An Ivy League political science professor named David Epstein is charged with incest for allegedly having consensual sex with his adult daughter.

Does that it matter that he is liberal? Does it matter that he writes for the Huffington Post? Does it matter that he hates Sarah Palin?

No. But it helps.

Already, some liberals are defending Professor Epstein asking where does the government get off making laws prohibiting what two adults choose to do sexually in the privacy of their own home, hotel room, etc. Fair enough.

Based on it's reasoning in Lawrence v. Texas, in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that the states (i.e. The People) had no rational basis for laws against consensual same-sex sodomy, it would seem the the court would have to rule anti-incest laws to be unconstitutional as well.

It will be interesting to see if Epstein's lawyers, or others in the incest community, attempt to make such a case. For now, Epstein's lawyer is saying the professor deserves the presumption of innocence, not that the law is unconstitutional.

Some people, like Jeff Jacoby predicted that what Lawrence did for homosexuality, it could do for incest. Ross Douthat had his doubts, based on the "ick" factor. I say, give the "ick" factor a little time and incest will just become another lifestyle choice.

Here's a dramatic example of our white male culture's intolerance to such relationships.



UPDATE: And here's the xtranormal version of that classic scene:



UPDATE/Clarification: Above I write that "Already, some liberals are defending Professor Epstein," but mostly the decriminalization of incest is supported by libertarians, most of whom believe that absent a rational and necessary basis for acting, government should butt out of the personal sex lives of its citizens.