New Yorkers to Paterson: Uh, We Do Have A Constitution In This State

We noted this morning that New York Governor David Paterson decided on his own that he would circumvent the will of the people and the state constitution by willy-nilly declaring that the state would recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

Well, obviously, it's justifiably meeting with resistance. Naturally, anyone disagreeing with Paterson will likely be declared a homophobe and therefore null and void, but it's worth reminding the new governor that he's not King. In fact, it it weren't for the good graces of New Yorkers trying to wipe the taste of Eliot Spitzer out of their mouths, Paterson's reign as governor might have only lasted a couple of weeks once people found out he was a former dope-smoking philanderer. He might not want to overreach so soon, especially while doing it surreptitiously.

Opposition surfaced Thursday against Gov. David Paterson's directive to state agencies to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states and countries.

The Rev. Duane Motley of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms said the Democrat "slapped the people in the face by circumventing their representatives," while New York's Catholic bishops said "just as the state cannot declare a man to be a 'mother' or a woman to be a 'father,' it can not declare a same-sex union to be a 'marriage."

Paterson issued a memo earlier this month saying that gay New Yorkers who marry where it is legal will have the right to share family health care plans, receive tax breaks by filing jointly, enjoy stronger adoption rights and inherit property.

Paterson cited a February ruling in a New York Appellate Division court in which the judges determined that there is no legal impediment in New York to the recognition of a same-sex marriage.

While gay rights advocates hailed the move, the feeling was not unanimous.

State Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who opposes gay marriage, questioned the constitutionality of Paterson's action, but said in a Thursday morning news conference that he hadn't yet seen the memo.

Bruno said he was surprised when he read news reports about the memo and plans to speak to Paterson. Bruno also noted the state's highest court has found gay marriage isn't legal within the state. The high court hasn't yet taken up the issue of whether gay marriages performed legally out of state are valid in New York.

"You have to understand that the court, the highest court here in New York state, made it very very clear that the only union that is legal in New York state, to perform a marriage ceremony, is between a man and a woman," Bruno said, citing a 2006Court or Appeals ruling.

State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said Paterson should allow gay marriages to be recognized only if the Legislature legalizes gay marriage.

"The California judges overturned the will of the California people and Governor Paterson is apparently trying to do the same thing in New York," he said.

Memo to Joseph Bruno: Stop being such a nice guy. Paterson's predecessor is no longer in office due in part to his trying to ruin you (of course, that hooker thing played a much larger part), so you might want to remind Paterson that impeachment is always an option.

Paterson weakly defended himself.

Paterson defended himself Thursday, saying: "This is not an end run around the Legislature. I am following the law as it always has existed."

He said failure to issue the directive would leave the state open to lawsuits claiming the state deprived gay couples of civil rights enjoyed in other states.

So he's following the law "as it always existed" yet the Supreme Court has not yet ruled.

Sneaky. Very sneaky. Which, of course, is the only way they ever get this enacted.

Could you imagine the howls from the media and the left if Republican governors just on a whim made laws by themselves?

It's no small irony Paterson wants to pull this stunt by recognizing marriages in other states where gay marriage was also decreed by judicial fiat in defiance of lawmakers and the will of the people.

It's incredible the level of contempt these liberals have for people.