In a scathing column in The New York Press, Michelangelo Signorile justifiably takes Mary Cheney to task, not just for her silence in the face of her father’s reverse on the issue of who should determine the legality of gay relationships, but for her complicity in this position by joining the vice president’s re-election campaign. Signorile angrily asks:

“What the hell happened to you? Are you just another spoiled rich brat–the lesbian Paris Hilton–worried about getting a chunk of those 30 million Halliburton bucks should Dad’s heart conk out?…

“It would be one thing if you had simply slithered away into the background when it was announced that your father would be Bush’s running mate in 2000. (People can’t, after all, pick their parents, as Patti Davis and Ron Reagan Jr. are painfully aware.) Instead, you became active in the Bush/Cheney campaign. As the lesbian poster child, you helped sell the snake oil of ‘compassionate conservatism.’ You went along with the program, tricking people into thinking that your father and W. would be tolerant on gay rights….

“…[T]here will be a lot of political gay bashing, the kind that fuels the Christian right as well as thugs on the streets. The impact of that can’t be underestimated, and yes, Mary, blood will be on your hands too. I’m sure you think that’s unfair of me. But life is unfair. Just think: You could be a poor dyke getting your head bashed in a rough, urban neighborhood every day of your life. Instead, you’re a woman of privilege who has done a lot of damage and now needs to take responsibility for it by stepping down from the campaign and speaking up. History, Mary, will judge you by what you choose to do in the coming months.”