Merry Christmas To All, Including John Gibson & Keith Olbermann

On Thursday, Cox News filed a feature about Keith Olbermann and his nightly segment called “The Worst Person in the World.” Later that day, John Gibson talked about it on his radio show.

On Friday, Olbermann e-mailed this blog with a response: “I’m very sorry about my old colleague John Gibson’s reaction to being named one of the Worst Persons. But, alas, he did go on a national radio show and insist that people who believe in what he called ‘the wrong religion’ are ‘going to have to answer’ for it.” Olbermann added that “we all used to like John greatly, back when he worked in the news business, and before he drank the Kool-Aid.”

Later on Friday, Gibson responded to Olbermann’s e-mail during the My Word segment of The Big Story. He said people call him names on television — like “the worst something or other” — for things “I really did not say,” or things that were “taken wildly out of context.”

Then Gibson aimed at Olbermann directly: “Friday one of my former colleagues repeated a misquote to justify saying some truly disgusting things about me. Condescendingly, he ’tisk tisked’ that he used to like me. I frankly doubt it. Otherwise, why be so willing to believe trash?”

But hey, these holidays only happen once a year, so let’s halt the War for now. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all and to all a good night.

> Update: 3:50pm: “There is an audio clip and a transcript of what he said; there is no gray area, no loss of context, no misquote, no excuse,” Olbermann says. Media Matters has it…

> Update: 9:38pm: A “TV insider” responds via e-mail: “If Keith Olbermann spent more time on his own ratings challenged program and less time attacking popular cable programs and their hosts, he might average more than a .4 rating.”