The sudden, tragic death of singing legend Whitney Houston has dominated cable news this week, and her troubled history has brought out the crank in many a media figure. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has found himself in the position of defending his decision to fly flags in the state at half-mast from the more judgmental of his constituents. While I agree with him on little else, his decision to honor Houston, and his defense of that decision, are spot-on.

On the heels of last week’s ruling by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that California’s Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and the state of Washington voting last week to legalize gay marriage, the national debate over gay equality shifts to New Jersey, with the state legislature expected to vote on a gay marriage bill tomorrow. Democratic State Senate President Stephen Sweeney predicts that it will pass both the Senate and State Assembly, but Governor Chris Christie will most likely veto it.

>Columnist-cum-Presidential roaster Ann Coulter took to the CPAC stage Friday, where she spoke at length about President Barack Obama.

Ann Coulter has spent much of the recent turn of the Republican campaign out and about campaigning for Mitt Romney, and today she took her mission to Hannity, where she even had a story about confronting Romney himself and warning him to be “as right wing as I tell everyone you will be.”

There are some topics around here at Mediaite, like Kim Kardashian and Snooki, that only end up here tangentially, much to the chagrin of those of us that would rather talk about more dignified things like Mitt Romney doing laundry and Sarah Palin‘s Facebook doodles. But outside of his feuds with the diminutive Jersey Shore star, Gov. Chris Christie is a beloved and respected political entity who may be our next-next president. If we report it every time Christie entertainingly yells insults at random people, surely a scrape with Snooki merits attention.

Early Wednesday morning, Nicole Polizzi — known to legions of reality TV fans as “Snooki” from Jersey Shore, or, “the one who was arrested after being drunk on a beach in the middle of the day” –sent out a tweet voicing her non-endorsement of New Jersey governor Chris Christie:

Will there ever be a news cycle without a “Gov. Chris Christie yelling at people” story ever again? Not anytime in the near future, apparently. The Governor, who is currently pushing a ballot referendum on same-sex marriage in the state, took a moment today to discuss allegations that his comparison of the issue to those of race in the middle of the past century, which he found extremely offensive. Explaining that, unlike the LGBT community, a ballot referendum on civil rights “wasn’t an option,” Christie berated one state legislator who compared his stance to that of George Wallace as “numb nuts.”

A viral video featuring six Chinese soldiers playing “pass the grenade” is burning up the YouTubes, mainly because the grenade they’re passing around is, according to the video’s title, a live one. The soldiers pass some kind of smoking object around, then toss it into a pit, and hit the deck as something explodes. I don’t know why they’re doing it, but their routine is a near-perfect metaphor for the 2012 presidential election.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was a guest on Fox Business Network’s Follow The Money with Eric Bolling Monday night, and threw a few demeaning barbs in the direction of New Jersey governor — and Mitt Romney supporter — Chris Christie, classifying his remarks about Newt Gingrich being an embarrassment to the Republican Party as “a rookie mistake.” She then clarified:

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appeared on Meet the Press today to do damage control for Mitt Romney and to explain why Newt Gingrich would not be an ideal Republican nominee despite his strong victory in South Carolina last night. He claimed that Gingrich’s past actions have embarrassed the Republican party, and Mitt Romney was more suited to be the nominee because of his record and how he conducted himself in office as opposed to Gingrich.

Chris Christie, who has been pretty much living on cable talk show sets this week, paid a visit to the folks at Fox & Friends Thursday morning, where the Romney supporter weighed in on what Rick Santorum‘s possible win in Iowa means for the race (“Nothing.”), and what the future holds for Mitt Romney.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the most visible of Mitt Romney‘s surrogates, has responded to the former Massachusetts Governor’s revelation that he pays about a 15% effective tax rate by going on a media tour suggesting that Romney release his tax returns now, rather than in April. Christie’s appearances on NBC’s Today Show and MSNBC’s Morning Joe show a subtle escalation in Christie’s call for quick disclosure.

