SSM Ruling: Where is Tom Reilly?

When Governor Willard M. Romney's imps and evil minions dug into the dankest holes of disgraced Massachusetts statutes, who could have stopped them? They found the now infamous Chapter 207, Sections 11 and 12.

Today, a nearly unanimous Supreme Judicial Court said in effect, yep, those laws are on the books, the state can apply them to keep out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying here.

As anticipated, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Reilly is AWOL. In contrast, the only civil-rights champion in the race, Deval Patrick issued a short, strong statement:

I'’m disappointed by today'’s SJC decision. Although it leaves the door ajar for marriage equality for couples from other states, it adds new layers of process and bureaucracy to the exercise of those rights. That costs us all in money and time spent on an issue we are all ready to move beyond.

We have Tom Reilly and Mitt Romney to thank for prolonging this debate. The SJC got it right in (Goodridge), by affirming the bedrock principle that people come before their government as equals. In the two years since, the sky has not fallen. Yet Reilly and Romney revived this 1913 law to torpedo those rights. It'’s a glaring example of their bad leadership.

Gay men and lesbians have married in Massachusetts, accepted the rights and the responsibilities of marriage, and moved on with their lives out in the open. The rest of us ought to try doing the same.

Reilly better keep himself scarce. Every time a hot issue has arisen where he could make a statement for equality, he's mealymouthed and let the evil forces carry on. In this case, he had two serious lapses.

1. Most seriously, he has been aware of this miscegenation pairing for some time. As AG, he should have strongly demanded that the General Court wipe this racist artifact from the books.
2. Then when the Mitt hit the fan, Reilly needed to find some remnant of courage and screamed, "Not on my watch!" He may be thin because his guts are missing.

We expected Romney to do the sleazy, expedient thing. He drools for the POTUS nameplate. He'd do anything short of shaving his head to pander to conservatives.

Well, over at Talking Politics, Adam figures "If I were a Reilly adviser, I'd urge him to say nothing whatsoever." Then again, even when Reilly says something, it's like nothing whatsoever -- except when is toxic, as his actions that led to this decision.

It's time to call and write your representatives and senators. If the highest elected officials won't show guts and honor, the General Court needs to show them how.