Still foggy about the onward

Remember back in June and July when it seemed all of Texas was aflame with outrage about same-sex marriages?

Well, that didn't last long.

I went a googling the issue, and what I found was that as of  July 16, the Texas Observer could find only two counties, out of 254, where clerks resigned rather than issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. As Equality Texas spokesman Daniel Williams put it, "he has the utmost respect for county clerks who step down because they can’t perform their jobs while following the tenets of their faith. 'I think they should be applauded for doing exactly what we want our government officials to do, which is to put the public before their own interests,” Williams said. “That is a triumph of democracy.' "

I think he's right.  It was well-handled.

Yes, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (indicted on three felony counts) did say county clerks could do what they wanted, the Texas Supreme Court be hanged.  Wisely, the county clerks paid no attention to him.  And now he faces possible contempt in federal court for his intransigence (the couple in question were married in New Mexico, living in Texas when one of them died.  The weasel-speak of Paxton's spokesperson doesn't pass the laugh test in a court of law, which is why he's facing contempt charges.).  What he thinks he gains from this is anybody's guess.  I think it just makes him look churlish.  The horse is out, the barn's burned down, you lost, Mr. Paxton.  Move on.

(word comes today, though I find no online source to link to, that the state agency for death certificate records has agreed to follow the court order, so even that minor drama comes to an end now.  What Paxton has accomplished is literally beyond me.)

Faster than I expected, the hoopla is over and Ken Paxton is known more for his felony indictment than for his brave stance on state's rights.  Things are actually as they should be.