One of the more heartening events today has been Attorney General Tom Reilly’s statement that he will not back the Governor’s plans to seek a stay from the SJC to block gay marriages come May 17. Hardly a supporter of gay marriage (he crusaded against it), he simply affirmed what most people in the know seemed to already say: Romney has no legal leg to stand on.
Sure, Romney’s words about a rift between the legislative and judiciary branches’ will may sound well and good, but the ruling was based on constitutional bases. You can’t effectively argue that since the constitution may be changed at a future date that the court should in the meanwhile interpret the meaning of the constitution differently. As Lawrence Tribe puts it, “Piling prediction upon prediction to ask the SJC for an unprecedented 2 1/2-year extension of a half-year stay already granted by the SJC . . . seems far-fetched in the extreme.”
Being far-fetched didn’t stop Romney from an attempt to grandstand however. As Romney is a Fraud duly pointed out, Reilly informed the Governor of his decision before his press conference last night.
Just after the General Court voted 105-92 to ban same-sex marriage while recognizing civil unions, Romney made a public statement proclaiming that he would seek a stay of the SJC decision that sanctioned gay marriage….
And then Romney split. Without taking questions. And before anyone could ask, “er, (fraud) Governor. Will Attorney General Tom Reilly work with you to stay the decision?”
Because it turns out that Reilly had already told the Fraud Governor that he (Reilly) did not support a stay….
Trying to save face, Romney publicly asked Reilly again, to the same answer. From the Globe: “‘I was struck by the fact that the letter did not set forth one single legal argument. The arguments the governor makes are political arguments,’ said Reilly, whose office represented the state in the landmark gay marriage case. ”
Somehow, in the course of 24 hours, the slimy Governor has turned out to be downright pathetic.
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