On Friday, I was impressed that Cindy McCain, like her daughter Meghan, had taken a principled stand against hate in advocating for the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That had to take some courage, I thought, given that her husband, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is one of the most hateful Conservative bigots in the Senate. Well, it did…and it didn’t, because her conviction lasted all of a day:
Yesterday, Cindy McCain - the wife of US Senator John McCain - released a video in which she criticized the US government “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” policy, and suggested that it gave bullies an incentive to bash gay youth, who then try to kill themselves…. Today, Cindy McCain is suddenly tweeting how pro-DADT she is (clearly, her homophobic husband, who is leading the charge on trying to filibuster the effort to repeal DADT, got to her). Which means, of course, that by her own words she now thinks she is responsible for gay kids committing suicide.
So, which is Mrs. McCain’s real sentiment? Is she lining up with those demanding and end to hatred based on whom and how a person loves? Or is she caving into to political pressure in order to play the dutiful political wife and fall safely in line behind her husband? Well, she is John McCain’s wife, which ought to clue you in to the answer to my question.
Any observer with half a brain has to know that there’s a lot more to this story than we’ve been told thus far. Still, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to recognize rank hypocrisy when it rises to the surface. Cindy McCain had an opportunity to send a message for equality and to be a voice for ending hatred and discrimination…and she blew it. Miserably. So, false alarm, then, Mrs. McCain? It really IS OK to treat the GLBT community as if they’re second-class citizens whose lives are worth less than “real”, straight Americans? And I’m guessing that you’re OK with the idea of bullying homosexual youth because…well, because they’re Gay? Way to take a stand there, Mrs. McCain….
