In an article that’s currently linked on the CNN homepage, Britney Spears’s uber-loser husband, Kevin Federline, says: “If you want to hate me, cool, hate me.”

Well, that’s a relief… I’m glad to know we have K-Fed’s permission to hate him. I wonder, alternatively, are we allowed to not give a rat’s ass?

“You’re breakin’ my balls, Hans Brix, you’re breakin’ my balls!”

I just watched St. Louis take a 3-1 World Series lead in the LaFortune Student Center with a bunch of Cardinals fans (some of whom, like the fuzzy-hat-wearing Leprechaun at right, are dressed rather
strangely because of a Halloween party upstairs).

The Buffalo Sabres are 10-0 — tying the NHL record for the best start ever — after a 3-0 victory on the road over the Islanders. They’ll go for an all-time-best 11-0 start Saturday night at home against the 7-1-3 Atlanta Thrashers, who lead the Southeast Division. Game time is 7pm EDT. The game appears to be sold out, and it’s a hot ticket on eBay. I imagine the HSBC Arena will be rockin’.

Go Sabres!

Apologies, dear readers, for the relative dearth of posts today. I’ve been busy. … Anyway, following up on this whole gay-marriage business: in linking to my post yesterday about the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision, InstaPundit disagreed with my statement that “perhaps the possibility of ‘civil unions,’ as opposed to ‘gay marriage,’ will blunt the backlash somewhat.” He wrote:

The opinion allows that something not called “marriage” might be enough, but it pretty clearly leaves open the door to hold otherwise later. And the concurrence/dissent says: “I can find no principled basis, however, on which to distinguish those rights and benefits from the right to the title of marriage, and therefore dissent from the majority’s opinion insofar as it declines to recognize that right among all of the other rights and benefits that will be available to samesex couples in the future.”

It thus seems that this isn’t really a “third way” approach to gay marriage. This is a clean win for gay marriage advocates, not a partial victory.

But Mickey Kaus, who’s been sounding the alarm about the possibility of this decision throwing the election to the Republicans since several days before the decision was even made, thinks the Dems dodged a bullet:

It seems to me the New Jersey Supreme Court has–perhaps non-accidentally—denied Republicans the powerful base-mobilizing weapon that a ruling mandating gay marriage would have given them. Sure, New Jersey proponents of gay marriage have been more or less invited to return to court if the legislature doesn’t call the equal package of rights it grants gay couples “marriage.” But by kicking the nomenclature question to the legislature, and giving them 180 days to resolve it, the New Jersey justices avoided having the state instantly become, in AP’s pre-anticipatory words, “the nation’s gay wedding chapel.” Unlike Massachusetts, AP’s Mulvihill notes, New Jersey doesn’t have a “law barring out-of- state couples from wedding there if their marriages would not be recognized in their home states.” In other words, had the New Jersey Court gone all the way and required gay marriage, the next two weeks might have been filled with stories of happy gay couples from across the nation buying plane tickets to Atlantic City for their expected weddings. Only a Liberal Media Conspiracy of unprecedented self-repressive power could have kept the hype from driving cultural conservatives to the polls. But now [the] court’s decision will slide from national consciousness almost immediately, no? Unless Ken Mehlman wants to spring for the plane tickets.

Heh. I tend to think Kaus is right. But the decision will presumably nevertheless have some effect in mobilizing the social conservatvies. The possible Congressional-majority-deciding question, as I said before, is how much of an effect.

I just noticed this score. WTF? What happened to Clemson? … They're rushing the field in Blacksburg.

I hope the Irish do well this year. But if they do badly, I hope they do REALLY badly, so Mike Brey gets fired. :) It's all or nothing, boys! … I'm annoyed they don't play UConn at home. But I'm
looking forward to the Bama game. Who will Becky root for?

A wildfire which has killed four firefighters near Palm Springs, California, was “a deliberately set arson fire,” a fire department spokesman says. Visit CNN for the latest.

The U.S. Forest Service says three firefighters have been killed and two critically injured battling a wildfire near Palm Springs, California, The Associated Press reports. Visit CNN for the latest.

Byron York’s account of a discussion with President Bush about Iraq is worth reading in its entirety.

UPDATE: Michael Barone gives his account of the same discussion, and also links to an MP3 of the whole thing. (It’s an hour long, and I haven’t listened to it.)

Note to the media, re: Notre Dame’s BCS hopes… they’re not worth $14 million anymore.

I cant put my arms down!

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Baby Logan says Stop! Dont shoot!!

Gay couples have the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples under the New Jersey state constitution, the state Supreme Court rules. Visit CNN for the latest.

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: According to the AP:

New Jersey’s highest court ruled Wednesday that gay couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals, but that lawmakers must determine whether the state will honor gay marriage or some other form of civil union. …

[T]he high court stopped short of fully approving gay marriage and gave lawmakers 180 days to rewrite marriage laws to either include gay couples or create new civil unions.

As a proponent of gay marriage, I’m happy with the result. As one who hopes the Democrats take back at least one house of Congress, I am fearful of the backlash.

But perhaps the possibility of “civil unions,” as opposed to “gay marriage,” will blunt the backlash somewhat. Most voters seem broadly supportive of gay civil unions, so long as they aren’t called “marriages.” Presumably, Democratic candidates in close races from sea to shining sea will now respond to Republican attacks by reiterating that they support “civil unions,” not “gay marriage.” Of course, anything short of full equality is wrong, IMHO, but pragmatically, that’s what they’ll need to do. And maybe it’ll work.

Also: maybe the Republicans will overplay their hand. If Bull Moose is right that moderates who are sick and tired of divisive partisanship are the key to this election, then transparent GOP harping on this “wedge issue” could actually hurt the Republicans. We can hope, anyway.

Still, one of the biggest hopes for Democratic success in 13 days (and let’s all pause to consider the potential cosmic significance of this news coming thirteen days before the election) has been the likelihood that a higher-than-usual percentage of the Republican base won’t turn out on Election Day, choosing the Derbyshire Strategy of punishing the wayward GOP by staying home. The resurgence of gay marriage as a live issue would seem to guarantee that some percentage of social conservatives who were otherwise planning to stay home, won’t. The key question is: what percentage? The majority in the House and Senate may hinge on the answer to question.

Anyway, I think we just officially entered the endgame of Election 2006.