«Home | Next: Poll: 80% Ok with Black or Woman President»

| Next: A War Without End»

| Next: Goodness Gracious Geewillickers»

| Next: Pelosi Announced Committee Picks: No Harman, Jeff...»

| Next: David Geffen's $2 Billion Bid for LATimes»

| Next: Laura Bush Plays the Blame Game»

| Next: Winning Hearts and Minds»

| Next: Rove: Done With Politics»

| Next: Jurassic Prick»

| Next: Senator Tim Johnson and the Balance of Power»

After the outrage over his publication of the O.J. Simpson book, Murdoch fires his sacrificial lamb:

O.J. Simpson's would-be publisher, Judith Regan, was fired Friday, her sensational, scandalous tenure at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. ending with the tersest of announcements.

"Judith Regan's employment with HarperCollins has been terminated effective immediately," HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman said in a statement. "The REGAN publishing program and staff will continue as part of the HarperCollins General Books Group."

Regan was of course not entirely blameless here, being the one who directly greenlighted the project.

However, Murdoch knew exactly what kind of tabloidy books Regan favors: she also published such literary notables as Jose Canseco's "Juiced" and porn star Jenna Jameson's "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star", all through ReganBooks and the aegis of Harper Collins, a publishing subsidiary of Murdoch's Newscorp conglomerate.

If not for the widespread outrage of the Brown and Goldman families and the public, Regan would merrily continue to publish sleaze and Murdoch would be more than happy to reap the profits.