Once more, we hear the cries of legislating from the bench.

Bunk.

One of the key roles of the judicial system--in addition to resolving criminal and civil cases--is to review challenges to laws passed by the legislative branch.  The mere fact that a law has passed does not make it constitutional; in this case, under California's constitution. 

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when separate-but-equal was codified by law in many jurisdictions.  It took the actions of justices who were not afraid to overrule those laws on the grounds that they violated the U.S. Constitution. 

The arguments then were barely different than they are today.  It's the natural order, it's the will of the people, and so forth. 

Checks and balances mean that sometimes one branch will see its work overturned by another.  Vetos, veto overrides, laws declared unconstitutional--those are all part of the same system.

I challenge any of the braying masses calling for recalls and changes to the state constitution to tell us honestly that if the scenario were flipped--i.e., had the law passed to allow same-sex marriage only to be later overturned by the court--that the same outcry would be heard today from the religious right.  Seriously, look into  your soul and tell the truth.  Would you be calling for judicial recalls, or celebrating that the system "worked" in such a case?

Two men or two women receiving equal protections and rights that I receive takes nothing away from me.  If anyone wants to decry damage to the so-called "institution" of marriage, they need look no further than...oh, I don't know, let's just say, Newt Gingrich.  You remember him, the great moralizer condeming Bill Clinton's affair from the House floor before running off to sleep with his own staffer after hours--while still married.  Or maybe Saint Ronald, the great hope of the conservative movement, who was such a fan of traditional marriage that he did it twice, having dumped his first family to get it right the second time.

If you want to worry about protecting marriage, as a straight person, I say start with ourselves first.  We've done more to damage it than any gay couple that just wants the same right to live and love their partner.  So where is the rush to ammend constitutions to prohibit divorce?  Wouldn't that be the ultimate protection for the great state of marriage? 

Doublespeak at its best from the right side of the aisle once more. 

Hurrah for the four justices who recognize that the concept of all men being created equal means what it says.