No one will miss actually seeing the public trial of Prop. 8 more than me. As someone with a day job, I have to rely on the liveblogs and posts and tweets of others to try and determine what has gone on in the courtroom. (As I write this, I find myself affecting a Southern accent and whispering, "I have always depended on the liveblogs of strangers.") As I've said before, there's nothing like going to the original source if you're trying to judge the truth of something.
But while the Supreme Court's decision was disappointing, I think people may have been unrealistic in thinking that the ability of the public to see these proceedings would be a boon for our side. I just don't believe that viewing the trial has "the potential to change the hearts and minds of countless Americans." With the exception of us gay geeks and law dorks, did anyone seriously think this would have been a ratings bonanza, a gay equivalent of the Clarence Thomas hearings?
YouTube or no, it is the fact of having the trial that is important. You can see that in the cross-examination of our witnesses, such as George Chauncey. As in the Prop. 8 commercials, our opponents take many things out of context in order to try and mischaracterize the record. But in a court of law, the witness has the ability to put those words right back into context, and shame the questioner. That seems to have happened a number of times . . . though of course I am only reporting hearsay here, since for some reason the testimony is not being made available directly.
Eventually, the result of the trial will be made public, including the judge's assessment of all the evidence, pro and con, and his conclusions about both the law and the facts. And, for the reviewing court (and hopefully the rest of us), the entire transcript, including the exhibits, will also be available as a public record.
In that sort of context, it is harder to get away with slanders and lies than it is in a 30-second TV spot - though I fully expect slanders and lies to be released about the trial and its result. That includes the lie and slander that witnesses for the opposition will be subjected to the tortures of the damned if they are required to be seen by the very public which, up until now, they have so assiduously courted.
As Dale Carpenter suggests, the Supreme Court's decision today may be an indication that we will ultimately lose there. But requiring our opponents to tell the truth under oath and in public - that is an enormous advance for us. Asking them to justify a discriminatory law based not on little formless fears but on actual, verifiable facts, whose truth has been tested by examination and cross-examination in public - that, as they say, is priceless.