I don't think Meet The Press was a very good news program, but I'll stop short of personally slagging the guy less than 48 hours after his death.

I was very bummed out yesterday when I heard the news. I thought he came across as a charismatic and friendly guy. Just got back from Italy where he was celebrating his son's graduation.

Worst way to go out too...just out of nowhere.

RIP.

unsaved wrote:[url]
Idiotic pull-quote between two industry people, used for god-knows-what purpose.

Cry me a fucking river.

Holy shit. This was it! The coup de grace of ridiculous bullshit on the forum. Do you realize the deluge of manure that has passed through these servers? Do you realize the feat you've just performed?!

Well done, fuckface! You are shitting on a perfectly normal, young-ish human being.

Great!
Ike

I think it's generally piss poor taste to revel in someones death\hospitalization, regardless of who they are or what they did.

Be it Russert or Thatcher or Buckley or anyone that you might find detestable, it's tacky and a little repulsive. (I'm still baffled that anyone would have the notion to have such vitriol against Russert, but whatever...).

I hate to get all (old) Rick Reuben on a lot of you, but almost nobody that has responded seems to realize that guys like Russert are just corporate media talking heads who thought it was the fucking end of the world when Clinton got his cock sucked and then gave Bush & Co. a big patriotic pass while they denounced Michael Moore as a commie traitor for speaking out against the war back when it was unpopular to do so. Sure, guys like Chris Matthews are criticizing it now 5 years too late when it's safe, when the only ones left that support it are the lunatic fringe fascists like Limbaugh--Tim Russert's friend.

It seems a lot of you are abiding by the old saying "speak no ill of the dead"; there is another one you might remember, "the friend of my enemy is also my enemy".

The less everyone gets most of their information from corporate media sources like NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and stops deluding themselves that their favorite beloved pundit is out there fighting for the common man, the better off we'll all be.

unsaved wrote:It seems a lot of you are abiding by the old saying "speak no ill of the dead"; there is another one you might remember, "the friend of my enemy is also my enemy".

Dude, get fucked.

All of the media are acting like the pope died. Tim Russert was a member of the pundit class that deals distortions of truth for partisan gain. He wasn't a journalist, he was a tv talking head.

Am I glad he died? Well, it really doesn't matter since I didn't know him. I've always thought it's strange when people internalize the passing of a celebrity as if they personally knew them.

here goes:

while i certainly don't condone unsafe's tone or the "good riddance" sentiment, there is a strong point behind it.

tim russert was by all accounts a great guy, a terrific boss & a kickass dad (& son too). he sounds like the kind of guy i'd be delighted to work for.

but professionally he served, whether through incompetence or intent or through pressure from above or whatever excuse we might want to make up for him, as a sort of media gatekeeper, providing the country with a semblance of journalism, pacifying everybody with the fact that at least questions were being asked, albeit never the right ones & never with any follow-up to hold those in power accountable for their lies, a gatekeeper during perhaps what many many of you would call one of the darkest times in our unfortunately all too dark history. he was nbc's washington bureau chief, not only a talking head. while folks in the media like phil donahue got fired (though leading msnbc's ratings) for actually doing their jobs, others like russert were used, to quote cheney talking about meet the press, "to get the message out."

you just can't have it both ways, guys. you can't hate the easy targets & let the nice guys off so lightly.

the lesson of tim russert's life & death is that you can be all of those great things personally & still cause great harm, actively or passively, by playing a crucial part in a horribly corrupt & broken system.

i do not think it is at all inappropriate to say this. no more inappropriate than it will be to say something like "genius records, but one fucked up dude" when phil spector passes.


history will most certainly hold the media accountable for their part in our current predicament even if we now (pick &) choose not to.

unsaved wrote:I hate to get all (old) Rick Reuben on a lot of you

Don't flatter yourself, honey.

Rick Reuben wrote: The guy was a rubber stamp for the establishment agenda. So he didn't live to be 78. He spared me from hearing his rubber stamp go 'stamp stamp stamp' for the next 20 years.

I have zero doubt that all the glowing tributes to Russert that are pouring in from both sides of the fake left/right paradigm are totally sincere. That says a lot.

How did I KNOW you'd be so fond in remembering him...