Starts at minute 1:30.

Earlier this week, “Pastor Rick” Warren denied he’d ever supported Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay amendment — despite the existence of video of him giving it his unqualified endorsement.

Now “Dr.” Laura Schlessinger, who made a name for herself with homophobic rantings, has also done a complete about face:

KING: Basically, five states now say you can have it [same-sex marriages]. What do you think of that? What are you laughing at?

SCHLESSINGER: Well, I don’t have much of an opinion on it.

KING: You have no opinion on it?

SCHLESSINGER: Not much, no.

KING: But you’ve always favored that marriage must be between a man and woman.

SCHLESSINGER: I’m very big on human beings finding love, attachment and commitment and being faithful to it, because there’s more to benefit when there is real, true commitment and faithfulness to it. I still believe, as just every president has, and all the people who ran for office, that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman. So not calling it marriage works for me. But that two people would have that sort of commitment to me is a very healthy and very positive thing in their lives and society as a whole.

KING: So, you favor marriage between a man and a woman, but you applaud the fact that even people of the same sex can have that kind of commitment to each other.

SCHLESSINGER: That’s a beautiful thing and a healthy thing.

It would be very interesting to know what led to her change of heart.

Former Republican Former New Hampshire Former Sen. Bob Smith

An already crowded race just got a little busier — and much stranger.

Former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith (R) has announced he will run for the Florida seat currently occupied by Mel Martinez, who is not seeking re-election. Why would a New Jersey native who transplanted to New Hampshire think he could represent Florida? The answer is, because he cares not a whit about what Floridians want. Bob is all about Bob, and Bob is so far to the right, the dial breaks off before it reaches him.

“I have concluded that I can no longer ‘sit on the sidelines’ in this fight for the soul of America,” Smith wrote, per the [Manchester, N.H.] Union Leader.

Smith won election to the Senate in 1990, taking over for Sen. Gordon Humphrey (R), but lost a primary battle in 2002 to then-Rep. John Sununu (R). Smith ran for president in 2000, first as a Republican, then as an Independent…

Smith said he left the GOP because it had moved too far to the left

Known for being perhaps the most conservative Republican in the Senate during his tenure, Smith said he left the GOP because it had moved too far to the left. It’s a theme Smith signaled he will use again as he runs to reclaim a seat in the upper chamber.

“It’s time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans again!” Smith wrote to supporters.

Riiiiight. And what does that look like, Bob? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t think I can stand the answer.

Smith’s chances might not be so good. While he has been a Florida resident since last year, moving to Sarasota to sell real estate (whoops!), some here might not embrace him as a true resident. Or even a true Republican. Bob says he’s rejoined the GOP, but he might be more of a Libertarian. Bob writes editorials for the Constitution Party, aka the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party.

In addition, he’s got a ton of competition, likely including U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D), former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns (D), State Sen. Dan Gelber (D), and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio (D). Republicans are also braced for an announcement that our esteemed governor, Charlie Crist, will go for the seat.

Chief of Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen and State Department Legal Counsel nominee Harold Koh

Republicans are so determined to continue to cover up the Bush administration’s illegal and immoral torture of suspected terrorists that they are threatening to “go nuclear” over Obama nominations if more torture memos are released.

A Republican Senate source confirms the strategy. It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration’s darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward…

Few informed independent observers find much to credit in the objections

The release of the memos that the Senate Republicans want to suppress was cleared by Attorney General Eric Holder and White House counsel Greg Craig, and then was stopped when “all hell broke loose” inside the Obama administration, according to an article by Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff. Newsweek attributes internal opposition to disclosure of the Bush-era torture memos to White House counterterrorism adviser and former CIA official John O. Brennan, who has raised arguments that exposure of the memoranda would run afoul of policies protecting the secrecy of agency techniques and has also argued that the memos would embarrass nations like Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Tunisia and Egypt, which have cooperated closely with the CIA in its extraordinary renditions program.

Few informed independent observers, however, find much to credit in the Brennan objections because the techniques are now well-known, as is the role of the cooperating foreign intelligence services—any references to which would in any event likely be redacted before the memoranda are released. Moreover, the argument that the confidence of those engaged in torture—serious criminal conduct under international and domestic law—should be kept because they would be “embarrassed” if it were to come out borders on comic.

Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor, is a former American Civil Liberties Union and National Abortion & Reprouctive Rights Action League lawyer. Is any further explanation needed about why the right wing would object to her nomination? Koh has been the subject of a shouted campaign by Mormon FOX News pundit Glenn Beck and others, who have convoluted Koh’s adherence to international law into a charge that he would enforce sharia (Muslim law, which makes no distinction between religious and secular laws). Both Johnsen and Koh are thought to support release of the Bush torture memos.