ducking out of sight for a week

For "a short, concise, easy-to-understand (and obviously supportive) description of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the kind of thing you can send around to those of your friends and family who aren't compulsively reading blogs ... and those who aren't as familiar with the case" check out this link .

For a downloadable PDF of the full ruling itself - all 138 pages of it - check out American Foundation for Equal Rights. 
The entire thing is a page turner and very clearly written (i.e. you don't need to be a lawyer), but the pages 135-8 are the remedies and conclusions if you are short on time.

i think this will prove in time to be a landmark case in US history. despite closely following the case when it was court, i'm still nothing short of staggered by just how blistering an overturn it is: the ruling is meticulous in explaining its findings (that the plaintiffs brought 'overwhelming evidence' and the defendants brought 'opinion' 'without basis in reason'). it has been very carefully written to put as much factual evidence (or indeed lack thereof in the defendants' cases) on record as possible and that will have significant impact on how the case is handled in appeal.

which all amounts to why it's such a page turner. like many others, one almost feels sorry for the Prop 8 proponents as one reads the ruling. in some ways it reminds me of the Scopes trial.

anyways, despite being pleased rejoicing with whoops and fist-pumps at the ruling, and hoping this energises the campaign for full marriage equality with a boost of confidence (given the long road of more legal battles to yet come), i've got a sizeable thesis workload and rapidly shrinking time to complete. and this has all been way too distracting.

so, this is me marking a momentous moment in US civil rights history, and signing off for probably a week so i can make a mental break from t'internet, trusting the world won't collapse if i'm not keeping an eye on it for a few days and focusing solely on the task at hand. this is the final push. and everything i've been thinking about V for Vendetta for the past year is pulling together into something like a coherent argument on the page. or at least, it's getting there. but there's a lot to do in this next week and i need every hour i've got.

(i am close to switching off the internet entirely. although Joel may beat me to it, having watched me scour over every last drop of reaction, analysis and discussion of the last 24 hours. my love of political analysis is only matched by my lack of discipline.)

see you soon. be well while i'm ignoring whatever else is going on. over and out.

love the one you're with,

LB