Obama Administration Truthful About Terrorist Trials?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

By the Book

Attorney General Eric Holder says the Bush administration tried and convicted 300 individuals on terrorism-related charges under the criminal justice system. But former Bush officials are m ystified.

The Washington Examiner reports Holder has made this declaration more than once, most recently in defense of the Obama administration decision to criminally charge the Christmas Day bomb suspect.

But who are the 300 other terrorists he mentions? Lawmakers have been trying to find out for months, and Republican Senator Jon Kyl says flatly: "There haven't been 300 high-profile, dangerous terrorism cases in the United States. If there were — we would have heard about them."

Kyl has requested the information from Holder three times but gotten nowhere. Although an assistant attorney general told Kyl he could get "briefings about terrorism suspects housed in federal prisons generally."

Former Bush press secretary Dana Perino says: "the 300 number is as false as false gets."

Pawn Star

The Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Illinois, pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen, says he has no plans to drop out despite coming under intense fire for a domestic abuse charge filed in 2005.

Cohen was accused of holding a knife to the throat of his then-girlfriend who was a prostitute. Charges were dropped after the woman failed to show up in court.

Cohen says he disclosed the arrest before he announced his candidacy, but he was such an underdog, it never became an issue. Now that he's won the primary, incumbent Governor Pat Quinn, who is also running, has called on Cohen to step aside.

Civil Rights and Wrongs

The Reverend Jim Wallis, known for founding Sojourners magazine, praised President Obama's speech at Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast; in particular the president's call for political civility.

But Wallis hasn't always been a champion of civility. Commentary magazine points to very partisan comments he made about the roles of President Bush and others in the Iraq war: "I believe they should spend the rest of their lives in prison — offering their repentance to every American family who has lost [someone]... deliberately lying about going to war should not be forgiven."

Just for Kicks

And finally, Democrats and Republicans are at odds again; not over policy but over the Super Bowl.

A survey says Democrats are rooting for the New Orleans Saints by a fairly wide margin, while Republicans narrowly favor the Indianapolis Colts.

Indy won the Super Bowl three years ago, and is favored by five points over the Saints who are making their first appearance in the big game.

— Fox News Channel's Megan Dumpe Kenworthy contributed to this report.