Passover,Holy Week and Gay Marriage

++I finally found out what happens to Matzos after Passover. They are fed into a shredder that makes them look like little bags of hay.

++Pope Francis called the Argentinian papers to cancel his delivery in Buenos Aires.

++The American Religious Right is upset that Christ is being run out of Easter and replaced by the Easter Bunny. It's all Obama's fault. 

++North Korea is acting out again and we've sent stealth bombers over Korea. This is more hinky than usual.

++We had the hearings in Prop 8 and DOMA. It was clear from the oral arguments in Prop 8 that none of the justices wanted the case. Neither side got to discuss the merits of the case and Ted Olson was closed down by Chief Justice Roberts when he tried. The whole argument was whether former Iran-Contra lawyer Cooper had any standing to argue for the law since California never defended it. Judge Kennedy got emotional when he cited the some 40,000 children adopted by gay parents who wanted their parents legalized. But he seemed as befuddled as the other justices about why they should have to rule on Prop.8.The Obama argument to seek legalization in the 8 states that have already approved went over like a lead balloon. You have to second guess Ted Olson and David Boies' strategy to get the case before this Supreme Court. Both men argued the case superbly in California but never got a chance this week. I basically think the reversal of the law will stand and the Supreme Court will kick it back to the lower court and wait for someone else to litigate it.

++DOMA seems DOA. Five justices ripped it apart on everything from bigotry to the issue of the government providing benefits to partners. This one is going down on the basis of federalism. The justices didn't see how Congress could define marriage when it was the prerogative of the states. Lost in the arguments was Edie Windsor who when her partner died was stuck with several hundred thousand dollars in estate taxes even though she had married her partner in New York state. Weirdly Tony Scalia argued that the court had no right to try the case because there was not a victim. At least Edie could meet the press and argue for her love of her departed partner.

++Elaine Kagan deserves credit for raising questions about the argument that marriage is about procreation asking whether heterosexuals over the age of 55 could be banned from marriage if they can't have children. She exposed the ludicrous argument on this issue. Both Justice Kagan and Sotomayer made it explicit that DOMA was intended to express disapproval for the "Homosexual lifestyle" as the bill stated in its introduction. This caught Clements off-guard since he maintained that this was not what he was defending--but it was. Until then, he was ably arguing his case, which was flimsy at best.

++The Court doesn't feel or look like it wants to make a sweeping decision while the states have not resolved the issue. The argument that gay rights is in the realm of the equal protection clause was lost. In fact Justice Roberts emphatically denied this was the case. We are not talking about profiles in courage here. The Court is way behind the revolution in public opinion. They simply are not going to get out in front of it.

++Supporters of equal rights gained this week and opponents got slaughtered but basically the legal issue only got pushed incrementally forward. There will be more to come as case law will be built bit by bit.

++Those hoping for Justice Kennedy to be a profile in courage to make a sweeping decision in favor of gay marriage might shudder to think when he will make such a dramatic decision--at the time Roe V. Wade gets argued again. And it will. The strategy of the anti-abortion crowd has been to push State legislatures to pass highly restrictive laws against abortion to force this issue to a Supreme Court, which  is tilted in its favor.

++If gays won this week, women are being mowed down by States severely restricting reproductive rights. North Dakota passed three bills which will in effect end abortions in that state. They have opted to push forward the Personhood bill which will be voted on in a referendum this fall.

++Tiger Woods is again Number 1 in Golf after winning his Eight Arnold Palmer Open, which ties Slammin' Sammy Snead who won 8 Greensboro Opens.

++Nate The Great predicts the Yankees will win 91 games and top the Eastern Division. Yankee fans do not believe the Yankees will make the playoffs. They point to Derek Jeter's awful appearance limping around. But there will always be Mariano for one last year.

++The Lakers seem cursed by injuries just as they started getting their game together. Meta World Peace just got injured.