Ezra Klein:

According to some of [Ben Smith's administration sources], Jim Messina, White House deputy chief of staff, was impressed by the speed with which Tom Vilsack canned Shirley Sherrod. "We could have waited all day," he reportedly said. "We could have had a media circus. But we took decisive action and it’s a good example of how to respond in this atmosphere."

(Emphasis supplied.) You gotta be effing kidding me.

Speaking for me only

AP:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday he would reconsider the department's decision to oust Sherrod over her comments that she didn't give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago. [. . .] Vilsack's statement came after the NAACP posted the full video of Sherrod's comments Tuesday night.

"I am of course willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner," Vilsack said. The Obama administration's move to reconsider her employment was an absolute reversal from hours earlier, when a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Barack Obama had been briefed on Sherrod's resignation after the fact and stood by the Agriculture Department's handling of it.

But Sherrod may have no interest in coming back:

Tim Geithner opposing Elizabeth Warren for the Consumer Financial Protectection Bureau?

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has expressed opposition to the possible nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a source with knowledge of Geithner's views.

Geithner has been a disastrously bad Treasury Secretary who had personal pecadilloes prior to taking the positon as well as a terrible track record in the first place, as Simon Johnson explains.

A smart political operation would use Geithner as a sacrificial lamb now and signal a turn to a more populist approach. I personally doubt this consumer bureau means a damn thing substantively, but it could make for good political theater for Dems and Obama. However, the Rahmbo operation is politically incompetent. So expect Geithner to stay and Warren to get passed over. . . . And for Dems to get creamed in November. . . . And for Rahmbo to blame the DFHs.

Speaking for me only

Politico:

In private conversations, White House officials are contemptuous of what they see as liberal lamentations unhinged from historical context or contemporary political realities.

(Emphasis supplied.) Heh.

Speaking for me only

Paul Krugman:

I was on Good Morning America this not-so-good morning, doing what I could. But I was struck by something that George Stephanopoulos said: he claimed to have been speaking to an administration official who asserted that what we need to get businesses investing is for business to know that the government has stopped — presumably, that means no new spending, no new regulation, whatever.

GS is a careful guy, so this must be true. And it’s shocking — not that people are saying this, but that someone inside the administration is saying it. [. . .] We’ll never know what might have happened if Obama and [C]o. had actually had the courage of their convictions; what we do know is that they have undermined their own message at every turn.

Not clear what their convictions are regarding the economy. One thing seems clear though - the Obama Administration is a clear and imminent danger to the political fortunes of the Democratic Party in 2010 and 2012.

Speaking for me only

MSNBC:

President Barack Obama has decided to relieve Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his command over all U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, sources tell NBC News.

Obama is scheduled to make an official 1:30 p.m. EDT announcement about the general. Meantime, the Associated Press reported that Obama has chosen Gen. David Petraeus to replace McChrystal as top Afghan commander.

(Emphasis supplied.) Choosing Petraeus as the replacement is very very shrewd.

I'm not a good tea reader, but this sounds like McChrystal is out:

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 on whether he would keep his job as the top American commander there.

The White House said that Mr. Obama would make a statement from the Rose Garden at 1:30 p.m.

We'll know in a few minutes.

The American commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has, as Barbara Morrill points out, committed contempt towards officials, in violation of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by speaking contemptuously of his civilian authority as quoted in an article in Rolling Stone. The NYTimes reports that McChrystal, who has issued a public apology, has been ordered back to the United States:

An angry President Obama summoned his top commander in Afghanistan to Washington on Tuesday after a magazine article portrayed the general and his staff as openly contemptuous of some senior members of the Obama administration. An administration official said the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, would meet with President Obama and Vice President Biden at the White House on Wednesday “to explain to the Pentagon and the commander in chief his quotes in the piece,” which appears in the July 8-22 edition of Rolling Stone.

The President would be justified in dismissing McChrystal. At the very least, McChrystal should receive a public rebuke from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Speaking for me only

Republicans need to find another issue. White House Counsel Robert Bauer issued a memo (available here) on the Joe Sestak "job" talks today.

An unpaid, advisory position within the executive branch is not a job.

We found that, as the Congressman has publicly and accurately stated, options for Executive Branch service were raised with him. Efforts were made in June and July of 2009 to determine whether Congressman Sestak would be interested in service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board, which would avoid a divisive Senate primary, allow him to retain his seat in the House, and provide him with an opportunity for additional service to the public in a high-level advisory capacity for which he was highly qualified. The advisory positions discussed with Congressman Sestak, while important to the work of the Administration, would have been uncompensated.

[More...]

President Obama today was asked whether he supports a boycott of Arizona due to its immigration law. He dodged.

"I'm the president of the United States, I don't endorse boycotts or not endorse boycotts," he replied. "That's something that private citizens can make a decision about."

At least he repeated his opposition to the law:

Mr. Obama reiterated his disapproval of the measure at this press conference, complaining about potential risks to civil liberties as well as the potential the measure has to help create a "patchwork of 50 different immigration laws around the country in an area that is inherently the job of the federal government."

He also again called for a "comprehensive approach" to immigration reform, one that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who learn English, pay a fine and "get in the back of the line" when it comes to attaining legal status.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County is considering a strong boycott measure: [More...]

President Obama will announce a moratorium on oil drilling today:

President Barack Obama planned to announce Thursday that a moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling permits will be continued for six months while a presidential commission investigates, a White House aide said.

Controversial lease sales off the coast of Alaska will be delayed pending the results of the commission's investigation, and lease sales planned in the Western Gulf and off the coast of Virginia will be canceled, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a midday Obama news conference.

BP says it should know this afternoon if Top Kill is working. And if it falis?

If the top kill fails, BP says it has several backup plans, including sealing the well's blowout preventer with a smaller cap, which would contain the oil.