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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

The ego factor: Can Obama change?  —  In the anthology of Barack Obama quotations, one of the classics came just hours before the event that made him the hottest property in American politics.  —  As Obama walked toward the arena at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston …

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.

Joe McGinniss Wants to Be Taken Out of “Sarah Palin's Alaska”  —  The premiere episode of “Sarah Palin's Alaska” began with the former governor's piqued version of a minor scandal of the summer — author Joe McGinniss renting the house next to hers as he researched his biography of Palin.

January Would Be a Great Time for Democrats to Eliminate the Filibuster.  —  Joe Biden looks like Sam the Eagle.  —  The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has a new poll showing that 64 percent of voters oppose the filibuster.  While it strikes me as one of those polls that miraculously finds …

O'Donnell, Who Lost By 17 Points, Still Sending Out Press Releases Attacking People  —  O'Donnell didn't cost us one seat; she cost us three.  Chalk Rossi's and Buck's loss up to her as well.  —  But here's O'Donnell saying it wasn't her “standing up for principle” that cost her the election, but shady machinations against her.

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.’