The Massachusetts high court ruled today that only full, equal marriage rights for gay couples — rather than civil unions — would be constitutional, erasing any doubts that the nation’s first same-sex marriages could take place in the state beginning in mid-May. (Check the photo essay also available on the above link.) Hours after the court ruling, the White House called the developments “deeply troubling” and said it will review the decision. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush is dedicated to “protecting the sanctity of marriage.”
Regarding WMD: “I’ve talked with analysts at CIA and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), and they all claim there was tremendous pressure put on them,” said Melvin Goodman (ex-CIA expert who currently teaches at the National War College). The fact, according to Goodman, that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld created an Office of Special Plans (OSP) outside the formal intelligence channels with the specific mandate to reassess raw intelligence in order to find alleged links between Hussein and the al-Qaeda terrorist group suggests the administration was applying that pressure in unconventional ways.
