Although not as flashy as the newsletter controversy, here’s a fascinating curio from Dr. Paul’s political closet: in a Christmastime appearance on Meet The Press in 2007, Paul said that Abraham Lincoln should never have started the Civil War, instead ending slavery by having the federal government purchase all of the slaves and set them free. Like many libertarian ideas, it’s appealing unless you think about it for five seconds.

On The O’Reilly Factor tonight, Ann Coulter did not mince words when dissecting Newt Gingrich‘s views on executive power and directly challenging the authority of Supreme Court justices by potentially having them subpoenaed under a Gingrich presidency. She argued that the frontrunner candidate has a history of making over-the-top, bombastic statements that only ever end up hurting the conservative cause.

Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Bill O’Reilly‘s new non-fiction book, Killing Lincoln, had been banned from Ford’s Theater– where Lincoln was killed– for factual inaccuracies. Tonight on The Factor, O’Reilly clarified that this was not true, and that the Theater had released a statement that it was, indeed, stocking the book, despite “four minor misstatements” and two typos.

Conservative blogs like American Thinker and Instahpundit are up in arms over PBS’ alleged “alteration” of the transcript to President Obama‘s jobs speech before a joint session of Congress Thursday night. They allege that the PBS website “altered” the transcript to cover up for a gaffe that the President committed during the speech, referring to Abraham Lincoln as the “founder” of the Republican Party, rather than as the “Father of the Republican Party.”

As Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Texas-sized mouth garners gushers of media attention in the opening days of his presidential campaign, fact-checking website Politifact has been working overtime to ride to Perry’s rescue, rating statements that Perry alternately “threatened to” or “wanted to” secede as “false.”

West Wing Report‘s Paul Brandus points out that it was on this date in 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln laid to rest any doubt about the right of states to secede. Politifact concedes that point, yet ignores it in analyzing the accusations against Perry.

In a deafening blow to institutional memory, a new Gallup poll asking Americans to rank their favorite presidents finds the nation’s favorite presidents mostly to have lived within their lifetimes, with three of the top five having served during the second half of the 20th century. This year, Ronald Reagan won the top spot, with Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy and, straggling behind, George Washington rounding out the top 5.

There has been a rather ugly conflict between the NAACP and the Tea Party movement that has heated up of late, centering around the use of “colored people” and a satirical letter written by Mark Williams, a Tea Party Express organizer. The Republican strategist Mary Matalin (who is a former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney) appeared on CNN’s Situation Room this afternoon to discuss this, and painted Williams to be a fringe character who’s not in a position to influence anyone…”unlike Reverend Wright.

On last night’s Countdown, host Keith Olbermann devoted his “Tea Time” segment to a stupefying response by Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams to the NAACP’s resolution condemning “racist elements” within the Tea Party movement. In the form of a letter to Abraham Lincoln, from NAACP President Ben Jealous, Williams took the NAACP’s historical retention of the term “colored people” in their name, and ran with it. Olbermann called on all Tea Party leaders to immediately repudiate Williams.

First, Rick Barber told you to gather your armies against the oppressive IRS. Now, he wants you to see healthcare reform for what it really is: forcing one man to work for another.

In other words: slavery.

Taking a refreshing vacation from the serious issues facing Washington today (tickle fights), the Morning Joe team indulged in some network cross-promotion as Donald Trump crash-landed onto the show to promote the new season of Celebrity Apprentice premiering this Sunday. And what an interview it was: he praised Rod Blagojevich, he called for the retraction of Al Gore‘s Nobel Peace Prize (“I’m not supposed to use hair spray!”), he hit on Mika Brzezinski.

The walking dead have apparently taken over publishing (and no I don’t mean the corporate suits who are increasingly running the show). First there was (the very successful) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which zombieified Pride and Prejudice. Now comes Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Not kidding! The walking dead are the new Hilter mashups of the publishing world.

Happy Presidents Day! This happens to be one of those holidays that many people only remember exists when the garbage truck never shows and the mail doesn’t arrive. Presidents Day lands right between the birthday’s of perennial presidential greats Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and George Washington (Feb. 22) ostensibly it’s a time to celebrate all [...]

Gossip Cop is reporting that Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly will be publishing a biography on the first Republican president Abraham Lincoln. Killing Lincoln will reportedly explore the assassination attempt of the 16th president and is due out in the Fall of 2010.

After what felt like eons Michael Jackson coverage, the news mags turn their attention back to politics. In the week following Obama’s G-8 jaunt, and with Sonia Sotomayor’s hearings on deck, political celebrities — young and old — are back on the cover.