Turns out Keith Olbermann was on top of today's Page Six item about him. A clip from yesterday's show of him insulting Six-er Corynne Steindler has been appended to our original post.

So Page Six—the oft-vicious Murdoch-owned gossip sheet—occasionally goes after MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann, partly because Olbermann's kind of an easy target but mostly because Olbermann wages nightly war on all of Murdoch's News Corp. But you knew that. Recently, when NBC's Tim Russert died, Olbermann tried to preempt a Page Six report unfavorable to him and his MSNBC coworker Chris Matthews by denying it before it even ran. Oddly, he declared Page Six second-in-command Paula Froelich his Worst Person In the World instead of the more evil Richard Johnson. So Paula responded in email to us. But we all knew what was coming! Today, Page Six itself strikes back against Olbermann. What terribly embarrassing story do they have for us?

The silly feud between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and the Post's Page Six continues. Today the paper reported that Olbermann threw a hissy fit because he didn't get first class transportation to Washington for Tim Russert's funeral last week and then blew a gasket because there was no ketchup at the reception at the Kennedy Center. Nevermind that the Olbermann didn't have lunch at the Kennedy Center and there isn't even a first-class option on the train, the move delivered the predictable result: yet another Page Six staffer—Corynne Steindler—ended up on Olby's "Worst Person in the World" segment last night. As was the case last week, the Post called Olbermann for comment before the paper went to press and before Keith went on the air. Perhaps the next trick should be to call him for comment on some typically insane item before airtime and then not run the item the next day? He might start to look paranoid!

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp owns Fox News and the New York Post's Page Six, so there's often a bit of corporate synergy in the targets those two outlets decide to attack. Like NBC, for example. MSNBC competes directly with Fox News and NBC with the Fox network, so it's only good business to undermine them at every turn. But it's become an all-out a war, lately, waged both in print and on television. Let's go back to the beginning!

Keith Olbermann's feud with members of Rupert Murdoch's media empire seems to be expanding. Last night, Page Six's Paula Froelich called the MSNBC talk show host to comment on a story which suggested Olbermann was jockeying with Chris Matthews for Tim Russert's job as the host of Meet the Press; worse was that the claim that Matthews had even been heard discussing with a man presumed to be his agent at Russert's memorial service in Washington. Olbermann fired back, quickly naming Froelich the "World's Worst Person," ahead of Murdoch himself and the Rupe-owned Sun newspaper. The Post's item was published in the Post today. Olbermann's lashing after the jump.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann is "as infantile as he is narcissistic" and suffers from "a severe case of malignant self-obsession." So says Paula Froelich of Page Six, named last night by the ranty MSNBC host as "worst person in the world" for a naughty gossip item she was running.

So the Post has posted the Page Six item Keith Olbermann was so worked up about yesterday, and it does indeed say Hardball host Chris Matthews "seemed" to be talking about a strategy for landing Tim Russert's job at a memorial event for the NBC personality, and that Olbermann is threatening to quit if he doesn't get Russert's Meet The Press job. (On Countdown, Olbermann denied issuing an ultimatum for Meet The Press and said Matthews shut down talk of him replacing Russert when an acquaintance brought it up.) But the gossip item also quotes a source, ostensibly from the traditional broadcast side of NBC News, who claims that Russert himself wanted NBC News political director Chuck Todd as his own replacement, and that the network will never install someone from MSNBC on the show:

Keith Olbermann's feud with Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. media properties reached a bitter new milestone today when the MSNBC Countdown host smacked Murdoch's Post for a forthcoming gossip item that will, he said, allege that fellow MSNBC-er Chris Matthews was jockeying to succeed Tim Russert as host of Meet The Press at a memorial event for Russert yesterday. The item will also reportedly say that Olbermann has threatened to quit if he doesn't get Russert's job himself. Olbermann leapt to sometime-rival Matthews' defense, saying the Hardball host was asked by an acquaintance at the event about succession and immediately shut the conversation down. As for himself, Olbermann denied he had demanded to replace Russert and said he was, in any case, unqualified (though any savvy and honest successor would attach that caveat). The Page Six reporter working on the item, Paula Froelich, was awarded Countdown's "Worst Person In The World" title for the night, which will teach her a very important lesson: Do not call TV people for comment until after their shows have aired. Clip after the jump.

• Observers note that Arianna Huffington waited several days to personally blog anything about the death of Tim Russert of Meet The Press, who she often criticized. Then when she did say something, she didn't really praise the man. Not even faint praise! Dammit, Arianna, the public DEMANDS DISINGENUOUS EULOGIES! [R&M]

The New Yorker profiles Keith Olbermann this week, MSNBC's fast talkin' resident Bill O'Reilly basher and the third-place cable network's brightest star. Among the juicier revelations: Olbermann suffers from Wittmaak-Ekbom syndrome or restless leg syndrome, which makes him "jumpy"; when he was younger he "bumped his head while leaping into a subway car," an accident that "permanently upset his equilibrium" and has made it difficult to drive or fly; and most of the people who have worked with him despise him, including a former ESPN colleague who says his antics made her run to the bathroom and cry. As for Keith's own boss, Phil Griffin? Even he can't resist describing the blowhard commentator as a "jerk" and "difficult and brutal." If this piece were about anyone else, we're pretty sure it'd serve as the basis for one of Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" segments.

