On January 6th, gay Floridians will finally be delivered the respect and dignity they deserve. They will be able to legally wed. In the days leading up to it and to the surprise of no one, Florida has been a hot mess. Last August, a federal judge ruled that Florida's marriage equality ban was unconstitutional. He stayed his decision until January 6th for the inevitable appeals to be considered. The Florida Governor and Attorney General dug their heals in deep, even as support for the ban began to crumble around them.
After much political wrangling, Florida took their snit to the Supreme Court, asking them to extend the stay. The court denied their unjustifiable request just a couple of days before Christmas. Having failed spectacularly in front of the highest court in the land, Florida shifted strategies and focused on ambiguous wording in the original opinion.
They proceeded to create a huge stink, demanding that Judge Hinkle clarify his ruling. Sensing an opportunity to do more harm, the religious right mustered up a crusade against those nasty gays marrying on January 6th. They insisted that the ruling only applied to one couple in one county. All that money to be made in lawsuits had one group, the Liberty Counsel, drooling at the prospect of a costly protracted legal battle.
The Liberty Counsel serves as the charlatan legal council to the various burningly anti-gay groups out there. They are a card-carrying member of the SPLC recognized hate group list. Whipping up religious fervor on behalf of their fundamentalist clients, the Liberty Counsel began urging all county clerk offices to refuse to obey the law. They even convinced several county clerk offices to scrap performing weddings altogether rather than have homos wed in their sacred public halls.
When Judge Hinkle clarified his ruling on New Year's Day, headlines declared the matter done. Finis. Kaput. It was clear to everyone except the Liberty Counsel who laughingly pulled a Dewey Defeats Truman headline declaring victory.
In a highly anticipated ruling to clarify an August preliminary injunction in the federal case Brenner v. Scott, the district judge agreed with Liberty Counsel that the injunction does not require Florida clerks of court outside Washington County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on January 6. Indeed, the new order clarifies that the injunction is limited to the plaintiffs in the case, expressly holding, “The preliminary injunction now in effect thus does not require the [Washington County] Clerk to issue licenses to other applicants.” The Washington Clerk had requested the clarification last week.
The Washington Clerk’s request elicited several responses from the case parties and others, including activists who were willing to say anything to cajole Judge Hinkle into expanding the injunction statewide. “But in the sea of filings, only Liberty Counsel got it right,” said Horatio Mihet, Liberty Counsel’s Vice President of Legal Affairs & Chief Litigation Counsel.
Nearly all media outlets, from the Orlando Sentinel to Yahoo.com, are grossly mischaracterizing the effect of the ruling, reporting the exact opposite of what Judge Hinkle’s order requires. The error is likely the result of the order’s condescending lecture to clerks on why they should bow to the August injunction even though they are not bound by it. Judge Hinkle’s lecture, however, has no force of law, and only invites lawlessness throughout the state.
Just like Karl Rove
the day of President Obama's reelection, the Liberty Counsel refused to even consider the fact their cause was lost and has been for quite some time.
All that money to be had, just floating there in the toilet bowl. Oh, they will still try to convince a fervent clerk or two that being a martyr for your job is great fun and builds character. But most will realize the unnecessary battle was lost and opt to stay employed. Six months down the road, the same clerk who had been worked up into a fever pitch will consider the marriage license they processed for that gay couple just another day at the office.
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything
without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do
not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From JG in MD:
This by bevenro is the perfect way to deal with the modern workplace.
From Cali Scribe:
In the Late Night Open Thread, jwinIL14 had an unfortunate mixup on the 10th Day of Christmas.
From AJayne:
Gooserock warns us of a shift in thinking and approach by both politicians and police in our current culture in Tommymac's diary Pittsburgh Police Chief: #End White Silence; A Good Cop Speaks Out.
From Puddytat:
This reaction by Hugh Jim Bissell to the announcement of Dish Network dropping Fox News is priceless.
Nannyberry flagged this comment by elenacarlena, from Hunter's diary Pat Robertson: gay people 'will die out because they don't reproduce'.
From Steven Payne:
In Chrislove's Top Comments diary last night, zenbassoon still had me laughing this morning with this visual
Top Mojo for yesterday, January 2nd, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary FAQing Top Mojo.
1) THAT! - - Is the real counter. by 4CasandChlo — 97
2) How pathetic by Steven D — 91
3) not just him by PJEvans — 90
4) Corporations don't blush. by rasbobbo — 84
5) Because they are loser racist by JoanMar — 81
6) Many of your readers are probably still unaware by Dartagnan — 76
7) I just can't seem to by lizzyh7 — 73
8) Involved with PGP early enough on by Gottlieb — 68
9) I got yer "trickle down".... by The Marti — 63
10) In their world, bad performance doesn't matter, by elwior — 61
11) Three seats. by IndieGuy — 60
12) an important diary by isabelle hayes — 59
13) Pushback against this kind of hate speech by peregrine kate — 58
14) A Happy 2015 to you too, InAntalya! by Assaf — 57
15) What are these jokers smokin'? by JeffW — 57
16) Because what could possibly be more by AnacharsisClootz — 56
17) In the last 30 years... by Mark Sumner — 56
18) A Conservative Party Since Early 70's, What by Gooserock — 54
19) Don't worry about your testicles. by MargaretPOA — 52
20) Cramer also once predicted bottom of housing by FoundingFatherDAR — 51
21) Right on both counts by mojo11 — 51
22) (it wuz...) by The Marti — 49
23) She wasn't just Elly May. by sidnora — 49
24) Oh, mah head! by Horsefeathers — 48
25) I guessed it has escaped his notice that Gay by MikePhoenix — 48
26) Hair'a teh dog... by Horsefeathers — 47
27) They will do the minimum required by law. by AJayne — 46
28) Yes, please do by lizzyh7 — 46
29) No, ah'm bein' LITRAL! by Horsefeathers — 45
30) Teh stupid...it burns. On the other hand..he gave by The Marti — 45
Top Pictures for yesterday, January 2nd. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment and/or larger picture. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!
