DOMA on the Ropes

After yesterday's hearing, all the experts say it looks like the Court will strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, the four liberals on gay rights grounds and Justice Kennedy as an unwarranted interference in the right of individual states to regulate marriage. This would be a major victory, securing real marriage rights to gay couples in all the states that have voted to endorse gay marriage. It would also continue the trend toward real marriage equality in America.

Things have gone so far that Bill O'Reilly took time off from bashing liberals to note that the biggest opponents of same-sex marriage are Muslims, and then to say this:

The compelling argument is on the side of homosexuals. That is where the compelling argument is. We’re Americans, we just want to be treated like everybody else. That’s a compelling argument, and to deny that you’ve got to have a very strong argument on the other side. And the other side hasn’t been able to do anything but thump the Bible.

And despite what liberals sometimes fear, thumping the Bible has never been, by itself, a very effective argument in American politics.