The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 to overturn a voter-initiated law that banned same-sex marriage in the state. A constitutional amendment by ballot initiative with the exact same language has already been underway. The court did not decide that there was an inherent right to same-sex marriages, but that excluding same-sex couples from marriage when opposite sex couples enjoyed the right ran afoul of equal protection under California law. Edit: I should also add that there is an explicit right to marry under California law.

Zimbabwean officials have decided a presidential runoff election will be held on June 27th. According to officials, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai won a plurality of the vote, but not enough to avoid a runoff against President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since 1980.

On this day:

Birthdays: Entertainer Wladziu Valentino Liberace (1919) and Author Louis "Studs" Terkel (1912).
Events: Kuwaiti women gain the right to vote. (2005)

Hat tip to Tyler Cowen .

Ben Casnocha summarizes a speech by the NYT's David Brooks. See link for Quick Time video version of speech.

* "I'll be brief because many of you are academics, and you're not here to hear me talk, you're here to hear yourselves talk."
* He likes Edmund Burke.
* People learn when there's an emotional connection.
* All factions of conservative movement united around distrust of government - this ain't enough.

Scandal-plagued Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann (D-OH) resigned yesterday . Dann will apparently return home to spend time with his family.

The House passed the farm bill by a veto proof margin, 318-106 . Food stamp programs were widely expanded in the bill. Update: The Senate passed the bill 81-15 , with none of the presidential hopefuls voting. Looks like Bush's imminent veto will be overridden.

On this day:

Fmr. Sec. of State Madeleine Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). (1937)
Ironically, former NFL football players Emmitt Smith and Ryan Leaf were both born today. (1969, 1976) I say ironic because Smith ranks as one of the best running backs in NFL history while Leaf is known as the worst bust in NFL history and perhaps in all of professional sports.
The Red Army begins withdrawing from Afghanistan. (1988)

That's the simple and loaded question posed today at The Liberty Papers .

So who's worse for liberty, McCain or Obama?

Well, like I said in the comment thread over there, the first relevant question before answering is: What kind of liberty are we talking about? or "Freedom from/to what?"

Back from my interview...I think things went well.

Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama into a fine pulp in yesterday's West Virginia primary. Clinton won every county and even beat Obama by 80 points in Mingo County. Nearly a quarter of primary voters said that race was a factor in their decision.

The House voted 385-25 and the Senate voted 97-1 to suspend the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. No Democrats voted against the measure in the House and only lame duck senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) voted against the Senate amendment.

On this day:

Communist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is born in Argentina (1928).
The gentleman from North Dakota, Senator Byron Dorgan , is born in Dickinson, ND (1942).
Jamestown, VA is settled as a colony (1607).

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D-MI) is facing possible expulsion by the city council. They may vote to remove him, have Gov. Jennifer Granholm do it, or censure him.

In recent elections, the pro-western Democratic Party won big by securing 38% of the vote . Their main opposition, the nationalist Radical Party received 29%. Both parties believe they can form a governing coalition.

HSBC has set aside another $3.2 billion for bad loans Ed. Note: (is that what they call a writedown?) due to continuing fallout of the mortgage crisis and increased credit card delinquencies. Five percent of mortgages were in arrears by 60 days or more.

On this day:

Lots of celebrity birthdays:
Comedian George Carlin (1937)
Libertarian Sci-fi Author L. Neil Smith (1946)
Punk/New Wave Singer Ian Dury (1942)
Baseball players Felipe Alou (1935) and Yogi Berra (1925)

Fourth generation NASCAR driver Adam Petty died in an accident during practice at the age of 20 (2000).

Texas Democrats flee the state in order to prevent Republicans from proceeding with redistricting plans . Democrats were needed in the chamber to constitute a quorum. (2003)

Hurray for the weekend! (at least for us wage jockeys!)

First Daughter (or was she second?) Jenna Bush is getting married at a private ceremony at her father's Crawford, TX ranch. Congratulations to Jenna!

Hezbollah rebels have taken over western Beirut and driven out the legitimate government. Fears are that this is a prelude to all out civil war in Lebanon.

On this day:

Former AG and US Senator John Ashcroft was born in Chicago, Illinois (1942).
Edith Rodriguez died in an Los Angeles hospital after being refused treatment (2007).
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opened formal impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon (1974).

Also, I received my $300 in economic stimulus today. Who else has and what do you plan to do with it?

The situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate and the estimated death toll continues to rise.

In a turn of events that surprised nobody, Putin has been confirmed as Prime Minister of Russia.

Good day for Kobe Bryant, who won the MVP and then went on to help the Lakers beat Utah for a 2-0 series lead. Open thread -- what's happening?

My car is making a funny grating sound at low speeds, as if something is rubbing together. We have mechanics in town that we trust and who do good work, so we dropped it off this morning. Despite my faith in the shop, I couldn't help thinking to myself I guarantee they'll find something wrong that a few hundred dollars will fix right up. Not fair of me, but then again they make money when the car requires substantial work -- they have an incentive, in a way, for my car to break down. It's arguably balanced somewhat by the potential for me to switch mechanics if I feel like I'm getting substandard service, but honestly how would I know?

On the local election scene, Indiana Democrat Jill Long Thompson eeked out a victory over Jim Schellinger for the party's nomination for Governor. She will face the rather unpopular incumbent Mitch Daniels.

Otherwise it's a slow news morning due last night's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. Next up are the Clinton strongholds of West Virginia (5/13) and Kentucky (5/20), while a close race seems to be shaping up in Oregon (5/20).

On this day:

Journalist Tim Russert was born (1950).
Black supremacist Hulon Mitchell Jr. AKA Yahweh ben Yahweh , leader of the Nation of Yahweh, dies from cancer (2007).
A German U-boat sinks the RMS Lusitania (1915).

Bill Kristol beat me to the punch. After it was clear that John McCain would be the GOP nominee for president, many conservatives assuaged their frustration by saying that McCain would be acceptable if he kept to his word on judges and borders, AND if he picked a suitable running mate. In my view, it would be hard for conservatives to do better than Bobby Jindal . Why Jindal?

● He's brilliant. He graduated from high school at 16 and he's a Rhodes Scholar.