Andrew is blinded. . .

. . .by rage at the GOP, and the Christian Right, more particularly. He uses this as a defense for Kerry's remarks concerning Dick Cheney's daughter:

Candidates mention their families all the time. An entire question last night was devoted to the relationship between men and their wives and daughters. Mentioning Mary Cheney is no more and no less offensive than that. What is offensive is denying gay couples equal rights in the constitution itself. Why don't conservatives get exercized about that?

Well, here's what Kerry said on the matter:

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.

Can you imagine what Andrew would have said about those words had they come out of Pat Buchanan's mouth in a primary debate? The term "gay-baiting" would have appeared within the first three sentences of a long, extremely critical piece.

If Andrew truly considers the gay marriage issue as one of human rights, then he must surely grant some parallels with the Civil Rights movement of the 60's. In which case, he should ask himself what conclusion a reasonable person would draw if, for example, John F. Kennedy had a daughter who was dating a black man, and Richard Nixon brought it up during a debate.