Politics

The Cheney ‘Compassion’ Trap

What’s in a Word

Mary Cheney’s straight family members keep talking about ‘compassion’—a word that sounds nice but is typically used by the right to convey pity for the morally diseased.

articles/2013/11/19/the-cheney-compassion-trap/131119-compassion-trap-beinart-tease_xwaxge
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

No wonder Mary Cheney is pissed. Over the last two days, she and her wife, Heather Poe, have been talking about gay marriage in the language of equality, discrimination, and basic rights.

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