What the Ninth Circuit decision on Prop. 8 really says

In short:

1. Once a right is recognized for a group (in this case by the California Supreme Court), you can't simply wish it away with a majority vote without it looking very much like a violation of the Federal Constitution's Equal Protection Under the Law.
2. Your chances of being upheld by SCOTUS probably go up if you (a) base a decision on what SCOTUS has already ruled, esp. (b) when the opinion was written by the widely-expected swing vote.
3. The ruling, if upheld, only applies in California, since it's fundamentally based on a the earlier ruling by the California Supreme Court.

So, rightly or wrongly, it's not some grand, global recognition of the right of gays to marry in the US, just in California. That's still enough to cause anti-gay groups to go apeshit, but it's hard for me to gin up much sympathy for their heartburn. #ddtb

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Law, Unwrapped: Analysis Of Today’s Prop 8 Decision That Is True Genius
An understandable analysis of the Ninth Circuit’s thoughtful – but narrow – ruling upholding the decision of Judge Walker that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.