The New Yorker profiled MSNBC editorializer Keith Olbermann and the Post, as the designated attack dog of Olbermann enemy News Corp. excerpted only the most damaging bits. But it still left out plenty of juicy scraps of information about the many coworkers the MSNBC Countdown host has insulted and alienated over the years, and about the arguably insulting things even supportive NBC executives said about him. A quick roundup, starting with Olbermann's insults, including the co-host he moved to tears:

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann often tears right wingers a new one. And the New York Post hates that. And now it turns out that Olbermann has a ladies' disease! So the fun begins! "THE perplexing mystery of why Keith Olbermann acts like a twitchy, hopped-up geek on his MSNBC show has been solved. The New Yorker's Peter J. Boyer reports the TV loudmouth 'has been given a diagnosis of Wittmaack-Ekbom's syndrome, also known as 'restless legs syndrome' (and also 'the kicks,' 'Jimmy legs' and 'the jitters'), a neurological disorder that produces a prickling, itching or crawling feeling in the legs.' Known as a women's ailment because it strikes twice as many women as men, the syndrome has stirred controversy among doctors who don't agree whether it's even real or instead caused by various physical and/or emotional factors." After the jump, Olbermann is clumsy and big-headed.

The Post's efforts to slam Keith Olbermann are getting increasingly desperate. In its latest attempt to lash the MSNBC personality on behalf of owner Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. comrade-in-arms Bill O'Reilly, who are in a feud with the Countdown host, the tabloid somehow managed to work an Olbermann dig into a story about bad gym behavior. Well, actually, not into the copy of the story itself, but into the accompanying infographic, pictured above. It's an awkward enough dig to make one miss Olbermann's Rupert-Murdoch-as-a-pirate imitation. [Post]

Looking for a decent excuse to advance his long-simmering feud with Rupert Murdoch and to do a weird Australian/pirate accent, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann seized upon the words of a former News Corp. insider, who claimed in one of our posts this morning that Murdoch fired Jane Friedman from HarperCollins because she canned powerhouse publisher Judith Regan in late 2006, and also because she squashed Regan's OJ Simpson book project. The source also claimed, tangentially and outlandishly, that Fox News chief Roger Ailes will soon be fired as well for his own role in the Simpson book fiasco. Predictably, this amused Olbermann to no end. For the crime of going to bat for the OJ book, Olbermann named Murdoch today's "worst person in the world," an honor previously bestowed to Fox News screamer Bill O'Reilly. He then did a killer Murdoch imitation that will surely put to rest those allegations that he's totally crazy. Clip after the jump.

Barack Obama has been declared the Democratic nominee now by CNN, NBC News, ABC News and AP; his victory speech has already gone online. The historic occasion of a black Democratic candidate touched the hearts of even the grizzled veteran news anchors at NBC. Chris Matthews read comments from South African anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu, who recently said of Obama, "Where else in the world would you ever have had anything like that?" Fellow anchors Keith Olbermann and Tom Brokaw both sounded even more sentimental, getting a bit choked up talking about Obama in the clip after the jump. Aww. Sometimes your quavering voice makes a "Special Comment" all its own, Keith.

It may be the middle of election season and Keith Olbermann might be enjoying record ratings, but things aren't going nearly as swimmingly for MSNBC's Dan Abrams. In late 2007 he returned to an on-air role after a shortlived (and, by all accounts, unsuccessful) stint as the network's general manager. But despite the hoopla at the time that he'd help bolster MSNBC's sagging lineup, Abrams has yet to make much a dent in the ratings. His show Verdict, which debuted in March 2008, doesn't hold a candle to Hannity & Colmes, which has nearly four times as many viewers. And his rather obvious effort to gin ratings by copying his more successful colleague Keith Olbermann—he now uses a good part of his hour to mock Fox News personalities like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Brit Hume, and Shepard Smith—has yet to pay off the way it has for Olbermann. The clearest sign of his struggle to stay afloat? The guests he's booked over the past few weeks...

Raging liberal tax-and-spend broadcaster Keith Olbermann is a hypocritical tax cheat who wants to deprive the government of revenues in order to further enrich himself! That's according to the well-named site Olbermann Watch, which reports that the MSNBC host has a tax warrant out against his personal corporation in New York, for failing to pay about $2,300 in state taxes. All of which would have gone to buying baby formula for children on welfare, but which Olbermann wantonly hoarded to enhance his own hair gel collection instead! He should really pay up. Disclaimer: Although this news is true, it comes from a right-leaning website, which is inherently untrustworthy. Unlike, you know, Huffington Post. [Olbermann Watch]

Rupert Murdoch's handmaidens over at the New York Post this morning jumped into a feud between their Fox News shouting head Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC ranter Keith Olbermann. The tabloid's gossip page ran an item dredging up various minor controversies involving Olbermann dating back to his ESPN days, up through an alleged spat between Olbermann and fellow MSNBC personality David Gregory last Tuesday over camera time. It then insinuated Olbermann might soon explode and leave his network. The warmed-over gossip was clearly meant as cover fire on behalf of O'Reilly, a fellow News Corp. soldier, whose feud with Olbermann is detailed in the Washington Post today. In a nutshell:

Aaron Brown was the serious, soft-spoken voice of CNN. Americans all remember his calm, powerful, and moving presence on CNN covering the attacks on the World Trade Center, as they happened, all day long. His first day at CNN! Then a couple years later CNN ditched him and gave his time-slot to Anderson Cooper, who is much prettier. But he's back! On, uh, PBS, where he'll look comparatively "young" and "cool." Anyway, Brown weighed in, for some reason, on the battle between Fox hothead Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. "Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly 'are both larger-than-life figures,' he says, but Olbermann is 'smarter, funnier, better read and eminently more talented.'" Well. Is someone angling for David Gregory's spot once Gregory takes over for Chris Matthews? He's got all the time in the world, NBC. He'll wait out this rumored move that may never happen. [TVNewser]

The Daily Show covered this the other night. Skip to about three minutes in, when the pundits demand blood. "Look, we gotta kill her off—y'know, figuratively."