It's like the great Taoist philosopher Lao Tse said, just before heading off to that new Vegas rooftop hookah bar/roller derby/burlesque review that promises to be totally offf the hook: "The greatest revelation is stillness." — Mark Morford ---

Today, gay marriage moved back to even with the anti-marriage forces. For anyone living in a cave, Prop 8 was overturned in California by U.S. District Court, which really only moves it to the next level, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Twittersphere exploded after the news, with people on both sides celebrating joyously or fearing the loss of sanctity of marriage, blah blah blah.

I thought the most reasoned reaction came from my colleague, Jesse Fruhwirth. He tweeted that, essentially, this ruling means very little, especially with a SCOTUS "packed" by George W. Bush. His tepid excitement sparked a firestorm (cliche! yeah!) of responses, but he stood his ground. 

I'm not going to even try to give you the best straight (pun intended!) news story on the ruling. Pick you favored news source and find it there, because everyone will have it and they'll all say essentially the same thing. However, here's some non-MSM reactions/reports from local bloggers:

* Holly on the Hill: She's usually pretty reasoned, but she seems to be saying that because the ruling judge is gay and has a history of activism, he should not have ruled. In that case, so should every Mormon/Catholic/Christian judge. As for the "history of activism" argument, it bores me. Every judge who has ever over-turned a ruling or popular vote (hello, Brown vs. School Board) could be painted as an activist.

* Jeff Bell gets creative with his vulgarity, calling Rick Santorum an "assrocket." Nice to see him moving away from his favored term, "dick." 

* Jesse Harris makes the same argument Fruhwirth does, that it's far from over.

Also, the LDS Church issued a statement that, as far as I can tell, says that they believe Fred & Wilma are the model for a happy marriage. At least, the pull quote I saw was "bedrock of society." Here's the statement, in case anybody wants to tell me I'm an assrocket and misinterpreted this thing.

In other news....

* Pimping myself: My cover story is online and on the street. It's a drunken, first-person profile of Sam Granato. Don't worry, Sam fans, I'm the drunk one. Sam does not drink, at least not with journalists wearing Hawaiian shirts.

* Damn Southerners: Sen. Dennis Stowell wants to make it easier for people to steal identities, as long as they are the identities of Hispanics or Canucks. Sen. Steve Sandstrom, meanwhile, wants to skip the whole ID theft thing and just send them all home, but he realizes that's illegal. So, he's going to craft a bill that addresses judicial concerns and maintains the prehistoric society we live in. On the federal level, Republican leaders take the "anchor baby" argument and propose to eliminate an amendment to the Constitution. I'm sure their proposal is divinely inspired.

* Davis County is using stimulus money to build a movie theater. But don't worry, Fred & Wilma, it's a Larry H. Miller complex, so no award-winning moviesabout homosexuals will play.

* Finally, if you've read this post with mouth agape at the news of the day, especially the Prop 8 ruling, well done. You have avoided one of the worst urban plagues in the modern world: FOMO. Whaaat, you say? Click here, and read the brilliant Mark Morford explain it.