For the record, Bay Windows included the 1) mush-mouthed and 2) the smirking statements of Massachusetts 1) Attorney General Tom Reilly and 2) Governor Willard Mitt Romney yesterday. On the SJC decision to allow the commonwealth (should it so choose) to enforce the 1913 law to ban out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying here.
I asked Where is Tom Reilly? on this. In his own clueless and inept way, he was there. In their entirety, our leaders' statements were:
Statement from Attorney General Reilly
"I support same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. I oppose, and will fight against, any effort to reverse a law that is working well. I am proud of how Massachusetts has handled this. We have shown the country how it can work. I agree with the Court's decision Massachusetts should respect the laws of other states just as we expect them to respect ours. The decision does not affect the residents of Massachusetts; it impacts only those from out of state who have no intention of living here. I also hope we can continue to focus our public debate on other important issues that aren't settled like reducing costs of health care, improving our public schools and attacking the growing scourge of crime on our streets.
Statement from Governor Romney
"Today's ruling is an important victory for traditional marriage. It would have been wrong for the Supreme Judicial Court to impose its mistaken view of marriage on the rest of the country. The continuing threat of the judicial redefinition of marriage, here and in several other states, is why I believe that the best and most reliable way to preserve the institution of marriage is to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
3 comments:
I fully support gay marriage, but I see nothing wrong with Reilly's statement. Romney's is hateful, and clearly written with an eye on the White House, but I have no problem with Reilly's statement. He's made it clear that as Governor, he will make no attempt to reverse gay marriage laws. To call him "clueless and inept" I think is way off the mark.
I clearly disagree. Reilly could have and should have dealt with this law when it first came to his attention. His duty to the public was to ask the General Court to dump this pair of laws. Instead, he went along with Romney's ploy that this was "equally applied." That's a code phrase that has an all to justly deserved infamy.
Justice Ireland's dissent deals plainly with why it is so at odds with Goodridge and why it is discriminatory.
As AG, Reilly needed to act and did nothing. Thus, we have ended up where we are, with a slippery it's-on-the-books-let-the-commonwealth-enforce-it action from the SJC. That falls right back in Reilly's lap.
We should expect an AG -- and governor -- to seek for the removal of outrageous legislation, not to let them be used when politics suggests.
Reilly hides yet again. His statement is lame. It is not the statement of a leader, but of someone who wants to hide from taking the heat from holding a conviction of principle.
Justice Ireland got it right.
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