JOSSIP REPORTS — With Keith Olbermann back in New York and supposedly making up with Chris Matthews, and Joe Scarborough insisting everyone at the network is going to have Thanksgiving together, everything should be hunky-dorey at NBC News, yes?

No.

Joe Scarborough is still taking shots at Olbermann on the air (excellent video here). Oh, and then there's this little matter of Chuck Todd, David Gregory, and Brian Williams — and Meet The Press. It's a clusterfuck, and these are the details:

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Rachel Maddow is so Keith Olbermann's protege, she's supposedly trying to get people fired. Just like her mentor! "Maddow tried to replace all the staffers who work on the 9 p.m. time slot, which she takes over on Monday, but management refused," claims the indefatigable Page Six. This would be, of course, Dan Abrams' former team at Verdict. And ya know who Olbermann can't stand? A one Dan Abrams, who for a time played MSNBC general manager, and thus, Olbermann's boss, but the two never clicked, and neither wanted to pay mind to the other. You'd expect, then, that the 9pm producers are Abrams loyalists — aside from the Olbermann camp, Abrams is well liked at 30 Rock — and won't be too keen on any of the serial in-fighting Team Keith motivates.

And therein lies the problem:

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'Griffin and Olbermann were at the Chicago Cubs game Saturday, separately. Olbermann also went to Sunday's game and, during a morning email exchange, Griffin suggested Olbermann should go back to New York, instead of on to St. Paul. Olbermann responded "Seriously?"' [TVN]

Sarah Palin bashed Barack Obama, which most pundits didn't expect, or advise. She also lobbed some decent punchlines at the talking head class, and for that, we appreciate her. But how did the folks who are paid to over-analyze these type of things, and who were on the receiving end of her taunts, respond to her words?

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If MSNBC's forcing Keith Olbermann to stay in New York during the RNC is part of his punishment for helping fuel the on-air fights with his co-anchors, then perhaps the kind words suddenly being exchanged between Olbermann and foe Chris Matthews are also part of any mandatory penance being paid.

OLBERMANN: Chris Matthews, at St. Paul at the Xcel Center. I miss you already. Thanks Chris.

MATTHEWS: See you soon.

Might MSNBC be having a change of heart over network star Keith Olbermann?

The Countdown host who's become the face (and programmer?) of MSNBC regularly anchored presidential primary debate coverage, which was once the territory not of pundits, but hard news men and women. Such a ratings draw in primetime, Olbermann then headed up Denver's broadcasts from the DNC, where he and Chris Matthews tag teamed lead coverage — and spearheaded a series of on-air dust ups with colleagues.

But this week, in St. Paul at the RNC, Olbermann is nowhere to be found. That's because he's been ordered to stay in New York, while Matthews and none other than Tucker Carlson — MSNBC's whipping boy — will lead coverage from the Republican convention; Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough will also broadcast on location.

So why no Olbermann?

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It's … refreshing(?) to see Keith Olbermann aim his ire at somebody other than a MSNBC colleague. But last night's trantrum didn't stray far — he spat it at one of his own. That is, a member of the press.

Just after Barack Obama got done bringing Oprah to tears, the Associated Press fired off an arguably pre-written report from Charles Babington that countered what most of the pundits had agreed: that Obama's speech was powerful, formidable, and would make life harder for John McCain.

Babington, however, said "instead of dwelling on specifics, [Obama] laced the crowning speech of his long campaign with the type of rhetorical flourishes that Republicans mock and the attacks on John McCain that Democrats cheer. The country saw a candidate confident in his existing campaign formula: tie McCain tightly to President Bush, and remind voters why they are unhappy with the incumbent."

Of course Olbermann's attack might better be suited not at Babington, but at his boss Ron Fournier, the wire's Washington bureau chief who wants more analysis — some say "slant" — in his reporters' copy. Keith is particularly upset because the AP's version of events because its article will run in possibly hundreds of newspapers, while Olbermann's rant will run on only thousands of political blogs.

How many MSNBC-bashing items can MSNBC-basher Page Six squeeze into one column? At least three, it looks like. There's the Keith-Olbermann-threatens-to-quit item (unless he gets better security at the RNC, because he's afraid of assassination attempts); the everybody-hates-Luke-Russert item (Tim's son was driven around the DNC in a golf cart, big pimpin' style); and the Don-Imus-is-doing-great item (rubbing it in MSNBC's face that the racist radio host can survive without the network).

