The death today of Tim Russert, 58, was a shock and a big loss. Russert, moderator of “Meet the Press” and NBC’s Washington bureau chief, was known for his unrelenting questioning. “There wasn’t a better interviewer in television,” Barack Obama said. John McCain called Russert the “pre-eminent journalist of his generation.” But I liked best NBC anchor Brian Williams’ description of Russert as a person: “aggressively unfancy.”
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35 Comments
I do think Tim Russert was a fair and balanced interviewer. Everyone got their chance to say their point of view and was given the respect and dignity of being heard. That is something sorely lacking in some other so-called political interviewers of today.
I loved his enthusiastic election night coverage and that stupid whiteboard that he carried around to try to figure electoral votes. I feel for his family, especially, his dad, Big Russ.
…May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Russert was probably the most balanced out of all of the celebrity journalists on broadcast TV (which is not saying much), but he still represented the worst attributes of narcissistic political journalism. Journalists and their spouses want to become elitist insider- influence peddlers instead of honest brokers of information. Attached is a link to a Washington Magazine’s article on the 100 people in Washington DC which included Russert and his magazine writer spouse Maureen Orth. In retrospect the self-serving news journalists like Dan Rather, Sam Donaldson & Tim Russert have debased the profession so much that the public can not differentiate them from Larry King, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh & George Stephanopolus.
http://www.washingtonlife.com/directories/photos/?letter=M&name=Maureen-Orth
The trickle down effect in Wichita is even more embarrassing considering that too many Eagle journalists are married to law partners in the corrupt Wichita legal system. Bonnie Bing & her fellow elitist-fascists will be shamed in the upcoming election cycle. The bigger they come – the harder they fall & the more stupid and arrogant they look.
Bill McKean (316) 293-6079 kiakahahaha@yahoo.com
Very classy post, Bill. Thank you.
Yo Bill
I think you could have waited a day …….
… or put it on the open thread
The loss of Tim Russert is tragic. In an age of hyper-partisanship, he was one of the few who at least tried to be evenhanded and fair.
Maybe its because of the times we live in, but part of me really wonders if he died of a heart attack as reported, or was there more to the story than that? Call me a “tinfoil hat wearing kook” if you like, but I can’t help but recall that he embarrassed a certain Presidential candidate who recently suspended ( but did not end) her campaign and who still plans to be president through events yet to unfold. Maybe, just maybe his untimely death was meant as a message to all the media and everybody else that, you don’t embarrass her “highness”.
Yep Chris, you are definitely a “tinfoil hat wearing kook”.
The true tragedy of Tim Russert is that he was a man who grew up during a time when the concept of broadcast journalism meant something, only to become a media star in an environment where the people paying his salary were openly hostile to anything resembling journalism. It must have been a horrific Faustian bargain for the poor man.
Rest in peace, Tim.
Bill McKaem – another “tinfoil hat wearing kook”:
The big thing that distinguished Russert from the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh is that he would happily skewer ALL of them. He didn’t take sides. Some might pont to him as a “liberal” but as “tinfoil hat wearing kook” Chris noted he hammered Hillary Clinton.
“chuckling” The white slate.
I’m gonna miss that.
I have recently been very angry and disappointed with Tim Russert.
Even as elevated and respected a journalist and political observer as he was won over by “Obamamania”. His calling the Democratic race and declaring the nominee weeks before the fact was beneath his usual professionalism. It is regrettable that he could not stick to reporting the news and chose instead in his well earned respectability to become part of the news as it developed.
After Russert called the race for Obama, we supporters of Senator Clinton never smiled much.
Even if it was not accurate or fair, it would be so because Tim Russert had said it. THAT is the weight of the mans word. Probably, he was too humble to realize it. I don’t believe he would have been deliberately peddling his influence. My disappointment with him recently will not linger into bitterness.
Even so, his childlike excitement for politics was endearing. His smile was infectious. His knowledge of politics unmatched.
“If it’s Sunday, it must be Meet the Press”.
Chris,
You’ve got it backwards. He tried a ‘gotcha’ question, and her reply caused the audience to laugh, at him. He was the one who was embarrassed.
I wont post more details, in respect of his passing away today.
I feel for his family, the son and wife he left behind, and for his father. Was it last year that Russert’s book about his father came out (right around father’s day). There is a horrible, choking, and unfunny irony about this.
I have had my issues with Russert (and to be fair, others in his position) but today is not the day to post them.
Un Fn’ believeable, I come and see the Tim Russert thread although I heard the news earlier today…and it just figures some right wing idiot would try to link his death with Hillary.
Get bent you POS. And yeah, I liked Russert too.
I looked forward to Sundays just for his show.
How can you think ANYONE would compare the comedian and hate-monger Rush Limbaugh with the great lover of America and Americans that Tim Russert was?
