US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said he does not support a federal ban on gay marriage, apparently contradicting President George W Bush's stance.

Mr Cheney was addressing a campaign audience in Iowa that included his daughter, Mary, who is openly lesbian.

He said the issue of legalising gay unions should be settled by individual states rather than by Washington.

Now this is interesting, and it's got my conspiracy gland spurting. There've been all these rumors lately that Bush is gonna dump Dick at the RNC and make McCain his veep. And the White House AND McCain have been denying it out of hand, BUT, shit, check this out. Cheney openly breaking ranks with legislation that Bush has been promoting as being as essential to the American Way as the Iraq War and the PATRIOT act.

Seriously, this is just weird. From the beginning, the two have acted as one (one being directed by Karl Rove, primarily), and suddenly, IN AN ELECTION YEAR AND ONLY A WEEK BEFORE THE CONVENTION, Cheney shoots his mouth off about something that strikes straight to the heart of Conservative America, and, more specifically, to the heart of the President he ostensibly serves under.

I've got nothing more than theory here, but, really kids...does this make any sense to you?

Hrrm.