By Brad Friedman on 3/3/2015, 9:15pm PT  

It's kind of remarkable what seems to be going on in our country right now. Amidst the years-long ongoing Rightwing hissy-fit over "Obamacare", the GOP has, of late, been enjoying another one concerning immigration. That latest resulted in a completely pointless delay in Congressional funding of the Department of Homeland Security, as the Right pretended that because they really really want something to happen, it must happen. Ya know, kinda like a three-year old.

The GOP Congress gave up the ghost of that particular hissy-fit, at least the part where they pretended they wouldn't fund DHS because of it, earlier today. But there will be more ahead. "I also shudder for the future of this Congress," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said after the House finally approved the clean funding everybody knew they eventually would.

And now, tonight, we've got a similar hissy-fit from the Alabama Supreme Court, as they pretend they can overrule the federal courts in regard to Constitutional equal rights protections...

Via AP:

The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the state's probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, saying a previous federal ruling that gay-marriage bans violate the U.S. Constitution does not preclude them from following state law, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The all-Republican court in Montgomery sided with the argument offered by a pair of conservative organizations when they appealed a decision last month by U.S. District Judge Callie Granade of Mobile, who ruled that both Alabama's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.

It was not immediately clear what impact the court's ruling would have or whether it would stand. While a six-member majority of the nine-member court did not explicitly invalidate the marriages of hundreds of same-sex couples who obtained licenses in the state in recent weeks, the decision used the term "purported" to describe those licenses.

If they just wish it enough, it's got to be true! Of course, it's Alabama, a state with some history of pretending the U.S. Constitution doesn't apply to them. It won't work this time either. They will lose again (even if their residents will win.) It's all just another hissy-fit. Apparently, that's all Republicans now seem to know how to do. There is no real governing anymore. That's not good for anybody.

It's embarrassing really. But, of course, one has to have self-respect to be capable of embarrassment.

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• The Alabama Supreme Court's 134-page ruling (yes, 134 pages!) and the 12-page dissent by a single Justice, is right here...[PDF]

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Article Categories: Alabama, Rights And Freedoms, U.S. Constitution, Republicans, Marriage Equality