On Monday, ThinkProgress pointed out how conservatives like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) were complaining that President Obama and his administration are not "willing to use the word" terror - a claim that is refuted by Obama's own statements and speeches. But the right-wing meme persists.

In response to Obama's remarks yesterday on the Christmas Day plot, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) whined that "he still refuses to use the word 'terrorism.'" Fox and Friends this morning featured two chyrons claiming that the administration avoids the word "terror":

Asked on MSNBC this morning to defend the GOP's rush to politicize the attempted terrorist attack, RNC Chairman Michael Steele said it was justified because President Obama "can't call a thing what it is." Steele then claimed that Obama denies that what America is dealing with "writ large is terrorism, a war on terror, and what we're dealing with individually is a terrorist." Watch it:

The conservatives' semantic attack is all the more ridiculous considering that in Obama's statement yesterday, he made eight references to terrorism, terrorists and counterterrorism.