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Tim Russert Dead At 58

Started by baratunde aka jack turner · 11 months ago

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43 comments

  • TruthSeeker

    1 year ago

    I just heard this..very, very sad.
    reply
  • Craig Hickman

    1 year ago

    Makes me cry.
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  • Ms.Martin

    1 year ago

    OMG - he will be missed and there will be a little less truth in journalism.
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  • honey01

    1 year ago

    I just heard too. This is very sad. May he RIP.


    Wow.
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  • Sepia

    1 year ago

    I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. Damn. May he RIP.
    reply
  • TruthSeeker

    1 year ago

    Russert only came onto my radar this election season. I quickly found that no one could carve a turkey quite like Tim. I looked forward to his election commentary on primary nights.


    How sad that he won't be here anymore.
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  • Pamela

    1 year ago

    I just heard I'm devastated. He was a great man.
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  • RhondaCoca

    1 year ago

    I just heard too and I was coming to tell you guys...OMG!! This is such a loss!!


    R.I.P. Tim Russert=(
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  • smoothie

    1 year ago

    To Pick up on Truthseekers Comment,


    I honestly felt that Tim Russert was the only person on TV who didnt fluff you over. On MTP, he asked the questions you knew you were sitting at home wanting to have asked.



    He didnt snowball with What If scenarios, he only dealt with facts.



    Tim, I'll miss you on Sunday Mornings..



    RIP

    Eric//
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  • Cameron

    1 year ago

    Russert only came onto my radar this election season. I quickly found that no one could carve a turkey quite like Tim. I looked forward to his election commentary on primary nights.


    How sad that he won't be here anymore.



    --------------



    Agreed. This year, I started watching Meet the Press as I got more politically aware. I really did like his commentary, and I think he had the best show out of all the Sunday morning pundit shows.



    He will be missed.
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  • Ronnie B

    1 year ago

    OMG. I'm stunned. He's one of those few media personalities that you--I know it's cheezy--welcome into your home.


    He'll definitely be missed. And those aren't just empty words. He'll truly be missed.
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  • evita

    1 year ago

    One of my favorite moments of Tim Russert was him asking Hillary about her campaign promise (made in some obscure upstate NY newspaper) of creating one hundred (i think) jobs in upstate NY. She said, "Well I guess I assumed we would have controlled the House," He said then should be assume your campaign promises are based in the assumption of being in control of Congress?


    Anyone remember that?



    He'd always come up with obscure proof. Loved it. I will miss his research prowess.
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  • teacher

    1 year ago

    It looks like Tom Brokaw is about to break out in tears. Larry King was shaken too. This is so sad. What a great loss to lose an old school journalist who actually tried to be unbiased & neutral. Its hard to determine which is more tragic: the loss of Tim Russert or the R. Kelly verdict. Tim, you will be missed so much.
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  • RhondaCoca

    1 year ago

    I really feel so sad. I remember how sad I felt when Peter jennings died because I grew up on Peter Jennings.


    When peopple like this pass, its such a loss to the world of television journalism.



    However it is much more of a loss to his family. My prayers go out to them.
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  • honey01

    1 year ago

    Yeah, "MTP" is the only really the only reason I get up early on Sundays. "This Week" not so much. Especially, this election year.


    I remember crying alot during the coverage when Peter Jennings died. He was my favorite national news anchor/reporter.
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  • Texas Girl in L.A.

    1 year ago

    This really breaks my heart. I had a chance to hear Tim speak at the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women here in Los Angeles. We were able to see another side of him. A more personal side. Wow. This is sad. I will miss his research.


    But I will smile at the memory of him making me laugh during the NC/IN primary when he brought out his little white board....to "do the math".



    Will miss you Tim. My prayers are with your family.
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  • Kat

    1 year ago

    Sigh. I didn't always agree with him, but he was one of the few reporters I could listen to this political season for more than five minutes.


    Tim Russert on Meet the Press was kind of an American institution, and though I was not a devoted watcher by any means, he was one of those people you always thought would be there.



    Someone else mentioned Peter Jennings. All of the redwoods are leaving us, and they are leaving sprouts in their place.
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  • justice58

    1 year ago

    I'm stunned! Totally shocked at the loss! He was honest, & professional! What a loss to politics!


    May Tim rest in peace!
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  • B-Serious

    1 year ago

    I was shocked to hear the news as well.


    Every Sunday . . . no question, it was MTP. Seemed like a pretty classy guy.



    It's weird, but you kinda do feel like you knew him a little bit.



    Such a shame. God bless.



    I'm sure he would have loved to have seen how this election turned out. It's a sad day.



    But he did leave me with a high note. . .



    The night of May 6th, 2008, speaking after Sen. Obama's victory in NC:



    "We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be."
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  • B-Serious

    1 year ago

    And a fellow Buffalo Bills fan to boot. . .


