Dick Cheney, radical liberal

Even as Tariq Ramadan has adopted the “moderate” Muslim position of saying that Europe is not ready for Islamic stoning at this moment, our own “conservative” vice president has shown himself to be a radical—not moderate—liberal. Cheney does not call for a moratorium on radical sexual freedom or on the power of unelected judges to impose homosexual marriage on our society; he supports those things now. In response to a question about homosexual marriage, he answered in part:

With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone… People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.

People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to? No caveats, no qualifications? This is clearly not a man who has thought deeply about the most fundamental issues of life and the requirements of social order. This is a liberal, a radical liberal.

Indeed, given Cheney’s moral libertarianism, combined with his easy-going endorsement of unelected judges who redefine liberty as they see fit, one must wonder if he would even object to the locus classicus of modern liberalism, Planned Parenthood v. Casey:

[T]he most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.

Moreover, Cheney didn’t stop at endorsing radical sexual freedom. He disagreed with Bush on homosexual marriage as well, repeating his position from the 2000 campaign that he thinks the issue should be left to the states, meaning that he opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, meaning that he opposes the only available means of preventing state and federal judges from forcing the states to recognize homosexual marriage. Apart from the objectionable nature of his position, it was stunning that Cheney would openly state it in this manner, thus publicly parting from the president on this vital issue and publicly showing contempt for the president’s conservative base. Does he really think the Bush-Cheney ticket is electorally so strong that he can afford to do this? Once again, Dick is more radical in his liberalism than Tariq is in his Muhammedanism.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 25, 2004 05:10 PM | Send