Consider this a working thread.

My father, Richard, who is a devoted fan and TheMomCat have both informed me that Keith is fired.

Comcast coincidence?

I don’t have any more information.  Developments below.

Keith’s Sudden Farewell!

From Josh Marshall @ TPM, Keith’s first guest has left and arrived home to hear the news! He had no inkling of what was about to happen.

I was just on in the opening segment of Olbermann tonight. And I get home and get this press release from NBC saying this was the last episode of Countdown. At first I figured it had to be a spoof email because, jeez, I was on and I didn’t have any sense that any other than a regular Friday evening show was on. But sure enough I pulled up the recording and now I’m watching his final sign off.

MSNBC released the following statement on their new programming order:

Starting Monday, January 24, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” will move to 8 p.m. ET/PT and “The Ed Show,” hosted by Ed Schultz, will move to 10 p.m. ET/PT on MSNBC. The announcement was made today by Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC. “The Rachel Maddow Show” will continue to air live at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

   Also starting Monday, Cenk Uygur, MSNBC contributor and host of the popular web show “The Young Turks,” will be filling in as host of the 6 p.m ET hour.

The New York Times

9:24 p.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC, announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he is leaving “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” immediately.

The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days last November, came to an agreement with NBC’s corporate management late this week to settle his contract and step down.

In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation other than on occasion, the show had become too much for him.

Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a show that had “gradually established its position as anti-establishment.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders

The mega-merger of Comcast-NBC will lead to less local news coverage, fewer points of view, & reduced competition for viewers & ads.

Twitter is going wild! Rachel Maddow is on with Bill Maher.

John Arivosis at AMERICAblog has a petition

I Stand with Keith

Some premiers.  No LoDo, which is a good thing, but you pay for it with no Keith and Rachel repeats and no Jon and Stephen.  No Conan either.

No matter what they say, it’s all about money. So let’s imagine, ladies, that you’re a savings and loan officer. Watch – one, two, three; see, you’ve got it all, and we’ve got nothing. You’ve got all four, take a look.

• AMC– Swordfish, The Specialist
• Bravo– The Pacifier
• Disney– Wizards of Waverly Place, Fish Hooks (premiers), Phineas and Ferb
• Discovery– Alaska! Gold Rush x 2 (last week’s and new), Flying Wild (premier)
• ESPN– Hoopies, Knicks @ Spurs, Lakers @ Nuggets
• ESPN2– Australian Open
• FX– What Happens in Vegas x 2
• National Geographic– Dog Whisperer (premier)
• Oxygen– Pretty Woman x 2
• Sci Fi– Merlin (premier)
• Style– Only You
• TBS– Mama Mia
• Turner Classic– City Streets, Scarface
• TNT– Kill Bill: Vol 1 and Vol 2
• Toon– Clone Wars (Nightsisters Part 3 premier)

Later-

• AMC– Return to House on Haunted Hill
• Sci Fi– Being Human (Series Premer repeat), Merlin (Instapeat)
• Style– A Perfect Murder
• TBS– Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets
• Turner Classic– Little Caesar, The Mayor of Hell
• TNT– Batman & Robin
• USA– Harry’s Law (Series Premier repeat)

Dave hosts Nathan Lane, Mike Palascak (get a wiki page!), and Esperanza Spalding.

A staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there’s the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He’s weak… he’s unsure of himself… he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Blair ‘profoundly’ regrets lives lost in Iraq war

by Alice Ritchie, AFP

1 hr 10 mins ago

Anthony Blair-

• Liar
• Murderer
• War Criminal

May he end his long, long life of suffering locked in a dank cell at Spandau, despised and forgotten.

Some premiers.

Facts, Hercule, facts! Nothing matters but the facts. Without them the science of criminal investigation is nothing more than a guessing game. Listen to me, Hercule, and you will learn something. Now then, the facts in this case are: the body of the chauffeur was found in the bedroom of the second maid. Fact! Cause of death: Four bullets in the chest. Fact! The bullets were fired at close range from a .25 caliber Beretta automatic. Fact! Maria Gambrelli was discovered with the murder weapon in her hand. Fact! The murder weapon was registered in the name of the deceased, Miguel Ostos, and was kept, mind you, in the glove compartment of the Ballon Rolls-Royce. Fact! Now then, members of the household staff have testified that Miguel Ostos beat… You fool! You have broken my pointing stick! I have nothing to point with now!… have testified that Miguel Ostos beat Maria Gambrelli frequently. And now, finally comes the sworn statement of Monsieur and Madame Ballon, as well as all the members of the staff, each of them with perfect alibis. Now then, Hercule, What is the inescapable conclusion?

Maria Gambrelli killed the chauffeur.

What? You idiot! It’s impossible. She’s protecting someone.

How do you know that?

Instinct!

