On the Daily Show last night, Newt Gingrich claimed the "shoe bomber," Richard Reid, is an American citizen.

Reid is actually a British citizen.

Gingrich was attacking the Obama administration for reading the Miranda rights to the Christmas Day attempted bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Jon Stewart pointed out that the Bush administration did the same to Reid.

But Gingrich defended President Bush's decision by falsely claiming Reid was an American citizen, unlike Abdulmutallab.

Watch, starting around 2:45:

President Obama made an appearance at today's White House press briefing. He spoke about his bipartisan meeting on jobs today, railed against Sen. Richard Shelby's holds on nominations (and threatened to do recess appointments) and gave his definition of bipartisanship.

Obama spoke about his bipartisan talk scheduled for later this month. House Republicans have called for Obama to scrap the current health care bills in order for them to fully come to the table -- but Obama dismissed this idea.

"I'm going to be starting from scratch in the sense that I will be open to any ideas that help promote these goals. What I will not do, what I don't think makes sense and what I don't think the American people want to see is another year of partisan wrangling around these issues, another six months or eight months or nine months worth of hearings in every single committee in the House and the Senate in which there's a lot of posturing," he said. "Let's get the relevant parties together. Let's put the best ideas on the table. My hope is that we can find enough overlap that we can say, this is the right way to move forward even if I don't get every single thing that I want."

"Bipartisanship can't be that I agree to all the things that they believe in or want and they agree to none of the things that I believe or want," Obama continued.

Read more »

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs flashed his hand at the White House press corps to jab former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Among the things he'd written in dark pen were his grocery shopping list.

"I wrote a few things down... eggs, milk and bread," Gibbs said.

This was, of course, a reference to Palin's notes she wrote on her hand during the question-and-answer portion of her address to the Tea Party Nation this weekend in Nashville.

As the reporters in the room laughed, Gibbs added, "But I crossed out bread, just so I can make pancakes for Ethan if it snows. And then I wrote down 'hope and change,' just in case I forgot."

That was another crack at Palin, who asked Obama supporters, "How's that hopey-changey thing working out for ya?"

Read more »

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said today that despite earlier suggestions that House Republicans might not attend President Obama's health care reform summit unless certain demands are met, he'll "absolutely" show up to the meeting.

Read more »

Today on MSNBC, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) told Andrea Mitchell that Christmas bombing suspect Umar Abdulmutallab should not have been read his Miranda rights.

Specter also went a step further, saying that the FBI should not, in general, read Miranda rights to terror suspects.

Read more »

In an interview with Washingtonian magazine, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele suggests that press coverage of his troubled tenure has less to do with his verbal gaffes and paid speeches, and more to do with his race.

Greg Sargent has the relevant passage:

But there's an edge to his voice when he talks about a double standard that he believes has been applied by his critics, and he posits racism as the cause: "I don't see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation. Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?"

It's unclear whether Steele is saying racism is behind leaks from the GOP about his troubles, or the press coverage thereof.

According to at least one news report, Rep. John Murtha's (D-PA) doctors may have accidentally nicked his intestine during surgery, causing an infection that contributed to his death yesterday.

Read more »

The White House released the transcript of remarks delivered today by President Obama before he met with leaders of the House and Senate. Read the full text after the jump.

Read more »

Citing a column by Pat Buchanan that clearly argues against conflict with Iran, Sarah Palin on Sunday suggested that a war with Iran would be good policy and a boon for President Obama's 2012 reelection hopes.

Buchanan's column, "Will Obama Play The War Card?" was a rebuttal of Daniel Pipes call last week for Obama to bomb Iran to save his presidency. "Will Obama cynically yield to temptation, play the war card and make 'conservatives swoon,' in Pipes' phrase, to save himself and his party?" Buchanan writes.

Read more »

Last night, Stephen Colbert tried to explain Sarah Palin's somewhat circuitous defense of Rush Limbaugh. Recently, she called for the resignation of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for reportedly referring to liberal groups as 'f--king retarded'. When Limbaugh, on his radio show, repeatedly used the term 'retards' in reference to liberals, Palin defended him, claiming since it was a joke, he didn't really mean it. Colbert, in support of Palin, tried to clarify the difference between the two situations by giving another example of satire, saying 'Sarah Palin is a f--king retard'.

Read more »

The White House released the remarks delivered by President Obama today at the signing of a memorandum on childhood obesity. Read them in full after the jump.

