memeorandum: Keith Olbermann's Exit — Secret Deal (TMZ.com)

9:35 PM ET, January 22, 2011

Top Items:

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Olbermann's MSNBC Exit Was Weeks in the Making — On Thursday, NBC's news division staged an elaborate presentation for advertisers, seeking to sell commercial time in NBC's news programs over the next year. All the members of MSNBC's prime-time lineup spoke at the lunch with one exception …

Discussion: The Wire, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Scripting News, Daily Kos, Seeing the Forest, HotAirPundit, msnbc.com and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

TMZ.com:

Keith Olbermann's Exit — Secret Deal — Keith Olbermann saw the handwriting on the wall with the new owner of NBC and cut a deal for his exit that will give him money and options — sources tell TMZ. — Here's how it went down. Sources familiar with the situation tell us …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, New York Magazine, Epicenter and YID With LID

Deadline.com:

NEW DETAILS: “MSNBC And Keith Olbermann Have Ended Their Contract”; Lefty MSNBC About To Make Right Turn? — 2ND UPDATE, SATURDAY AM: An MSNBC insider told this to Deadline today about Keith Olbermann's departure Friday: … Rachel Maddow & Bill Maher React To Keith Olbermann's Ouster

Discussion: Mixed Media, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway, Liberty Pundits Blog, National Review and HillBuzz.org

New York Post:

MSNBC pulls plug on gasbag Olbermann — Broadcast blowhard Keith Olbermann's countdown has finally come to an end. — The liberal lip of MSNBC was unceremoniously dumped by the peacock network last night in a major shakeup that set tongues wagging across the broadcast world.

Discussion: Hot Air, Salon, NewsBusters.org blogs, his vorpal sword, Pajamas Media, The Daily Caller and NewsBusters.org

David Bauder / Associated Press:
Keith Olbermann gives abrupt goodbye to MSNBC show

Discussion: HillBuzz.org, The Nation, Moonbattery, FrumForum, Atlas Shrugs, Media Decoder, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Michelle Malkin, more at Mediagazer »

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:
Keith Olbermann Quits Countdown

The Note:

Romney Wins New Hampshire Republican Party Committee Straw Poll — ABC News Political Director Amy Walter reports: — In the first ever “straw poll” of New Hampshire Republican party committee members sponsored by ABC News and WMUR and sanctioned by the state Republican party …

Discussion: American Power, CNN, The Other McCain, Cubachi, TPMDC, Scared Monkeys and LewRockwell.com Blog

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:

Mitt Romney wins N.H. GOP straw poll — DERRY, N.H. - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the first presidential straw poll of the 2012 cycle, kicking off New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary election race. — Romney won with 35 percent, beating second-place finisher Ron Paul …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and FrumForum

James Pindell / WMUR Political Scoop:

Results: WMUR, ABC News, NH GOP 2012 Straw Poll — Here are the results from the WMUR, ABC News, NH GOP 2012 Straw Poll that was conducted today at the NH GOP annual meeting held at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. — Nearly 500 republicans were eligible to vote, and 273 of them cast ballots.

Discussion: The Fix, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Hill, Freedom's Lighthouse and TPMDC

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:
Tea Party Activist Takes Over New Hampshire G.O.P.

Discussion: Politics Daily and Associated Press

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
First in nation, last with Sarah Palin

Discussion: Anchorage Daily News, CNN and Conservatives4Palin

John / Power Line:

The Left's Tucson Strategy: Stage Two — The Left's attempt to link the Tucson shootings to angry rhetoric (not theirs, of course) was stage one of a broader strategy—what both military men and political strategists refer to as preparing the battlefield. The movement to feign nonpartisanship …

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Spotlight From Glenn Beck Brings a CUNY Professor Threats — On his daily radio and television shows, Glenn Beck has elevated once-obscure conservative thinkers onto best-seller lists. Recently, he has elevated a 78-year-old liberal academic to celebrity of a different sort, in a way that some say is endangering her life.

Discussion: Mediaite, TPMCafe, Sky Dancing, Zandar Versus The Stupid, New York Magazine, The Reaction, Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Nation, Balloon Juice and Hullabaloo

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WHEN BECK'S MINIONS GET THE MESSAGE.... Glenn Beck doesn't just rail …

Discussion: American Power, Left Coast Rebel and The Mahablog

Mike Stopa / Boston Globe:

The reality of death panels — ObamaCare's end-of-life planning comes down to economics — SUPPORTERS OF President Obama's health care reform law have relentlessly derided Sarah Palin's notion of “death panels” as a vulgar rhetorical technique, with no basis in reality …

Discussion: Don Surber and Conservatives4Palin

Mwarren / Weekly Standard:

The Decline of the Justice Department — Mukasey's verdict on Holder. — Former attorney general Michael Mukasey is not prone to hyperbole. He's a former federal judge, a meticulous lawyer, and, as he proved in succeeding Alberto Gonzales, a skilled administrator who restored morale …

Discussion: Power Line and Pajamas Media

Wall Street Journal:

Obama to Push New Spending — State of Union Speech to Call for Boosting ‘Competitiveness’ While Nodding to Need for Budget Cuts — President Barack Obama and GE's Jeffrey Immelt, left, with plant manager Kevin Sharkey, visited a GE factory Friday to talk about green jobs.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Gateway Pundit, Fausta's Blog, Weasel Zippers, Fox News, Firedoglake, RedState, protein wisdom, Pajamas Media and FrumForum

CNN:

Former U.S. lawmaker assisting Duvalier — Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) — A former U.S. congressman was among a group of American attorneys accompanying former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier as he spoke in the country's capital Friday. — Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Eunomia, Hit & Run and Outside the Beltway

Gardiner Harris / New York Times:

Federal Research Center Will Help Develop Medicines — The Obama administration has become so concerned about the slowing pace of new drugs coming out of the pharmaceutical industry that officials have decided to start a billion-dollar government drug development center to help create medicines.

RADAR:

Joan Rivers Calls Michelle Obama ‘Blackie O’ — Comedienne Joan Rivers revealed she once ditched a joke about First Lady Michelle Obama from her stand-up routine - because she feared she'd be accused of racism. — Recalling the wisecrack to shock Jock Howard Stern, the comedy legend said …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and PopEater

Stable Hand / The Jawa Report:

Good News!! “Islams Useful Idiots” Planned Rally/March In NY & SF April 9th, 2011 — Apparently, Muslim training summit[link - MuslimMediaNetwork/Muslim Observer] held on the 8th of this month prepares them to partake in a rally with their useful idiots[ post] … And this

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Tim Hoover / Denver Post:

Secretary of State plans to moonlight with old firm — Less than two weeks on the job, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler says the $68,500 a year salary doesn't pay enough. — That's why Gessler, a Republican, says he is going to be moonlighting as a lawyer for his old law firm …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Huffington Post

Tom Diemer / Politics Daily:

Obama on Abortion Ruling Anniversary: Government ‘Should Not Intrude’ … On the 38th annivesary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, President Obama said Saturday said he is committed to protecting what he considers a fundamental principle: “government should not intrude on private family maters.”

Discussion: theblogprof and The Moderate Voice