  Gay Marriage Overview urlLink Same-Sex Marriage Vaulted Into Spotlight (washingtonpost.com) The Post has a very helpful overview of recent gay marriage events. I didn't realize that Mayor Newsom attended the State of the Union address and that is what spurred him grant licenses in SF: "The speech turned pretty dramatically when the president brought up the Defense of Marriage Act and quite unequivocally talked about defending marriage as between a man and a woman," Newsom remembered.
"I started looking around as people were giving standing ovations and applauding and cheering wildly.
. . .
I thought I was on another planet. " It was also nice to have confirmed the idea that Bush was put up to his recent comments backing an amendment. One could tell from Bush's demeanor that he really didn't want to make a firm statement on this issue and was pushed to by Rove: "For weeks, presidential adviser Karl Rove had been assuring FRC conservatives that Bush would endorse a constitutional amendment -- when the timing was right. Administration officials say Bush's support came with an 'if necessary' clause. " The explanation of the tactical maneuvers of both sides is also interesting. -NW 
