The dust-up between CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, and spokespeople from the White House and the Justice Department over her reporting on Fast and Furious, has become a cause celebre for the right, and a meta-story all its own. Jay Carney responded obliquely to the incident at yesterday’s briefing by pointing out that “tough conversations” are all in a day’s work. Mark Hemingway, of Bill Kristol‘s Weekly Standard, adds another layer to the onion by asking if CBS News is “Silencing Fast and Furious Reporter” Sharyl Attkisson.

At Wednesday’s White House daily briefing, Fox News Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry asked Press Secretary Jay Carney to respond to a report that a White House official had “screamed and cussed at” CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, over the unfolding Fast and Furious story. Carney said he didn’t know about that specific conversation, but elaborated in his response that, in general, “hard-bitten journalists” ought to be able to handle “tough conversations” and “an extra decibel or two in a phone conversation.”

On her show this afternoon, radio host Laura Ingraham spoke with CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson, who has been reporting on the “Fast and Furious” gun scandal, trying to find who, exactly, within the Justice Department knew about the failed operation.

And she’s been hitting some roadblocks.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the European Parliament Tuesday that the Obama Administration really is trying to close the much-maligned U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay “as quickly as possible, recognizing that we face substantial pressure.” Having so far elapsed the intended close date, they promise they are still working on it and that they continue working until all of the prisoners are processed or moved or until someone else gets voted into office.

Republican Congressman and Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Darrell Issa spoke with Lou Dobbs about “Operation Fast and Furious” and how he is determined to learn exactly who knew what and when about the illegal gun trafficking program. Despite President Obama declaring that Attorney General Eric Holder was not aware of the program, Issa believes some evidence might suggest otherwise.

Finally someone in the government is standing up and fighting the good fight. Reuters is reporting that, yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder appeared at an event in the Justice Department with actors from The Wire where he used scenes from the series to illustrate the need to protect children from “endangered by drug abuse.” While there, Holder ordered the writers of the series to make another season, a statement that is sure to garner support across party lines for, as we all know, if you don’t love The Wire, you’re not a real American.

Today, President Obama visited Ground Zero and met with those affected by 9/11. Somehow, however, his visit seemed to look different to every person who witnessed it. Particularly cable news channels. MSNBC seemed thrilled as they eagerly discussed how the visit would totally show up tonight’s Republican debate. Meanwhile, Fox News was less enchanted. Witness the network’s interview with Debra Burlingame, a 9/11 widow, who was brought on to discuss Obama’s meeting with the victims’ families. That subject was broached for about two minutes before transitioning into a seven minute conversation of how Obama and Eric Holder are completely beholden to the “hard left.”

Conflicting reports have arisen as to exactly what went down in that house in Pakistan with some now questioning whether or not the United States ever wanted to take Osama bin Laden alive. On his show today, Rush Limbaugh gave some theories as to why the White House might have been loathe to have a captured, living Bin Laden. Limbaugh explained that that would be the “last thing” they’d want as then they’d have to put him through their “sissified” legal system.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared on Fox & Friends and shared harsh criticism of Attorney General Eric Holder and his recent decision to move ahead with trying suspected terrorists in military tribunals rather than in federal courts. Rumsfeld declared it to be the “right decision, more than two years too late.”

Barack Obama has a “chip on his shoulder,” according to Rush Limbaugh, and it’s something that affects every policy decision he makes. That chip is his race. However, Limbaugh explained, Obama’s probably the only person who’s thinking about it.

Rush Limbaugh was not happy with Mediaite and this writer today. The reason was yesterday’s post on his comments on Eric Holder’s Black Panther case comments (This is the Inception of news stories; comments within comments within comments). However, interestingly enough, Limbaugh was not upset that the post claimed he “got his facts wrong,” but rather that it “accused [him] of introducing race” to the story.

Rush Limbaugh continued to wade into the dangerous waters of race by discussing comments Eric Holder made regarding the ongoing controversy involving the New Black Panther voter intimidation case. Limbaugh was angry with accusations Holder made that the continued focus on the case demeaned his “people.” In Limbaugh’s rant he did, however, get a fact wrong.

Glenn Beck’s been away from the cameras for a few weeks but, today on his show, he came barreling back full speed ahead. Describing the country as being “at a crossroads,” Beck said his show was at one too and gave hints of big changes to come. The first change, and the one most physically tangible, was his unplugging of the red phone he had reserved for calls from the White House. For, you see, Beck’s no longer waiting for change or fighting to stop change. No, he’s going to make the change he wants happen himself.

