I'm convinced that Boies and Olson are right - and they know they have the votes

It could be as close as a 5-4 split. But it would be sweeping and unilateral, and it may very well be authored by Anthony Kennedy, who foretold of this very case in his bold opinion in Lawrence V Texas.

If they prevail (and remember, these two guys know more about the USSC than any two living civilians on the planet), this could very well be a watershed decision that throws out every same sex marriage ban in the country a la Loving V Virginia.

Olson, when asked on television just now how he feels as an ardent, partisan Republican, Bush's former Solicitor General, to be more progressive on gay equality issues than the Democratic President of the US:

"I hope he catches up."

Indeed.

and I think Kennedy very cleverly laid the groundwork for this in Lawrence.

These two would not be doing this unless they were utterly convinced they would prevail.

to be consistent on the 14th ammendment.

It will be interesting.

The cases the Supreme Court takes, for the most part, are very close legal questions - questions in which a decision for either party would be consistent with the current law, but which generally nudge it slightly in one direction or the other. I can very rarely attack Scalia's legal reasoning - even though I wish he would nudge the law in the other direction. Cases which deal with homosexuality are pretty much the lone exception - he becomes a raving lunatic who cannot force himself to apply correct legal reasoning in those cases.

So - he consistently interprets the law and the constitution in most cases (nudging it away from where I would like it to go) - and in cases dealing with homosexuality, he consistently cannot bring himself to do that (which, in some instances, means he would need to rule in favor of gay rights).

That he is counting on the Supreme Court to deal with this issue so he does not have to...

I would hate to think that has to "catch up" on the issue...

Let the irrelevancy begin...

As long as the gay community gets equal rights and protection under the law, I don't care who gets credit for it and who doesn't.

he could burnish his role in history if he started using the bully pulpit on this and gave, let's say, a major address to a southern audience, reversing himself on marriage equality and strongly endorsing full civil rights.

He could even boldly urge and lobby congress to strike down DOMA, before the Boies/Olson court case wipes it out preemptively.

There are a lot of things he could do as POTUS to lead this country in the right direction.

I don't know what is.

Ted Olson scolding Barack Obama.

And Olson is right!

I'm gonna have to rethink everything I ever believed about .............

Oh, who am I kidding?

History's gonna be made, one way or the other. This Court, anything is possible, but we gotta pray that John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg stay healthy....................................

protections, for now. There are voting groups who are not there, conservatives from island communities, certain churches. Still a stretch.

When Loving came down, abolishing anti-miscenegation laws unilaterally, the country was still 70/30 against interracial marriage. The country is currently 50/50 on same sex marriage.

"Conservatives from island communities" and, frankly, Obama himself, are largely irrelevant.

The decision is basically that equal protection doesn't matter if the amendment is properly passed. That seems like a flaw in the California constitution or a severe flaw in the judgment of the court.

Who is the "defendant?"

does that mean Jerry Brown would be defending it? :)

I suppose if he pulled this off, he would save his own soul from eternal damnation in Hell.

I'm just not so sure he can be trusted to do it.

this is the wrong case to take forward.

This could push us back 30 years.

I don't trust Olson.

I've done a bit of research on who is funding Olson and Boies' lawsuit (group named the American Foundation for Equal Rights, i.e., AFER) and it appears to be Chad Griffin. We couldn't have a better guardian angel on our side, me thinks... Here is the thread I started on Chad Griffin and the AFER:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x134267

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Whois is your friend. And it appears we may just have a fairy godfather (no pun intended) who is behind, or at least intimately involved, with the newly-sprung website/organization, "American Foundation for Equal Rights" (http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org )

AFER's website is registered to Chad Griffin of Griffin Schake (on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles-CA/Griffin-Sc... )

Google "Griffin Schake" and you will be pleasantly surprised. Chad Griffin, a democratric politico, was one of Advocate mag's "People of the Year" in 2008; Griffin was also executive producer on Kirby Dick's documentary, "Outrage." Griffin's agency is also behind the long-running and highly successful California anti-smoking PSA/ad campaign.

