Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele warns that Democratic government intervention in health care will be even worse than the Schiavo case. Huh? That and other political news in today's TPMDC Saturday Roundup.

Yesterday in 100 Seconds: A Teachable Moment

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. says he'd be happy to have a beer at the White House with Officer Crowley and President Obama.

Whatever else Twitter might be, we've found it a good way of to keep tabs on politicos and reporters, what they're doing, saying and so forth. Pols make unguarded or revealing statements, sometimes just helpful heads-ups on events or statements; reporters give early tips on stories. And just atmospherically you can get a feel for what certain groups of people are thinking and talking about. It's not perfect. Obviously, people know they're being listened to. But it's still a very useful tool.

So with that in mind we set up a series of Twitter rooms that pull together the Twitter feeds of different groups. Here's the feeds for Elected Dems on Capitol Hill, Elected Republicans on Capitol Hill, Democratic and liberal insiders, Republican and conservative insiders and reporters and bloggers.

Each page is auto-updating every few minutes.

The elected officials on Capitol Hill rooms should include every representative and senator on the Hill who has a Twitter account. The others obviously required some subjective judgment as to who to include. But they're fairly comprehensive. And obviously if there are people who you think we should add to one of the lists, please let us know.

They're permanently linked on our front page, below the fold on the right, just across from our masthead.

Latest Tweet from Sarah Palin: "Another victory for my family/my admin/the people of AK; but the wins come @ great cost. Will link to presser when posted."

No. I'm not sure either.

'Birther' legal team somewhat less than lawyers in good standing.

Give us a border.

Jim Sleeper on Gates/Crowley: both wrong, one wronger.

I don't understand why commentators persist in saying this week that Barack Obama avoided any discussion of race during the presidential campaign. Which campaign were they covering?

Here's Jack Cafferty on CNN from this afternoon:

Isn't it ironic, he went through the whole presidential campaign, with nary a nod toward any sort of racial problems in this country, and at the tail end of a news conference the other night he stepped right in it up to his eyebrows.

You might argue that Obama didn't make race the centerpiece of his campaign or that he was careful not to explicitly shoulder the burden of centuries of black grievances. (The symbolic shouldering of those grievances was something the first serious black candidate for President, whoever he turned out to be, would not be able to shrug off easily.) But it's wildly inaccurate to say that he ignored race during the campaign, even if he declined to play-act in the highly choreographed racial set-pieces that linger in our politics.

Read more

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

Trying to visualize the Obama/Crowley/Gates kegger at the White House.

Late Update: TPM Reader DB adds: "So what does the SNL intro skit this weekend look like? Does it start with all parties with a few beers under their belts already?"

Latter Update: This leaves me feeling bad for Richard Pryor, who I think would have wanted to be alive and in his early form to build a routine around this story.

Watch Obama's surprise press briefing appearance this afternoon on the Gates hullabaloo.

CNN Prez to Lou Dobbs: Get off the birther bandwagon!

Leader of national Tea Party movement tells the doctor who sent around the racist Obama witch doctor picture they'll stand behind him 100%.

The negotiations between House Blue Dogs and Rep. Henry Waxman appear to have ended badly.

Obama makes surprise appearance at White House briefing to address Gates incident.

The President spoke with the arresting officer, Sgt. Crowley, this afternoon by phone and reiterated to him what Obama said yesterday: that from what he knows Crowley is an exemplary police officer.

Obama conceded that his comments at Wednesday night's press conference "ratcheted up" the situation.

The President also reiterated that he thinks both sides "overreacted." While he suggested that he regretted having "ratcheted up" the situation, Obama rejected the idea that he should not have commented on it because it was merely a local issue.

The President said that Crowley joked about whether Obama could get the press off his lawn.

More here.

Sarah Palin's fast and furious stint as governor of Alaska comes to an end Sunday when her resignation becomes official. We take a look back on the shooting star that was ... Gov. Sarah Palin.

It's that old saw: Once you get caught circulating a jokey email with a picture of the black President of the United States as a witch doctor in a loin cloth with a bone through his nose, things can break down pretty quickly.

Over the course of the day, Dr. David McKalip has apologized for the email, been rebuked by the Florida Medical Association despite noting he'd once done some career counseling for some black boy scouts, been forced to resign as the head of his local medical association, and now, as he announced to a listserve of fellow Tea Party activists today, he'll withdraw from the public debate over health care reform altogether so as not to distract from the goals of the movement.

On the other hand, Marco Rubio, the right-wing primary opponent to Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida's GOP senate primary, won't say whether he's going to sever ties with McKalip, who held a fundraiser for him last month.

TheFasterTimes.com.