Not to buy into the savvy-bloggers-versus-clueless-MSM trope. But it does appear that the mainstream media might have missed one of the most significant aspects of yesterday’s vote by the Legislature to advance the anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment. By their omission, the media may have helped create the false impression that legislators were acting on principle rather than expediency.
Both the Globe and the Herald today cite last week’s Supreme Judicial Court ruling that legislators must vote up or down on citizen initiatives as the main reason that the amendment was not killed through a parliamentary maneuver, as has happened on several occasions in the past.
In the Globe, Frank Phillips and Lisa Wangsness write:
[T]he vote marked a dramatic shift in fortune for social conservatives and Governor Mitt Romney, who just weeks ago had little hope the petition would move forward. Both they and same-sex marriage advocates said the Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling was the major factor that shifted the political ground in favor of the proposed amendment.
In the Herald, Casey Ross puts it this way:
[State Sen. Richard] Tisei and other observers said [Gov.-elect Deval] Patrick, who called a press conference to explain his opposition in the morning, did not seem to understand the impact of a Supreme Judicial Court ruling last week that unambiguously stated that lawmakers had to take an up-or-down vote.
WBZ-TV (Channel 4) political analyst Jon Keller writes this on his blog:
[T]he SJC’s ruling that legislators were obligated to vote today was cited by everyone involved in the con-con, from [Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus co-chair] Arline Isaacson to Trav [that would be Senate President Robert Travaglini] to Mitt Romney, as a key factor in what occurred. The same SJC that infuriated so many with the gay-marriage ruling has now restored its legitimacy in the minds of all but the most obtuse.
So there you have it — reluctant legislators obey the court and uphold their oath of office by voting to advance an amendment that only 31 percent of them support. Let’s give them a hand.
But wait — wasn’t there another constitutional amendment the legislators were supposed to vote on yesterday? Uh, the answer to that would be “yes.” A citizen initiative to amend the state constitution by guaranteeing everyone health care (Media Nation is not clear on the details) was supposed to be voted on yesterday, just like the anti-gay-marriage amendment. And guess what? It wasn’t. I can find virtually no mention of this in today’s coverage — but several bloggers picked up on it immediately.
Most prominent was Blue Mass Group, which has taken a pounding from its liberal readers for insisting that the Legislature vote on all constitutional amendments, including the gay-marriage ban. Last evening, Blue Mass Group blogger David Kravitz, coming off as sadder but wiser, wrote:
The results are in: the legislature took a vote on the merits of the anti-marriage amendment, and advanced it to the 2007-08 session, but did not do so on the health care amendment, so it died on the vine. So they have — no question — violated their oaths of office. And they’ve made those of us who asked them to follow the law on the marriage amendment, even though we suspected the results would be disappointing, look pretty silly. Thanks guys.
The Outraged Liberal, who had urged the Legislature to engage in “civil disobedience” by refusing to vote on the anti-marriage amendment, opined last night:
Process liberals may have also learned a very hard lesson — particularly with the Legislature’s refusal to vote on the health care amendment. Next time there may be a better understanding that principle of the question is more important than the principle of the process.
Universal Hub wraps up blogger comment this morning — again, acknowledging the hypocrisy of the Legislature for upholding the constitution by voting on gay marriage but then thumbing its nose on health care.
The sole mainstream-media reference to the health-care amendment I could find this morning in my admittedly less-than-comprehensive search was in this story, by David Kibbe of Ottaway News Service. His lengthy account of the gay-marriage debate ends with this:
In other action yesterday, the Legislature bottled up a proposed ballot question for universal health care by sending it a committee. Opponents of the question said it would hamper the state’s efforts to establish a landmark health care law to greatly expand health coverage. But those who backed it said it would help the state achieve its goal.
That seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? The legislative session expired yesterday, so the health-care amendment can no longer be considered for the 2008 ballot. Thus it would appear that the Legislature explicitly ignored the SJC’s vote-or-else decree, making a mockery of the supposed respect for the process it demonstrated by advancing the anti-marriage amendment.
The media’s failure to point out this prime example of constitutional hypocrisy seems so mind-boggling that I keep thinking I must be missing something; that for some technical reason perhaps the Legislature was not obligated to vote on health care. If I’m wrong, let me know — not that you need to be told.
Update: Laura Kiritsy of Bay Windows gets it right. Kiritsy also reports that legislators went ahead and voted despite a legal opinion from the Senate counsel that they didn’t have to.
Update II: Good editorial in the MetroWest Daily News.