Tabled, Scrod

One-hundred-seventy-thousand Massachusetts voters petitioned to have the question of same-sex marriage put on the ballot.

But Bay State lawmakers yesterday used parliamentary maneuvering to effectively quash any chance at a statewide referendum.

Gov. Mitt Romney called it a "triumph of arrogance over democracy."

Howie Carr writes:

Of course, the solons claim they aren’t really sidestepping the constitution. They didn’t adjourn, which would have enabled Romney to order them back into session, which couldn’t have hurt his 2008 presidential bid.

No, they recessed until Jan. 2, at which time they’ll recess until Jan. 3, at which time they’ll recess until . . . oh darn, the session ran out, and 170,000 people will have had their civil rights violated. But who cares about them?

It used to be, not so long ago, if a referendum question passed, the Legislature accepted the will of the people. Then the reps just started ignoring the results. Now they have apparently decided it’s just too darn dangerous to allow the people to vote, period.

Two days into the Deval Era and the so-called Progressive Hack Alliance already is paying dividends.