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Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Current TV Dismisses Keith Olbermann — 5:13 p.m. | Updated Current TV said Friday afternoon that it had terminated the contract of its lead anchor, Keith Olbermann, scarcely a year after he was hired to reboot the fledgling channel in his progressive political image.
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Keith Olbermann / TwitLonger:
TwitLonger — My full statement: — I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. — Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally …
Current TV:
Open letter to the viewers of Current — To the Viewers of Current: — We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.
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Scared Monkeys, Hollywood Reporter, Guardian, Gothamist, Liberal Values and dallasmorningviewsblog …, more at Mediagazer »
Keach Hagey / Politico:
Olbermann out, Spitzer in on Current TV — Current TV has terminated its relationship with Keith Olbermann and will replace his show with a program hosted by Eliot Spitzer. — The complete memo:
Discussion:
Business Insider, Truthdig and iOwnTheWorld.com
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Olbermann Fired From Current TV — Keith Olbermann (photo: WEBN-TV/flickr) — Less than a year after he returned to television with an equity stake in the broadcaster, Keith Olbermann has flamed out again. He has been terminated by Current TV, effective immediately.
Discussion:
Business Insider and The Daily Caller
Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:
Current TV Fires Keith Olbermann, Replaces Him With Spitzer Immediately, Olbermann to Sue — The New York Times' Brian Stelter breaks the news that Current TV has let go Keith Olbermann, and will replace him starting tonight with Eliot Spitzer, denying Olbermann to give a send-off or special comment to his viewers.
Discussion:
Show Tracker, Hollywood Reporter, TBogg, Mediaite and Booman Tribune
Robert Shrum / The Week:
Will a Tea Party Supreme Court guarantee Obama a second term? — The court's conservative wing appears ready to engage in some despicable judicial activism on ObamaCare. Politically, at least, the justices are doing Obama a favor — Recall the scorn toward health reform dripping from the lips of Injustice Antonin Scalia.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and protein wisdom
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Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Obamacare Is On Trial. So Is the Supreme Court. — Before this week, the well-being of tens of millions of Americans was at stake in the lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act. — Now something else is at stake, too: The legitimacy of the Supreme Court. — Nobody knows how the justices will rule.
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
News Analysis: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy May Be Key to Health Law Ruling
News Analysis: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy May Be Key to Health Law Ruling
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USA Today, Wall Street Journal, ECHIDNE of the snakes, The Hill, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Althouse and The BLT
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Supreme Court May Be Most Conservative in Modern History
Supreme Court May Be Most Conservative in Modern History
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
IRS not investigating Nikki Haley for tax fraud — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's office Friday provided IRS documentation that she is not facing investigation for tax fraud, calling accusations that she was “totally contrived.” — Haley denied the rumors of a looming tax indictment on Thursday.
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Cynthia McFadden / ABCNEWS:
No IRS Investigation into SC Governor Nikki Haley
No IRS Investigation into SC Governor Nikki Haley
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Palmetto Public Record and FITSNews
Gina Smith / The State:
SC governor denies she is tied to tax probe
SC governor denies she is tied to tax probe
Discussion:
FITSNews, The Reaction, Washington Monthly, The PJ Tatler, Politico, The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Palmetto Public Record
Kate Sheppard / Mother Jones:
Arizona Outdoes Everyone With New Anti-Abortion Bill — Bills limiting the time period during which abortion is legal have proliferated in recent years as other states have followed Nebraska's lead and banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But a law under consideration in Arizona …
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ThinkProgress, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Hullabaloo
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Georgia lawmakers pass abortion bill on last, emotional day
Georgia lawmakers pass abortion bill on last, emotional day
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Associated Press, WXIA-TV, ThinkProgress and The Moderate Voice
Norma Love / Associated Press:
NH House votes to ban abortion after 20 weeks
NH House votes to ban abortion after 20 weeks
Discussion:
Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Salon, LifeNews.com and ThinkProgress
Daniel Bice / JSOnline:
Barrett will run in recall election — By Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel — It took a little while, but Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has finally decided whether or not to run in the upcoming recall election. — He's in. — In a Friday afternoon email to supporters, Barrett …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos and Althouse
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Patrick Marley / JSOnline:
GAB sets historic recall elections; GOP to field fake Dems
GAB sets historic recall elections; GOP to field fake Dems
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RedState, The Blotter, The Maddow Blog, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's … and Guardian
Scott Walker / CNN:
Recall vote scheduled in Wisconsin, Republican ad war continues
Recall vote scheduled in Wisconsin, Republican ad war continues
Discussion:
Hot Air and Washington Monthly
Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online:
Wall Street Thinks It Knows the Future of Obamacare—Why? — Nobody except Justice Anthony Kennedy knows what will happen to Obamacare. But Wall Street, whose predictive powers are dubious, thinks it does. The proof is in the healthcare stocks. — The below chart shows Aetna's stock price the past week.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Prairie Weather and Health Care at the High Court
Jonathan Stempel / Thomson Reuters News …:
Unpaid bloggers' lawsuit vs Huffington Post tossed — AOL Inc on Friday won the dismissal of a lawsuit by unpaid bloggers who complained they were deprived of their fair share of the roughly $315 million that the company paid last March to buy The Huffington Post website.
