FROM BUSH TO OBAMA — CONTINUITY CONTINUES! “Obama says he opposes DOMA as a policy matter and wants to repeal it. Nothing in the DOJ brief prevents him from acting on that belief. He is, he says, a ‘fierce advocate’ for gay and lesbian Americans. When does that part start?”

Andrew Sullivan, meanwhile, says the brief is “defensible” though “terribly deflating.”

THAT SHOULD BE POPULAR: House Health-Care Proposal Adds $600 Billion in Taxes.

A REPORT ON THE HOUSTON TEA PARTY’S PELOSI PROTEST:

Hundreds of protesters showed up outside the Wortham Theater in Houston to let House Speaker Nancy Pelosi know they weren’t happy with Washington. Protesters held signs saying they were upset with the stimulus plan. They also called for tax cuts, spending cuts and a major change in congress.

Protest video at the link. And another report here:

Those who attended paid $19 to $144 to hear her answer questions about international and national affairs and discuss her book, Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters.

In front of the Wortham Center, activists offered their own greetings to those attending the speech.

“Turn back while you still have the chance! Don’t support the liar!” Doug Audirsch, of Porter, shouted while hoisting a sign over his head that called for “Less 1984 — More 1776.” . . . Police estimated the crowd at 600. Houston Police Department officials at the scene said there were no reported incidents or arrests.

These protests just keep happening. Here’s a picture from a reader.

TAKING TIME OUT TO HATE: It’s Not Rush Limbaugh Hollering About the “Jewish Lobby.”

I DON’T BLAME GAY ACTIVISTS FOR BEING UPSET about the Obama Administration’s position on the Defense Of Marriage Act, but I think it’s wrong to attack Mormons. Instead, I think they’d be better off pushing hard for DOMA repeal, and putting Obama — and Congressional Democrats — on the spot. The post-Prop 8 attacks on Mormons, etc., seem to have caused gay marriage to drop in the polls. Meanness seldom sells. “You can’t make the point that people should be allowed to love by advocating hate.”

MEGAN MCARDLE ON NOMINAL VS. REAL FRIENDSHIP: “As far as I could make out, they were trying to prove that what had happened to me couldn’t possibly happen to them.”

You get a lot of that if you have a serious health problem, too.

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: Military Covering Up Fireballs From Space. “Priceless observational information derived from the spacecraft were made quickly available, giving researchers such insights as time, a location, height above the surface, as well as light-curves to help pin down the amount of energy churned out from the fireballs. . . . But all that ended within the last few months, leaving scientists blind-sided and miffed by the shift in policy. The hope is that the policy decision will be revisited and overturned.”

CHICAGO-ON-THE-PERSIAN GULF: Ahmadinejad Is Declared Victor in Iran. “Fraud has been a prominent concern for Mr. Moussavi’s campaign, with many of his allies warning that Mr. Ahmadinejad could use the levers of state — the military, the Revolutionary Guard, and the Basij militia — to cajole or intimidate voters, or even engage in outright fraud.” Why would anyone expect an honest election from these people?

BITES FROM THE APPLE: Much more on the iPhone 3GS.

THE AUDACITY OF BULLYING: “The important thing is for Obama to be tough. Because when you can’t be tough with Iran, Syria, North Korea or Russia the next best thing is to beat up on Israel, right?”

I WISH I WERE A SENATOR, SO I COULD GET THIS KIND OF HOUSING-MARKET APPRECIATION: Dodd’s Irish Cottage: Was $190,000. Now $658,000. “A new appraisal of the Irish cottage owned by Sen. Christopher Dodd concludes that it is worth about three times as much as Dodd has been reporting on his financial disclosure forms. . . . Dodd has been criticized for low-balling the worth of the cottage in his disclosure forms. Questions also have been raised about his original purchase of the cottage with a Kansas City businessman William Kessinger, who he met through long-time campaign contributor Edward Downe.”

USA TODAY: SO HOW’S THAT “STIMULUS” WORKING OUT? “People who still have jobs are faring worse than at any time since the Great Depression, a USA TODAY analysis of employment data found. Furloughs, pay cuts and reduced hours are taking a toll on workers who so far have escaped job cuts. . . . Unemployment rates for workers 45 and older have soared to their highest level since at least 1948, when the government started tracking it.”

