The New York Times was finally able to buy out Judy Miller’s contract, end a 28-year-career with the paper and leaving her free to pursue her book, which seems likely now to have some Times-trashing material.

In a memo sent The Times staff at 3:30 p.m. today, Bill Keller, the executive editor, wrote, “In her 28 years at The Times, Judy participated in some great prize winning journalism.”

In a statement, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times, said: “We are grateful to Judy for her significant personal sacrifice to defend an important journalistic principle,” adding, “I respect her decision to retire from The Times and wish her well.”

Ms. Miller could not be reached for comment.

She had demanded to write an opinion page essay challenging the Times’ accusations against, but the paper wouldn’t go for that. But Times executive editor Bill Keller wrote a letter to Miller retracting some of the trash he had concocted for his memo, and Miller expressed gratification that he had done so.

“Though some colleagues disagreed with my decision to testify, for me to have stayed in jail after achieving my conditions would have seemed self-aggrandizing martyrdom or worse, a deliberate effort to obstruct the prosecutor’s inquiry into serious crimes,” she wrote.

If her purpose was to achieve martyrdom and sell the upcoming book, she would have better served herself by keeping quiet. When she agreed to talk to Fitzgerald and turned out not to have information which could lead to Karl Rove being frog-marched (to use Joe Wilson’s term), the MSM turned on her.

So ends another MSM career.