Sunday will never be the same

[Pujah]

….without Tim Russert on Meet the Press.

 

3:49 p.m. Tim Russert, the host of “Meet the Press,” and NBC’s Washington bureau chief, has died. He was 58.

 

Mr. Russert was a towering figure in American journalism and moderated several debates during the recent presidential primary season.

Tom Brokaw, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News, came on the air at 3:39 p.m. and reported that Mr. Russert had collapsed and died early this afternoon while at work. He had just returned from Italy with his family.

 

“Our beloved colleague,” a grave Mr. Brokaw called him, one of the premier journalists of our time. He said this was one of the most important years in his life, with his deep engagement in the network’s political coverage, and that he “worked to the point of exhaustion.” Mr. Brokaw said Mr. Russert was a true child of Buffalo and always stayed in touch with his blue collar roots and “the ethos of that community.”

He said Mr. Russert had just moved his father, who is in his late 80s, from one facility to another in Buffalo. He said he loved his family, his Catholic faith, his country, politics, the Buffalo Bills, the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals.

 

“This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice,” Mr. Brokaw said.

The New York Times

[Miriam1]

no way !

 

wow, strange thing is father is still alive. I liked him.

[Pujah]

Reactions to Russert's Passing

Updated 4:58 p.m.

By Glenn Kessler and Juliet Eilperin

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama described himself as "grief-stricken" over the passing of NBC Washington bureau chief and "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert at age 58 this afternoon. Obama spoke to reporters on his plane shortly before it was scheduled to depart Columbus.

 

Obama said he had known Russert since Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004 in Boston.

 

"I considered him not only a journalist but a friend," Obama said. "There wasn't a better interviewer on television, a more thoughtful analysts about politics." He was "one of the finest men I know," said Obama.

 

"I am grief-stricken with loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family."

 

Presumptive GOP nominee Sen.

John McCain issued a statement describing Russert as a friend, as well. "I am very saddened by Tim Russert's sudden death," said McCain in the statement. "Cindy and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the Russert family as they cope with this shocking loss and remember the life and legacy of a loving father, husband and the preeminent political journalist of his generation.

 

"He was truly a great American who loved his family, his friends, his Buffalo Bills, and everything about politics and America. He was just a terrific guy. I was proud to call him a friend, and in the coming days, we will pay tribute to a life whose contributions to us all will long endure."

 

Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, traveling with Sen. McCain today, said, "The truth is he made us all better."

 

"He was hard, but he was always fair," McCain told reporters as his plane alighted at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va."He was at the top of his profession. He loved his country. He loved his Buffalo Bills."

 

Reactions to Russert's Passing

[LayZie G.]

Omg, this is unexpected. He looked healthy when I last watched him on the telly.

 

My hooyo will be shocked by this news, she was a huge fan of tim russert. The "Tim Russert show" and "Meet the press" no more, no more.

 

I don't think anyone can fill his shoes as a host of "meet the presS".

[STOIC]

This was by far the best political interviewer .He embodied the North East ethos of hard work and compassion at his CBS show. His show was a quantum leap in the news business. You are right Sunday will never be the same. He is the only guy that provided the finest hour on Sundays! Meet the Press will be a show that forever will be remembered as long as CBS exist. Forget about that trash news station called FOX and all the hate radio starting from Sean Hannity to Michael Savage and the rest of fear mongers who only knows best the smear tactic, but short of journalism ethics. Everybody respected the integrity of your show .RIP Tim…

[rudy-Diiriye]

rip! dunno the homie..not a tv watcher.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

I am very shocked and saddened by the death of this great journalist. He was the most objective, authoritative political analyst out there. Discussion about American politics won't be the same. His show was my favorite every sunday for many years.

 

I will miss "MEET THE PRESS" and Tim's thought-provoking, fearless style of journalism. A true legend is dead.

[Castro]

Actually Sundays may be better now that one less career Corporate media man is on the air.

 

That Russert was fair, balanced or even objective, as some of you are gushing here, is a contradiction in terms. Working, as he did, for 25 years at NBC which is owned by GE (a weapons maker and a war profiteer) negates any chance of being fair, balanced or objective.

