"Now fill the world with music, love and pride"

For my money, these are the two most cogent responses to the horror in Orlando.

Thoughts and Prayers, by John Scalzi

“I offer my thoughts and prayers.”

Thank you.

It’s not enough.

It never was.

What more do you have to offer?

Recipe for a Shooting, by Chuck Wendig

You’re special.

Those people aren’t like you.

They’re your enemy.

You get to have what you want.

You get to do what you want, take what you want.

(Nobody will do anything to stop you anyway.)

Just don’t cry. Don’t feel. Bottle it all up.

God says it’s okay.

The law says it’s okay.

Long as you’re a man, a manly man, not a pussy, not a queer.

Here, now. Have your gun. Go on, take it.

Don’t use it, of course.

Wink, wink.

Don’t use it.

Don’t stray.

Those are your enemies.

Here is your gun.

And there is this.

The World Stands With Orlando

(Title: From Lin-Manuel Miranda's sonnet, read Sunday night at the Tony Awards.)

All for Love, and Love for All

I'm still making my way through the Hugo stuff, but I had to pause and reflect on the amazing decision handed down by the Supreme Court today.

This is it. No waffling, no sidestepping, no lawyerly weasel words. The Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment apply, and marriage equality is the law of the land.

The final paragraph of Justice Anthony Kennedy's opinion is a thing of beauty.

I also found this quote from Thomas Jefferson to be very interesting.

This parallels what Anthony Kennedy pointed out in his opinion (and I can hear the echo of the Notorious RBG's tart rejoinder during oral arguments, when she said, "There was a change in the institution of marriage to make it egalitarian when it wasn’t egalitarian. And same-sex unions wouldn’t — wouldn’t fit into what marriage was once."). The entire opinion is here; in particular, read pp. 6-7 and 20-21 (and then the whole thing, as it's quite good). The institution of marriage has changed over the years, as our entire society has changed; indeed, no nation can remain the same for two hundred years and survive. The beauty of our Constitution--and in particular, the 14th and 19th Amendments--is that it not only allows for such changes, it demands them. 

This is the right opinion, written by the right judge at the right time.

"Oh what a lovely day," indeed.