Apologist for the GOP

Mary Cheney writes that she was "furious" when John Kerry mentioned her sexuality during a 2004 presidential debate. If Kerry had any advantage to gain, it was in pointing out the chilling example of parents — in this case, Vice President Cheney and his wife — who look the other way while their gay children are used as symbolic whipping posts by the Republican Party. If this was Kerry's intent, it was justified and timely.

Ms. Cheney also writes that she "never imagined that there were people who would try to use me and my sexual orientation for their own political benefit." If anyone has used sexual orientation in a bid to gain votes, it is the Republicans, with their scaremonger electoral tactics. To suggest otherwise is patently absurd.

How sad that Mary Cheney continues to be an apologist for the Republican Party. I understand that she loves her father, but her loyalty to his career comes at a tremendous cost to millions of gay Americans who don't hold a fraction of the rights of other Americans.

The fact that she "almost" quit her job with the 2004 Bush/Cheney ticket should not be congratulated or applauded. Almost doesn't count. In the old days, we had a name for people like her: We called them Uncle Tom.

Greg Durham,

Brooklyn, N.Y.