 

Russert had to play the script that his employer handed down to him as he simply could not become the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News by being anti establishment. One has to be completely in with the program to advance so far. Otherwise, the system has enough filters built in to weed out the undesirables (read: real journalists) from the start.

 

Bill Moyers' Buying the War and Normon Solomon's War Made Easy show a glimpse of what Russert truly represented.

 

Russert is with his maker now and his death is sad to his family and those who admired him but I viewed him as a part of a military-industrial complex that has and continues to cause the very violent death of millions around the world.

[xiinfaniin]

^^Yours, my good friend, is classical guilty by association proposition. And the world, with all its intricacies, can hardly be curbed in such a black-and-white terms! The late Peter Jennings was favorite anchor of mine and he too worked for the other media giant, ABC News. What these two men had in common was that they both had some sense of objectivity and independence. And judging from their commentary and how they approached the issues they covered and subjects they discussed, I must tell you, this hasty indictment of yours does not succeed to even slightly change my mind let alone educate me and give me new insights as you promised Castrow!

 

NBC is evil.

Tim worked for NBC.

Hence Tim must be evil too.

 

Equals

America is hegemonic and dominant.

Castro is a law-abiding taxpayer and lives in America.

Castro is complicit in this evil Empire’s crime.

^^That is your argument in its most elemental way, yaa Castro, and it does not really cut it saaxiib .

[Castro]

^^^^ That's weak awoowe. It would certainly be guilt by association, as you claim, had Russert been a paper pusher at NBC. That he was not. He was their Washington Bureau Chief and among Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2008. He was not just part of the establishment, he was the establishment.

 

Similarly, when I run for governor of Minnesota, or become an Illinois Senator (soon to be US president ), then your claims may bear some weight. (Though I hardly contest my complicity.)

 

Until then, your cries amount to little more than "I liked Jennings and Russert so they must be nice people and great journalists."

 

That they're both dead may also be pulling at your kind heart.

[xiinfaniin]

^^

 

 

It’s still guilty by association saaxiib. Being NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief does not really mean much in the big scheme of things either. The man was a newsman, for whatever that amounts to, and he excelled in his profession.

 

Admitting your complicity in what Washington rulers do was, I gather, a move to indict late Russert even further, and I am not buying it. So lets examine few facts good Castro, shall we! GE holds 80% of NBC cooperation. It co-owns MSNBC with Microsoft. GE contributed 1.1 million to Bush’s 2000 campaign. Microsoft also reportedly donated 2.4 million to Bush’s election. Of all the money GE gave political candidates, 63% of it went to Republican candidates. Now, if indeed what you are espousing has any substance to, Tim Russert, a known Democrat , must’ve worked very hard for Bush’s election/re-election. GE’s business interest and whom it preferred for US presidency I think has been clear. That it has significant influence on US politics is also beyond dispute. The notion that NBC reporters propagate GE’s domestic and international political positions, however, is just too sweeping Adeer.

 

Late Russert never shared our views of the world, and I did not expect him to. All I was saying was the man was a great newsman.

 

Perhaps you are just being a contrarian…

 

Soomaalida se hore u tiri; Haddaad amman rabto dhimo, haddaad cay rabtana guurso

[Nephissa]

You people really need to re-evaluate your priorities and quick!

 

Sunday will never be the same

Give me a B and R..E..A..K.

[Castro]

Xiin, atheer, let me not wake the dead in this topic but if you have a couple of hours to kill, learn about the propaganda model and how mainstream media toe the line and help the vast majority of the public stay "informed".

 

Tim Russert (and this topic), RIP.

[Jacaylbaro]

Sunday will never be the same

Of course not ,,, It will get better.

[Geel_jire]

i gotta go with castro & nephy on this one you'd think some ppl just lost a beloved family member.

 

on his death im completely neutral doesn't make an iota of difference to me ....we got people dieing by the boatload back home and i don't see an entire thread dedicated to them.

 

the only time your praises will be sung is at your funeral there is a maah-maah to that affect but the wording has escaped me, but seriously this is as out of touch as you can get.