Odd Olbermann/Maddow Rumor Put to Rest?

As a blogger, I have run into a couple of sticky situations where my comments were found to be objectionable by the very people I was writing about. In these cases, I was yanked down to earth a bit, having forgotten that I was talking about real people who could--you know--read what I had to say about them, and then take me to task for it.

Now, it isn't in my nature to be overtly nasty or inappropriately critical. Er, most of the time. But I'm quite capable of being wrong, and of being snarky and sarcastic. Snark and sarcasm are fun, but most of us do not like to be the target of it.

If you have a nightly television program, you have an opportunity to address those who disparage you in a much more flashy forum. Keith Olbermann did just that, after becoming the subject of a viral Internet rumor. Watching the video is slightly uncomfortable for me, knowing that I could have furthered the rumor had I happened upon it. As a fan of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, I likely wouldn't have, except to possibly comment on the inanity of the rumor. Bloggers do after all have the right to post only those stories on their blogs that interest them, or that they have something they want to convey. Reporting on cat-fights behind the scenes on a cable news station don't fit into that category. Unless it's Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, but I digress. . .

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy