California Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage

By Howard Mintz - MediaNews

Article Launched: 05/15/2008 11:11:39 AM PDT

A sharply divided California Supreme Court today legalized same-sex marriage, a historic ruling that will allow gay and lesbian couples across the state to wed as soon as next month and inflame the social, political and moral debate over gay unions.

In a 4-3 ruling written by Chief Justice Ronald George, the Supreme Court struck down California laws that restrict marriage to heterosexual couples, finding that it is unconstitutional to deprive gays and lesbians of the equal right to walk down the aisle with a marriage license in hand.

See complete text of the ruling

The California and Massachusetts Supreme Courts are now the only top courts in the country to uphold the right of gay couples to marry.

"The California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples," the court observed in a 121-page decision.

The reaction was immediate.

A spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom sent a simple e-mail to his press staff: "We won."

When the news was signaled to the more than 100 people gathered on the steps outside the federal courthouse in San Francisco by a thumbs up, they let out whoops of joy, and some broke out in tears....(Click here for remainder of article).

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Olberman calls Bush interview unforgiveable

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Eight reasons why Obama should not choose Clinton as his running mate in `08

By Eric Zorn
chicagotribune.com

I know, I know. More than 15 million Democrats have voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries and many of them are so invested in her candidacy that they're threatening to stay home in November or vote for Republican in waiting John McCain in the very likely event that the Democrats nominate Barack Obama for presdient.

Obama should choose her as his running mate to honor and woo those Clinton supporters. He should choose her as his running mate to help soothe the still escalating intra-party hostilities. He should choose her as his running mate because she runs far stronger than he does among certain core Democratic constituencies.

And for those reasons he probably will offer her the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

Yet here are eight reasons it's a bad idea:

1. Choosing Clinton would belie Obama's message of change. Whether you admire her or not, you have to acknowledge that Clinton's an old-style, legacy Democrat. Obama's candidacy is premised on a break with the past.

2. Choosing Clinton would belie Obama's repudiation of the old way of doing politics. Clinton and her surrogates are tough campaigners who have gone hard after Obama (see below) trying to draw him into the fight. And on those occasions where he and his team have responded in kind, Team Clinton has smirkingly asked whatever happened to the politics of hope?...(Click here for remainder of article).

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Ex-Rival Edwards Throws His Support to Obama

By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: May 15, 2008

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — John Edwards gave his long-awaited endorsement to Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday, bolstering Mr. Obama’s efforts to rally the Democratic Party around his candidacy and offering potential help in his efforts to win over working class white voters in the general election.

“The Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I,” Mr. Edwards told a roaring crowd of more than 12,000 people here in the Van Andel Arena, on a day when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to capitalize on her victory on Tuesday in West Virginia and convince superdelegates and contributors that she still has a chance to capture the Democratic nomination.

“There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America — not two — and that man is Barack Obama,” Mr. Edwards said at an event that resembled the closing night of a party convention, with the two men standing arm in arm and waving as the crowd chanted “Yes we can!”

Mr. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina who dropped his bid for the nomination in January, said Mr. Obama represented hope and reconciliation to a nation buffeted by war and economic distress....(Click here for remainder of article).

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John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama

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