Demagogue

Perhaps we should start a Josh Marshall-style club for states facing unintended consequences from the recent spate of state-level Hate Amendments and mini-DOMAs. The charter member was Ohio. Now Utah has joined. Arguably the most socially conservative legislature in the country seems poised to scale back a Hate Amendment that was passed only three months ago.

I like the reporter's slant; how do you think he voted on the referendum?

After rushing to write a ban on gay marriage into the state constitution, Utah legislators are stepping back to repair some of the damage the law could deal other kinds of domestic partners....Utah's Legislature - overwhelmingly Republican and Mormon, and one of the most conservative bodies in the nation - ignored warnings from the state's Republican attorney general that the amendment went too far....Now, in a moment of sober reflection, the same lawmakers are looking at giving back to adults who live together but are ineligible to marry - a category that includes same-sex couples - some of the rights of husband and wife.

This truly was a Hate Amendment. What are the chances that if the ban hadn't been enshrined in the state's constitution, the Utah legislature or courts would have legalized same-sex marriage any time before Armageddon? This was superfluous, gratuitous spite.