What Marriage Has Become

by Christopher Wolfe
[hat tip: A Banner is Unfurled]

The widespread adoption of different versions of no-fault divorce by most states after 1970 transformed marriage and family. The traditional presumption in favor of the permanence of marriage (with certain well-defined exceptions) gave way to a situation in which one of the partners, for whatever reason, could unilaterally end the marriage. This marked a cultural shift from regarding marriage as a truly fundamental social institution to regarding it as primarily a personal union in which there is a very limited social interest.

[Read more . . .]

DOMA in the LA Times

by The Playful Walrus

The Opine Editorials

LA Times

The president is not obligated to defend laws that are unconstitutional and thus indefensible.

The Playful Walrus

By the same reasoning, a court trial should not be available to someone who is obviously guilty. Isn't the constitutionality the precise question being discussed in the court cases?

[Read More]

Court sets deadline in DOMA case

Email alert from Brian Brown of NOM

"On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit gave us just three weeks to ensure that Congress steps up to defend DOMA. By March 18th, the Obama administration and the State of Massachusetts must agree on a new plan for how the pending DOMA litigation will proceed. 

If Congress doesn’t step up quickly to defend DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act may soon be history – the victim of an administration that is deliberately undercutting the very laws it is duty-bound to defend. 

Thousands of you have already petitioned your Congressman to intervene on behalf of DOMA in the challenge filed by the State of Massachusetts.

And it's working!! Speaker Boehner told The Hill in an article posted this morning that the House is likely to take action to defend DOMA.

But we need to keep the emails coming! ... Your calls and emails could make the difference – not just for DOMA, but for the future of marriage in our nation."

Please take a minute out of your busy day - just one minute away from working, shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. - to call your Congressman and express your desire that they stand up for checks and balances in our government and defend the DOMA when those who are duty-bound to do so refuse.

Click here to find your Congressman or woman.

Call the White House:

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Euripides on Obama and DOMA

by Euripides
Self Evident Truths

If the Obama administration ignores the constitutional mandate to uphold the law, then the rule of law becomes meaningless. When the executive branch of the federal government takes on both legislative and judicial powers, the possibility for abuse follows, including the possibility of dictatorial powers.

The agenda of those who support same sex marriage is blatantly clear. Nothing can stand in the way of supporting gay ideology to obtain protected class status based on self-identified attributes of same gender attraction. Gay activists and others will cheer the statist decisions of Obama while ignoring the latent dangers of his decision.

[Read More]

Obama picking and choosing what laws he'll defend

by Shane Vander
Caffeinated Thoughts

Presidents don’t have the right to pick and choose what laws they will defend or enforce.  Based on the rationale that Attorney General Eric Holder gave, I think Governor Mike Huckabee had it right in a recent interview with Laura Ingraham when he suggested that he also should then quit defending the health care reform law since it too has been deemed unconstitutional.  Oh no that won’t happen since President Obama doesn’t believe it to be unconstitutional!

Here’s the point I think everybody is missing.  While there are currently no lawsuits challenging section 2 Congressman Paul, rightly, expresses concern because that may not always be the case (now I’ll admit that he doesn’t seem to recognize that same-sex marriages are already allowed in Iowa, but I think his larger point remains in tact).  I am also unconvinced that the Department of Justice would make a spirited defense if section 2 is challenged.  I also  believe it is just a matter of time before it is challenged, and I don’t believe most homosexual activists would have any problems having gay marriage imposed on other states.  If it is found unconstitutional in a lower federal court will then President Obama change his mind on this as well?

Again, the President can’t just pick and choose which laws he will defend.

[Read full blog post]

David Limbaugh on Obama and DOMA

Excerpt from David Lambaugh's latest column entitled Obama Not Just Above the Law; He Is the Law:

To understand the magnitude of Obama's action, we must again consider the above-cited fact that both chambers of Congress passed DOMA by overwhelming majorities reflecting the will of the people that marriage be defined, for legal and policy purposes, as it always had been. Also, no federal appellate court has ruled the statute unconstitutional.


As he has in so many other areas (EPA, the offshore drilling ban, IMF), Obama has usurped the authority of the other two coequal branches of government to make himself, in effect, not just chief executive but super-legislator and a supreme judicial authority.


. . .


So now we have an imperial president who is refusing to enforce a law passed by powerful congressional majorities while persisting in enforcing a law (Obamacare) that two federal courts have already invalidated. The only common denominator is that Obama believes he is the law.

[Read More]

Hat tip: A Banner is Unfurled

DOMA may have a better chance without Justice Department's lackluster "defense."

"The previous efforts of the Obama administration and DOJ to defend the law were so inadequate as to raise the suspicion that the Justice Department was deliberately throwing the case," said Robert George, a political science professor at Princeton University who opposes same-sex marriage. "Chances are the law will get a robust defense, and I suspect it will withstand constitutional scrutiny."

[Read more from NOM blog]

Hawaii House Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill

by Peter J. Smith, LifeSiteNews

"Pro-family advocates were taken by surprise when the Hawaii House of Representatives unexpectedly revived and passed legislation that would establish same-sex civil unions and make them equivalent to marriage, nearly three months after everyone thought the issue was a dead letter.