Who says Jon Stewart can't be relevant (sometimes)? The Daily Show picked up on the hot story of the moment, MSNBC's internal feud between Keith Olbermann and anyone at the station who is not Keith Olbermann, and parlayed it into hilarious results. Clip after the jump:

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MSNBC's internal fighting is far from over — nor is the reporting on it. We hear the Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Dana will have something up for tomorrow's paper (albeit leaning in the network's favor), which follows our own regular reports, as well as the Drudge-linked Politico story from Michael Calderone.

Meanwhile, in the past few hours we've spoke to a number of 30 Rock staffers in Denver, New York, and Washington — some of whom thought it more productive to speak to us than attend to the on-going live DNC coverage — and the common wisdom is: 1) Nobody can believe how much Keith Olbermann is getting away with, even if he does draw ratings; 2) As an Olbermann protege, Rachel Maddow is attracting negative feelings from staffers, since she stays mum on many of these catfights, but "there's still time" to represent; 3) MSNBC head Phil Griffin is alienating staffers by publicly defending Olbermann while privately bashing him, and it's left many wondering when that will leak (oops); 4) MSNBC publicist Jeremy Gaines appears increasing stressed out and can be seen "shaking" with a phone attached to his ear dealing with reporters; 5) You don't want to run into Chris Matthews anytime soon, especially en route to the bathroom, because he has zero pleasant things to say right now; 6) Joe Scarborough is definitely stressed, but he's managed to calm down a bit today and can be seen laughing and gabbing; 7) None of this is helping ratings, with MSNBC scoring the lowest numbers against Fox News and CNN in convention coverage.

And one last thing: Nobody, including all of MSNBC, believes Phil Griffin when he says "MSNBC does not have an ideology … We hire smart people who are passionate about their love of politics and love of news." Says one veteran off-camera staffer: "Bullshit … It's a total farce." It's a shame that MSNBC can't own up to the way it's leaning, if only because now it can't separate itself from the same charges aimed at Fox News — that it leans one way politically but pretends to be balanced.

Those affected by 30 Rock's budget cuts, such as the producers who were told they would not be needed at this year's two presidential conventions, will be pleased to know MSNBC is shuttling its high-profile talent around in a Cadillac Escalade stretch limousine. Reports the Observer: 'Keith Olbermann took photos as the massive, tricked-out partymobile swallowed the MSNBC political panel whole: Michelle Bernard and Eugene Robinson, Pat Buchanan and Rachel Maddow. The inside of the stretch Escalade had the pundits in stitches. There were Champagne glasses, leather seats, tinted windows, disco lights, and outrageously cheesy, curvy everything. “It’s like Battlestar Galactica in here,” said Ms. Maddow. “This is how MSNBC rolls out.”'

Riding around Denver in a prom-mobile is important, of course, because it shows MSNBC is one of the big boys and that it can play hardball with the other networks.

Hope everything in NYC and D.C. is just swell!

So nice to see MSNBC's anchors have learned something from, uh, the last 48 hours. There was the Scarborough "shovel" incident, the Scarborough v. David Shuster incident, and yesterday, leading up to Hillary Clinton's powerful speech, a Chris Matthews v. Keith Olbermann incident, shown here. Trying to do something to resuscitate his sexist image, Matthews doesn't appreciate Olbermann signaling to him to wrap things up. This is now the third such on-air spat between MSNBC talent, and competitors and closely watching to see just how much chatter this week is about the DNC, and how much is about the fact that nobody on 30 Rock's pay roll actually likes each other.

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, who are not exactly friends, have been tag-teaming the DNC coverage, while folks like David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell, Brian Williams, and, here, Joe Scarborough, have been relegated to remote fill-ins. Even Tom Brokaw has been treated like a second-class citizen, though we love his white pop star mic. But it's here, in the Scarborough interview, where viewers are treated to what's really going on behind the scenes: An on-going power struggle where Olbermann reigns supreme, Matthews accepts he's become MSNBC's No. 2, and everybody else remains in disbelief that things have unfolded this way. [via]

Liberal lesbian Rachel Maddow — introduced here with her two most important traits — just went and scored herself her own MSNBC show, which was some time in the making. Officially, NBC says Rachel's debut on Sept. 8, or 09/08/08, is the "final leg of the political race this year."

Unofficially, though? On 09/08/08, a one Keith Olbermann will mark his nearly complete takeover of the network. Yes, Olbermann might as well hold Phil Griffin's title as MSNBC chief, since, according to knowledgeable sources and all outside appearances, he's making the calls.

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See what we did there? We took a couple of photos of some media elite enjoying gift bags in the Hamptons and, in just one degree of separation, proved Page Six editor Richard Johnson, despite trashing Keith Olbermann regularly in his column, actually loves himself some MSNBC: Johnson-Geraldo Rivera-Dan Abrams.