    God bless Mr. Russert and his family.
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  • rikyrah

    1 year ago

    My heart is broken. The first person I thought of when I heard this was ' Big Russ'. The second was Luke. Lord, how he loved both of them, and they loved him too.


    I was just stunned when I saw this on tv. Brokaw was so visibly shaken about this.
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  • meechee

    1 year ago

    Very sad news. Tim Russert really was one of my favorite journalists...one of the few that i still watched. Its sad that he left this earth so soon.
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  • Invisible Man

    1 year ago

    And right before Father's Day. I can't imagine what his family's going through.


    I hope that the rest of the media takes Russert's lead in asking the tough questions. That's what he was put here to do. I'd love to hear him ask some more.
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  • BigAssBelle

    1 year ago

    y'all pick up the pieces of your broken hearts. this is a tragedy for tim russert's family and for those who worked with him, were his friends and loved him.


    this man helped bush & cheney take us to war in iraq, dispense with the constitution, suspend habeas corpus and torture detainees.



    dick cheney called him one of his best means of disseminating the false information the white house wanted us to hear to make us believe their lies.



    he's no loss to liberals or progressives. i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the tool chris matthews doesn't replace him. god forbid.



    more on russert and his right wing bias:



    http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/tags/meet_the_press?f=h_hot
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  • BigAssBelle

    1 year ago

    do you all not remember him as recently as the democratic debates? all of those stupid, vicious, "gotcha" questions while the american people are starving for real information about the candidates?


    go ahead and feel sad about the loss of a human life, but seriously, this man was a tool of the right wing, no loss to those of us who believe the system needs to change.
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  • blksista

    1 year ago

    I'm rather shocked that 'Timmeh' bit the big one. But I'm rather underwhelmed at all the oceans of tears over him. I'd rather people get upset over Unca Walter (Cronkite), who is still with us (knock on wood).


    I'm under no illusions about guys like Russert and Chris Matthews, though. These days, journalists are more likely to be celebrities and are in lock step with their bosses; in his case, the ever-morphing GE-Universal. He and Brokaw tried to whack Olbermann recently over what they thought was overstepping about the Borg Queen's departure from the presidential race.



    Some reports, however, say that Russert may have died from a cardiac embolism, that is, an errant blood clot. Russert had just returned from Italy with his college grad son and wife. It was a long plane flight, and it is said that if he had just chewed some aspirin (even children's aspirin), he would have thinned his blood enough to avoid a clot forming in his legs from inactivity.



    Yall think about that when you travel.
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  • RhondaCoca

    1 year ago

    BigAssBelle-


    This is not the time for that. Tim Russert was a human first, a journalist second.



    I will kindly ask you to have respect for him and his family at this time.
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  • RhondaCoca

    1 year ago

    Blksista-


    Now you, once again, he is a human first and a jornalist second. I wish that you would have respect for the man's passing.
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  • blksista

    1 year ago

    Respectfully, rhondacoca, Russert wasn't one of my favorite journalists. I'm sorry about his death, coming so soon after celebrating with his son, and near Father's Day, too. But that's all.


    Wonder who they might get to take his place? Brokaw?
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  • BigAssBelle

    1 year ago

    rhondacoca ~


    as i said, it's a sad thing for those who loved him, his family and friends.



    as an american citizen, i have respect for the constitution of the united states. tim russert did not have that same respect.



    telling me to hush up is about the same as bush & co. demonizing those who questioned their actions post-9/11.



    it's sad for people who actually had a relationship with him and i will always be moved by the loss of a human life. tim russert's. 4,000+ young american soldiers. possibly 1 million iraqis.
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  • Admiral Komack

    1 year ago

    I was surprised to hear of Tim Russert's death.


    My condolences to his family.
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  • heartsandflowers

    1 year ago

    Yes Russert was one of the few journalists left and yes the integrity of journalism - such that it was - has been tainted by the negative influence of big business and corporate interests. It is still shocking that he passed so suddenly. At least he took time out to spend with his family so they can have that to comfort them in their time of grief.
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  • Kitty

    1 year ago

    Aside from KO and BBC World, I don't watch TV news so I have no opinion on Russert's influence one way or the other. Having said that, I feel great sympathy for his colleagues and especially his family.


