An audio recording purported to be Osama bin Laden surfaced Sunday on Al-Jazeera’s website and features the al Qaeda leader claiming responsibility for the attempted terrorist attack aboard flight 253 to Michigan on Christmas Day, CNN is reporting. On CNN’s State of the Union, White House adviser David Axelrod said he could not confirm the tape’s authenticity, but noted that it features “the same hollow justification for the slaughter of innocent people.”

Today marks the auspicious launch of Tucker Carlson‘s The Daily Caller, and in light of Carlson’s insistence that they’re not out “to grind any axes,” I was a little bit surprised by a front page story that said of the Underwear Bomber “he was ‘singing like a canary’ until the Obama administration read him his rights.” I wanted to double-check the facts on that, but when I asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about The Daily Caller, he said “What’s that?”

As Joe Lieberman‘s recent gambit on the health care bill shows, the senator from Connecticut is not afraid to take unpopular — though often effective — stands. Yesterday, on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Lieberman came to the defense of America’s detainment center at Guantanamo Bay, which he acknowledged had a “bad reputation,” but called a “humane” place. Video after the jump:

President Barack Obama was given a written report entitled “Key Homeland Threats” just three days before Christmas, warning of possible impending terrorist attacks in the United States, according to Newsweek, in a media situation very reminiscent of George W. Bush‘s infamous pre-9/11 “Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US” report. Could this spell a wave of bad press for Obama as the news cycle kicks back into gear after the holidays?

The failed terrorist attack on Christmas day has sent nearly everyone in a frenzy over airport security. And while many Americans are willing to make some sacrifices in the name of safe flying, that appears to only go so far, best evidenced by today’s scorn the news media brought towards underwear searches — particularly those made by dogs. But not only was there great skepticism, there was also a strange obsession with our nether regions. More specifically, the nation’s collective crotch.

The failed Christmas attack on Flight 253 has inspired both politicians and opinion journalists to quickly attempt to identify who is most to blame. And it seems like the first to have fingers pointed at her in this story is Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security. But predictably, one can find whatever analysis conforms with one’s own opinion on any of the three major cable news channels. So we’ve edited together punditry from three commentators representing the Left, the Right and the Center, all in one video.

It’s hard not to wonder if the story of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab may turn out to be the biggest story of the year if it keeps developing the way it does. Actually, it’s getting hard not to feel a sense of deja vu all over again as more of the details come to light, because while the attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253 in no way resembles the horror and destruction of September 11, 2001 the lack of government preparedness in the face of a whole lot of intel leading up to it is starting to feel awfully familiar.

There is growing consensus that President Obama reaction to the failed terrorist attack on Flight 253 was, at best, tardy. While some have pointed out that his reaction was one of a calm and collected leader, the somewhat bungled message by Janet Napolitano has lead some to question the viability of her future as Secretary of DHS. Today, Obama made an audio statement, which surely set the cable news producers in overdrive to scramble for tonight’s shows.

Despite rumors of slumping newsstand, a persistent ad recession, and a nasty harassment allegation, the NY Post still delivers on what it does best: evidenced in the front page headline on today’s paper that concerns the failed attack of Flight 253. Update – It appears that Gawker Weekend Editor Foster Kamer made the same exact joke over the weekend!

As more scary details emerge about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab flight to the U.S. and the TSA’s lack of security it may not be entirely surprising that the incident is bringing out, shall we say, certain people’s worser angels.Case in point: Yesterday on Fox News conservative talking head Mike Gallagher, in an effort to address the “800 lbs gorilla in the room” suggested that there should be a separate line in airports for Muslims.

Looks like the failed terror attack of Flight 253 has brought xenophobia back in vogue! Already numerous columnists and opinionators have voiced an eagerness to begin profiling at airport security lines. Even producers at CNN have gotten in the act, though not through the booking of guests, rather, through the broadcasting of a caller during Rick Sanchez‘s show yesterday.

