Sam made an appearance on Countdown to talk about Mary Cheney's new baby, [media id=16826]-WMP [media id=16827]-QT OLBERMANN: If the sixth grand
December 7, 2006

samseder.jpg Sam made an appearance on Countdown to talk about Mary Cheney's new baby,

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OLBERMANN: If the sixth grand child of Vice President Cheney was expected from his heterosexual daughter and her husband conservative groups would have nothing to say about that, other than perhaps congrats. But in our number three story on the COUNTDOWN, now that Mary Cheney, the vice president‘s lesbian daughter, is planning a family with her long time partner, a woman she calls her wife and has become pregnant. Even the assumed immunity inherited from her father, and their hero, is not saving her from unvarnished criticism from the likes of James Dobson.

Full transcript below the fold

From his group “Focus on the Family,” “just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage, doesn‘t mean it‘s a good idea. Love can‘t replace a mother and a father.”

From “Concerned Women for America,” Janice Crouse, “it‘s very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father.” Ms. Krause continuing on the conservative website TownHall.com, “Mary Cheney‘s pregnancy poses problems not just for her child, but also for all Americans. Her action repudiates traditional values and sets an appalling example. Mary‘s pregnancy is an in-you-face action, countering the Bush administrations pro-family, pro-marriage and pro-life policies. She continues to repudiate the work to which her father has devoted his life.

Joining me for some comment on this, the host of the “Sam Seder Show” on Air America, also author of “F.U.B.A.R., Fubar, America‘s Right Wing Nightmare,” Sam Seder. Thanks for your time again, sir.

SAM SEDER, AUTHOR, “FUBAR”: Thank you Keith.

OLBERMANN: Or is this, Sam, just the opposite of that last remark, that the vice president‘s work is repudiating his daughter, and now the grandchild that he‘s supposed to love the whole of his life and what the hell does that say about the supposed superiority of the traditional marriage?

SEDER: Yes, I mean exactly, for a guy who‘s willing to shoot his friends in the face, you would think he would stick up for his daughter and his future grandchild. You know, it‘s fascinating to watch these right wingers‘ heads implodes. My favorite quote is Bob Knight from Concerned Women of America. He says their child has been conceived with the express purpose of denying it a father. And, as a recent father I can tell you that‘s a long way to go, to put up with the hormones of a pregnant wife.

OLBERMANN: As conservative as many of the vice president‘s positions are, he has said repeatedly he believes, his one little concession to this, that the issue of same-sex marriage should be left to the states. His spokesman said that the vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation of their sixth grandchild. But is that also part of what drives the conservative critics crazy, that he‘s not 100 percent on their side, but only about 90 percent?

SEDER: Yes, and frankly I think that comment is disingenuous in and of itself. I mean, he should pray that, god forbid, anything happens to Mary after the child is born. Because the state she lives in denies any type of parental rights to her wife. And, you know, so the hypocrisy is just incredibly rank, and I think that‘s—you know, part of it is, I think, yes, of course, the right wing is just—their heads are imploding over this.

OLBERMANN: But what is it about this particular issue, Sam, with conservatives, the subject of gays, of homosexuality. The Ted Haggard fiasco seems to be representative of something here, the hysteria over same-sex marriage, the lunatic who shows up at military funerals, claiming god hates guys, that‘s why the soldier died. A name I know that you will know, the late Bill Hicks once just summed this up perfectly. He said, what‘s it to you? Just what‘s it to you? Do you have any insight about this obsession?

SEDER: Well, I got to tell you, in “Fubar” Steve Cheryll and I got knocked for dedicating so much space to anti-gay gay Republicans, and I think part of it is that, you know, they‘re repressing their natural feelings, and they take their self-loathing and just project it outwards. And so some of your most virulent gay haters end up like Ted Haggard, actually getting a little bit on the side in private. It seems to be the rallying cry for conservatives at this point. You know, there‘s a lot of conservatives who call our show and self identified conservatives, who say, well, I‘m a libertarian, live and let live. But the vast majority of them see as one of their primary tenants of being a conservative is to hate gays.

OLBERMANN: What are the politics here? The president, who many conservatives feel was not strong enough in his position against gays, is out of the picture essentially. He is a lame duck. He may be a spokesman, but he can‘t really make things happen anymore. Will conservatives now hold every Republican presidential candidate in 2008 to a litmus test on this issue, gay people having children, gay people getting married? And what does that do to the leading contenders?

SEDER: Well, I mean, I think they already do hold their presidential candidates to that litmus test. And that‘s why, you know, people are saying that Rudy Giuliani‘s candidacy is dead on arrival. He‘s just not going to be able to sell his past history of being pro-gay, I guess, to the base of the conservative party.

OLBERMANN: Maybe he can have some sort of epiphany and, I don‘t know, throw a chair at somebody.

SEDER: I would be willing to bet that he does have some type of epiphany like that.

OLBERMANN: Sam Seder of Air America, author of “Fubar,” and we all know what that stands for, “America Right Wing Nightmare.” Great thanks for joining us again Sam.

SEDER: Thank you Keith.

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