A rose by any other name: So New Jersey's legislature did, after all, approve its gay civil unions law today. That was a nice surprise -- it passed handily. But there are some gems from the law's opponents, as always:

Few legislators have said explicitly that they oppose civil unions. In the floor debate Thursday, several Republicans raised other objections (no Democrat voted against the measure).

Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt of Morris County contended that the Supreme Court had overreached, saying, "I expect once again this Legislature will surrender its authority as it has many times in the last 40 years."

Social conservatives had focused their efforts on retaining the traditional definition of marriage. Len Deo, the president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, said at a news conference Thursday with Senator Singer that the civil union bill "moves us toward same-sex marriage."

"People have a right to rights," Mr. Deo said, "but they don't have a right to redefine an institution that’s served us well for 2,000 years."

[Ed. note: The Constitution is not predicated on biblical underpinnings. They said the same thing about slavery, too. And Brown v. the Board. And Loving. Oops. Oh, well.]