Washington in 60 Seconds: 'Heck of a Job, Barry'

Good morning, Capitolists! As the Obama administration scrambles to explain how Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab could have boarded a U.S.-bound plane with explosives in his undies, the president's once-supportive press corps is scrambling to point fingers over who is at fault, with some of the fingers aimed at Obama.

Exhibit A is New York Times scribe Maureen Dowd, the ultimate nemesis of George W. Bush, whose scathing column tops the headlines making news in Washington today:

* "Heck of a job, Barry." Dowd turns her pen on President Obama today in the Times, ripping his performance after the Christmas Day bombing attempt. "He once more appeared chilly in his response to the chilling episode on Flight 253, issuing bulletins through his press secretary and hitting the links. At least you have to seem concerned . . . . Heck of a job, Barry." Ouch.

* Not-so-Lone Wolf. The Washington Times reports this morning that the alleged bomber, originally characterized as a lone wolf, was involved with the same Northern Virginia imam who radicalized Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Malik Hasan. A U.S. intelligence official said the imam, Anwar al-Aulaqi, told Abdulmutallab, "You are going to be the tip of the spear of the Muslim nation."

* Nobody Worry! Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security, said Sunday, "The system worked." Today she writes in USA Today that the Obama administration is actually working on the system. In an op-ed, she calls the attempted bombing a "powerful illustration that terrorists will go to great lengths to try to defeat the security measures that have been put in place since September 11, 2001," and that the administration "is determined to find and fix the vulnerabilities in our systems that allowed this breach to happen."

* TSA Chief Blocked. If you were wondering what the head of the Transportation Security Administration thinks about all of this, don't bother. The Washington Post reports the TSA has been without a chief for more than a year, largely because Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is blocking the appointment of Obama's nominee for the job, Erroll Southers. On "Fox News Sunday," DeMint accused Southers, a former FBI agent, of being intent on "unionizing and submitting our airport security to union bosses [and] collective bargaining."

* Know Your Gossip? Do you know who is the only member of the Obama family to assault a member of the press? If you guessed Bo the Dog, you're right, and you just might ace the Reliable Source's 2009 gossip quiz HERE.