Fox Business Host Eric Bolling was subbing in today for a vacationing Bill O’Reilly and introduced the hot-topic on cable news of late – airport security. But rather than pussyfoot around the issue, Bolling dove right in, asking if the failed attack on Flight 253 means that its “time to profile.” Guest Ann Coulter quickly agreed, while Matthew Lippman, former adviser to the Obama Campaign, demurred. Video and poll after the jump.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano may have given conservatives a great new t-shirt idea yesterday by claiming that the system “worked like clockwork” once the flight 253 incident had occurred (a disclaimer that rendered the statement meaningless), but there may actually be some truth to the notion that the system worked. Napolitano’s statement (since “clarified”) was a wrongheaded attempt at reassurance, it seems that a whole bunch of other people have an interest in making you as scared as possible.

President Obama stepped away from his Christmas vacation in Hawaii to hold a short press conference in order to address Friday’s averted terrorist attack aboard Northwest Flight 253 as well as the escalating conflict in Iran. The President appeared without tie, or teleprompter, to reassure the nation that “we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable” and that “the American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to you keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season.”

This holiday weekend featured news of not just one, but two potential terror attacks. Had this happened during the Bush Administration, we would have had a steady diet of Tom Ridge and color-coded terror alert system bars. Under President Obama — we finally see him speak three days after news broke. Were we better off with or without the color bars (and all that came with it?) Or put another way, should we be freaking out right now or not?

It’s a good week to hate on the TSA. After thanking God that would-be terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed in his attempt to blow up Northwest Fligth 253 on Christmas Day, the focus has shifted to the colossal, multiple failures of the system on that day (Flying even though he was on a watch list? [...]

There appears to be a new twist amidst all the hand-wringing and second-guessing about how airport securities systems worked, or failed miserably. Reuters is now reporting a Dutch military police investigation surrounding a possible accomplice who helped get the passenger on board Flight 253. They cite a US couple, Kurt and Lori Haskell who claim that a well-dressed man appeared to escort suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and attempted to get him aboard Northwest flight 253 without a passport:

The biggest question to come from Thursday’s thwarted terrorist attack is how did someone on a watch list manage to get on a plane? This explanation from a senior administration official, via Politico, may go some ways to answering that question: There’s a lot of bureaucracy involved.

Sec. of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was on NBC’s Today show this morning, back-tracking a bit from her statements about the attempted terror attack made yesterday on several Sunday shows.

She says her comments about how “the system worked” were taken out of context – and she agrees the system actually “failed miserably.”

Where to point the finger over Thursday’s averted terror attack on Northwest Flight 253? How much responsibility for this falls on President Obama? Perhaps this is a good time to point out Obama has been in office three and a half months longer that George W. Bush was when September 11 occurred. So who inherited what?

Hot on the heels of Janet Napolitano‘s “The system worked like clockwork” appearance on This Week, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs faced questions from Jake Tapper, who got to the heart of the issue. If the flight 253 suspect was on a watch list, who was watching him? Gibbs’ response was equally on target.

Another incident has been reported on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, CNN and BNO News are reporting. Details are still coming in, but here’s the information that’s available thus far, as gleaned from Twitter.

Jake Tapper interviewed DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on ABC’s This Week, giving an early indicator of what the administration’s narrative on Flight 523 will be. Caught between the need to reassure a jumpy public, political opponents drooling at the chance to score points, and an unwillingness to tip our hand to those who would do us harm, Napolitano had her work cut out for her. Even given those factors, the Secretary’s overarching message was tone deaf, to say the least.

There may have been a brief reprieve because it did happen on Christmas, but make no mistake: the politicizing of the attempted attack on Northwest airlines flight 253 has begun. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) criticized President Obama on CNN Saturday, questioning the response of the administration in the aftermath of the potentially deadly incident. “It is important at a time like this that the President of the United States or someone in the administration would step forward,” said King, a congressman from New York.

Here is a lesson in how journalism (and really, life) works in 2009: the passenger on Northwest Flight 253 being billed as a hero for helping subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab will tell you his story – but only if you pay him money. But Jasper Schuringa was already on CNN, you say? Well, CNN paid up. And Mediaite has the full story inside!