Robots are about take over the world, reports 

No one's sure when most counties will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. "On the day that same-sex unions became legal in Alabama, local officials in dozens of counties on Monday defied a federal judge’s decision and refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples ... In the majority of counties, officials said they would refuse to license same-sex marriages or stop providing licenses altogether, confronting couples — gay and heterosexual — with locked doors and shuttered windows.." Sandhya Somasheskhar in The Washington Post.

The problem seems to be that Alabama's marriage licenses are the responsibility of probate judges, who are judicial rather than executive officers. "Howard Wasserman, a law professor at Florida International University, argued that jurisdictional issues in Alabama complicate the state's marriage cases. Wasserman said the federal court's decision applies only to Attorney General Strange, the defendant in the marriage case, and the executive officials he oversees — not probate judges, who are part of the judicial branch and issue the state's marriage licenses. This hasn't been a prominent issue in other states, Wasserman explained in a phone interview, because other states' cases typically forced county clerks, who do fall under the jurisdiction of attorneys general and other executive officials, to issue marriage licenses, not probate judges. Wasserman suggested the likely course of action, given the jurisdictional complications, is a same-sex couple will sue a probate judge and win the case in federal court, potentially leading other judges to "take the hint" about where the issue is going." German Lopez at Vox.

So the probate judges are obeying an order from the state's chief justice, Roy Moore, best known for refusing to remove an enormous statue of the Ten Commandments. "Chief Justice Moore’s order, issued late Sunday, threw the Alabama court system into disarray. On Monday morning in the big cities of Montgomery and Birmingham, same-sex couples walked ecstatically out of county courthouses with marriage licenses in hand. But judges in most other counties declined to issue licenses. ... [Moore] was unapologetic and firm in his position that the federal judiciary has seriously overreached in its effort to impose same-sex marriage in Alabama — a state where 81 percent of voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage in 2006. 'If we accept this without contest, without standing up for what's pure and simple constitutional law, then we, too, bow down to unlawful authority,' he said. 'And that's not the role of government leaders in the state.' " Richard Fausset in The New York Times.

Moore's stance is like that of segregationist George Wallace's, but there are differences. "Moore's move is very much in the 'states' rights' vein of the 1960s, a 10th Amendment argument that's seen a renaissance in the era of a president who is deeply unpopular with Republicans. But it's hard to point to Moore's action as being simply Wallace redux when you consider the national picture. ... For the next two years, we have a Congress that was elected by Americans to be Republican and a president that was elected to be Democratic. Moore's battle is with the Supreme Court, hardly an arm of the Obama administration, but the political fervor he's likely to leverage echoes the strains in national politics." Philip Bump in The Washington Post.

His order creates a dangerous controversy for national GOP candidates. "Moore’s decision... increases the chances that Republican presidential candidates will be forced to discuss the issue — in the racially freighted framework of states’ rights, no less — before extremely conservative voters in the heat of a primary campaign. ... The issue flies straight in the face of efforts by Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus to broaden the GOP’s appeal, if only because it also flies straight in the face of the most conservative elements of the party’s base. As Huckabee recently put it, asking some conservative Christians to accept gay marriage is akin to asking Jews to serve 'bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli.' " Todd S. Purdum at Politico.

2. Top opinions

FOX: Milton Friedman said business should play by the "rules of the game." What would he say about lobbying? "The problem here is that, as anybody who has spent any time observing the political process in the U.S. over the past few decades knows, those 'rules of the game' aren't set in stone. Corporations play a pretty major role, often the decisive one, in determining the rules by which they play. And if they are always pushing for changes in the rules that would increase their profits, as they should if they are obeying Friedman's commandment, won't they eventually push things too far?" Bloomberg View.

EZRA KLEIN: It's only a matter of time before the filibuster is eliminated. "Senate Republicans protested the 2013 rule change bitterly, of course, but since retaking the chamber, they haven't moved to restore the filibuster. Indeed, two members of the Senate Republican leadership — Lamar Alexander and Mike Lee — have proposed lifting it against Supreme Court nominees, as well. The filibuster, in other words, is on trend towards elimination. And its death becomes likelier as its use becomes more common. It's a victim of its own success." Vox.

BEUTLER: Republicans need to prepare for the Supreme Court to rule against Obamacare. "The case itself, which will be decided in late June, is an unexploded ordnance lying in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign field. An adverse King ruling wouldn’t just introduce familiar, crisis-driven legislative politics. It would likely become the defining issue of the Republican primary and general election. It would leave Republicans strategically and substantively divided over how to contain the fallout. And it would transform Obamacare as an issue from a modest liability for the Democratic candidate, into a factor that unifies the entire party against Republicans and the Supreme Court." The New Republic.

CARNEY: Research suggests financial reform has reduced market share for smaller banks. "JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said this would happen--that Dodd-Frank and other regulations would create 'a moat' protecting the larger guys from competition. Treasury officials have said that Dodd-Frank would turn the biggest banks into, effectively, government-sponsored enterprises.That's why big business is the natural ally of big-government liberals." The Washington Examiner.

McARDLE: San Francisco's living wage means death to an independent bookstore. "People who voted for San Francisco's new 'living-wage law,' which will eventually push the minimum wage to $15 an hour, were probably thinking about the needy workers who would find their budgets a little roomier after their paychecks got a boost. They probably weren't thinking about the demise of beloved local stores like Borderlands, a science-fiction bookstore that will close its doors by March 31." Bloomberg View.

3. In case you missed it

A senior adviser angrily resigns from a committee supporting Hillary Clinton. "David Brock on Monday abruptly resigned from the board of the super PAC Priorities USA Action, revealing rifts that threaten the big-money juggernaut being built to support Hillary Clinton’s expected presidential campaign. In a resignation letter obtained by Politico, Brock, a close Clinton ally, accused Priorities officials of planting 'an orchestrated political hit job' against his own pro-Clinton groups, American Bridge and Media Matters. Those groups — along with another pro-Clinton group, the super PAC Ready for Hillary — had their fundraising practices called into question last week by a New York Times report. It pointed out that veteran Democratic fundraiser Mary Pat Bonner got a 12.5 percent commission on funds she raised for Brock’s groups and a smaller percentage commission on cash she raised for Ready for Hillary." Kenneth P. Vogel at Politico.

Democratic activists are getting tired of Clinton in Iowa. "The former secretary of state remains a favorite of a vast majority of Democrats and the front-runner for the party’s presidential nomination. Still, there is unease among progressives about her largely uncontested ascent. ... Eight years after Obama first drew enormous crowds in Iowa on his way to the White House, these Democrats feel disappointed by his presidency and what they described as his lackluster attempts to champion economic populism. In Warren, they sense they’ve found a fighter and a refreshing departure from the way Obama and Clinton have addressed the rising gap between the rich and poor." Robert Costa in The Washington Post.

Oregon's governor is now under investigation by the state's attorney general. "Oregon's attorney general is investigating allegations surrounding Governor John Kitzhaber and his fiancée about a potential conflict of interest between her role in the governor's office and her private consulting business. Democrat Kitzhaber, in a letter dated Monday, asked Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, also a Democrat, to investigate the matter. The attorney general responded that a probe was already under way." Shelby Sebens for Reuters.

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