Lordy, where will it end, this pattern of Republicans speaking the truth?
This is a slippery slope we're on, my friends, and no good can come of it. Just
consider these news stories from yesterday and today:

Wirt Atmar

======================================

ON GAY MARRIAGE

At a campaign rally in this Mississippi River town Tuesday, Cheney spoke
supportively about gay relationships, saying "freedom means freedom for
everyone,'' when asked about his stand on gay marriage.

"Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very
familiar with,'' Cheney told an audience that included his daughter. "With the
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.

"The question that comes up with the issue of marriage is what kind of
official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government? Historically,
that's been a relationship that has been handled by the states. The states have
made that fundamental decision of what constitutes a marriage,'' he said.

Addressing Bush's position on the amendment, Cheney said: "At this point,
say, my own preference is as I've stated, but the president makes policy for the
administration. He's made it clear that he does, in fact, support a
constitutional amendment on this issue.''

     -- Associated Press

=======================================

ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

In a striking shift in the way the Bush administration has portrayed the
science of climate change, a new report to Congress focuses on federal research
indicating that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are
the only likely explanation for global warming over the last three decades.

In delivering the report to Congress yesterday, an administration official,
Dr. James R Mahoney, said it reflected "the best possible scientific
information" on climate change. Previously, President Bush and other officials had
emphasized uncertainties in understanding the causes and consequences of warming as
a reason for rejecting binding restrictions on heat-trapping gases.

The report is among those submitted regularly to Congress as a summary of
recent and planned federal research on shifting global conditions of all sorts.
It also says the accumulating emissions pose newly identified risks to farmers,
citing studies showing that carbon dioxide promotes the growth of invasive
weeds far more than it stimulates crops and that it reduces the nutritional
value of some rangeland grasses.

     -- New York Times (August 26)

=======================================

ON PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION

NEW YORK (Aug. 26) - In a highly anticipated ruling, a federal judge found
the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional Thursday because it does not
include a health exception.

U.S. District Judge Richard C. Casey in Manhattan said the Supreme Court has
made it clear that a law that prohibits the performance of a particular
abortion procedure must include an exception to preserve a woman's life and health.

Casey issued the ruling two months after hearing closing arguments in the
case.

A San Francisco judge has already declared the 2003 law unconstitutional, and
a judge in Lincoln, Neb., is still considering the question. The three judges
suspended the ban while they held the trials.

     -- Associated Press

========================================

FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSIONER

(Aug. 26) -- Sen. John McCain argued Wednesday that Americans need to get
past Vietnam, spreading blame for the bitter political debate among both
presidential candidates, a federal agency and a veterans group attacking Sen. John
Kerry's combat record.

"I'm sick and tired of re-fighting the Vietnam War. And most importantly, I'm
sick and tired of opening the wounds of the Vietnam War, which I've spent the
last 30 years trying to heal," the Arizona Republican said at a lunch with
USA TODAY and Gannett News Service. "It's offensive to me, and it's angering to
me that we're doing this. It's time to move on."

A former Navy flier, McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war
in Vietnam. His remarks came on a day in which a resignation, a new TV ad and a
pilgrimage to Crawford, Texas, kept the old war alive in the current campaign.

McCain will address the Republican convention in New York on Monday night and
says he will talk about Iraq. "I will say ... that we have had ups and downs
and mistakes have been made. But the theme of my speech will be to affirm my
strong support for winning in Iraq," he said.

Five young U.S. soldiers died Tuesday in Iraq, McCain said at the lunch. He
said the country should be "trying to work together to win" there, not
rehashing Vietnam.

Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, has showcased his military
service in his campaign and convention. He was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Silver
Star and a Bronze Star for his service as a swift boat commander in Vietnam's
Mekong Delta.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group with Republican ties, has accused him
of lying about his record. Bush has denounced all ads run by groups spending
millions on behalf of candidates independently of their campaigns. He refused
to single out the Swift Boat group. "Would I like to see a more specific
condemnation?" McCain asked. "Probably, because of the sensitivity of the war issue
to me."

But McCain also said Bush is right to criticize the overall system. He said
the groups spending huge amounts of money are violating election laws, "aided
and abetted by a corrupt Federal Election Commission."

McCain called chairman Bradley Smith "a right-wing ideologue" and vice chair
Ellen Weintraub "a political apparatchik." He said he and his allies would go
to court to force the FEC to enforce the law.

     -- USA Today

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