It’s been awhile since we’ve used the acronym P.U.M.A to describe intra-political fighting so here is a quick refresher: it stands for Party Unity My Ass, and was a phrase coined during the Democratic primary of 2008, born from the rivalry between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It’s apropos today because of a question asked by World Net Daily’s White House Reporter Lester Kinsolving, who asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney if the President is concerned about a Hillary run in 2012.

Press Trust of India reported earlier this week that President Obama‘s plan trip to Inida would cost US taxpayers $200 Miliion per day during his visit to Mumbai. Though the story did not name a source, according to CBS News “the $200 million claim was credited to ‘a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit.’” Though the White House claims the cost to have “no basis in reality” it was a hot topic in today’s White House press briefing.

Frequent Mediaite readers already know that World Net Daily correspondent Les Kinsolving‘s daughter, Kathleen Kinsolving, has written a fascinating biography about her father’s long, strange career. Now, C-Span junkies and WhiteHouse.gov superfans are in on the secret, thanks to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. He found a copy of “Gadfly” on his podium yesterday, and remarked about it.

True to form, though, World Net Daily sees a conspiracy even here, claiming the White House scrubbed Les’ book from the briefing transcript. Get the whole truth here.

World Net Daily’s Les Kinsolving, now the 2nd most senior member of the White House Press Corps, is the subject of a new book by his daughter, Kathleen. I’ve written before about Les’ fascinating career, his outrageous questions at White House briefings, and interviewed him on some of his defining contradictions, but “Gadfly: The Life and Times of Les Kinsolving” reveals the rest of the chaotic iceberg that is Les Kinsolving’s life. In our exclusive interview, Les talks about some of those contradictions, defends his involvement with the South African Apartheid government, and pleads for a little social justice from Robert Gibbs.

During my latest interview with World Net Daily’s Les Kinsolving (publishing later today), he boasted that he is the only reporter to have asked Robert Gibbs about President Obama‘s birth certificate…twice. At yesterday’s White House briefing, Les went for the hat trick, asking a question about Obama’s Social Security number, but sprinkling in a reference to the certificate. This coincides with the latest “scoop” to crawl out from under WND, a Hawaii elections official who’s making his own bid for Birther fame.

I first met The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld last spring, following a White House briefing in which I pressed Robert Gibbs about the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” discharge of Lt. Dan Choi. Today she takes part in Mediaite’s award hopeful web series “Inside the White House Press Corp.”

Since taking office as the United States’ first black president, Barack Obama has taken pains to maintain the perception that he’s post-racial, that he’s everybody’s President, while taking criticism that he hasn’t done enough for black Americans. His meeting today with the Congressional Black Caucus, the source of much of that criticism, was the catalyst for an exchange at today’s White House briefing that perfectly encapsulated that tension, as Robert Gibbs fielded literally dueling questions from April Ryan and Lester Kinsolving.

Part one of my interview with WorldNetDaily correspondent and radio host Les Kinsolving was really just the tip of the iceberg. In parts 2 and three of our interview, Les opens up about some of the touchstones of his extraordinary career, including his experiences as the first Jim Jones whistleblower, his place in the history of the AIDS epidemic, and his quest to see the President’s birth certificate. Amid a host of seeming contradictions, he also talks about being pro-choice and anti-death penalty.

WorldNetDaily correspondent and radio host Lester Kinsolving is, without a doubt, the most colorful member of the White House press corps. His questions are designed to delight WND’s right-wing readers, and if Press Secretary Robert Gibbs doesn’t call on him, Lester will often just shout them out anyway.

At today’s briefing, colorful World Net Daily reporter and right-wing radio host Lester Kinsolving asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about a NY Post op-ed that suggests that the decline of Boy Scouting in the area is due to the City “abandoning” scouting after the 2000 Supreme Court decision upholding their ban on gays. Lester draws a parallel between the BSA policy and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but Gibbs sidesteps the question.

At today’s briefing, conservative radio host and reporter Lester Kinsolving asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to respond to a pair of MSNBC quotes. First, a golden oldie from June, in which a Newsweek editor compares the President to God (it makes slightly more sense in context), and Chris Matthews’ post-SOTU declaration that he had forgotten that Obama was black for an hour. Lester, you may recall, got a really quick answer to a really long question awhile back. Gibbs was equally brief this time.

World Net Daily correspondent and conservative radio host Lester Kinsolving, with an assist from NBC’s Mike Viqueira, threw more hilariously loaded questions at Robert Gibbs from behind his signature shotgun mic. He touched on some subjects sure to tickle the sensibilities of the birther/global warming denier/dittohead set when he asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs why it was so cold out, did the President visit the hospital that Rush Limbaugh stayed in in Hawaii, and…just what hospital was the President born in?

Conservative World Net Daily reporter and talk show host Lester Kinsolving asked Robert Gibbs this hilariously loaded question at yesterday’s White House briefing.

Gibbs’ answer displayed the wit that some critics say results in too-frequent laughter in the briefing room, and cut right to the heart of the matter.