Yesterday was a sad day for freedom in the United States of America. The Supreme Court of the United States, expected by most to announce it would rule this year on the issue of gay marriage and state marriage laws, decided without comment that it would not take up the matter during the session which just opened. This allowed a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to remain in place. The immediate effect was its impact on five states that had gay marriage on hold, including Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The five states noted had appealed Circuit Court rulings and were allowed to delay gay marriage ceremonies pending a Supreme Court decision. The lack of action by the Supreme Court in turn nullified the stay order held by the states, thereby making gay marriage immediately legal.
An interesting sidelight on the matter was the fact that the Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring, had refused to argue his state's case before the Supreme Court. A liberal Democrat, he refused to do his lawful job, reminiscent of action at the federal level by Eric Holder regarding his refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act which had been signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It never fails to amaze me how Democrats pick and choose the laws they want to enforce and just disregard those they are opposed. This obviously applies at all levels to Democratic politicians.
Adding the states that were not in a pending category, the lack of any further action by the Supreme Court means that the majority of states, a total of thirty, now allow gay marriage. The other twenty include several witih court action pending before the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, a more conservative court that could conceivably uphold state law at least in some cases. Should that happen, it is likely that the Supreme Court would have to reconsider its stand.
There is a lot of conjecture in legal circles concerning why the Supremes chose to take no action. Since it only takes four justices to require court deliberation, even though it takes a minimum of five to reach a positive legal finding, most assume that the minority was the conservative leaning vote and they figured that they would lose the case if they pursued it. This reasoning assumes that the swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy had likely throw his weight behind the pro-gay marriage majority of five. By not forcing a deliberation and ruling, the door remains open depending on the outcome of the Sixth Circuit's action.
My take on the whole issue is that it is a sad day for America and our democratic republican form of government. I don't say this because of gay marriage, which I personally don't favor, but because of my belief that legal arrangements could have been approved without calling it marriage. No, my complaint is what this means for our form of government. The Fourteenth Amendment has clearly been stripped and with it will go all sanity of constitutional issues. Additionally, since marriage as a legal issue is clearly subject to state statutes, this is just another issue of an all powerful government, in the form of its judiciary, trying to jam their ideas down the throats of all Americans.
As we have seen in recent months, the very people who said it was just a matter allowing freedom for a new family unit trend are often those who want to force others of us to accept their lifestyle in everything they do. Americans need to remember that individual rights can't be protected for a new special group while trying to force those view on others. America needs a truce on the issue and live and let live on both sides. As for me, I will continue to believe in my own heart that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman; I expect others to give me the same courtesy that they expect me to give them.
Have a great day and may God bless America and each of us. We have many faults but we are still the best place on earth to live. Let's work hard to keep it that way.
The five states noted had appealed Circuit Court rulings and were allowed to delay gay marriage ceremonies pending a Supreme Court decision. The lack of action by the Supreme Court in turn nullified the stay order held by the states, thereby making gay marriage immediately legal.
An interesting sidelight on the matter was the fact that the Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring, had refused to argue his state's case before the Supreme Court. A liberal Democrat, he refused to do his lawful job, reminiscent of action at the federal level by Eric Holder regarding his refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act which had been signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It never fails to amaze me how Democrats pick and choose the laws they want to enforce and just disregard those they are opposed. This obviously applies at all levels to Democratic politicians.
Adding the states that were not in a pending category, the lack of any further action by the Supreme Court means that the majority of states, a total of thirty, now allow gay marriage. The other twenty include several witih court action pending before the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, a more conservative court that could conceivably uphold state law at least in some cases. Should that happen, it is likely that the Supreme Court would have to reconsider its stand.
There is a lot of conjecture in legal circles concerning why the Supremes chose to take no action. Since it only takes four justices to require court deliberation, even though it takes a minimum of five to reach a positive legal finding, most assume that the minority was the conservative leaning vote and they figured that they would lose the case if they pursued it. This reasoning assumes that the swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy had likely throw his weight behind the pro-gay marriage majority of five. By not forcing a deliberation and ruling, the door remains open depending on the outcome of the Sixth Circuit's action.
My take on the whole issue is that it is a sad day for America and our democratic republican form of government. I don't say this because of gay marriage, which I personally don't favor, but because of my belief that legal arrangements could have been approved without calling it marriage. No, my complaint is what this means for our form of government. The Fourteenth Amendment has clearly been stripped and with it will go all sanity of constitutional issues. Additionally, since marriage as a legal issue is clearly subject to state statutes, this is just another issue of an all powerful government, in the form of its judiciary, trying to jam their ideas down the throats of all Americans.
As we have seen in recent months, the very people who said it was just a matter allowing freedom for a new family unit trend are often those who want to force others of us to accept their lifestyle in everything they do. Americans need to remember that individual rights can't be protected for a new special group while trying to force those view on others. America needs a truce on the issue and live and let live on both sides. As for me, I will continue to believe in my own heart that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman; I expect others to give me the same courtesy that they expect me to give them.
Have a great day and may God bless America and each of us. We have many faults but we are still the best place on earth to live. Let's work hard to keep it that way.
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