O'Reilly Is An Asshole Watch II

Big Bill was outclassed by a sharp constitutional attorney in the segment on the upcoming FMA vote.

The odious bit came when O'Reilly claimed that the Mass. SJC ruling on gay marriage ("a 4-3 ruling," as if that made it any less legitimate) was based on a technicality, namely that the legislature hadn't specifically banned gay marriage. Or did I miss something when the court rebuffed the legislature's request that it merely enact civil unions

Wrong! The court ruled that any attempt to prevent gays from getting married would violate the equal protection provisions of MA's state constitution. Why? Because, as the attorney pointed out, the state could not come up with any compelling reason for excluding gays from civil marriage, except the desire to exclude them.

This is a national issue now. And the 15th Amendment, to paraphrase the gun lobby, is not a technicality.