memeorandum: Joe Barton privately apologizes to GOPers for BP mess; he'll keep committee slot (Greg Sargent/The Plum Line)

1:20 PM ET, June 23, 2010

Top Items:

Why McChrystal Has to Go — It is intolerable for military officers to mock senior political officials, including ambassadors and the vice president. — Gen. Stanley McChrystal is a hero—a selfless, fearless and inspiring soldier. He is also something of a military genius.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, NewsReal Blog, Mudville Gazette, Fox News, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, New Atlanticist, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, Don Surber, Danger Room, The Daily Beast, PostPartisan and Swampland

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

McChrystal to Administration Official: 'I've Compromised the Mission' — During his round of phone calls to top officials of the Obama administration whom he and his team disparaged to a Rolling Stone reporter, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said, “I've compromised the mission,” a senior administration source tells ABC News.

New York Times:

McChrystal's Fate Unclear After Brief Meeting With Obama — WASHINGTON — Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal left the White House after meeting with President Obama for about 20 minutes, departing ahead of a meeting on the war in Afghanistan later Wednesday morning, but there was no immediate word …

msnbc.com:

Key meeting begins without McChrystal — General's fate still unclear after 30-minute session with Obama — General Stanley McChrystal arrives at the White House in Washington on Wednesday. — WASHINGTON - An Afghanistan strategy session is under way at the White House as scheduled without word …

Discussion: CBS News, Politics Daily, Washington Wire, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Newsbroke and Associated Press

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:

Gen. McChrystal's Firing Offense — Blogs and Stories — The press is turning a story about policy into a story about penises. What matters isn't what McChrystal said about Obama—it's what he believes about Afghanistan. — It's not the insubordination, stupid. It's the war.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Washington Wire, newsfeed.time.com, The Impolitic, www.thetakeaway.org, ABCNEWS and Mediaite

Washington Post:

McChrystal's fate unclear after brief White House meeting with Obama — Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the embattled commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, met one-on-one with President Obama at the White House on Wednesday morning to apologize personally for derogatory comments …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, The New Republic, The Huffington Post and Politics Daily

ABCNEWS:
McChrystal's Fate Remains Uncertain After Obama Meeting

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Caucus and Outside the Beltway

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
What's Second Prize?

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Newsweek:
How ‘Rolling Stone’ Got Into McChrystal's Inner Circle

Discussion: The AfPak Channel, BLACKFIVE, Politics Daily, CNN, Blogs of War, The Afghanistan Analysts …, National Review, Top of the Ticket, Connecting.the.Dots and www.thetakeaway.org, more at Mediagazer »

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
McChrystal article renews attention to split with Biden over Afghanistan

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Laura Rozen's Blog, The Huffington Post, NewsReal Blog, Outside the Beltway, Firedoglake and New York Times

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Obama plans Wednesday showdown with McChrystal

Discussion: The Swamp, CNN, New York Times, JustOneMinute, The Page, Foreign Policy, Blue Wave News, PostPartisan, Wonk Room and Don Surber

blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
Breaking: General Stanley McChrystal tenders his resignation

Washington Post:
Why President Obama should keep Gen. McChrystal

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Weekly Standard, Examiner, PostPartisan, Commentary, Wonkette, Liberty Pundits Blog and Neptunus Lex

WDSU-TV:

Federal Gov't Halts Sand Berm Dredging — Nungesser Pleads With President To Allow Work To Continue — NEW ORLEANS — The federal government is shutting down the dredging that was being done to create protective sand berms in the Gulf of Mexico. — The berms are meant to protect the Louisiana coastline from oil.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Foundry, Another Black Conservative, Questions and Observations, Confederate Yankee, Fausta's Blog, Townhall.com, Don Surber and The Daily Caller

Pat Austin / And So it Goes in Shreveport:
The Feds Latest Attempt to Kill Louisiana: Dredging Stopped

Discussion: Questions and Observations and Pundit & Pundette

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Barton will keep top GOP spot on Energy and Commerce panel — Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) will retain his top spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to GOP lawmakers. — Barton, who came under fire after apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward at a hearing last week …

Discussion: Wonkette, USA Today and Balloon Juice

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Joe Barton privately apologizes to GOPers for BP mess; he'll keep committee slot

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Jack & Jill Politics, TPMDC, The Hill, Right Now and The Page

