not support. The false indignation is transparent coming from people who have traditionally been homophobic to begin with. They desperately want you focusing on column A, so the real issues are avoided. We live in dangerous times and our president, his party, and the corporate controlled media want you debating about the lesbian daughter of the vice president, whom he does not support, instead of focusing on the issues that truly matter to us all. Dick Cheney said the other day that he is an “angry father”. Too bad Dick. Why don’t you stop hiding behind her and answer the questions the American people need to hear before they vote you and your boss out of office. <DT><o> </o> </DT>Anthony Wade OpEd News.com
> </o> <DT>That’s right, Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of vice president Dick Cheney. You see in the middle of the third presidential debate where George Bush was once again exposed as a faux president, John Kerry mentioned Cheney’s gay daughter. Now, if the exchange was: <DT><o> </o> <DT>Moderator: Mr. Kerry, we would like your views on the increasing violence in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Iraq</st1lace> </st1:country-region>. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Kerry: Well, I would like to point out that Dick Cheney’s daughter is a lesbian. <DT><o> </o> <DT>I would understand some being upset, or even as confused as most of us were when Bush started talking about No Child Left Behind when asked about the minimum wage. But that is not what went down. The moderator asked Bush if he thought homosexuality was a “choice”. Bush, realizing he could not answer honestly, passed on it by answering, “I don’t know”, like he was on Jeopardy. Kerry responded by saying that if you asked Mary Cheney, an open lesbian, she would not say that it was a choice. And in an hour and a half debate filled with so many important issues, the focus from the corporate media has been this one, innocuous comment. <DT><o> </o> <DT>What you have to ask yourself is if you really care that Mary Cheney is gay and her father does not support her with policy. You have to ask yourself if you care that John Kerry mentioned her name, for a period of two seconds, in an hour and a half debate. Here is a simple chart to help us stay focused down the stretch and highlight the absolute transparency of this: <DT><o> </o> <CENTER>
<DT>What Should We Care About Down The Stretch?<o> </o></CENTER><DT><o
> </o> <DT>Choice A Choice B<o> </o><DT><o> </o> <DT>Mary Cheney Our children dying in the desert <DT>Mary Cheney Possible raise in the minimum wage <DT>Mary Cheney Skyrocketing healthcare costs <DT>Mary Cheney 413 billion dollar deficit <DT>Mary Cheney Loss of over 1.6 million private sector jobs <DT>Mary Cheney Loss of over 800,000 jobs overall <DT>Mary Cheney Voter fraud <DT>Mary Cheney Civil liberties being destroyed <DT>Mary Cheney The environment <DT>Mary Cheney Planned Bush wars in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Iran</st1lace> </st1:country-region>and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Syria</st1lace> </st1:country-region><DT>Mary Cheney The draft <DT>Mary Cheney $148 Billion to the top 1% under the Bush tax cut <DT>Mary Cheney McJobs replacing skilled jobs <DT>Mary Cheney Outsourcing, outsourcing, outsourcing <DT>Mary Cheney Halliburton <DT>Mary Cheney Seniors buying medication from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Canada</st1lace> </st1:country-region><DT><o> </o> <DT>Now, watching corporate media one must conclude that they believe the first column is the most important issue for you down the stretch as you pick the president. If you hear the republican spin-meisters tell it, you need to stay focused on column A. The substance that is contained in column B, is why they want you focusing on column A. Every day you spend talking about Mary Cheney, an issue from column B is ignored. Every day the media focuses on Mary Cheney, is another day Bush breathes easier because he does not have to answer a question about column B. Sound cynical? Let’s take a look at the shameless media coverage so far. <DT><o> </o> <DT>For the first hour and a half following the debate, Mary Cheney was all MSNBC could talk about. The outrage was nothing more than a cheap and tawdry political stunt coming from staunch republicans such as Ben Ginsberg, Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan. The hypocrisy of the artificial indignation from the very people who do not support gay rights was disgusting and translucent. It did not end there though. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Thursday night on Hardball, Chris Matthews interviewed vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Within the first segment, Matthews grilled Edwards about the Cheney comment. Not about the economy. Nothing about voter fraud. Nothing about healthcare or the Iraq War. Mary Cheney. Are you kidding me? Thankfully Matthews eventually moved on. Once again though, it did not end there. