Would you like to understand what all the fuss is about as it concerns judicial activism? Consider the situation in Maryland where a Baltimore judge ruled that a law banning same sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Now I am not going to comment on whether that is true or not--its on appeal to the Maryland Supreme Court and they'll decide the issue and a lot of Maryland Democrats are praying that they decide it is constitutional.

What? Maryland Democrats want to ban gay marriage in Maryland?

Well yes. Maryland Crats are hardly monolithic on the issue--most would rather deal with gay civil rights than with expanding the definition of marriage. Republicans on the other hand are pretty much monolithic on the question

The issue of same-sex marriage arrived Friday like an unwelcome houseguest for many Maryland Democrats, who say only a quick reversal from the state's highest court can keep the divisive issue from reshaping the 2006 campaign season.

"That would end the debate, and we could get back to a normal campaign season," said Timothy Maloney, a lawyer and former Democratic state delegate. "If not, there are all kinds of possibilities for mischief. . . . The Republicans will use this to beat the hell out of moderate Democrats."

All that is pretty obvious, but then look at this statement.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said salvation for Democrats who feel hamstrung by the issue could come before Election Day if the Baltimore court ruling is quickly reversed on appeal, and he said he is "confident it will be overturned."

For that strategy to succeed, the high court would have to work fast.

M. Albert Figinski, a Baltimore lawyer, said most expedited reviews by the seven-member court take 85 days, meaning a ruling would come after the General Assembly adjourns April 10.

"But," he said, "the court has been known to accommodate swift hearings in cases that are of great public importance."

That in a nutshell is why Democrats voted along party lines to kill the Alito nomination--the court isolates the Crats from the fallout from their more controversial political alliances. No one even seriously disputes that gay marriage is a political non-starter which is why liberal judges will just have to establish that the right has always existed

Unfortunately, the Crats have been hoisted on their own petard--if the court rules "liberally", they are in a world of hurt

Excuse me while I shed some crocodile tears.