The Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that the Constitution protects
same-sex marriage was great news. The party pooper was the remarkably
weak reasoning by which the Court got there. Reading the four dissents
poke holes in Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion for the Court, I kept
thinking, “Yeah, that’s fair,” even though on the bottom line the Court
clearly got it right. All of Kennedy’s worst traits — the ponderous
self-importance, the leaps of logic, the worship of state power — were
on display. For a decision this important, the Court should have been
able to do better.
I elaborate in a column at Salon.com, here.