But, the facts…

• ABC Family– Liar Liar
• AMC– Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Demolition Man
• Animal Planet– Planet Earth marathon
• Bravo– Real Housewives marathon (with premier)
• Discovery– Survival marathon (with premier)
• ESPN– College Hoopies, Florida @ Auburn, Indiana @ Wisconsin
• ESPN2– College Hoopies, South Florida @ Rutgers, Virginia Tech @ Maryland
• Food– Ace of Cakes (premier)
• FX– There’s Something About Mary
• History– New Conspiracy Theories!
• Lifetime– My Daughter’s Secret
• National Geographic– Naked Science (premier)
• Sci Fi– Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead, The Hitcher (not the good 1986 version)
• TBS– Save the Last Dance
• Turner Classic– The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark (Peter Sellers night)
• TNT– Hoopies, Mavs @ Bulls, Clippers @ Trail Blazers
• USA– Royal Pains x 2 (premier + Instapeat), Fairly Legal x 2 (Series Premier + Instapeat)
• VH1– Fight Club

Later-

• AMC– Crocodile Dundee
• ESPN2– Australian Open
• Sci Fi– The Midnight Meat Train, Being Human (Series Premier repeat)
• Turner Classic– Murder by Death, Casino Royale (the good, if chaotic, 1967 version)
• USA– White Collar (this week’s)
• VH1– SNL marathon

Dave hosts Kaley Cuoco, Piers Morgan, Wanda Jackson, and yodeling ventriloquist Alyse Eady.  Jon has Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi, Stephen Chris Matthews (ugh).  Conan hosts Marc Maron and Aloe Blacc.

New York City, Mr. Dundee. Home to seven million people.

That’s incredible. Imagine seven million people all wanting to live together. Yeah, New York must be the friendliest place on earth.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 50 dead in Iraq as suicide blasts rock holy city

by Abdelamir Hanoun, AFP

1 hr 22 mins ago

Oliver North’s Pre-Trial Conditions for UCMJ Violations Dramatically Different than Bradley Manning’s

By: Jane Hamsher, Firedog Lake

Thursday January 20, 2011 9:35 am

David House is the only person aside from Bradley’s lawyer who visits him regularly. He recently wrote about Bradley’s conditions here at FDL, which include severe restrictions on his ability to exercise, communicate or even sleep. Manning has not been convicted of any crime, nor is there a date for any court hearing. The New York Times recently reported that these techniques are being used to induce Manning to flip on Julian Assange and Wikileaks.

I don’t recall Oliver North being subjected to anything like that while he was awaiting trial.

Over 30,000 people have signed the petition. We’d like to get it up to 50,000 by the time David delivers them. I promise to be a faithful videographer and bring back video of David’s experience with the petitions, to the extent that it is allowed on the base.

From Wonkette via Atrios and just too hilarious (and true) not to quote-

WaPo Newsroom Upset Because Black Lady With Boobs Hosts WaPo Webcast

by Ken Layne, Wonkette

11:50 am January 20, 2011

America’s strangest joke of a newspaper is the Washington Post, an Onion-style bland suburban daily that seems to shrink deeper into itself each morning. With a news section full of utterly random paragraph-sized chunks from yesterday’s washingtonpost.com and a bizarre op-ed section featuring press releases submitted by the offices of politicians and the confused yammerings of senile embarrassments like Richard Cohen, the paper appears to be nothing less than an elaborate satire of Washington’s dull insularity and tunnel vision. But, according to accountants, it’s actually a very real cash drain on the Kaplan for-profit education scam company that owns the WaPo. So we are also subjected to endless humiliating attempts to make the paper “relevant” or “for the YouTube,” and the most recent effort goes where the Washington Post has rarely ventured before: to the black part of town – the black part of town with boobs, in fact.

We watched a few minutes of this amateurish video on Tuesday, we think, and almost posted something then, but we had second thoughts because who cares, right? Well, apparently, the entire white male staff of the Washington Post cares, a lot, because having this lady with her boobs doing a webcast is somehow going to erode the WaPo brand more than, oh, three decades of boot-licking journalistic mediocrity.

High-profile Dem lawyer flacking for African strongman

Lanny Davis is now Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo’s man in Washington, as violence engulfs the African country

By Justin Elliott, Salon.com

Tuesday, Dec 21, 2010 10:54 ET

You’re the leader of a small African country facing an international outcry after reversing the results of a presidential election and dispatching your forces to suppress and kill opposition protesters. What do you do to turn the tide and keep your grip on power?

Call Lanny Davis.

The columnist and former special counsel to Bill Clinton specializes in lobbying for controversial corporate and foreign clients, particularly those seeking Democratic representation in Washington. But even for Davis, taking on Ivory Coast leader and flagrant human rights violator Laurent Gbagbo as a client, as he did this week, seems to cross some kind of line.

D.C. law firm to aid Ivory Coast opposition leader

THE INFLUENCE INDUSTRY

By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, January 20, 2011

One of Washington’s top law firms has signed on to represent Alassane Ouattara, an Ivory Coast opposition leader who has been recognized as the winner of a disputed presidential election in that country.

In papers scheduled to be filed with the Justice Department on Thursday, Covington & Burling said it will “provide advice on international legal and policy matters” to Ouattara as he continues to try to take over from the ousted president, Laurent Gbagbo. The work will be done free of charge as part of the firm’s pro bono services, officials said.

