A twist on DOMA

Here's something that struck me.   Last night, former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) was interviewed on MSNBC about the court's decisions on gay issues.

Among other things, Barney said a striking thing:   We should give John Boehner some credit for the decisive decision and the striking down of DOMA.

Here's the explanation.   The Obama administration had said it was no longer going to defend DOMA in court.   Thus the appeal that SCOTUS had agreed to hear would have no defense from the government.    Then John Boehner and the House Republicans took up the cause and hired a defense team -- at tax payer expense.  

Braney's point is that, because it was defended and thus had a full hearing of pros and cons, the court made a decisive ruling that it was unconstitutional.   If it had not been defended, there might have been a less clearcut decision for such a dramatic change.

So, it's far from the result Boehner wanted, he is in part responsible for such a decisive and sweeping change.

Ralph