Discussion:
his vorpal sword, Politico, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »
Alexander Burns / Politico:
Romney campaign: Release all transcripts of all meetings with foreign leaders — Via National Journal, the Mitt Romney campaign ratchets up the transparency game in a novel direction, in response to a call for Romney to release decades' worth of tax returns:
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CNN
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Lara Seligman / NationalJournal.com:
Report: Obama Camp Calls For Romney Tax Returns
Report: Obama Camp Calls For Romney Tax Returns
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Wonkette and Business Insider
Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
Willful Ignorance — This, from YouGov, tells you everything you need to know about contemporary race relations in a single, compact chart: — For 66 percent of white Americans to agree with this statement—"Irish, Italian, Jewish, and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, American Power and Shakesville
John Bresnahan / Politico:
Dem treasurer admits stealing $7M — Kinde Durkee, once a trusted treasurer to dozens of California Democrats, pleaded guilty in the biggest campaign embezzlement case ever to hit U.S. politics. — In a federal court in Sacramento, Durkee admitted to stealing more than $7 million …
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CNN
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
MasterCard, VISA Warn of Processor Breach — VISA and MasterCard are alerting banks across the country about a recent major breach at a U.S.-based credit card processor. Sources in the financial sector are calling the breach “massive,” and say it may involve more than 10 million compromised card numbers.
Andrew Stuttaford / National Review:
Ever Closer Union — On the day that the Eurozone's leadership announces that it has blended its old bailout fund (the European Financial Stability Facility) with what was originally intended to be its replacement (the European Stability Mechanism) to build a bigger, better emergency stash amounting to¸ …
New York Times:
Obama Clears Way for Measures Against Iran — BURLINGTON, Vt. — President Obama has determined there is enough oil in world markets to allow countries to rely less on imports from Iran, a step that could increase Western actions to deter Tehran's nuclear ambitions, an administration official said Friday.
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New York Magazine and Truthdig
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Ben Geman / The Hill:
Obama says oil markets can handle expanded sanctions on Iran
Obama says oil markets can handle expanded sanctions on Iran
Discussion:
Politico and Washington Free Beacon
Bruce Vielmetti / JSOnline:
Federal court strikes down parts of Act 10 — By Bruce Vielmetti and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel — A federal judge in Madison on Friday ruled that portions of Act 10 - which removed most collective bargaining for most public employees - are unconstitutional.
Discussion:
Althouse
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney's PAC Funded Anti-Gay Marriage Group Under The Radar … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Video, Mitt Romney Gay, Election 2012, Free And Strong America, Marriage Romney, Mitt Romney 2012, Mitt Romney Gay Marriage, Romney Gay Marriage, Romney Gay Marriage Funding …
Curtis Dubay / The Heritage Foundation:
No Fooling: U.S. Now Has Highest Corporate Tax Rate in the World — This April Fool's Day, the joke is on all of us. That's because as of April 1, the U.S. now has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. — Our high corporate tax rate has long made the U.S. an uncompetitive place for new investment.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Doug Ross
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
MSNBC, the Faux News Network [Updated With MSNBC's Response] — Liberals have been feverishly attacking Fox News for years now, irate that the Left's monopoly on television news outlets has been broken. Conservatives, on the other hand, have tended to ignore MSNBC, even though that network …
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Hit & Run
Declan Walsh / New York Times:
On the Run, Bin Laden Had 4 Children and 5 Houses, a Wife Says — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Osama bin Laden spent nine years on the run in Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks, during which time he moved among five safe houses and fathered four children, at least two of whom were born in a government hospital …
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World Now, ABCNEWS, News Desk, Business Insider, Newsy, Lawfare and The Enterprise Blog