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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Former Spy With Agenda Operates a Private C.I.A.  —  WASHINGTON — Duane R. Clarridge parted company with the Central Intelligence Agency more than two decades ago, but from poolside at his home near San Diego, he still runs a network of spies.  —  Over the past two years …