    From what I've been hearing Russert's wife and son were still in Italy when he passed, so I can only imagine their added anguish of not being with him in those final moments. And for his father, nothing is more tragic than to have to bury your child. May God bless and keep them during this time.
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  • N. Mahana

    1 year ago

    OMG! I'm speechless
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  • roger

    1 year ago

    bigcrassbelle, could you please get off your high horse for five seconds? Thanks.
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  • marc

    1 year ago

    i have to come to belle's defense: i've read her many times here and i always had the impression that she has, above all, a big heart.


    i am sad tim's gone, and much too early. i liked his program when i watched it, but i watched it only few times and i don't know if belle's observations are true.



    what i think is that they are sincere, and when everybody claims him to have been a professional above all, and belle has the very opposite impression, then she has the right to reply.



    we should not tell her to shut up, but argue gainst her view those who can.
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  • augustus grey

    1 year ago

    i always enjoiied watching Mr. Russert on Sunday mornings while i dressed for service. he (much like Bob Schieffer) was very classy in his style of interviewing. you could expect tough, but fair questions from Mr. Russert regardless of your party affiliations. his integrity and sense of fairness will be missed.
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  • Bigsmitty72

    1 year ago

    First off, Russert was hardly a tool of the right wing. He was a Kennedy Democrat who worked for two
    of the most liberal politicians of the past half century (Pat Moynihan and Mario Cuomo) before he joined NBC news in the early 80's. One of his best friends is James Carville, hardly a right-winger. He comes from a generation that felt that politics didn't have to be personal which enabled him to be friendly with folks on the other side of aisle.



    I've been an avid watcher of MTP for over a decade and can say that he was every bit as tough on democrats as he was on Republicans. I think some of the folks on this thread are having trouble making the distinction between a commentator/pundit and a journalist. I love Olbermann and Matthews (yes, I said that I like Hardball) but they're pundits. Nothing wrong with it. Russert was a journalist. It wasn't his job to project his opinion onto a story. It was his job to ask the tough questions and give his subject the opportunity to answer. Let the public be judge of whether they're telling the truth.



    If you want to call him to task for not being harder on Bush-Cheney on the leadup to the Iraq War that's your right. But the fact that he was duped by them was more of a reflection on the administration deception than on Russert.
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  • Leah El-Amin

    1 year ago

    Wow..I think some of you have Mr. Russert confused with Pat Buchanan. Mr. Russert was the ONLY objective voice on TV. I think you all must have only watched sound bites or something. He is to be admired and he will be missed. It is a loss for the nation. He was special and I enjoyed watching him every Sunday morning. I have read his books and there is NO WAY anyone can say he was a "tool or the right". Please have your facts straight before you slander the dead.
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  • Diana

    1 year ago

    I'm sorry about Russert, but when Brokaw broke in to the regular programing with "some very sad news" I assumed it was Barack. That horrible feeling of one's blood running cold. I was sobbing before I realized it wasn't him.
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  • blksista

    1 year ago

    He was duped...


    First off, Russert was hardly a tool of the right wing. He was a Kennedy Democrat who worked for two

    of the most liberal politicians of the past half century (Pat Moynihan and Mario Cuomo) before he joined NBC news in the early 80's.



    Pat Moynihan of the vaunted Moynihan Report, which stated that blacks should be given 'benign neglect' and who was one of Nixon's Democratic friends?



    One of his best friends is James Carville, hardly a right-winger.



    Er...um, have you listened to Carville lately? He's a DLC Dem, which doesn't ingratiate me to him. And a clown.



    I think sore having trouble making the dme of the folks on this thread aistinction between a commentator/pundit and a journalist.



    His wife was a journalist. Russert was trained as a lawyer and later working with Moynihan and Cuomo, in PR advocacy. The questioning you admire comes from his training in law, not from journalism.



    I love Olbermann and Matthews (yes, I said that I like Hardball) but they're pundits. Nothing wrong with it. Russert was a journalist...



    Russert was a pundit, too.



    ...But the fact that he was duped by them was more of a reflection on the administration deception than on Russert.



    He didn't do his fucking job, neither...some investigative reporting skills. The job of a reporter is not to become a celebrity, but to report even the bad news objectively. Russert never asked the right questions.
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  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    What were the right questions in your opinion? And give us an example where he was a tool of the right-wing? The Iraq War argument is weak in my opinion. They replayed his interviews with Cheney and Bush and they hardly seemed like right-wing twinkie fests.


    If you want to call him naive or kill him for not being more skeptical, fine. It's easy to say that now forgetting the fact that we were attacked and that might have been a factor in him giving the administration the benefit of the doubt.
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  • marc

    1 year ago

    methinks this is the right issue: how much were many in the media duped, how much were they tools of the regime, and in how far does one have to take into consideration the overall situation.


    american media, even flagships like nyt and the post, lost a lot of credibility in the world in 2002/03. maybe that was not correct, maybe the context was not taken into consideration... or maybe all too many american journalists were all too little objective and, as someone put it, didn't do their fucking job.



    this issue trascends the figure of russert, who may rest in peace. it is an issue very much worth talking about at length.



    i suggest a special entry for this subject: the so-called war on terror is still very much on.
    reply
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