The empty threats phase of the fight

GOP White House hopeful Ben Carson says the president can just ignore a Supreme Court ruling. Two other 2016 candidates, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, have joined a truly extreme band of anti-LGBT activists on a pledge that vows to defy marriage equality.

Every day, another conservative comes out with some variation on the suggestion that fifty-state marriage equality will destroy the nation. Others insist a great civil war will come before that destruction. The general consensus on the...