memeorandum: Former Spy With Agenda Operates a Private C.I.A. (Mark Mazzetti/New York Times)

6:45 AM ET, January 23, 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: Hollywood Reporter, The Wire, Firedoglake, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Washington Post, Daily Kos, HotAirPundit, Scripting News and Seeing the Forest, 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: FITSNews, Taylor Marsh, Epicenter and New York Magazine

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, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Liberty Pundits Blog and National Review

The Wrap:
Did Keith Olbermann Bolt MSNBC to Create Media Empire?

Discussion: News Desk, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Sky Dancing, The Daily Caller and Runnin' Scared, more at Mediagazer »

New York Post:
MSNBC pulls plug on gasbag Olbermann

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

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: TPMDC, American Power, CNN, The Other McCain, Cubachi, Scared Monkeys, Conservatives4Palin and LewRockwell.com Blog

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:

Tea Party Activist Takes Over New Hampshire G.O.P. — DERRY, N.H. — A rancorous fight to lead the New Hampshire Republican Party through next year's presidential race ended Saturday with an upset victory by a conservative activist backed by members of the Tea Party and other grassroots groups.

Discussion: Associated Press, Politics Daily and FrumForum

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:
Mitt Romney wins N.H. GOP straw poll

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway and FrumForum

James Pindell / WMUR Political Scoop:
Results: WMUR, ABC News, NH GOP 2012 Straw Poll

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

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 …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Whiskey Fire, The Monkey Cage, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

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 …

Discussion: CNN, Prairie Weather, Booman Tribune and Emptywheel

Andrew Cohen / Politics Daily:

United States v. Loughner: The Decision About The Death Penalty … In United States v. Jared Lee Loughner, the federal case against the Tucson shooting suspect, the action now shifts from public disclosures about what happened at the Safeway supermarket on Jan. 8 to private conversations …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

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

Agence France Presse:

US drone strike ‘kills four militants in Pakistan’ — MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — A US drone attack killed at least four militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district on Sunday, officials said. — “The US drone hit a car immediately after it parked outside a house.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, 1 The Long War Journal and Weasel Zippers

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

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