I also heard New Paltz, N.Y. Mayor Jason West on NPR this morning. He's the guy who is solemnizing gay marriages contrary to New York state law.

He kept saying that he wasn't really doing anything illegal. That there was nothing in the New York constitution explicitly forbidding gay marriages, and that he was upholding Equal Protection.

But you know what I wish he'd said?

"Yes, I'm breaking the law...but you know what? The law in this case is stupid and wrong."

Hasn't Mayor West read Thoreau? There was a guy who was willing to go to jail for what he believed in. He disobeyed the law, but peacefully. He didn't hurt anybody, or massively infringe on anybody else's rights. Neither did Blacks who engaged in peaceful sit-ins or marches in the 60's.

Hell, civil disobedience is an American institution. If you think a law is unjust, write your representatives...and if they don't respond, and you think the law is still unjust, and it doesn't hurt anybody to do so, go ahead and break the damn thing.

So I think the recent spate of gay marriages, contrary to law, is a good thing. It's a healthy thing. It's peaceful protest at its best.

I just wish the people breaking the law would admit that that's what they're doing.