JEFFREY GOLDBERG: “Reading Judith Warner’s column this morning on the recent upsurge in hate crimes, I was struck by what she left out. Two weeks ago, a Muslim extremist shot two soldiers, killing one, outside a recruiting station in Arkansas. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad acted alone, just as James von Brunn apparently did. He was, like von Brunn, captive to a supremacist ideology that, in his mind, justified the murder of an innocent man. Like von Brunn, authorities said, he had mapped out Jewish targets for potential attack. And yet, no mention of the hate crime committed by a Muslim; only hate crimes committed by white, right-wing extremists were worthy of mention in Warner’s column. This is true for other columnists on the liberal side of the spectrum. The murder of Private William Long seems to be of no concern, and without larger meaning.”

WHAT EVERYBODY NEEDS: A Goat Tower.

BILL MAHER IS ALREADY SICK OF SEEING OBAMA ON TV. It’s gonna be a long four years, Bill . . . .

PHIL BREDESEN WILL let the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act pass into law without his signature. A.C. Kleinheider thinks that Bredesen is confused, though: “If he feels the way he obviously does, he should have vetoed it. Otherwise he should have let it pass without comment.”

A BUNCH OF markdowns on cookware.

BOY HIT BY METEORITE. No, really, that’s the story, though it’s a bit sketchy on details. Wouldn’t be the first person so struck, though. In fact, the famous Sylacauga Meteorite struck a woman in my dad’s home town.

FROM CONSERVATIVE LESBIAN CYNTHIA YOCKEY, More on how to get Letterman fired — and why Republicans need to do so. Do they? Well, Democrats would do it.

Anybody interview Don Imus on this subject?

UPDATE: Austin Businessman Files FCC Complaint over Letterman Joke.

GETTING PEOPLE TO DRIVE LESS: Good for the environment, but bankrupting toll roads: “Traffic on thirty-three toll facilities dropped 4 percent in December 2008 compared to 2006 — the largest such plunge since data was first collected in 1970. Revenue did not fall as sharply as traffic because most of the toll roads introduced sharp rate hikes to cover losses. During the same period, stand-alone toll road revenue dropped only 1.5 percent. For some roads, that may not be enough.” So if fewer people are driving on them, raise the prices! Makes sense to me!

ANDREW SULLIVAN IS BEATING ME IN ANN ALTHOUSE’S POLL. And I haven’t even followed the link to see what it’s about. Maybe later. But I saw this in the comments: “Right now Andrew’s head is about to explode over The One’s decision about DOMA…as is a lot of the liberal gay (redundant, I know) blogsphere. And I say this as a card carrying member of the gay community….no ‘buyers remorse’ for me.” Well, if I were Andrew I’d be feeling pretty taken-in by Obama — on gay marriage, torture, “responsible” spending, etc. And the DOMA thing has got to hurt. But this degree of cognitive dissonance takes a while to work itself out. Let’s see what Andrew’s saying — on everything — in a few months. I find it’s like the weather in East Tennessee: If you don’t like it, don’t worry. It’ll change.

UPDATE: Okay, I finally gave in and looked. He says my concern about federal spending is fake. Ho hum. My question: Why should we listen to Sullivan regarding Obama and the economy when, so far, he’s gotten things so spectacularly wrong about Obama and torture, Obama and gay rights, etc., etc.? Oh, well. Like I said, his position will change — and those who disagree with his new position will be just as evil and partisan in his eyes as the people who disagree with him now. It’s not just important to have the right opinions: You have to have them at the right time.

UNHAPPY AT AMERICABLOG: Obama DOJ lies to Politico in defending hate brief against gays. You know, one of the things I thought I’d like about Obama was his gay-rights position. But now I’m wondering if a Cheney administration wouldn’t be more liberal on this subject.

UPDATE: Declan McCullagh: Gay Rights Groups Irate After Obama Administration Lauds Defense Of Marriage Act. “In hindsight, perhaps, it should be no surprise that Mr. Obama is shying away from this front in the cultural wars. He broke faith with liberal supporters over warrantless wiretaps, the repetition of the Bush administration’s arguments on ‘state secrets,’ and the continuation of the Bush administration’s indefinite military detentions of terrorism suspects. The surprise should be that some supporters seem to have confused a politician’s campaign promises with his actual policies.” With fierce moral urgency.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “Boy, this is turning out to be a shitty Pride Month.”

MORE: Moe Lane: “I thought that I’d at least like Obama’s position on gay issues, too. It’s just that I more or less stopped doing that when I saw the exit polls for Proposition 8.”

MORE BREAKING COVERAGE ON IRAN: At PJTV.

T.V.-WATCHING reduces your sleep time. And not enough sleep makes you fat. The solution: Ban late-night TV! Perhaps we can subject David Letterman to a “fat tax.” All for the public health of course.

ADVICE TO THE G.O.P.: In order to rebuild, Republicans need to identify the people who have something—good ideas, popularity, vision, and a good record. And, of course, pay close attention to InstaPundit!