"Fair Game"

Okay, one more thought on this issue.

During the third debate, when Senator Kerry was asked to respond to moderator Bob Schieffer's question "Do you believe homosexuality is a choice," responded

"We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as."

Afterward, he explained himself by saying

"I said it in a very respectful way about their love of their daughter. . . . I was saying it in a way that embraced the love of their daughter. . . . All I was trying to do is point out that it--let their daughter speak. Was it a choice, or was she born the way she was? That was the question. I was being respectful, purely respectful."

Now obviously there's a disconnect there. Within the context of the question, there was no reason to bring up the relationship between Dick and Lynne Cheney and their daughter.

Responding to the growing offense, Mary Beth Cahill, Kerry's campaign manager, stated that Mary Cheney was "fair game."

Let's focus on those words: "fair game." Others have correctly pointed out that the term refers to hunting. What Cahill was saying is that it is fair for Mary Cheney to be targeted. To be used. To be exploited to further the political agenda of her father's opponents. The comment reveals that Kerry, Edwards, and their campaign care nothing about Mary Cheney, except to the extent that she can be a pawn in their political game. How they must have congratulated themselves when they formulated their campaign strategy and painted a bright red target on Mary Cheney.

I don't think I'm extrapolating too much to conclude that how they see Mary Cheney is likely how they see homosexuals as a group: people be used for political purposes.

Maybe I'm simply restating the obvious, but the more I think about this, the more annoyed I get.