"United States v. Windsor" lawsuit succeeds in having part of
federal DOMA law ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court

2013-JUN-26: Unexpected reactions to the DOMA
ruling by liberal & conservative commentators.
CitizenLink's reaction.

Sponsored link.

The acronym "SSM" refers to "same-sex marriage."
The acronym "DOMA" refers to the Defense of Marriage Act
"SCOTUS" refers to the Supreme Court of the United States

This topic is continued from the previous essay

Unexpected reactions from conservative and liberal political commentators:

• "The Five" is a panel of commentators on Fox News -- a network that traditionally takes extremely conservative views of news. "The Five" expressed some surprisingly positive comments about the two Supreme Court rulings:
  
  
  • Kimberly Guilfoyle said that this is :

    "... a very significant day. This is the type of two cases that are going to be read years from now in law schools and in legal books across the country.â€

• Dana Perino said:

  "...the bottom line of it is that if you are in favor of gay marriage, you are pleased today. For those that are disappointed in the decision, there are things to look into here that there was a victory of principles over government overreach. [The Court rulings begin] the long road to having gay marriage no longer be a political weapon used by either side. And it gives people a chance to then focus on other important issues that we have in the country."

• Bob Beckel said that the ruling could "... ignite a values war in politics." But he referred to the court rulings as:

  "... almost a libertarian position. ... they’re saying the government can’t tell you how you’re going to live your lives."

• Eric Bolling criticized the Court for not having ruled directly on SSM in California.
  
  
• Greg Gutfeld said that the court rulings were:

  "... a huge conservative victory, because you can no longer deprive someone [in California] of an extremely traditional value that makes your life better by curtailing promiscuity and destructive lifestyles. ... Marriage to my wife made me a better man. As a right-winger, I want to impose that belief on others because that’s what right-wingers do."

  He suggested that gays move on to real challenges in this world. Namely, "radical Islam" and it’s harsh treatment of homosexuals:

  "Go to a mosque. Think about your compatriots in Iran, in the Middle East who are dying because of [their] sexual orientation."

₁

• Melissa Harris-Perry discussed the court rulings on MSNBC, a network that traditionally takes a very liberal view of the news. She was disappointed with the rulings, saying:

  "As much as those of us who are allies of this movement, and those of us how’ve been working hard on the question of marriage equality would like to read this in the broadest sense. What ... [the court] did, all week long -– from the beginning to the end of this week so far -– is to gut the power of the federal government."

  Harris-Perry approved of the Court striking down DOMA and sending Prop 8 back to California, but noted that “marriage may be even farther away†in other states because the federal government cannot now pass a law forcing gay marriage rights on more conservative states.

Noah Rothman, writing for Mediaite, said:

"She is correct; the Court did 'gut the power of the federal government' and returned the issue of gay marriage to the states where federalist remedies are rapidly leading to legalization of gay marriage. Some states will move faster than others, but the federalist method of working out the contentious issue of same-sex marriage rights will ultimately lead to consensus and comity. It is the method of achieving national reconciliation that the Founders would have preferred.

Harris-Perry would have preferred an activist decision. She would prefer that federal legislators be able to force gay marriage on areas of the country moving too slowly for her tastes. That says a lot."

₂

• Bethany Monk, writing for CitizenLink -- an affiliate of the fundamentalist Christian group Focus on the Family, said:

  "... Despite many mainstream outlets claiming the ruling is a total victory for same-sex marriage, conservative analysts and researchers point out that the decision does not create a constitutional right to same-sex marriage."

  "... The Court struck down Section 3 of the law, meaning that the federal government cannot define marriage for its own federal policies and federal laws, but must accept whatever states decide. The ruling does not affect Section 2, which says that no state is required to recognize another state’s redefinition of the institution.

  The critical role of marriage is not diminished by this decision.

  'For most Americans, the big picture is more of what the Court did not do,' said Focus on the Family President Jim Daly. 'It did not create a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage â€"  as it did for abortion in 1973. It also did not declare same-sex marriage a civil right on the order of ethnicity or nationality.'

  The church has a new opportunity to '... shine its light into a confused culture,' Daly explained.

  'It is time for everyone who supports the natural definition of marriage to recommit and affirm the sanctity of their own marriages,' Daly said. 'We must humbly confess the damage we have done to marriage by our own collective careless treatment of it. As we continue to distance ourselves from God’s design for marriage and family, Christians will need to take their oath and commitment to marriage more seriously. Though the divorce rate among committed Christians is lower than among the general populace, it remains far too high'." ₃

Webmaster's reactions & Congressional activity are covered in the next essay.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Matt Wilstein, "The Five Reacts To Supreme Court’s DOMA And Prop 8 Rulings: 'This Is A Huge Conservative Victory'," Mediaite, 2013-JUN-26, at: http://www.mediaite.com/
2. Noah Rothman, "Gay Marriage Rulings Make MSNBC’s Harris-Perry Sad Because They Gut 'Power Of Federal Government'," MediaIte, 2013-JUN-26, at: http://www.mediaite.com/
3. Bethany Monk, "U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Federal Marriage Law," CitizenLink, 2013-JUN-26, at: http://www.citizenlink.com/

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