Rocks To The Left Of Him, Hard Places To The Right, Here He Is

President Obama is stuck in the middle with Eric Holder and the Justice Department.  On one hand he's stated flatly that he wants to see Congress repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act, and on the other hand, the Justice Department is obligated to defend the act in court.

It follows then that anyone who thought that the Obama DoJ woudn't appeal yesterday's decision to strike down part of DOMA as unconstitutional simply wasn't living in reality.

The gay rights law group that convinced a federal district court judge Thursday to strike down a federal ban on gay marriage has told the New York Times they "fully expect" the Justice Department to appeal the decision -- a move that could shatter Obama's image in the gay community and cost his party millions of dollars in donations from gay donors.

"Lawyers on various sides of the issue said it was a certainty that the government will appeal and likely that the cases will reach the Supreme Court," Politico added Friday.

Such an appeal would be filed by the Obama-appointed US Attorney Carmen Milagros Ortiz, who was confirmed last November by the Senate.

In an email Friday, a White House spokesperson told Raw Story, "This is a question for the Justice Department."

"The only comment I have is the Department is reviewing the decision," Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokesperson, told Raw Story shortly after.

Evan Wolfson, director of the gay rights group Freedom to Marry, said he doesn't know what the Justice Department will do, but hopes that if they appeal, they will couch their filing carefully.

"I think we're going to have to see what the Justice Department decides," Wolfson said. "I do hope that, if there is an appeal, that at a minimum the administration will agree that the appellate court should apply a presumption of unconstitutionality -- which in legal terms is called heightened scrutiny -- to this law that they concede is discriminatory."

"My message [to Obama] would be: Do the right thing," Wolfson added. "You agree this law is discriminatory. A highly respected conservative Republican-appointed judge has now said it's unconstitutional. Stop enforcing this unfair and discriminatory law that harms families and helps no one."

And yes, Obama will take plenty of heat for this from the LGBT community and the people who support and agree with the view that DOMA is discriminatory garbage, because DOMA is discriminatory garbage.  However, Obama is President of the entire United States of America, so he's obligated to defend any law on the federal books impartially as the Chief Executive, and that means referring the law to the DoJ for an appeal.

Obama appeals, he's going to rightfully get excoriated by the LGBT community.  He does nothing, he's going to get it from the Republicans and the Village instead.  It's an ugly situation, but Obama put himself there by refusing to take a stand on this.  Now he can't play both sides of the fence as a pragmatist, and he's going to have to make a decision.

I'm absolutely sure he's going to proceed as if the decision has already been made for him and that he will direct the DoJ to appeal.  This matter will end up before the Supreme Court and soon.