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Friday night on Hardball, Matthews opened his show with this ridiculous non-issue again. He even replayed the Edwards interview from the night before, well, only the portion dealing with Mary Cheney. Yesterday, the story of rampant voter fraud was exposed but the lead story was Mary Cheney. As I have previously mentioned this is called framing the news. It is a deliberate attempt to distract you from the real issues. Later on Hardball, nearly every guest was asked to weigh in on the Mary Cheney situation. <DT><o> </o> <DT>On Fox News, Mary Cheney took precedence over all other news stories. Even later, CNN was playing parts of an interview with Kerry today responding to the Mary Cheney incident. I was expecting to see large story headers about “MaryCheneyGate”. This is what is passed off as news today. It should be insulting to your intelligence. <DT><o> </o> <DT>The president does not want you talking about the economy. He does not want you discussing healthcare. He certainly does not want you debating why his GOP has launched a campaign to disenfranchise poor voters across this country. No, he wants you talking about Mary Cheney, the lesbian. Every day that the pundits wax prophetically about the Mary Cheney comment, is another day Bush does not have to answer for his horrific record. It really is that simple. The worst part is that they all do not think you are smart enough to see through it. They are insulting your intelligence with impunity. Compounding the insult however is that the very people, who are pimping the condemnation of John Kerry, are people who do not support gay rights anyway. So, they are upset that Kerry brought up the gay daughter, who they would just as soon deny any rights to anyway. The height of insincerity. <DT><o> </o> <DT>Are you worried about the war in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Iraq</st1:City> </st1:country-region>and the designs Bush has on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Iran</st1:City> </st1:country-region>and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Syria</st1:City> </st1:country-region>? Don’t worry; we can talk about the vice president’s gay daughter. Are you concerned about the impending draft? Don’t worry; we will feed you lead stories about the nerve John Kerry had to mention Cheney’s gay daughter, IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY. Are you disturbed about the revelation that Bush’s party has systematically engaged in a nation-wide effort to defraud this election? Let’s worry about that after we discuss Mary Cheney. You have got to be kidding me. <DT><o> </o> <DT>This administration thinks you are not smart enough to understand what is really going on. Mary Cheney is gay, who cares. The vice president supports policy that is anti-gay, who cares. No one really cares, especially not the self-serving outraged republican operatives who hope that this story continues to lead all media until everyone wakes up in a second Bush term. <DT><o> </o> <DT><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">America</st1lace> </st1:country-region>, you cannot let this happen. Weapons of mass distraction are designed to throw your attention from the real issues they hope to avoid until Election Day. In 2000 the media jumped all over Al Gore because he SIGHED, every time Bush LIED during the first debate. All the lead stories were about Gore sighing and how petulant he appeared compared to how folksy Bush was. Gore tried to change his style in the second debate by softening his demeanor, a tact Bush took in all three debates this year, and the media strung him up. All the lead stories were about how Gore had to “reinvent” himself. No coverage of how Bush was wildly misrepresenting himself on real topical issues such as a patient’s bill of rights. No, it was Gore the Sigher and then Gore the Prevaricator. Al Gore never recovered and Karl Rove must have been laughing his *** off. <DT><o> </o> <DT>They are doing it again. Mary Cheney has NO BUSINESS being the lead story on ANY news show with 20 days left in an election season. Even if the stories were fair and addressed the hypocrisy shown by Dick Cheney in having an openly gay daughter and being anti-gay, I still do not think they rise to the level of import that we should be even vaguely considering this as a credible piece of news. This election season is the most important of our lifetimes. It should not be handled in such a disrespectful manner by the mainstream media that they think we would rather hear about a woman who has nothing to do with the national discourse instead of why our children are dying every day. It is insulting. No offense to Mary Cheney personally. <DT><o> </o> <DT>George Bush and his operatives are hiding behind the skirts of the very people they do not support. The false indignation is transparent coming from people who have traditionally been homophobic to begin with. They desperately want you focusing on column A, so the real issues are avoided. We live in dangerous times and our president, his party, and the corporate controlled media want you debating about the lesbian daughter of the vice president, whom he does not support, instead of focusing on the issues that truly matter to us all. Dick Cheney said the other day that he is an “angry father”. Too bad Dick. Why don’t you stop hiding behind her and answer the questions the American people need to hear before they vote you and your boss out of office. <DT><o> </o> </DT>Anthony Wade OpEd News.com