New Jersey governor and America’s Great Right Hope Chris Christie stopped by the Morning Joe set Wednesday, where talk eventually turned to his future aspirations. Or, at least, what some are anticipating and/or hoping his aspirations might be.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie lashed out at Washington Post columnist and MSNBC contributor Eugene Robinson on Robinson’s home turf this morning, telling Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that people like Robinson “shouldn’t have a platform to speak, they’re so ignorant.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sat down with Oprah Winfrey on her show Oprah’s Next Chapter, and had some surprisingly complimentary comments for President Obama. “Those who underestimate Barack Obama, underestimate him at their own peril. He’s as good a politician as I’ve ever seen,” Christie gushed. “I think he’s very charismatic. And I think he’s genuine. I think what he says he believes, he believes. That’s a very dangerous politician.”

Remember early 2011′s pop confection Herman Cain? The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO/Pokémon aficionado is still making headlines with his Solutions Revolution tour, and on Your World today he had some advice for frontrunner Mitt Romney: choosing Chris Christie as a vice presidential candidate could sink his campaign– but only adopting 999 could save it.

On Monday, the folks over at Morning Joe took a look at presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman‘s rising success in New Hampshire… even despite some people’s (like, say, New Jersey governor Chris Christie‘s) questioning of his loyalty and/or his integrity.

During a Sunday evening rally in Exeter, New Hampshire for Mitt Romney, New Jersey governor Chris Christie was interrupted by demonstrators chanting “Christie Kills Jobs.” “Really?!” Christie amusedly boomed, as the crowd guffawed in delight. “You know something may go down tonight, but it ain’t gonna be jobs sweetheart!”

In being part of a movement that takes a stand against corporatism, it’s very important to be forward-thinking. Also, forward-looking. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been vigorously campaigning for Mitt Romney in Iowa, and introduced the presidential candidate in a recent stump speech.

A few months ago, Saturday Night Live envisioned an aggressive NJ Gov. Chris Christie putting on his biggest show to get America to like Mitt Romney. With the Iowa caucuses less than a week away, life is now imitating art, as Christie yelled at an Iowa crowd today that if they dared not “do what you’re supposed to do on Tuesday,” he would be back. Presumably with some sort of vengeance.

Could Chris Christie still become the Republican nominee? Tom Brokaw thought that if the nomination process resulted in a brokered convention, pressure would be put on the New Jersey Governor to jump in the race.

In an appearance on Tuesday’s Morning Joe, New Jersey Gov. and Mitt Romney-endorser Chris Christie joined host Joe Scarborough in the shared delusion that President Obama, at the beginning of his term, enjoyed a filibuster-proof majority for two years, and “frittered” it away. There’s a fair debate to be had as to whether the President took full advantage of that majority, but it is a fact that even the most generous calculation reveals that the Democrats’ obstruction-free window lasted 7 months, not two years.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made a quick appearance on Morning Joe Tuesday, and offered up a few explanations of why he likes Mitt Romney, the GOP candidate he has thrown his support behind for the 2012 nomination. The most pervasive theme? That Romney can’t “own the stage” (a point Christie said would happen after he gets votes in the primaries) and seems to be somewhat stiff.

Today’s edition of The Chris Matthews Show featured a small little awards ceremony to honor the most important political moments of the year. Chris Matthews dedicated the first award to President Obama for his “Best Move” of the year. The nominees for the category were the death of Osama bin Laden, the Libyan invasion, the fulfilled promise to withdraw from Iraq, and his unifying speech to the nation following the Arizona shootings and critical injury of Gabrielle Giffords.

Ann Coulter is making the case for Mitt Romney as the most electable Republican candidate in the current 2012 field (after her calls for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to get into the race fell on deaf ears), and tonight on Hannity she had to explain what had changed in a year, since she asserted before an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference that a Romney nomination would be a sure loss. “I now think Obama has a glass jaw,” she told Sean Hannity, explaining that even beyond Romney, she would vote for any Republican over the incumbent.