Despite his political background and regardless of their party affiliation, he was always fair in how he questioned his guests. Under his control, "Meet the Press" was the rare class act in a sea of talking head programs where the guests compete to see who can shout the loudest over each other.
An aside: SBN1/THSE called it ("car accident or heart attack") when he first heard the news. He can also start fires with his mind.
6 comments:
yikes! he's as old as my dad. that's troubling.
rarely got to watch the show. but i enjoyed him overall. who will take over.
I am so, so sad about this. I absolutely loved Tim. My son was just crushed, particularly because his son's name is also Luke (and mine knows what it's like to lose his dad).
Sad, sad, stuff. But in some ways... so much better than having a long, painful illness. Still, he was way too young.
I will have a Beef on Weck in his honor next month as I'll be near his hometown.
Yeah, I liked Russert. He was one of the few journalists around to actually be mindful of the core principles of journalism and, by all accounts, was a good man.
However, in discussing his passing over a round this weekend, my brother made a very good point in saying that the coverage of his passing has been a sobering reminder of just how self-loving the media has become...If I remember correctly, he said something to the effect of "if I were a foreigner here watching the news now, I would think Russert was a head of state"...Too true. Also, particularly disgusting is the exaggerated sense of self-importance that's expressed in their chastisement of those who don't jump to recognize the passing of one of their own...I say this as a co-worker comes in today talking not only about how important Russert was but also recalled one newsman's scolding of the Clintons' not immediately issuing a statement of condolence and recognition...Now, I'm certainly no Clinton fan, but Bill Clinton was President for crying out loud...He doesn't "have" to do anything certainly over a guy who essentially just sat at a desk in front of a camera and asked people questions, albeit tough questions...
Not taking anything away from Russert...The treatment of the subject just baffles me.
you make a good point, dr. zeius.
for all our talk of the 'democracy' of the internet 2.0, the mainstream media are still the gatekeepers and trendsetters for all things terrific - most importantly themselves.
jasdye - Last I heard it was Jimmy Fallon.
panthergirl - Yep. Weird that it happened so close to Fathers Day, considering his last two books were about fatherhood.
spydrz - Mail one to me.
dr. zeius - Good point. While Russert was tops in my book, I did think the coverage was a bit excessive.
Post a Comment