Narcissistic: Dirty Phone Caller O’Reilly.
Self-serving: Drug-addled Limbaugh.
Journalist, American and loving family man: Russert.
I believe that Russert was one of the most trustworthy commentators on TV who tried to balance his show with both sides of an issue. He will be missed very much.
DavidB – you forgot Limbaugh’s sick self-loathing. “Druggies are the dregs of humanity” while he, himself, is a druggie.
Ksag, agreed. I feel so sorry for his family. Twenty two is too young to lose your dad, and NO father should have the grief of outliving a son.
The same thing Russert had, asymptomatic heart disease, killed my Dad. The same way, at 67. They said he was dead before he hit the ground. He died a quarter of a mile from the spot on which he was born. He was fixing fence for the spring on a beautiful Kansas day. If I could die like that, on this farm, looking up at a clear blue Kansas sky, I think that would be a fine way to go.
Of course, such a sudden death is hard on the family. And on an only child, like me and like Luke Russert. I buried my Dad on my thirtieth birthday. Not a day goes by that I dont think of him, oh, a hundred or two hundred times.
I think part of the lesson here is that we should not take longevity for granted. People always say stuff like, “my real life will start when… I get married, I get a real job, I have kids, I retire… whatever.
Your real life is now. Use it. It might not be here tomorrow.
I know that I appear like I’m beating a dead horse, but Russert epitomized the hypocrisy the bipartisan hypocrisy & celebrity mentality of elitist Americans. I previously stated that Russert was the most fair & balanced of a pathetic bunch of elitist journalists, but like most conservative or liberal politically motivated individuals, he sold out for status & celebrity to be one of Washington DC’s ultimate insiders. Am I the only regular viewer of Meet the Press that got sick & tired Russert promoting his friendship with White House insider buddies James Carville & Mary Matalin or promoting the views of jackass writers like liberal David Broder or conservative Robert Novak.
America is in a steep moral decline due to the cynicism and lack of courage in both parties and the laziness and elitism of the national media which refuses to do any serious investigative reporting. There have been so many scandals in very single American profession due to strictly enforced code of silence to condone their practitioners to lie, steal & cheat from their fellow Americans. Most Americans do not trust any that the local or mainstream media publishes and Oprah, Larry King, Rush Limbaugh & Bill O’Reiily have made hundreds of millions of dollars filling the vacuum.
Russert’s obit stated that: “He had Buffalo’s blue-collar roots, a Jesuit education, a law degree and a Democratic pedigree that came from his turn as an aide to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York”
The two most corrupt and most critical professions that are endangering our democracy and freedom are the attorneys and the journalists. Russert wrote a book about his faith & blue collar values that he learned from his father, Big Russ. Like most narcissistic celebrity journalists, I’m sure that Russert sincerely believed his on B.S. Last month I listened to Robert Novak give a speech at a dinner sponsored by the Flint Hills Institute which is underwritten by wealthy conservative libertarian individuals like the Kochs & Garveys. Novak was not very impressive and appeared that he was just out to make a buck. He certainly did not do anything to make the wealthy GOPs in Wichita feel uncomfortable or to challenge them to do anything constructive. What a shame. God give every one of us all sorts of talents and influential relationships that we are reluctant to use to make our city, our state, our country and our world a better place.
I have to think that GOP Chairman Kris Kobach, the Kochs and the Garveys are very happy with the status quo. For those of us Christian men who believe that God is a just God, we understand that Tim Russert had to give an accounting for his life even though it was tragically cut short. After we die, all we have to show for our life is our reputation and the memories and examples did we gave to our spouses and children. I hope that incoming Wichita Bar Association President & Hinkle Elkouri law partner, Mike Herd; Attorney General Steve Six; and the many corrupt, elitist nepotistic judges and prominent law partners think about this tomorrow when they go to church with their children on Father’s Day. Fred Six and the late Hal Herd should have taught their sons that there were higher aspirations in life than to have their celebrity memorialized by having their Supreme Court Justice portraits hung high up on the walls of the House Judiciary Committee room or to try to create a pathetic short lived political dynasty. Happy Fathers Day to all those Moms & Dads that are fighting for reforms to make Wichita a safer and healthier place for our children.
Bill McKean kiakahahaha@yahoo.com 293-6079
In some ways Russert was Michael Moore’s evil twin. Or vice versa.
Russert dressed better and was better groomed. But both are masters of the “Gotcha” school of journalism. Russert was the personification of someone’s description of Washington: “Hollywood for ugly people.” Russert was a star-fuc#er in D.C.
More than most people in media (and this is saying a lot), Russert helped reduce political campaign coverage to horse-race analogies.
He was an odd mix of blue-collar sensibilities and someone caught up in the glitz of power.
He had a lot of respect for “Meet the Press” as an American institution. It will be interesting to see who replaces him.
