Your Gaggler is starting to sense a pattern at the White House. For two straight days, on two very different subjects, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has defended a move that seems counter to what President Obama said during the campaign by seeming to punt the blame on the folks who made the rules before them. On Tuesday, it was the Obama administration’s decision to reject a request to make visitor logs to the White House public. According to Gibbs, the “previous policy” is under review but until then the White House will stick with the status quo, i.e., no visitor logs released, no way. Today, Gibbs was asked about Obama’s position on the Defense of Marriage Act, which Obama has said repeatedly he wants to repeal. As we’ve noted several times, the Obama Justice Department entered a controversial legal brief last week defending DOMA—which included language and implications that irked many of Obama’s top gay supporters. At today’s briefing, ABC’s Jake Tapper asked Gibbs if Obama stands by his Justice Department’s legal brief in the case. Here’s the exchange:

Q Does the President stand by the legal brief that the Justice Department filed last week that argued in favor of the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act?

MR. GIBBS: Well, Jake, as you know, the Justice Department is charged with upholding the law of the land, even though the President believes that that law should be repealed.

Q I understand that. But a lot of legal experts say that the brief didn't have to be as comprehensive and make all the arguments that it made, such as comparing same-sex unions to incestuous ones in one controversial paragraph that's upset a lot of the President's supporters. Does the President stand by the content, the arguments made in that brief?

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, it's the President's Justice Department. And again, we have the role of upholding the law of the land while the President has stated and will work with Congress to change that law.

To sum up, this isn’t Obama. It’s his Justice Department, and they are following the law. That’s an interesting argument. We get the point about enforcing the law, but is Gibbs implying the president has zero influence over his own Justice Department and what they pursue or emphasize in their legal briefs? Asked later if Obama had actually seen the DOMA brief before it was filed, Gibbs said he didn’t know and would check. Ditto on a follow-up on whether Obama would “endorse” the actual "language" in the brief.

Newsweek's Dina Fine Maron has the scoop on another big no-show at DNC's upcoming gay and lesbian fundraiser: 

Gay rights activist David Mixner and HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse aren't the only high profile names to register dismay over the Justice Department’s pro-DOMA legal brief by pulling out of a DNC fundraiser scheduled for next week. We’ve learned that Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, who shepherded the first marriage equality bill through the VT legislature and spent time stumping for Obama during the campaign’s fledgling days, also plans to boycott the event. Shumlin, who is not gay, had been scheduled to be one of the fundraiser’s honored guests but decided to drop out after last week's DOJ memo, which he described as "hurtful" and "discriminatory." "I have no horse in this race," Shumlin told Newsweek. "I've got a wife and two daughters and no gay relatives that I know of...(but) marriage equality is a basic civil right... I have to be able to live with my conscience." Shumlin emailed DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias, one of the fundraiser’s organizers, this afternoon to withdraw his support and explain why he wouldn’t be attending. His office provided Newsweek a copy of that email dated earlier today. Here's an excerpt:

As an early and strong supporter of Barack Obama I am shocked and disappointed at the level of insensitivity that the Department of Justice has shown towards gay and lesbian couples and their families. By defending DOMA and making reference to horribly inaccurate and deeply hurtful stereotypes about gay and lesbian Americans, the Administration has chosen discriminate against a minority group that we all have a responsibility to be more courageous in defending. This action will only serve to sow the seeds for further hatred and division against the only minority group left in America that politicians can publicly discriminate against and see their approval ratings rise.[sic]  My disappointment in this has led me to the regrettable decision not to be a participant in the DNC event.
 
I am proud Vermont made history in how we enacted marriage equality - not through a court order but through legislative action.  The tides of history, love and justice came together in Vermont and I look forward to witnessing this movement swell across the nation as all of America's citizens are granted equal rights.  It is my hope that the Obama Administration will actively support what we did in Vermont - grant marriage equality to all under the law - nothing more and nothing less.

While Obama plans to sign a “memo” this evening to extend some benefits to same sex partners of federal employees, Shumlin tells Newsweek he still plans to skip the fundraiser. "My position is that that is a small and helpful step, but as Democrats we need to stand up for civil rights of all Americans,” he says.