The decision follows controversy late last year over former Clinton administration counsel Lanny Davis, who registered to become Gbagbo’s lobbyist in Washington after the disputed election Nov. 28. Davis, whose firm collected $300,000 in fees, said last month that he was severing the agreement with Gbagbo.

Lanny Davis’ African human rights disaster

When Davis was hired by Equatorial Guinea, the lobbyist said things would change there. They haven’t

By Justin Elliott, Salon.com

Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011 11:01 ET

Last April, when Democratic lobbyist Lanny Davis was hired by the government of Equatorial Guinea, he declared himself the “reform counsel” for the longtime dictator of the small, oil-rich African nation. Davis’ fee was $1 million per year plus expenses, and he and his client, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, promised widespread reforms and a new respect for human rights.

But today, human rights advocates who track Equatorial Guinea tell Salon that nothing has changed there and that Davis appears to be engaged in little more than a whitewashing exercise designed to rehabilitate the image of the Obiang regime on the international stage. And despite a direct promise by Davis to a reporter in June that political prisoners in Equatorial Guinea would be released, that has not happened.

Joe Lieberman – The Model Purple Senator

Lanny Davis, The Huffington Post

Posted: January 19, 2011 04:28 PM

In 1970, I was in the bathroom with a towel over my ears. In the living room, surrounded by my parents and friends, there you were — the sandek at the bris — holding my 8-day-old son Seth for the 3,000-year-old Jewish ceremony while the rabbi made the magic cut. I awarded you the title of godfather for doing me (and Seth) that great favor.

In 2000, you stood at the podium as the vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, the first Jew to be so honored, and I sat next to your mother, both of us crying, as you began your acceptance speech, in genuine wonder and awe: “Is this a great country, or what?”

In 2006, you lost a Democratic primary in Connecticut because your liberal base wouldn’t forgive you because you genuinely believed a democratic Iraq without Saddam Hussein was worth going to war over. I disagreed with you on that position. But I also knew that you were and always would be a progressive Democrat — that you had voted over 90 percent of the time with your fellow Democratic senators.

On primary night, when you had lost, I stood heartbroken in your hotel suite in Hartford, Conn. My son and your godson, Seth, now 36 years since the magic cut, arrived.

“So sorry, Godfather,” Seth said.

…

There is something especially sad that you, an important symbol of decency in politics, should pick this week to announce your retirement — the week after the murderous violence in Tucson, Ariz., left so many people in America frightened of the atmosphere of violence and polarization that has become the hallmark of our politics in too many places.

You will be missed, Sen. Lieberman — just at the time where the role of a “bridge-builder” between Democrats and Republicans, between liberals and conservatives, is needed more than ever.

You showed it is possible to be a genuine liberal Democrat on the major issues — but still able to work with Republicans, with conservatives, and be trusted by them. You were the model “purple” politician.

Pretty much premiers.  Nova has 2 that Neil deGrasse Tyson was whoring on The Daily Show last night.

I never got to say goodbye to my father. There’s questions I would’ve asked him. I would’ve asked him how he felt about what his company did, if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of man we remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero-accountability.

Mr. Stark! What happened over there?

I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries.

• AMC– The Walking Dead marathon
• Bravo– Top Chef marathon (with premier)
• Disney– Chicken Little
• Discovery– Mythbusters marathon (with premier)
• ESPN– College Hoopies, Duke @ North Carolina State; Hoopies, Lakers @ Mavs
• ESPN2– College Hoopies, Cincinnati @ Notre Dame, A&M @ Texas
• Food– Worst (this week’s), Restaurant: Impossible (premier)
• FX– Hancock, Iron Man
• History– Conspiracy Theories and Hell
• Lifetime– Serious Moonlight
• Oxygen– Titanic (again, most over rated movie ever)
• Turner Classic– Badlands, This Sporting Life
• TLC– Toddlers and Tiaras (premier)
• TNT– Bones marathon
• Travel– Man v. Food marathon (thank goodness, with premier)
• TV Land– Hot in Cleveland (Season Premier), Retired at 35 (Series Premier)
• USA– NCIS marathon
• Vs.– Tin Cup

Later-

• ESPN2– Australian Open
• Turner Classic– Duck Soup
• USA– Inside Man x 2

Dave hosts Martin Short and Darius Rucker.  Jon has Paul Clemens, Stephen Ron Reagan Jr..  Conan hosts Natalie Portman, Chris Pratt, and Keyshia Cole.

Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you: he really is an idiot. I implore you, send him back to his father and brothers, who are waiting for him with open arms in the penitentiary. I suggest that we give him ten years in Leavenworth, or eleven years in Twelveworth.

You’re a brave man. Go and break through the lines. And remember, while you’re out there risking your life and limb through shot and shell, we’ll be in be in here thinking what a sucker you are.

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Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Tunisian leader vows ‘total break’ with old regime

by Dario Thuburn, AFP

1 hr 42 mins ago