President rips SJC on gay marriage (Boston Globe)

[zippy890]

Pushes for ban in nod to social conservatives
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | June 6, 2006

" President Bush invoked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court yesterday in calling on Congress to approve a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, telling a group of religious leaders that the ``most fundamental institution of civilization" is in jeopardy because of ``activist judges."

In returning to the divisive issue of gay marriage, the president is seeking to energize social conservatives in advance of the midterm congressional elections. He maintained that without a constitutional amendment, states across the country might have to recognize marriage ``as redefined by judges in, say, Massachusetts."

...

Disapproval of Bush and the Republican-led Congress are near historic-high points, and even many conservatives are upset over the federal government's deficit spending and the president's position on immigration.

By focusing on banning gay marriage instead of soaring gas prices and the war in Iraq, Republicans are revealing themselves to be out of touch, said Joe Solmonese , president of the Human Rights Campaign, a leading supporter of gay marriage."

more
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/articles/2006/06/06/president_rips_sjc_on_gay_marriage/

the Globe's editorial today is excellent:

"Gay marriage, so what?"
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/06/06/gay_marriage_so_what/

'AMERICA HAS much more to fear than gay marriage. So it was disappointing to hear President Bush's radio address on Saturday, and his speech yesterday, in which he defends marriage, scolds activist judges, and supports the Marriage Protection Amendment, which would change the Constitution by only allowing one man and one woman to wed.'

more at link

good for the Globe!

[NewJeffCT]

1. Please correct me if I'm wrong... but...

weren't a majority of the justices on the Mass Supreme Court appointed by Republicans? so, the gay marriage suit would have had to have gotten Republican votes, too?

[meow2u3]

7. Yes, they were Republicans

But the Bush Repukes will argue that the Massachussets Republicans are RINOs.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. "'AMERICA HAS much more to fear than gay marriage"

Excuse me, but that must have been a typo. Certainly the globe meant "'AMERICA HAS nothing to fear from gay marriage".

I am not exactly thrilled by the Democratic leadership's tactic of responding to the gay bashing agenda of the theofascist pandering prezinet by claiming that 'we have bigger problems to worry about'. This response agrees with the hate mongerers that gays are 'a problem to worry about', just not as important as other problems. Sorry, but that is conceding that their hatefuil agenda has validity.

[paparush]

3. Its just like those 98% of incumbents who won re-election in 2004

How to get rid of that blasted last 2%.

[mainer]

4. MA has one of the lowest divorce rates...

by the logic, you'd think that gay marriage actually IMPROVES the strength of heterosexual marriage

[Rockholm]

5. Acutally, I believe we have the lowest divorce rate.

Those damned liberals.

[monarch]

6. The "activist judge" meme drives me crazy.

It makes it sound like judges roam around the state looking for laws to smite.

[jerry611]

8. What about the judge that let the pedophile off because he was too short?

There was that one judge that let the pedophile off the hook because he is "too short for prison."

Is that activism?

[monarch]

10. No.

That is one judge's disposition of a particular case on the facts presented to that judge in a court proceeding. I wasn't there and neither were you. I haven't really followed the story and don't want to spend time researching it but apparently this is one of those Faux News specials designed to get uninformed people all worked up about nothing. As I heard it there was no allegation that the defendant was any kind of "pedophile." The charges involved allegations of some sort of improper touching that were made by a girlfriend's teen aged daughter. The facts of the case were in dispute and the prosecutor did not request jail time. The comment made by the judge about the shortness of the defendant had nothing whatsoever to do with the sentencing decision.

In any event, weird stories about trial level proceedings are irrelevant to attacks on decisions made by appellate courts interpeting the law. The only major case involving judicial activism of which I am aware is the one that put the current occupant in the White House.

[LibDemAlways]

14. Activist judges are apparently ok, though,

when they install a President not elected by the people.

Republican hypocrisy knows no limits.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. To Chimp an 'activist judge' is one who can read the Constitution and

Bill of Rights.

[kestrel91316]

11. (taps GWB on shoulder): Hey, psst, George -

civilization has been around a whole lot longer than the "christian" institution of marriage. The oldest institution in civilization is likely the FAMILY. A family does not require the prior existence of a ceremony called marriage.

Stop LYING about history and sociology.

[0007]

12. America has become the toilet bowl for a sick administration

[Guaranteed]

13. LOL the most fundamental institution of our civilization is our

CONSTITUTION!!!

Which HE is trying to destroy.