Contrary to the government, the oil in the Gulf has not gone away. It remains in a huge oil plume far below the surface, and it's breaking down very slowly, so it will be around for months or -- who knows?

AP: BP has replaced Tony Hayward with Robert Dudley.

AP reports on the speculation that Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, could take over for Tony Hayward. Dudley spent time growing up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

AP: Tony Hayward, BP CEO, will be replaced over the Gulf oil spill.

Fox News: After 86 days, BP has stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf.

Top 20 photographs from the Gulf that Obama doesn't want you to see.

BP may file for bankruptcy in the coming months.

Network news talk shows yesterday all focused on Tony Heyward's yachting, but ignored Obama's golfing while the Gulf oil spill gushes on and on.

Charles Krauthammer on the Congressional hearings about the BP oil spill:

These hearings are always political theater. No one expects you'll get real information and you certainly won't get real information when you're company is under investigation criminally by the attorney general of the United States. Of course he is going to be cautious, non- disclosive, and lawyered up.
I must say I welcome these rituals. We haven't had a good Inca ritual slaughter since the Goldman Sachs hearings. I have talked about this before where they take a virgin to the top of a mountain, and everyone goes home happy except for, of course, the virgin. Here, because we have a scarcity of virgins, we send a CEO instead and they whack him around for a whole day and everybody goes home happy. The only difference is our procedure has let blood, but a lot more talking. I'm not sure which is preferable. Nobody expects anything out of these. Hayward, he didn't play into the expectation of the Democrats, he played it very neutral, and that's why nothing essentially was learned.

Tunku Varadarajan on the politics of the oil spill: Fix it or own it.

AP: We may be in for two more months of oil disaster before BP can get the leak plugged. James Carville: "We are about to die down here."

AP: The Gulf well plug is not working. Oh my. It's too late to call in Red Adair.

Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard says that the "top kill" effort has stopped the flow of oil from the well in the Gulf.

Washington Examiner: The Gulf oil spill is becoming Obama's Katrina. See also here.