Let me finish tonight with this.
The thing about America that always gives me hope is the way we are able to grow.
We didn’t always recognize same-sex marriage as the majority of the American people do today.
We didn’t always say it was not okay to put up “white only” signs at restaurants and gas station restrooms.
We didn’t always think it unconstitutional to deny the black man and woman the right to vote.
We didn’t always condemn slavery as a moral assault on mankind as we once did “come” to condemn it.
We didn’t always have women as well as men participate in our elections.
On all these fronts, we have changed. We have become better.
The American revolution continues to roll on. And today a large battle was won. When you hear the celebration tonight, think of where it is being celebrated quietly – in the young boy or girl – who now feels so much more to be “okay” in the eyes of all of us, of the lonely soul who now feels he or she belongs.
We’ve seen the polls change. We’ve felt our hearts change. We’ve seen the voters begin to change. And, yes, today we saw the men and women on the bench change.
As Mr. Dooley, that wise man of a hundred years ago once prophized. “The Supreme Court follows the election returns.”
Chris Matthews