Read more »

Johnathan Graffeo, spokesperson for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), send TPMDC the following statement after his boss decided to drop his holds on dozens of Obama nominees Feb. 8:

The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security - the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center (TEDAC). With that accomplished, Sen. Shelby has decided to release his holds on all but a few nominees directly related to the Air Force tanker acquisition until the new Request for Proposal is issued.

The Air Force tanker acquisition is not an "earmark" as has been reported; it is a competition to replace the Air Force's aging aerial refueling tanker fleet. Sen. Shelby is not seeking to determine the outcome of the competition; he is seeking to ensure an open, fair and transparent competition that delivers the best equipment to our men and women in uniform. Sen. Shelby is fully justified in his concern given the history and current status of this acquisition. One would think that our Air Force's top priority would be to ensure that our men and women in uniform have the best, most capable equipment. Clearly, the draft RFP illustrates that is not the case.

Nor is the TEDAC a so-called earmark; it is a facility specifically requested by the Department of Justice and the FBI. They need such a facility to forensically examine Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere, including the device the Christmas Day Bomber was wearing. The FBI, along with their federal state and local counterparts use this forensic information from these retrieved explosive devices to catch terrorists throughout the world. This facility was to provide the FBI the capability to begin to address a 20-year backlog in collected IEDs from abroad and in the US. Forensic evidence that could help us identify and hunt down terrorists is being amassed in warehouses, while the FBI does their best to process it in a temporary and inadequate facility in a converted parking garage at Quantico.

Sen. Shelby is fully justified in his concern that the Obama Administration is seeking to rescind funds already appropriated for this vital national security purpose. He will continue to work through the appropriations process to ensure that the U.S. military, the intelligence community, and federal law enforcement personnel receive the funding and facilities they need to exploit and analyze intelligence information critical to fighting terrorism and ensuring American security worldwide. It is unacceptable that the Obama Administration wants to read terrorists our Miranda rights and try them in U.S. courts but is impeding the processing of evidence that could also lead to their conviction and the capture of others.

Jon Stewart wondered last night why Sarah Palin needed to remind herself to 'lift American spirits' by writing it on her hand for this weekend's National Tea Party Convention keynote speech. "Unless," he said,"'lift American spirits' is a note to steal a carton of cigarettes."

Read more »

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the passing of Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). Here's the full text:

Read more »

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) said on Fox News today that while John Brennan, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, did brief him on Christmas Day about the handling of suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Bond maintained that he had no idea that Abdulmutallab would be read his rights.

"The administration's trying to pass the buck for dangerous decisions," Bond said. "Brennan did call me, as well as others. Never said that they were going to Mirandize the Christmas Day bomber. I would have told him it was a serious mistake. As I'm sure that the DNI, director of national intelligence, Admiral Blair, and other leaders of the intelligence community would have told him because they said it was a major mistake."

Read more »

President Obama issued a statement in honor of Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), who passed away today at the age of 77. The White House also lowered its flag this afternoon.

Read more »

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has died at the age of 77, after serving in Congress for 36 years.

Murtha had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit last week due to complications following a gall bladder surgery.

Murtha's office released the following statement this afternoon:

Congressman John P. Murtha (PA-12) passed away peacefully this afternoon at 1:18 p.m. at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA. At his bedside was his family.

Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress.

This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania's longest serving Member of Congress.

A complete biography is available on his website.

Read more »

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) fired back today at the assertion yesterday by John Brennan, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, that four Republicans didn't object when Brennan told them in December that suspected Flight 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was being held in FBI custody.

Hoekstra didn't dispute Brennan's account that he was one of four Republicans who was briefed by Brennan shortly after Abdulmutallab's arrest. But Hoekstra maintained that they were only told that Abdulmutallab was in FBI custody.

"We weren't told that he was going to be read his Miranda rights," Hoekstra said.

Read more »

Birther queen Orly Taitz reappeared recently to bring the birther movement -- which questions the president's birthplace and citizenship -- to a new frontier, Russian TV. On her way to this weekend's National Tea Party Convention, she sat down for an interview with 'Russia Today.' In it, she stressed the presence of fellow tea partying birthers, saying concern about the legitimacy of Obama's presidency is 'widespread' in the tea party movement.

Read more »

In her keynote address Saturday night to the National Tea Party Convention, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin encouraged competitive primaries in 2010 races, calling for conservative candidates to challenge the Republican establishment.

"This year there are gonna be some tough primaries, and I think that's good. Competition in these primaries is good. Competition makes us work harder and be more efficient and produce more," she said.

"And I hope you'll get out there and work hard for the candidates who reflect your values, your priorities. Because despite what the pundits want you to think, contested primaries aren't civil war. They're democracy at work, and that's beautiful," she continued.

Read more »