• He said: ‘There are things I regretted in my youth; you may – you may know that.’ And I said: ‘None of us are absent some regrets, senator. That’s why we enjoy and seek the grace of God.’
• President Barack Obama • Giving the eulogy at Sen. Robert Byrd’s funeral in Charleston, West Virginia on Friday. He further noted that his indiscretions were made up for over time. “As I reflect on the full sweep of his 92 years, it seems to me that his life bent towards justice,” he said. Bill Clinton also spoke a little too, noting his KKK affiliation directly – he was the only speaker that did. But then again, a black president spoke at his funeral. So that’s definitely something to be said about the power of redemption. source

• classless Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s staff absolutely rips on the Obama administration and its civilian staff in Afghanistan in a Rolling Stone article. Everyone freaks.
• classy Despite getting McChyrstal’s resignation over the incident, the president guarantees the four-star general will retire like one. Good move, Obama. source

• It’s right out of a John le Carré novel. It will interesting to see how it plays out next couple of days and weeks from an international point of view and law enforcement point of view.
• Former US attorney Stan Twardy • Describing the events that led to the U.S. arrest of ten reported Russian spies. You know, spies from one of our allies. What’s funny is that Obama was hanging out at Ray’s Hell Burger with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, the FBI was very close to catching the spies – some of whom had been in the U.S. for a long time. (Disclosure: Julius is a spy. And since we’re disclosing it, a not very good one.) source

• yes A deal was reached at the G20 summit earlier today in Toronto, temporary home to hundreds of capitalism-hating anarchists.
• no Obama couldn’t convince other world powers to focus on stimulus spending over deficit-cutting. Hey, just like Congress! source

• YES at least that’s what CNN’s source says source

• 48% disapprove of Obama’s job performance
• 45% approve of how the avant-garde artist is doing his job
• 7% were covered in oil and couldn’t respond source

Weekly Address: Jobs Creation from White House Weekly Address on Vimeo.

• For people who think that avant garde music and film is completely stupid, The Onion agrees with you. They agree with you so much, in fact, that they created this spot-on parody of the avant-garde movement, using Obama’s weekly video addresses as a vector. It’s the funniest non-good-timing thing they’ve done in a while. source

• 40minutes, the length of the interview David Patraeus got

• six days ago, the White House got some fact-checking calls from Rolling Stone
• 48 hours ago, the article came out (though Rolling Stone sat on the hit machine at first, idiots)
• <30 number of minutes it took Obama to talk it through with Stanley McChrystal source

• He’s in the midst of meeting with Obama this morning. Will he lose his position? Well, Obama wants a list of replacements. We’re guessing it’ll be people who aren’t loyal to McChrystal. It does not look good for the dude. The Pentagon would prefer that he be reprimanded but allowed to continue. Obama and McChrystal are meeting now. This is what happens when you do an article in a magazine that gives a general as much press as Lady Gaga. source

• I think it’s clear that the article in which he and his team appeared showed poor judgment, but I also want to make sure that I talk to him directly before I make that final decision.
• President Barack Obama • Speaking today about the fate of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, his main man in Afghanistan, who was savaged in this wonderful Rolling Stone article which was so effective that it might force the general to resign. While some argue that the structure is working against him, those same people say his reaction to that structure is still enough to force his resignation. Showing disloyalty to the president is a fireable offense in the world of Stanley McChrystal. Somehow this story managed to get the oil spill out of the news for the day, despite there being oil spill news today. How the hell did that happen? source