I’d like “MtP” to return to its roots and bring in beat reporters to pepper politicos with issues-oriented questions. A round-table of pundits is sometimes fun, and Russert could always be counted on for a “gotcha” question (which he almost never followed up on, giving the target an opportunity to spin without consequence).
He did what he did very well. And watching him was sort of like watching Wayne Gretsky play hockey: he was really good at it, but what did it matter?
KSFarmGrrl:
I’m sure that we make different social, economic & religious assumptions to arrive at differing political opinions, but you do well to honor your father. There is too little of that in modern society. I am sorry for your loss. I bet that he was proud of you.
“Ksag, agreed. I feel so sorry for his family. Twenty two is too young to lose your dad, and NO father should have the grief of outliving a son.”
Particularly when your son wrote a Father’s Day gift of a book in honor of you, and then he dies right before Father’s Day. On the other hand, Big Russ can be proud of what his son accomplished.
And a big 10-4 on not assuming how long you are going to live. My wife and I were both widowed from our previous spouses in our early 40’s.
Sorry for the sudden way in which you lost your father (even though it was probably a relatively good way to go for him).
The one man I truely believed in to get the news. Tim will be greatly missed and I just hope his family can move on with him being gone. I do know that god has one heck of a news journalist at his side now.
Wow, guys, thank YOU for honoring my father and my love for him. I really didnt expect anyone to comment on that post. I loved him with all my heart. And he knew it. And he loved me with all his heart. And I knew it too. They used to call me “little August” because wherever he was, I was. Two steps behind.
Tommorrow I’ll post my annual tribute to him. I hope you dont get tired of reading it every year!
Hee hee hee. Ok, now ya got me started…
I learned to dance the polka standing on the tops of his shoes while he guided me around the dance floor.
To this day, the polka is the only dance I can do!
“I’d like “MtP” to return to its roots and bring in beat reporters to pepper politicos with issues-oriented questions.”
I’d like to see Rachel Maddow take over. I know it would be a big and improbable jump, but imho, she’s the heir apparent. She is ALWAYS the best prepared person in the room.
Next best? Have KO take over MP and give Rachel Countdown.
Have KO take over MP and give Rachel Countdown.
———-
Well NBC has definitely forfeit any pretense of a neutral network in the past few years. But still, to give Olbermann, a certified left wing partisan, comparable with Sean Hannity on the right the venerable Meet the Press franchise? Ain’t gonna happen.
“But still, to give Olbermann, a certified left wing partisan, comparable with Sean Hannity on the right the venerable Meet the Press franchise? Ain’t gonna happen.”
The difference between Olbermann and Hannity is that Keith tells the truth, Sean, not so much. *
* If ever.
Truth… Good one WS. Actually, vice versa IMHO.
For the sake of getting along, I wasn’t going to mention that as a political commentator, well, Olberman was an amusing sportscaster. But he fits in with the current crop of entertainers who perpetuate the perception that politics is just another form of entertainment.
I just thought it was amusing that anyone would mention a shill like him for Meet the Press.
I don’t think there should be a rush to replace Russert.
Politics is slow right now. It won’t pick up much until the conventions.
I’ve been watching as much of the Russert stuff as I can today and yesterday. As we will not see his like again. MtP should replay some of Russerts better shows for the next few weeks.
I’d like to see the one where he destroyed rising Republican star and racist David Duke.
And WHO to replace him? Not Olberman. He’s a hack. Not tweety Chris Matthews. “Hardball” is his schtick.
God PLEASE not Joe Scarborough!
Hmm….
The replacement doesn’t HAVE to come from MSNBC.
Who is that guy on CNN? Name escapes me at the moment. Older guy and a real political wonk. Or perhaps Lou Dobbs.
Tim was a good decent man. That showed through his celebrity and his failings. I am hard pressed to believe Olbermann, O’Reilly, Mathews, or anyone else, could ever believe they were as honest and down to earth as Russert.
He will be missed. Bring up his protege and lets keep it going.
If there is anyone who can report back from Heaven…it is Tim. If there is such a place……
this Bill Mckean guy is a real kook. The only moral decline is within the catholic church.
BlueJay posted June 14, 2008 at 10:11 pm
“Or perhaps Lou Dobbs.”
BlueJay, is that because you are no longer a Democrat, and you liked the way that Dobbs falsely attacked Al Gore in 1999?
It was a suggestion cosmos.
I stood in line for more than 3 hours with a 7 year old in tow to vote for Al Gore in Kansas KNOWING my vote would not matter at all.
I formerly hated Lou Dobbs as the host of “Moneyline”
I cannot guess his politics these days. That is why I suggested him.
And Mr Russert did not collect one dime of Social Security. 15.3% of HIS income was donated to the Socialist cause though.
Just another Tax on Freedom.