Your Gaggler is still laughing about President Obama’s run-in with that fly at the White House yesterday. “That’s the most persistent fly I’ve ever seen,” commented CNBC’s John Harwood, who was the closest witness to the attack. What was that fly thinking, trying to interrupt the freaking president of the United States during a very important television interview? Well, this could be a larger conspiracy than we thought. Courtesy New York Magazine, here’s video of a fly going after Obama during an interview on the campaign trail last year. This one buzzed Obama not just once but several times, but the future prez didn’t swat to kill as he did yesterday. He just ended the interview. Was he worried about denting his likability numbers in the polls? Did he lack the bold fortitude that comes with being the Commander in Chief? Answers escape us. But the clear lesson here: You can’t back down from a fight. Not even with a fly. They always come back.

In what initially looked like a big deal for the gay community, the White House put out word last night that President Obama will sign a “memo” today to extend benefits to same sex partners of federal workers. Early reports suggested those benefits would include the right to health insurance, which, if true, would have gone far in soothing some of the tension between the White House and gay rights activists, who have accused Obama of breaking campaign promises to promote equality for gays and lesbians. But the president's move today likely won't be as far reaching as some had hoped.

While we still don’t know exactly what Obama will sign—he’s scheduled to sign the memo and talk to reporters at 5:45 this afternoon—it appears that whatever he does won’t go as far as providing health benefits. That’s because under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government cannot provide health insurance to same sex partners. And that’s where it gets very touchy. During the campaign, Obama vowed to repeal DOMA, calling it “abhorrent” and “unfair.” But last week the Obama Justice Department filed a legal brief in federal court defending DOMA against a lawsuit that claims the act is unconstitutional. In fact, in legal terms, the Obama aides equated same sex marriage to incest, a move that horrified gay rights groups including the Human Rights Campaign. Coupled with Obama’s silence on another campaign promise—his pledge to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the military—several high-profile gay activists announced they would boycott a DNC fundraiser scheduled for next week featuring Vice President Joe Biden and several gay and lesbian members of Congress, including Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin. All the bad publicity prompted the White House to schedule Obama’s announcement today, though an administration official insisted to Newsweek that the “memo” had been in the works all along.

Indeed, privately, White House aides have been giving the wink and nudge treatment to the gay community for weeks, saying that Obama still believes everything he said in the campaign but he’s had to deal with other pressing issues. (Btw, that sounds a lot like what Obama has said about abortion.) But is that enough to keep the LGBT community on board with Obama? It’s unclear. The reaction to Obama’s “memo” has been pretty lukewarm so far. HRC, in a statement, described it merely as a “first brick.” But everybody is watching very closely to see what Obama will actually say. Will he repeat his vow to repeal DOMA in spite of last week's legal brief? That's one rumor going around today, though White House aides won't comment. Meanwhile, David Mixner, a prominent gay rights activist who campaigned for Obama, says he's still boycotting the fundraiser next week—unless he hears Obama say something amazing today. “I feel betrayed,” he told Newsweek in an interview this morning. “People are really angry.” He said it’s not enough for Obama and his aides to hint that they’ll do more for the gay community in the future. “We heard that during the Clinton years,” Mixner said. “Too many pressing issues? That’s code for never.”

Dina Fine Maron contributed reporting.

Our favorites this morning from around the web:

Don't slam the door, just close it slightly
Louisiana Gov Bobby Jindal pleaded with supporters yesterday to stop trying to get him to run for president. That's not to say he's not planning to run, he just wants people to stop talking about it. (WashTimes)

Victory for Chinese web surfing
Until now, the Chinese government required computer users to install internet filtering software to limit access to pornography, homosexuality and other banned topics. Caving into public pressure, Chinese officials lifted the requirement, freeing up access to unfettered web surfing. (DPWire)

For Iranians, is he really better?
As protesters rage against the election of President Ahmadinejad, the Wall Street Journal profiles head challenger Hossein Mousavi and his record. A former prime minister who governed as a social conservative, Mousavi was one of the earliest supporters of the country's nuclear program (WSJ)

Sad but hilarious snafu for Calif. students
Two sourthern California elementary schools made an error accounting for time early in the year, adding up to 34 days left of instruction time students missed throughout the year. A realization school leaders had the week summer vacation was to start. (NPR)