Same-sex marriage and the tale of two banks

Once upon a time, several years before Congress invented the FDIC, there was a bank in Portland that was about to go under. (Without consulting my library, I believe it was the Ladd & Tilton.) Its directors concluded that it was in fact insolvent. They met with directors of a larger, stronger bank, probably at the Mausoleum Club, and agreed to merge. This was on Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday they moved the books, records, files, papers, and cash of the weaker bank into the offices of the stronger bank, and on Monday the weaker bank opened as a branch of the stronger bank.

The governor complained that the banks had not sought the proper permission to merge, to which one of the bankers said, “Governor, the omelet’s made. YOU unmake it.”

Whether or not Multnomah County continues to issue SSM licenses after Monday, this nation now includes several thousand same-sex couples who obtained marriage licenses and got married. Lots of them got married in Multnomah County. That omelet is too big for the governor and the courts to unmake.