A big loss for gay marriage. That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.
In the first vote after four Massachusetts judges legalized marriage for homosexuals, the state of Missouri has said absolutely not. Seventy-one percent of Missouri voters approved an amendment that states legal marriage can only occur between a man and a woman. Seventy-one percent is an enormous landslide.
The vote bodes well for President Bush because Missouri is considered a swing state in November, but the main point here is that the folks have once against stated their preference: Keep the definition of marriage the way it is.
Missouri makes 38 states that will not allow gay marriage, and Congress will soon pass a federal law that says states cannot be forced to recognize anything other than man-woman unions.
But, at the same time, the people of Missouri were voting, a lone judge in Washington State was approving gay marriage. Seattle jurist William Downing says he knows what's right for America, and he will change the definition of marriage all by himself. It was the ACLU (search) who petitioned the judge. What a surprise. His ruling will likely be overturned.
That's not the point. The main issue here is that individual judges continue to overrule the will of the people. We simply can't have that in America. Judge Downing is not in charge.
"Talking Points" has said over and over that if Lenny and Larry want to get hitched, fine with me. I really don't think the country's going to collapse. But what I think doesn't matter. Overwhelmingly, Americans want to keep marriage the way it is, and that opinion must be honored.
Civil unions for any American couple should be legalized so all Americans have the same playing field, but the country is under no obligation to change the traditional definition of marriage and family period. Missouri is the Show Me State, and they've shown us.
And that's the memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Our pal Sharon Stone (search) — well, that might be wishful thinking — is mad at President Bush, and here's why. Speaking to a Web site in Ireland, Ms. Stone claims that she was prevented from filming a lesbian scene in the movie "Catwoman" with Halle Berry because, "The current conservative climate in the country just wouldn't allow it."
Ms. Stone went on to say that Halle's "so beautiful, I just wanted to kiss her. That's what you get for having George Bush (search) as president." So let me get this straight. President Bush stopped Sharon Stone from cavorting with Halle Berry? I am outraged. This could be ridiculous.
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