During the Tuesday edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe program, co-host Joe Scarborough slammed the judges in his home state of Alabama who are refusing to obey a U.S. Supreme Court order to begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
He referred to the judges who are “ignoring the Constitution of the United States” -- led by Roy Moore, Alabama's chief justice, who declared that the January ruling in favor of gay marriage by U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade should be disregarded -- as an “embarrassment” to the state “I love and adore.”
“Even though I understand your concern with the ruling, and I had some of the same concerns,” he stated, “that gives you no right to ignore the law of the land. It gives you no right to ignore everything you were taught in law school. And it gives you no right to cast a shadow over the state of Alabama.”
His co-host, Mika Brzezinski, agreed, asserting that “things are changing quickly. I think Alabama needs to catch up.”
Scarborough responded that “most of the people in Alabama understand this, but you know, this is Governance 101.”
He then told the story that “when Benjamin Franklin walked out of the Constitutional Convention, he was asked: 'Well, Doctor, are we going to have a republic or a monarchy?' and Franklin famously responded: 'A republic if you can keep it.'”
The co-host continued:
And you know, Mika, we've kept that republic through a lot of tough times, through slavery, a civil war, 18 depressions and recessions, through Jim Crow laws, the internment of over a hundred thousand Americans during World War II, it's continued.
But we've always stumbled forward as a nation, and we've stumbled forward imperfectly but we've done it toward a more perfect union, and we've done that not because we're exceptionally blameless. We've done that because we're exceptionally aspirational even when we're deeply flawed.
“Why?” he asked. “We are first a nation of laws. No matter how much you and I hate flag burning, no matter how much you and I are repulsed by Nazi marches, no matter how much you and I may disagree with Supreme Court rulings -- and you might not disagree with the Supreme Court ruling in question -- we've survived over two centuries because the law of the land still rules us all.”
“And bluntly, if we don't like how federal judges are making laws, there's a way to get around that, and it's not by defying the federal government," Scarborough stated.
“It's by winning elections and appointing judges that actually share your view of what America should be, what our society should be, and what the Constitution of the United States should be and how it should be interpreted,” he continued.
As NewsBusters previously reported, Moore's actions have drawn the wrath of liberal commentator Kyle Whitmore at the Birmingham News, the largest newspaper in Alabama.
Whitmore set up a poll that asked readers “Is Roy Moore a closeted homosexual?” The results were: 71 percent “Yes,” 6 percent “No,” and 22 percent “Maybe, but just that one time in college.”
However, Moore -- a married Baptist with four children -- is best known for insisting on having the Ten Commandments posted in his courtroom, leading to court fights with secularists -- and popularity with Alabama voters.
Then on Monday night, ABC, CBS and NBC each devoted a segment of their newscasts to the fact that Moore and some local government officials chose not to carry out a federal ruling that calls for gay marriages to be permitted despite a voter-approved ban.
Of course, the networks provided sympathetic coverage to those in favor of gay marriage, proclaiming that this “standoff” in Alabama has become “a full-blown civil rights battle,” with ABC and CBS comparing Moore to then-Alabama governor George Wallace, who tried to block the desegregation of the state’s schools in 1963.
The drumbeat continued on Tuesday morning, when all three networks' early news programs again covered the clash taking place in the state also known as “The Heart of Dixie.”
Introducing a full report on CBS This Morning, fill-in co-host Jeff Glor proclaimed: "A major battle over same-sex marriage is unfolding in Alabama this morning." On ABC's Good Morning America, co-host Robin Roberts announced: "the high-stakes showdown over marriage equality in Alabama." On NBC's Today, co-host Matt Lauer told viewers: "There's a new major fight in Alabama over same-sex marriage."
What will happen next is anyone's guess, especially since liberals have turned to judges in an effort to overturn the constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage approved by voters in 29 states.
