Cheney on gay marriage -
 

This is an enlightened view in my opinion. I agree with the premise and would support it in a vote in my state.

washingtonpost.com

Cheney on gay marriage: 'Freedom for everyone'


By PAMELA HESS
The Associated Press
Monday, June 1, 2009 4:01 PM


WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he supports gays being able to marry but believes states, not the federal government, should make the decision.

"I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone," Cheney said in a speech at the National Press Club. "I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish."

Cheney, who has a gay daughter, said marriage has always been a state issue.

"And I think that's the way it ought to be handled today, that is, on a state-by-state basis. Different states will make different decisions. But I don't have any problem with that. I think people ought to get a shot at that," he said.

Cheney spent most of his speech, and during the questions and answers that followed, defending the Bush administration's wartime policies.
He said that the jail at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba was necessary because its prisoners are too dangerous to be held elsewhere.

"If you don't have a place where you can hold these people, the only other option is to kill them, and we don't operate that way," he said.
The 240 prisoners left at Guantanamo, he said, are "the worst of the worst" _ including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammed_ who would gladly become suicide bombers to kill more Americans.

Cheney said if the jail had not existed, captured terrorists would have had to have been brought to the United States where they would have legal rights denied to them at Guantanamo. He did not address why the prisoners could not have been held at U.S. military jails in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, where some newly captured prisoners are going now.

Cheney reiterated his challenge to President Barack Obama to release several pages of secret memos that Cheney says will prove that harsh interrogations were effective. His initial request to release the memos was turned down last month because the documents are the subject of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and may be released by a court.
Cheney noted that Obama in April superseded another FOIA lawsuit to release the memos describing the CIA's harsh interrogation program, which he called "giving away the store."

Cheney also defended the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, despite faulty intelligence about its nuclear weapons program and links to the 9/11 attacks. He asserted that Saddam Hussein could have helped terrorists acquire nuclear weapons. The U.S. government could find no evidence of an active Iraq nuclear weapons program after the invasion.
More than 4,300 U.S. service members have died in Iraq, with more than 30,000 wounded. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the 6-year-old war that has cost the United States about $675 billion so far, according to the National Priorities Project.

Cheney is writing a memoir about his years in government, which he said will highlight the successes of the policies set in place after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001

I agree with Cheney that marriage is a police power given to the states. I cannot help but wonder, however, whether he would be so accepting of gay marriage if he himself did not have a gay daughter?

I don't care what falls out of Cheney's Mouth. I still think he is a horrible person. He is 100% 2-faced. I don't consider him an ally at all. Rant over!

Why is the gov't in the marriage business at all?
I think we'd be better off if they didn't recognize any marriages at all.

I think it's far stupider that people think their religious beliefs have any place in Government marriage :rolleyes:

That doesn't answer the question. What purpose does a "Government Marriage" serve?

The Fed govt is not in the marriage business. It is a state power. Regardless of your position on the issue, I can think of a few reasons why you should care:

Community property regime
Death Insurance benefits
Heirship
Taxes
Contract laws
Health care
Succession laws
Family (divorce) laws

Interesting list. Most of the estate related issues seem like they would work fine without a gov't recognized spouse. Taxes are only complicated by marriage (and governments insistence on incenting certain behaviors). Health Insurance benefits and products would certainly find a free market solution to no gov't recognized marriages.

Wonder why all of a sudden Cheney is so vocal.