Peter Hannaford / American Spectator:
Joe Barton Was Right

Discussion: Right Now, The Atlantic Online, Swampland and msnbc.com

Jake Sherman / The Politico:
House GOP moves to keep Barton

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online and TPMDC

Michael O'Brien / The Hill: Boehner report claims health reform failed on promises after three months

ABCNews.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Meet Senator Vitter's Trusted Aide Drove Drunk, Attacked Girlfriend, Still On the Job — Senator Of DC Madam Fame Has Had Aide Working On Women's Issues; Brent Furer's Brushes With Law Go Back to 1990s — A longtime aide to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who has been assigned …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, TPMMuckraker, Raw Story, AMERICAblog News, First Draft and pandagon.net

Associated Press:

Vitter aide resigns amid report of run-in with law — WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter accepted the resignation of a longtime aide Wednesday after a news report disclosed repeated brushes with the law dating to the 1990s, the Republican's office said Wednesday.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and TPMMuckraker

CNN:

Spitzer, Parker to host primetime CNN show — CNN announced Wednesday that Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer will host its new 8 p.m. program. — Washington (CNN) - Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and 2010 Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Kathleen Parker will co-host …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog, New Deal 2.0 and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Mike Allen / The Politico:

CNN teams Spitzer, Parker at 8 — CNN announced Wednesday that Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor, and Kathleen Parker, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in April for her conservative newspaper columns, are teaming up in September for a newsy conversation show at 8 p.m., replacing “Campbell Brown.”

Discussion: New York Observer, The Awl and Romenesko

Eric Zimmermann / The Hill: Spitzer gets CNN show

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Nikki Haley wins South Carolina primary, Rep. Bob Inglis loses — South Carolina state Rep. Nikki Haley cruised to the Republican nomination for governor tonight, a victory that makes her not just the frontrunner for the office this fall but a likely national GOP star.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Another Black Conservative, The Politico, Don Surber, sisu, Liberty Pundits Blog and The Caucus

Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:
Nikki Fever

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and sisu

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Palin racks up two more wins

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Gateway Pundit

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Son of one-time segregationist loses to black Republican

Discussion: The Nation and msnbc.com

Michelle Malkin:

The threat of illegal alien amnesty-by-executive order — NumbersUSA posted a letter on Monday from GOP Sen. Grassley and seven other Republican Senators challenging the White House on rumors of illegal alien-amnesty-by-executive order. The gist of it:

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel and La Shawn Barber's Corner

NumbersUSA:
Comprehensive Amnesty Threat

Discussion: Another Black Conservative, Townhall.com, Left Coast Rebel, Doug Ross, Weasel Zippers and iOwnTheWorld.com

John / Power Line:

Sharia Comes to Michigan — Under Sharia law, it is forbidden to proselytize to Muslims, and no Muslim can leave the faith. Dearborn, Michigan, is home to a substantial Muslim population, and there is strong evidence that local authorities now enforce sharia in preference to the Constitution of the United States.

Matt Bai / New York Times:

For Jeb Bush, Life Defending the Family Name — CORAL GABLES, Fla. — For months now, Jeb Bush has been listening as President Obama blasts his older brother's administration for the battered economy, budget deficits and even the lax oversight of oil wells.

Discussion: Commentary, The Awl, The Politico, Power Line, Weasel Zippers and Don Surber

Sean J. Miller / The Hill:

Arizona Democrats urge Obama not to sue over controversial immigration law — Arizona Democrats facing tough reelection races are distancing themselves from the Obama administration as it prepares to file a lawsuit against the state over its controversial immigration law.

Discussion: BBC, Reuters, Wake up America, Left Coast Rebel, msnbc.com, Weasel Zippers, Fausta's Blog, Wonk Room and Weekly Standard

Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:

Centrist and clueless — Liberal Democrats know what they're for: a second stimulus to create more investment and jobs at a time when the economy is still dangerously weak. Republicans ("conservative Republicans" is redundant) know what they're against: anything the Democrats are for.

Discussion: Open Left and Grasping Reality …

iowahawk:

I'm Beginning to Believe This Obama Fellow Is Unequal to the Task — by T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII — Intellectual Conservative At-Large — Summer once again tiptoes in on crepe soles to the eastern extremities of Long Island; affording, as is its wont, fresh opportunities to enjoy …