It would seem that Rush Limbaugh’s been watching a lot of ABC recently and hasn’t liked what he’s been seeing. No, it’s not that he’s felt the second season of Modern Family’s been subpar. Rather he caught two interviews the ABC News team did with members of the Obama Administration and didn’t like what either had to say. After the jump, some of Limbaugh’s harsh words for Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano.

Attorney General Eric Holder provided ABC’s Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas with what was touted as a “rare” interview. And that’s certainly an accurate description, but given Holder’s seriousness and eloquence on the terror issue, which was uniquely on display here, it’s a wonder why Holder is not speaking to the public more often. Holder passionately defended the Obama administration’s counter-terrorist strategies from the very real threat.

Here comes the next chapter in the Julian Assange/WikiLeaks saga: ABC News is reporting that Assange “could soon be facing spying charges in the U.S. related to the Espionage Act.” Their source is Assange’s attorney, Jennifer Robinson. The embattled founder of WikiLeaks is already in custody in London; he was arrested on sexual assault charges earlier this week. Robinson told ABC that while these latest charges are imminent, she doesn’t believe they have any merit:

Last night on her show, Rachel Maddow took the Alaskan street to engage in some rigorous political debate with sign-holding Joe Miller supporters. They told her they supported Miller because his opponent, incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski, voted to confirm Attorney General Eric Holder, whom they dislike because he’s “anti-gun.” When Maddow asked why specifically they thought that of Holder, there were many answers, devolving from “Look at his voting record,” to “Look at his press releases,” to, “Just type into Google,” and, finally, inevitably, to “the Black Panthers.” The exchange inspired a disappointed Maddow to tell cameras, “This is the world Fox News has created.”

National Public Radio’s firing of Juan Williams over remarks he made on The O’Reilly Factor is just the latest example of a public figure losing their job for, to quote Allen Funt, “getting caught in the act of being themselves.”

While I don’t buy the various defenses that are being deployed on Williams’ behalf, there is an important principle at stake that is being washed away, not in the name of “political correctness,” but expediency. While loose lips have always been in danger of sinking career ships, the bar has been lowered to a level that can only serve to end our most valuable conversations.

Most people are only recently familiar with the unrestrained Carl Paladino and his often inflammatory remarks. However, National Journal‘s Hotline On Call has unearthed some of the Republican’s earlier work. In this town hall meeting (remember how fun those were?), Paladino offers his thoughts on Attorney General Eric Holder: “F*ck him.” After the audience laughs for a bit, he continued: “F*ck him.”

If you have been following the New Black Panther story on Fox News, you probably know it as the “DOJ Whistleblower Case,” a frame that suggests that J. Christian Adams is just an ordinary public servant, pushed to extraordinary lengths by his noble conscience. While he doesn’t quite fit that bill, US Commission on Civil Rights Vice Chair Abigail Thernstrom comes a lot closer. An American Enterprise Institute scholar (and a Republican), Thernstrom has gone from warning that Adams’ case is “fantasy,” to sounding the alarm that her own commission is engaging in a fraud. (h/t Doug Mataconis)

This morning on Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz asked Face The Nation anchor Bob Schieffer the question Megyn Kelly wanted the answer to – why didn’t he ask Attorney General Eric Holder about the New Black Panther/DOJ story in his exclusive last week?

His answer: he would have asked it had he known about the case.

CBS’ Bob Schieffer interviewed Attorney General Eric Holder for the entire half-hour Face the Nation on Sunday. He asked about Arizona immigration, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Guantanamo.

But he didn’t ask Holder about the Black Panther/DOJ case. Should he have?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sparked new controversy over Arizona’s so-called “Show me your papers” law when her announcement (during a June 8 interview on Ecuadoran TV) that the Department of Justice would be suing the state of Arizona reached Governor Jan Brewer last week. The debate carried over to ABC’s This Week, where Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren (who sparred with Mediaite over the issue on Friday) made an excellent point.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made news yesterday when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer noticed a statement that Clinton made in a June 8 interview with an Ecuadoran TV station. Secretary Clinton revealed that the Department of Justice will be filing a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s so-called “Show Me Your Papers” law. A DOJ spokesman wouldn’t confirm this, saying “The department continues to review the law.”

BP COO Doug Suttles– the kind of earnest one, not the one that keeps putting his foot in his mouth every time he sees a camera– visited CNN’s John King for a one-on-one about BP’s new plan to plug the oil well, the upcoming criminal investigation on his company, and whether the Obama administration’s newly debuted tougher rhetoric on the company worries him. At the very least, he’s not surprised.