The Supreme Court Rules, President Obama Equivocates

Today, the Supreme Court ruled on two key cases involving same-sex marriage. The first case, United States v. Windsor, which involved the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed into law by Democrat President Bill Clinton, was struck down as unconstitutional in a 5-4 decision, interestingly enough, with Republican President Ronald Reagan's appointee, Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing and reading the majority opinion. The other case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, which involved California's Proposition 8, was thrown out by the Court, also in a 5-4 decision, on merits that the Court lacked jurisdiction to rule on the case.

Here are my thoughts on the cases:

I'm ecstatic DOMA was overturned, however, I figured the Justices would cite the 10th Amendment as justification for doing so. Instead, I had not realized they were looking at the law in context of our welfare state (I wasn't well read on the specifics of the case, but was somewhat familiar with DOMA), and so the Justices cited the 5th Amendment to strike it down, claiming federal benefits must also be given to same-sex couples in the interest of "equal protection" under the law. So, although I'm happy it was struck down and equality under the law embraced, the reasoning behind it is a sad reminder of how ingrained the entitlement system is in our society. I support the rights of gay couples to marry (for my reasons read: Republicans and Their Half-Baked Individualism), and so I hope they now stand with me in my fight for my right to keep 100% of the money I earn. The welfare state must be dismantled if true "fairness" and "equality" is to become a reality. No special treatment to individuals in a marriage versus those who choose to stay single. 

In regards to the Prop. 8 case, I figured they would throw out the case out, again based on the 10th Amendment. It was clear cut that the Court had no constitutional authority to rule on such a case. I'm very happy the Justices showed the proper respect to the Constitution this time around. What a difference a year makes (SCOTUS Affirms Fascism as Domestic Policy). But even though California's courts have affirmed Proposition 8 as unconstitutional (pertaining to California's state constitution), the proper next step is for the California legislature to sign marriage equality into law (this goes against the will of the Californian people, but there is no such right to vote away the rights of others. That is an illegitimate use of democracy and it has no place in a rights-respecting republic). De facto laws based on court rulings are improper, as the courts' role in government is not that of creating law. 

The President's Reaction: 

In response to all of this, President Obama's administration quickly released the following graphic of a quote (perhaps too quickly without much thought) on The Official White House Tumblr page that was truly bizarre to me. He offered the following false equivocation of equality and freedom: 

(TEXT: "When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free." -President Obama) 

Oy vey. Grab this guy a dictionary. Equality certainly does not mean freedom, nor does it necessarily lead to it. If we are all equally enslaved, how exactly, Mr. President, are we all somehow made more free? Being "equal" and being "free" are two distinct concepts. Certainly I would love it if all humanity was equal in absolute freedom, but such does not change the meaning of the concepts of "equal" and "free." Now, admittedly, I'm nitpicking here (which is a lot of fun), but he's the leader of the semi-free world who marketed himself as the first intellectual president. It would be nice if he acted like it.