"Chad joins Tina Fey, Al Gore, Gus Van Sant, Olympic Gold Medalist Matthew Mitcham, Barney Frank, and the Obamas among the 20 Americans who had the greatest impact on gay rights in 2008.
Griffin helped at the tail end of the No on Prop 8 campaign, helping bring in heavy hitters from Hollywood and boosting the campaign's war chest."

AFER also has a facebook page at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Foundation-for-E...

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More on Chad Griffin (AFER/Olson/Boies federal lawsuit): Griffin's a former White House staffer under Clinton and current political consultant to Hollywood power brokers, Rob Reiner, Michael King and Steve Bing, with connections to supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and actor Brad Pitt.

http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid68655.asp

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Chad Griffin got his first taste of politics in 1992 working at Bill Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., under the tutelage of Dee Dee Myers. When Myers set off for Washington, D.C. -- she'd eventually become Clinton’s press secretary—the 19-year-old Hope, Ark.-native followed and became the youngest person ever to work on the president’s staff.

One of Griffin’s responsibilities while working on Pennsylvania was serving as a White House contact for director Rob Reiner, who was researching his 1995 film An American President, and the two became friends. Griffin eventually passed on a job offer at the State Department to become the head of Reiner's nonprofit organization, now known as Parent’s Action for Children.

Today the 35-year-old Griffin keeps a hand in both politics and entertainment as president Griffin Shake, a political and philanthropic communications agency, and Armour Griffin, a political advocacy and advertising agency. So it’s no surprise that the folks at Equality California called him when Proposition 8 fell into trouble this September.

Griffin immediately e-mailed Brad Pitt -- he had helped facilitate Pitt's New Orleans relief organization Make It Right -- and within 24 hours, the actor had pledged $100,000 to fight the proposition. He tapped Pitt’s collaborator, client Steve Bing for another $500,00, asked former supermarket magnate Ron Burkle to host a $500-a-head fund-raiser (featuring performances by Mary J. Blige and Melissa Etheridge) at his Hollywood home, and conceived and executed anti-Prop. 8 ads like the one featuring Sen. Diane Feinstein. Despite all his efforts, Griffin isn't dwelling on the loss; he’s already begun gathering a coalition to planning the next move. For the boy from Hope, success is all in a day’s work.

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Chad Griffin is a long-time Democratic politico with powerful political and financial connections. That he and his cohorts brought on a well known conservative with arguably the most inside knowledge and expertise pertaining to the SCOTUS and paired him with a progressive litigator who is equally equipped, this is genius. I'm hopeful for the first time in a very long time.

What exactly is the procedure? Wouldn't go first to the District federal court before going to the SCOTUS?

I believe they have filed it with the federal district court.

One of those guys lost it for Gore. And the other one worked faithfully for Bush.

If anything, it leans in our favor right now. We don't need to wait until Thomas or Scalia retire. We need to stop waiting for the wind to blow the right way and just go for it.

Moreover, it is inevitable for this issue to be taken to the federal level. The anti-marriage equality side isn't satisfied with the CA Supreme Court ruling. They want the 18,000 remaining marriages invalidated. Ken Starr will probably file an appeal to challenge those 18,000 marriages. This is just the beginning of the long road to the US Supreme Court over this issue. Since Olsen and Boeis have already filed, they have gained the upper hand.

that the man wants to do something right for once. I don't idolise Ted Olson, but he's at least said somethig when our "Change" Prez, Obama, has said zip that I have heard in the wake of the SCSC decision. I won't believe anything until I see it happen, but I am also tired of the LBTQ leadership always waiting to see if it is safe before sticking their necks out. If these guys had been African-American community leaders, African AMericans might still be living under "separate but equal".

What formed Olson's opinion on this, who knows. Maybe a close friend or friends who are gay or a family member even. Maybe he was so moved by some of the couples like the ones he is representing. Maybe its just the desire to win in front of the Supreme Court and satisfy his ego? I doubt it, but my guess is he wouldn't go in front of the Supreme Court and argue a case he wasn't confident on the grounds and at the same time risk serious scrutiny from the right while doing it.

I think the time has come for Americans to see this is the time and the situation and issue at hand is no different that the Loving case in which inter-racial marriage had previously not been allowed. I mean even Connecticut and Iowa allow Gays to marry now....

Either way, it's happening and I wish them well.