The Senate bill taken up by the House (HB 444) "extends the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union."

Back in February, the House decided to take the legislation off its agenda for the rest of the legislative year in a voice vote that would have required two-thirds of the Democratic-controlled chamber to revive the issue.

However on Thursday, the very last day of the state’s legislative session, Rep. Blake Oshiro moved to revive the Senate bill. Instead of following the rules established for taking up the shelved bill, Speaker Calvin Say had the House take four votes to suspend those rules and pass the bill with just a majority.

The bill passed 31 votes in favor to 20 against, and will now proceed to the desk of Republican Gov. Linda Lingle. The governor has 45 days to make a decision on whether to sign or veto the civil unions bill, and has not indicated which way she will decide."

Read the rest of the story here.

Obama Extends Hospital Visitation Rights to Same-Sex Partners

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama issued a memo on Thursday that would require hospitals accepting Medicare or Medicaid funds to allow visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners...

He also ordered hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid to ensure that all patients' advance directives, which include appointing someone to make healthcare decisions if necessary, are respected."

Real Reason for the Easter Season

Neutered Marriages in Washington, DC

From the AP:

"About 150 couples were eligible to pick up marriage licenses Tuesday after applying on the first day the licenses were made available. Many of them stood in line for four or more hours last Wednesday.

The District of Columbia is the sixth place in the country permitting same-sex unions. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue same-sex couples licenses."

Marriage DOES Matter

Opine has a link to an article summarizing social science research that shows that marriage is important and does play a positive role in society. Check it out for some good reading.

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of the greatest speeches ever given. This man changed a nation.

Haiti: How You Can Help

From the AP:

"Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after a powerful earthquake flattened the president's palace, the cathedral, hospitals, schools, the main prison and whole neighborhoods. Officials feared thousands — perhaps more than 100,000 — may have perished but there was no firm count.

Death was everywhere in Port-au-Prince. Bodies of tiny children were piled next to schools. Corpses of women lay on the street with stunned expressions frozen on their faces as flies began to gather. Bodies of men were covered with plastic tarps or cotton sheets.

President Rene Preval said he believes thousands were killed in Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake, and the scope of the destruction prompted other officials to give even higher estimates."

Find links here to the Red Cross and other organizations where you can donate to help the relief effort in Haiti.

(Photo: LISANDRO SUERO / AFP / Getty Images)

Washington, DC Legalizes Gay Marriage

"The mayor of Washington has signed a bill legalizing gay marriage in the nation's capital, but it won't go into effect just yet....

The bill must pass a 30-day period of Congressional review."

Read the story here.

Marriage Victory in New York

"In a lengthy debate Wednesday that often focused more on theology than politics, the New York Senate defeated a “gay marriage” bill 38-24, handing homosexual activists another stinging defeat in the liberal Northeast."

See Beetle Blogger for all the details!

Maine Marriage Supporters Targeted

From Bangor Daily News:

"In a defiant speech to several hundred lingering supporters, No on 1 campaign manager Jesse Connolly pledged that his side “will not quit until we know where every single one of these votes lives.”

“We’re not short-timers; we are here for the long haul,” Connolly told the crowd, some of whom wiped away tears as he spoke. “Whether it’s just all night and into the morning, or next week or next month or next year, we will be here. We’ll be fighting, we’ll be working. We will regroup.'"

[Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin]

Maine Stands For Marriage

From Pearl Diver:

"Yes on Question 1 WINS, 53% to 47%, an almost identical percentage margin, I might add, to California’s Prop 8 results. Congratulations go to Mainers who GOT OUT THE VOTE and represented and protected the children who will ultimately be most affected by any marriage redefinition. It is clear that THE MAJORITY still recognizes the eternal and natural truth that children have a right to be raised by a mother and a father and that GOVERNMENT OUGHT TO DO ALL IN ITS POWER TO PROTECT THAT RIGHT.

Says Fox News, “Gay marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote.' "


Opine also has a bunch of news clips and commentary here.

Obama Signs Hate Crimes Legislation

by Peter J. Smith, www.LifeSiteNews.com

President Barack Obama has now signed into law a controversial "hate crimes" bill that authorizes the federal government to intervene in violent crimes that appear motivated by hatred of homosexuals and apply stiffer penalties and sentences.
...

Opponents of the hate crimes legislation have charged that the bill violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution by making an individual's thought regarding certain groups as much a factor as the nature of his act in prosecuting a crime.

The US Commissioners on Civil Rights wrote letters to US House and Senate leaders condemning the legislation, saying they "regard the broad federalization of crime as a menace to civil liberties." The commissioners also pointed out that the law creates a legal loophole to the Constitution's prohibitions to double jeopardy, because it allows the federal government to try an individual who has already been acquitted in a state trial, for the same crime.

Read the full story here.

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Gay Agenda Bills

From Beetle Blogger:

"After a long midnight session with legislators, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 572 legislation that appoints May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day” in California public schools AND and SB 54 that recognizes same-sex marriages performed out of state.

The signing of these two bills is a slap in the face to voters who have consistently rejected same sex marriage and pushing homosexuality in schools."

Read the full story here.