There's a fair amount of misleading reporting around Vice
President Dick Cheney's recent comments on a proposed anti-gay
marriage amendment. Cheney
said in an interview that "the president is going to have to
make a decision in terms of what administration policy is on this
particular provision, and I will support whatever decision he
makes." Cheney declined to say whether he has discussed the issue
of same-sex marriage with the president, the Denver Post reports,
or shared his perspective as the parent of a gay daughter.
"I don't talk about the advice I give the president," Cheney said.
"That is why he listens."
Some media are reporting that "Cheney says he will support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage," choosing to ignore the conditional tone of his statement, just as the New York Times misreported the story when Bush said he'd support such an amendment "if necessary" (and instead reported it as "Bush will").
It should come as no surprise that Cheney promises to support any decision the president might eventually make. That's his job. But it's not the same as saying that he personally favors such a ban. And it certainly doesn't tell us what Cheney is advising the president to do.
You don't have to be Bush backer to believe that getting the
facts right is important when it comes to trying to prevent
Bush/Cheney from making an actual endorsement of the amendment.
They have not done so, though they may be floating trial balloons,
or trying to placate the religious right without taking any action.
As I've
said before, declaring that they have endorsed the amendment is
not only bad reporting, it's surrendering well before the battle's
over.