memeorandum: If the Tea Party Prefers Bachmann to Hensarling, What Good Is It? (Jacob Sullum/Hit & Run)

10:40 PM ET, November 5, 2010

Top Items:

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Keep Keith! — On Olbermann's unjust suspension. — MSNBC's suspension of Keith Olbermann is ludicrous. — Second, he's not a reporter. It's an opinion show. If Olbermann wants to put his money where his mouth is, more power to him. — Third, GE, the corporate parent of MSNBC, gives money to political organizations.

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, Examiner, Mediaite, TigerHawk, AmSpecBlog, No More Mister Nice Blog and Ben Smith's Blog

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats — MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay after POLITICO reported that he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates. — MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement Friday …

Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:

UPDATED: Before Bush Donor Takeover Of MSNBC, Network Selectively Applies Rules To Suspend Olbermann — UPDATED: We have been notified that Comcast has not yet officially taken over MSNBC/NBC Universal. Although Comcast has tentatively finalized a deal to purchase a majority stake in NBC …

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org and AMERICAblog News

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Keith Olbermann Suspended From MSNBC Indefinitely — Blowback to the political donation is immediate, and shocking. — Statement from Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC: … More coming, obviously. — Ok, let's decompress. First of all, “indefinitely” is David Shuster language.

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gawker, NewsReal Blog, Raw Story, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Politico, Donklephant, The Awl, The Daily Caller, Breitbart.tv and Moe Lane

John Cook / Gawker:

Olbermann 'Doesn't Answer' to NBC News Standards — MSNBC chief Phil Griffin suspended Keith Olbermann today for violating “NBC News policy and standards” by donating to three Democratic congressional candidates last month. But according to an NBC News source, MSNBCers have been exempt from those rules for years.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Plum Line, Crooks and Liars, Booman Tribune, CBS New York, Democracy in America, Daily Kos, Ben Smith's Blog and Salon

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

Keith Olbermann Suspended from MSNBC — Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay from MSNBC for making donations to three Democrats in violation of NBC's ethics policy. — “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night,” Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC, said in a statement.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, TPM LiveWire, AMERICAN DIGEST, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, The Atlantic Online, Examiner, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Pajamas Media, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Nice Deb, Mediaite and Shakesville

The Huffington Post:

Keith Olbermann SUSPENDED From MSNBC Indefinitely Without Pay — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … MSNBC has suspended star anchor Keith Olbermann following the news that he had donated to three Democratic candidates this election cycle. — “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Verum Serum, Mediaite, Advocate, New York Magazine, Crooks and Liars, Open Left, Outside the Beltway and AMERICAblog News, more at Mediagazer »

Michelle Malkin:

Support Olbermann? No freaking way; Poll added — As you all know, that mashed-up bag of gas with pancake make-up on it Keith Olbermann has been “suspended indefinitely” by MSNBC for making and failing to disclose political contributions to three Democrats — including open-borders Democrat …

Discussion: National Review and Wake up America

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:

Olbermann's Replacement? Wait for It... Chris Hayes, tapped Friday by MSNBC to fill in for the indefinitely suspended Keith Olbermann as host of the prime-time political show “Countdown,” gave money to two Democratic campaigns in recent years. Now, following that disclosure, MSNBC says Mr. Hayes won't get the gig after all.

Discussion: ECHIDNE of the snakes

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
OLBERMANN'S CHECKBOOK.... [Update: there's an important follow-up to this story]

Discussion: Slate and Comments from Left Field

Atrios / Eschaton:
And Buchanan? — So Olbermann is suspended for making political contributions.

Discussion: The Plum Line

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Political giving not unusual on cable

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Kos / Daily Kos:
Olbermann suspended by MSNBC

Discussion: TalkLeft, Washington Monthly and Media Matters for America

Jillian Rayfield / TPMDC:
Scarborough, Buchanan Also Made Political Contributions

Discussion: CBS News, Daily Kos and Salon

Media Decoder:
Olbermann Suspended From MSNBC for Campaign Donations

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Politics Daily, Runnin' Scared, Big Brass Blog, The Caucus, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Nation

msnbc.com:
Keith Olbermann suspended over political donations

Discussion: National Review, The Moderate Voice and Vox Popoli

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Did Olbermann violate NBC ethics code by contributing to Democrats?

