Guilt by association

I had a lot of issues with the Clinton administration. The misdeeds, the felonies, and a lot of the policies were things that dove me bonkers. It was a sad, sad day when he was re-elected. Be that as it may, there was a certain line of criticism I always found lacking in intelligence.
That would be the crackbacks about the behavior of Chelsea. Let's take a look at certain facts. She was a college age girl. College age kids do a lot of things their parents would prefer they not do. At that point she was out on her own and her actions reflected to a certain extent on the parenting skills but much, much more on her. I never bought in to people who thought the Clintons should be embarrassed or the Democratic party somehow being "embarrassed" by the actions of the child of one member. Whatever.
I find it just as disingenous some of the reaction to a 37 year old...how does she reflect on either her parents who long ago stopped having much if any guiding influence on her life or, for that matter, a party it is extremely doubtful she belongs to?
It is a classic saw that "If you are not a liberal by the time you are 20 you have no heart, if you are not a conservative by the time you are 30 then you have no head." which means people tend to "feel" about world situations when they are 20 but after a decade when people figure out you can't fix the world by "feeling" they start to become more conservative. It also largely reflects the pattern of teenagers rebelling against their parents to some extent: parents being involved in providing for their families tend to be more conservative than childless couples so it is a pattern that the kids act in opposition to what they see with their parents. Like any stereotype there are huge holes in it...but the underlying point that kids change when they move into adulthood and gain responsibilities of their own is a vital one.
With that said...
Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.
Let's start with the "conservative leaders". Who are they? Anybody we have heard of? Whether they are or aren't...why would they be dismayed?
Moving on to the gay-rights group. Who are they? Anybody we have hear of? Whether they are or aren't...if Cheney believes what he has professed is true and believes truth is not malleable according to the court of public opinion but instead is something that remains regardless of its popularity, why would he face sleepless nights? He might if he had NOT followed his conscience...but if he followed his conscience there is no reason whatsoever for him to face sleepless nights.
For years, Mary Cheney's openness about her sexual orientation had posed a dilemma for conservative activists who admire Dick Cheney's stance on many issues but consider homosexuality a sin.
Frankly, if this is true, and I do mean "if" since I have heard people say they are but never actually seen this dismay....then they are idiots. Let's do this mathematically: Mary Cheney <> Dick Cheney just as Chelsey Clinton <> Bill Clinton...and, for that matter, Hillary Clinton <> Bill Clinton.
Seriously, if you are anything like me then you have firends who are couples who don't vote the same way...is that held against them? Obviously Maria Schwarzenegger and her status as celebrity Democrat has been lethal poison for Arnold's career, but then again, she is not as closely tied to him as Mary Cheney is to her Dad (if you could not tell the tone of the previous statement...it was EXTREMELY sarcastic).
Crouse said there was no doubt that the news would, in conservatives' eyes, be damaging to the Bush administration, which already has been chided by some leaders on the right for what they felt was halfhearted commitment to anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights causes in this year's general election.
Again...I fail to see the relevance. When Elton John came out, obviously that was devastating to the administration because he had the same last name as a cabinet member, so they took a tremendous blow.
How in the blue blazes does it make a difference to the Bush administration what the child of a member does or does not do? I am fairly certain what with a Democratic Congress, an overblown budget, Iraw, Afghanistan, pressure to do something about Iran, Korea, Somalia, and so forth, than whether Mary Cheney is straight, bi, homo, or a sexual. He probably has bigger worries than what nameless groups might or might not think.
Seriously, if this sort of commentating is the best papers have to offer, maybe the supposed collapse of the newspaper as some pundits have predicted is a good thing.Because frankly, this article was a bunch of pap.