Darth & Daughters

Mary,  Liz, and Dick Cheney in 2000

A friend asked if I were going to write about the conflict Liz and Mary Cheney are having over gay marriage, Liz being intent on winning a Senate race in the very conservative state of Wyoming.

And her own personal sister being a lesbian who is married and has children.

Nora Ephron described Julie Eisenhower as "a chocolate-covered spider."  I've always thought that about the Cheney clan, except Dick, who isn't even chocolate-covered.  He's just awful-scary-Darth-Vaderish.

Liz Cheney says gay marriage should be left up to the states, which is crazy because we'd still have segregation in the South and possibly even slavery.  Possibly even women not being able to vote.

Mary and her wife are outraged that Liz thinks it's okay for them to have a second-class relationship, and they're protesting on Facebook.  The Cheney parents, ever expedient-pragmatic, have thrown their lot with Liz, saying it's a sad family matter but  that Wyoming has the right to decide to be repressive.

I don't care about any of them, really, but I do care about human rights, so I'm on Mary's side.  I was actually slightly encouraged to hear that Liz has been opposed to gay marriage for years, rather than just now in order to win a race.  I guess there's some kind of principle there.

She has only one sister, for heaven's sake.  Doesn't anything trump politics?  (And then I remembered that Julie and Tricia had a major falling out not that long ago, which I have to admit gave me a whole lot of pleasure to read about.)