Discussion: TVNewser, Washington Post, National Review, The Huffington Post, The Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money and NewsBusters.org blogs

Mike Allen / The Politico:
$250k ‘dead’ as tax-cut tier …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The New Republic and Salon

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:
MSNBC to Sub-In for Olbermann With Nation Editor Chris Hayes …

Discussion: Salon, Mediaite and Focal Point

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Olbermann suspended for Dem contributions

Discussion: Power Line, Yahoo! News, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber, Mediaite, Right Pundits, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice

The Hill:

Dems split over Pelosi bid for minority leader — Battle lines are emerging in the House Democratic Caucus over Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) possible bid to stay on as the minority leader. — Liberal Democrats are mobilizing in support of Pelosi remaining at the head of the party …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Politico, Hot Air, Comments from Left Field, The Impolitic, JammieWearingFool and Capitol Alert

Reuters:

Power play: Pelosi's work ‘not finished’ — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to stay in power as minority leader after losing 60 seats and control of the House — a stunning announcement that sets up combat between her two top lieutenants. — Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the majority leader …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, The Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, CNN, The Note, On The Hill, Guardian, USA Today, Conservatives4Palin.com, Ben Smith's Blog, Left Coast Rebel, The Democratic Daily, New York Magazine, Commentary, ThinkProgress and Outside the Beltway

William Saletan / Slate:
Democrats didn't lose the battle of 2010. They won it.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, New York Times, Firedoglake, JustOneMinute and Patterico's Pontifications

Mark Davis / The Age:

Murdoch reveals ‘arrogant’ Obama — TWO generations ago, Rupert Murdoch bowed to pressure from the White House to suppress the biggest story of his life - that the American president John F. Kennedy was indifferent to the political fate of Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Murdoch: Bloomberg called Obama ‘arrogant’

Discussion: Political Punch, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Jacob Sullum / Hit & Run:

If the Tea Party Prefers Bachmann to Hensarling, What Good Is It? — The New York Times reports that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a “Tea Party heroine,” plans to challenge Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) for the post of GOP conference chair, the fourth-highest House leadership position, in the new Congress.

Discussion: Opinionator, Riehl World View, The Politico, Eunomia, The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller and Prairie Weather

Jackson Baker / Memphis Flyer:
Corker , on Mission to Reform Spending, Responds to Being on Tea Party Purge List

Discussion: The Hill

William Easterly / Aid Watch:

David Brooks illustrates how clueless Easterners can be without local knowledge about My Midwest — A frequent theme in this blog is the importance of local knowledge for development. David Brooks helpfully illustrated in his column today on my home region the Midwest.

David Brooks / New York Times:
Midwest at Dusk — If Balzac were alive today, he would plant himself …

Discussion: The New Republic, EconLog, Commentary and Swampland

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

What Happened to Prop 19 — Why did the Pot Legalization proposition go down to defeat in California? — ed.note: A lot of people on both sides of the Prop 19 issue have written in with various points about Prop 19 but usually assuming that I personally supported it. I hadn't really focused on it much, honestly.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Hit & Run, TPMDC and The League of Ordinary …

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Josh Marshall And The Weed

Discussion: Althouse

Wall Street Journal:

Americans Vote for Maturity — Obama gets a rebuke, but so do Republicans who seem unqualified. — 'The people have spoken, the bastards. " That would be how Democrats in the White House and on Capitol Hill are feeling. The last two years of their leadership have been rebuffed.

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and National Review

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

USN&WR: ‘December issue will be our last printed monthly sent to subscribers’ — Memo to US News & World Report employees — RE: Completing Our Shift to the Digital World — Colleagues, We're finally ready to complete our transition to a predominantly digital publishing model with selected, single-topic print issues.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, MyFox Philadelphia, TechCrunch and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Thomas M. Defrank / NY Daily News:

Ex-President George W. Bush rips wisdom of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and John McCain to friends — Former President George W. Bush is privately critical of Sarah Palin (below), but stops short of criticizing the likes of Barack Obama in his upcoming memoir ‘Decision Points.’

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Moderate Voice

The Right Scoop:
Video - Bush: Obama doesn't need me criticizing him

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Reuters:

Clinton rules out a presidential run through 2016 — (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ruled out running for president in 2012 or 2016 on Friday, saying the United States should be ready for a woman president but it would not be her. — In interviews in New Zealand …

Discussion: Yglesias and The Confluence