DOMANIA: WORDING

...On Tuesday night, President Bush moved perceptibly closer to supporting a federal marriage amendment. But he stopped short of endorsing the idea, and gave no clue about which version--if any--he would ultimately get behind.

...President Bush took a stand--the right one--on one matter hotly debated within the pro-marriage camp. He referred to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, and said correctly that it settled the federal definition of marriage as the union of man and woman. No matter what happens in state lawsuits about marriage, DOMA means that, for example, no two men (or two women) can claim "married, filing jointly" on their 1040. Bush then said that DOMA "declares that one state may not redefine marriage for other states." Here he referred to the interstate portability of, say, Massachusetts same-sex "marriage" under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution. Then the president talked about "activist judges," and how to stop them.

What does all this portend? The president evidently takes it for granted that federal law already blocks courts from forcing Indiana to recognize Massachusetts same-sex "marriages." The president is thinking of a different problem, then, when talks about what the people might have to do soon. That problem can only be judicial redefinition of marriage, even when the effects are confined within one state's borders.

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posted by Eve at 7:04 AM VOTE

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