"We are all on the same team."

Insanity is repeating the same thing hoping for different results.  How many times has NBC and MSNBC brass attempted to quell the frequent internecine battles gone public among high paid talent?  Even Jeff Zucker was poised to fly to the 2008 Repub presidential convention to strap a straitjacket on MSNBC's resident wack job Keith Olbermann after MSNBC's biased coverage so angered conventioneers anti-NBC signs and chants popped up and were captured on TV.

It was so bad NBC couldn't contain the backdraft which singed GE at a stockholders' meeting that same summer where shareholders embarrassed GE's Jeff Immelt and NBC's Zucker by airing concerns about the alarmingly unprofessional on-air antics of MSNBC's election anchors.

The latest in a long string of MSNBC anchors eating their own?  This week when "Morning Joe" Scarborough assailed Keith Olbermann for his abysmal assessment of Repub Senator-elect Scott Brown after he won Ted Kennedy's seat Tuesday.  Someone leaked the following memo to the Huff Post's Danny Shea:

From: Griffin, Phil (NBC Universal
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 3:02 PM

MSNBC is THE place for viewers to get the best political analysis and opinion in today's vast marketplace of ideas. We don't tell our hosts what to say. We don't have talking points. We encourage our talent to voice their opinions strongly and smartly, always rooted in fact. All of this has brought us great success, culminating in last year's victory over CNN.

Hosts strongly voicing their OWN opinions can no-doubt lead to spirited, substantive disagreements. This debate is encouraged. What we're doing at MSNBC is something our competition is not. And it is difficult. We have many strong personalities with differing, passionate opinions, but it is important to remember that we are all on the same team. I want to reiterate my long-standing policy: We do not publicly criticize our colleagues. This kind of behavior is unprofessional and will not be tolerated.

Let me be clear: I encourage you to keep doing what you do best. Give the viewers your perspective and a vigorous debate on the issues they care about. But do not turn substantive differences into personal ones.