Federalism is dead. Sure, it’s there in the Constitution, but since marriage (and just about every other “noble cause”) has been re-defined as a civil right, the entirety of the 10th amendment is now effectively and functionally moot. Washington Examiner:
A federal judge has ordered Ohio authorities to recognize the marriages of gay couples performed in other states.
Judge Timothy Black’s ruling on Monday criticized the state’s “ongoing arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
Allow me to interject and add a partial list of other arbitrary discrimination involved with marriage laws: age of consent; number of partners; blood relationship; species of partner; etc. All ongoing. All discriminatory. None unconstitutional. Until now, when the door is opened to turning the institution of marriage, which doesn’t prevent coupling or cohabitation or prohibit relationships, into a civil right.
Judges like this, who play philosopher king rather than stick to the authority granted them under the Constitution, should be summarily recalled. Period. End of story.
[Black] says the state’s marriage recognition bans are unconstitutional and unenforceable.
Black’s order doesn’t force Ohio to allow gay marriages to be performed in the state.
The state plans to appeal Black’s ruling, arguing that Ohio has a sovereign right to ban gay marriage, which voters did overwhelmingly in 2004.
Black delayed deciding whether to stay his ruling pending appeal until attorneys on both sides present their arguments on the issue by the end of Tuesday.
The left has learned how to form shop for judges as part of its overarching strategy to make government the agent of “progress” — often, with a single American citizen on the bench determining if the will of the rest of the plebes, who elect state representatives who in turn represent their wishes, is worthy of consideration. Activist judges, using the Living Constitution strategy that has robbed the 14th Amendment, eg, of its original intent, are now free to bastardize that intent, rewrite the amendment, and overrule the will of the individual citizen in individual states. We’ve seen this with proposition 8 in California. And we’re seeing it again here.
When New Yorkers passed their same-sex marriage laws, I disagreed with their decision but was supportive of the measure: they went via the ballot box and won in the state. Therefore, those who wish to marry a partner of the same sex in New York are legally free to do so. But in states where such laws haven’t been passed, the right of the state to refuse recognition of another state’s electorate is precisely an attack on federalism of the kind those who warned against same sex marriage laws foresaw.
This is not about same sex unions per se. It is about creating a new paradigm of “civil rights” that flow from “social justice” measures and give agents of the government a template over which to map their overreach.
And the left judicial activists are an integral part of the “fundamental transformation” we hear so much about.
Yet, here’s the thing: what if Ohio tells the court to go fuck itself, that — regardless of what any appeals court, or ultimately the Supreme Court, rules, they are not required to surrender their own state sovereignty and be compelled to follow the laws of other states, whose citizens don’t reflect the same values or policy wishes of the autonomous state being forced to follow out-of-state law?
That is, what if they just say no?
Is Obama prepared to send National Guard troops into, say, Little Rock, and force some pastry shop to bake a wedding cake for a same sex couple? And how is this anything but tyranny and a “benevolent” police state?
Answer: it isn’t. But pointing it out? Makes you a Visigoth. Or, you know, like Obama himself 2-years ago: a homophobic HATER.
This is exactly right. Those of a conservative bent tend to rightfully criticism judicial activism, but the judicial branch doesn’t have any enforcement power. If the Supreme Court rules tomorrow say that the Constitution requires the sacrifice of your first born son to Gaia as penance for warming the globe, then nothing is stopping the Executive from telling them they’re nuts and their ruling won’t be enforced. Andrew Jackson pointedly refused to enforce several Supreme Court rulings and while his prejudices in those cases was far from laudable or moral even, at least it was demonstrative of separation of powers.
I think the dirty little secret again, however, is that many in the GOP don’t have any problems at all with judicial activism. I’ll bet this month’s mortgage payment that the “severely conservative” John Kasich won’t do anything but jibber-jabber and then order state agencies to recognize out-of-state gay marriages. After all “his hands are tied” and this just shows that we have to elect more Republicans in this the most important election year ever so they can appoint more strict constructionists like John Roberts to the bench. The GOP is pleased as punch that the judiciary is legalizing gay marriage. They can just sit around and provide boob bait for the hobbits by bad mouthing the rulings while simultaneously pretending to be powerless to do anything about them. It allows them to get back to pushing amnesty and tax breaks for their cronies that much faster.
If I have a right to marry who I want, why did I have to propose?
If only someone had seen this coming and warned us.
Allow me to interject and add a partial list of other arbitrary discrimination involved with marriage laws: age of consent; number of partners; blood relationship; species of partner; etc. All ongoing. All discriminatory. None unconstitutional.
Which gets us back to Evan Sayet and his observation that the Left sees all discrimination as bigotry and therefore illegitimate. The very act of making a distinction is wrong wrong wrong and so must be punished.
Which inevitably leads them to choose evil over good, to declare that up is down, black is white, and Potsie is the Fonz.
Of course, it helps that the Left has spent 50 years degrading public understanding of sexual behavior vis-a-vis society, the value of sexual restraint, the difference between race (cosmetic) and sex (essential), and the cosmic complementarity of the sexes.
When you’re in freefall, it’s hard to know which way is up.
Jeff wrote: Judges like this, who play philosopher king rather than stick to the authority granted them under the Constitution, should be summarily recalled.
I think we’re way past that: tar and feathering is the new recall.
Dicentra, I’ve been telling everyone who will listen (hell, even if they won’t) to listen to Sayet’s Heritage lecture series for years. The Unified Field Theory of Leftism is the only way I’ve ever found to make sense of how they think.
If government power can be used to force that Little Rock baker to make a cake for a SSM ceremony, can it force a Muslim caterer to serve filet mignon at the reception? Can a Topeka photographer be forced to work a wedding at Westboro “Baptist” “Church”? A wedding where the bridal party wears Nazi regalia?
Any government that can do one of these things can do the others.
When will the judge order God to provide a full healthy lifespan to people that practice unhealthy lifestyles?
this should be the number one issue for the Team R candidate in 2016
totally
Yeah. The 9th and 10th Amendment are nearly as important as winning!
Oh Portia, do shut up.
The Democrats pick the issues Republicans run on anyway. Don’t they?
Can we hurry up and just get this divorce over with?
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY
Timothy 1:10?The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching?1 Timothy 1:9-11 (in Context) 1 Timothy 1 (Whole Chapter)
1 Corinthians 6:9 Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality,?1 Corinthians 6:8-10 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 6 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Leviticus 18:22 “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.?Leviticus 18:21-23 (in Context) Leviticus 18 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Leviticus 20:13 “If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.?Leviticus 20:12-14 (in Context) Leviticus 20 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Revelation 22:15 Outside are the homosexuals, those involved with the occult and with drugs, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.?Revelation 22:14-16 (in Context) Revelation 22 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 23:18 “No woman of Isra’el is to engage in ritual prostitution, and no man of Isra’el is to engage in ritual homosexual prostitution.?Deuteronomy 23:17-19 (in Context) Deuteronomy 23 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 23:19 Nothing earned through heterosexual or homosexual prostitution is to be brought into the house of Adonai your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to Adonai your God.?Deuteronomy 23:18-20 (in Context) Deuteronomy 23 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Romans 1-26-32
26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too