Tim Russert dead at only 58

[emeleel]

No details at this time.

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 - U.S. news - MSNBC.com

I always enjoyed watching him when he happened to be on.

[emeleel]

CNN is saying it was a heart attack.

[pluckyduck]

I am so seriously, seriously, upset by this.

I loved that man. He was the rare journalist or television personalty who transcended the screen and *became* one of the family. I feel as if I have known him personally for many years.

The boys fathers day present a few years ago was Tim's book on fathers. They wrote out their own stories about their father, and we pasted it inside the leaf pages of the book. Then, after they had given their dad the book, I took a picture of the three of them, in identical shirts (which of course they all loved ) and I pasted that inside the book, too.

I was inspired to make this keepsake by Tim, listening to him tell the stories of his father and his son, and by the genuine *love* he had for both of them.

We have been watching the coverage together, the family, for the last hour plus. We are truly sad.

[realtraveller]

Very sad news. Tim Russert was the only television journalist who could be counted on to have done his homework, dug up the quotes, show them on the screen and then grill the guest on Meet The Press. There aren't any others that do that out there now.

He had just returned from Italy flying in the night before his death. Could have been a deep vein thrombosis that went to his heart or lungs. In any case, I always hate to hear of someone dying so suddenly and so young.

[emeleel]

He had just returned from Italy flying in the night before his death. Could have been a deep vein thrombosis that went to his heart or lungs.

Remembering David Bloom's death a few years ago, this was my very first thought, too.

[wivabef]

I was completely shocked by this thread. A few hours away from the newsroom....

That was the same age my dad died suddenly in an airport.

Wow. What a loss. He was always so decent and respectful.

[pluckyduck]

There's a condolence board over at MSNBC.

Honestly, it's as if a friend of the family has passed!

Watching the coverage. It seems as if half of the people speaking have had Tim as a godfather to their children and the other half's children simply call him Uncle Tim.

I iz sad. Everybody on MSNBC has puffy eyes. Chris Matthews was put on camera in the middle of the night from Paris and he looked as if he'd been hit by a truck. I feel so bad for them.

Joe Lieberman called Russert the country's "Explainer in Chief" , I thought an appropriate turn of phrase.

Buffalo, NY is flying their flags at half staff.

[theworm[$]]

We heard the news while in the car yesterday, and it was such a sad shock. I feel like I lost a favorite teacher. He was very loved and died much too young. My heart is sad for his wife, son and father who must be reeling from this sudden news.

[drmomentum[$]]

I'm not watching any of the coverage. Still a bit in denial.

I'll watched MTP on DVR later. Very upsetting. MTP was a Sunday staple in our house. The kids were used to seeing the interviews.

So young.

[brian_igo]

MSNBC is now into day three of its 24/7 Russert tribute.

I've held my tongue until now, but this is ridiculous. He wasn't a president, he wasn't a Pope, and this isn't 9/11 again. There are other things going on in the world that their viewers need to know about. End this slavering self-tribute and get your asses back to work.

[theworm[$]]

Sometimes I wish my husband would edit himself a bit more. I really liked Russert, and was shocked by his death, and will feel the loss as I continue to watch politics coverage on tv. I understand the long tribute and how so many on tv and in the public really feel this loss, but Brian's point does make me think. While I like seeing a genuine tribute to Russert, this is a man who died too early and too suddenly, but of natural causes. It's always tragic when a relatively young person passes too early - especially one as loved as Russert. That being said - his passing is sad, but really shouldn't be three days of headline news. I hardly ever hear about the casualties in Iraq and Afghanastan anymore, and when I do it's just a comment " # more killed in Some foreign place". The news should be covering that and we should know the names of those men and women. But this is not the soapbox, and I do miss Tim Russert.

[Prepoia[$]]

ah....but good men (let alone good journalists that are also trustworthy and good) are hard to find. He made many of the bad ones more acceptable so they have to eulogize him so the public thinks they are all trustworthy and good.

[realtraveller]

brian_igo said

MSNBC is now into day three of its 24/7 Russert tribute.

I've held my tongue until now, but this is ridiculous. He wasn't a president, he wasn't a Pope, and this isn't 9/11 again. There are other things going on in the world that their viewers need to know about. End this slavering self-tribute and get your asses back to work.

For the first time ever, I actually agree with Brian. On the one hand, I understand it. They lost a colleague and so the loss is magnified in their eyes. And MSNBC is a ratings loser usually so maybe they saw a chance to boost the ratings. Often while CNN and Fox are having live broadcasts, MSNBC is showing old, taped shows about prison or something.

But with Iowa under water, MSNBC needs to exercise some journalistic judgment and show that. But then it's more cost effective to just have your staff talk to each other than actually send a crew to Cedar Rapids to shoot footage of the floods.

[brian_igo]

By all accounts, Russert was a wonderful person and co-worker. I am absolutely sincere with my condolences to his family and friends.

But he was not a good reporter. Those hard-hitting questions that made him famous were actually toothless because he never, ever asked a follow up. If you could bullshit your way through answering that one question you were home free, and everyone in Washington knew it. Here's a paraphrasing of one of the most famous of Russert's "gotcha" questions.

RUSSERT: Mr. Cheney, in 2002 you came on this show and said we'd be greeted as liberators. Here's the tape. (Rolls tape) What do you have to say about that?

CHENEY: I think you should kiss my ass, Tim. This mole on my left cheek needs a little love.

RUSSERT: Okay, Mr. Vice President, let's talk about your hunting trip with Supreme Court Justice Scalia.

CHENEY: Now the wart on the right cheek is jealous.

The nail in the coffin for Russert's journalistic legacy (pardon the expression) was during the Libby trial when Russert testified that he presumed all of the conversations he had with people in the government were off the record unless they told him otherwise. Roll that around in your head for a minute. That's how a propagandist would describe his job - not a reporter.

Russert would never, ever risk his position as a Washington insider to give his viewers something they didn't know. He collected mountains of "gossip" on the people who run our government in his off-the-record conversations, but he used his position on MTP and as bureau chief for NBC in Washington to be the most accommodating host for whatever they wanted to tell you, truth be damned.

The hole in the lives of his family and friends is incalculable. The loss to his profession is much, much smaller.

[Prepoia[$]]

I was not as intimate with him or Washington politics and therefore didn't see it the same way. And, as far as I'm concerned some of the "good" reporters are only good because they put their own fame ahead of what is most helpful. There's a bunch of shit that gets "news" status but it's just a "journalist" making a name for him or herself.

[drmomentum[$]]

I think a lot of the press failed us over the last 8 years. And a lot of our citizens failed us, too, in my opinion.

All I can tell you is that for a long time I'm going to miss the guy every Sunday.

-JP