MASSACHUSETTS COURT ALLOWS GAY MARRIAGE: Jonah Goldberg comments:

Each of the major Democratic candidates say they are against gay marriage. They are all, I believe, against a Federal Marriage Amendment. Fine, so am I. But what exactly will Democrats do to oppose gay marriage? As I've noted before -- when Dean was the frontrunner -- none of these guys seem willing to do anything to back up their positions. They want the courts to simply take the issue away from them while they insist they are firm on the issue. Dean was the most cynical and dishonest on the subject. But I can't see how Kerry's much better. There might still be room for Bush to get on the right side of the issue politically if he can force Democrats to answer the question "Would you do anything to stop gay marriage?"

UPDATE: Stephen Green adds:

I'm all for gay marriage, as I'm sure readers here know. But the Massachusetts Supremes just handed Bush a wedge issue which could very well set back the gay marriage movement.

It's tough for the law to jump ahead of the culture without creating Roe v Wade-type endless rancor -- especially when it tries to do so by judicial fiat. And culturally, I'm afraid, we might not be ready for nation-wide gay marriage. The best hope is that the national Supreme Court stays the hell out of this one, and lets the issue evolve -- and progress -- more naturally.