Family Values
Canadians are supposed to be polite, and social conservatives are supposed to be against vulgarity. But the world is more complicated than stereotypes suggest. I received the following email from a reader who shall remain nameless but whose domain name identifies him as coming from north of the border:
"But the Cheneys apparently put family values above political litmus tests."
What the fuck is this supposed to mean? Anyone against gay marriage doesn't have family values? Go back to writing about economics you fuckin' idiot.
For this gentleman and others who might have been confused, let me clarify: The Cheneys have a gay daughter. Their family experience--the role of family values in their own personal lives--is more important to them than toeing the Republican line.
I do believe that enabling gay people to form families--not merely couples, but the extended kinship relations implied in marriage--would be a good thing, for extended families as well as for couples. But I don't think "anyone against family marriage doesn't have family values." If I did, I really would be an idiot, no adjectives required. Only a highly defensive misreading would suggest otherwise.
In related news, Grant McCracken blogs on Candadian anti-Americanism: "Anti-Americanism is rampant. Many Canadians now make free with the most derogatory comments about their southern neighbors. They are pleased to call Americans stupid, aggressive, and vulgar."