The judicial supremacists have struck again. Amid claptrap from liberals about a need for an independent judiciary, a federal judge in Nebraska repudiated 70 percent of Nebraskans who voted to keep marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Like a rabid dog that attacks again and again, the federal judiciary knows no restraint. Bite us once, shame on the dog; bite us repeatedly, shame on us for allowing it.
Here is the language that U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon said is unconstitutional: "Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska."
Appointed by President Clinton, Judge Bataillon's salient credential was his service as the Nebraska Democratic Party state chairman from 1993-95. As a former party activist, he understands very well that same-sex-marriage advocates cannot achieve their goal by vote of the people or their elected representatives, so their undemocratic game plan is to use supremacist judges.
As our government takes democracy to unlikely places all over the world, how about a decent respect for self-government at home!
Bataillon's argument that the Nebraska law violates the First Amendment because it "chills or inhibits advocacy" of same-sex marriages is a legal embarrassment. That argument is absurd; gays can continue to advocate their agenda all they want.
Bataillon's argument that the Nebraska law unfairly prohibits people from "entering into numerous relationships or living arrangements" is just as far-fetched. Under the Nebraska law, gays can have any relationships they want, but they don't have the right to force the government or the people of Nebraska to recognize those relationships or accord them special privileges.
Those who assert that any outrageous judicial decision becomes the law of the land will now claim that Bataillon's decision is the new law. They will claim that despite the overwhelming rejection of same-sex marriage licenses by voters nationwide, we must respect this new rule invented by this Democratic-Party-chairman-turned-judge.
How long will Congress sit idly by, watching representative government disintegrate in the face of judges determined to rewrite our laws and remake our culture? Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., had declared his support for traditional marriage and Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., had chimed in that "the future of our country hangs in the balance," but they gave us only words without action.