Half of FR thinks Tim Russert was a commie. Half of DU thinks he was a neocon.

[Magrittes Pipe]

That pretty much demonstrates to me that he was a damn fine journalist, unafraid to ruffle any feathers.

Vaya con dios, Mr. Russert. I always liked you. :hi:

[stray cat]

1. Also a father, a son, a husband and a colleague. I think a good man

[tekisui]

2. Yep. He pissed off everyone at one time or another.

I always enjoyed him, and thought he was a fine man. I saw him inteviewed on Charlie Rose, and I liked him as a person.

[bluestateguy]

3. A lot of DUers would be satisfied with a media full of liberal versions of Sean Hannity and Rush

It's almost like they are offended by the idea that a liberal guest should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny as a conservative guest.

[kath]

22. That's the point - the level of scrutiny was very different, not anything near the "same level"

Conservatives got away with all kinds of "mistruths" without ANY scrutiny from him.

[apocalypsehow]

26. That's complete and utter nonsense. n/t.

:thumbsdown:

[hfojvt]

37. sure it is

NOT

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh020904.shtml


Kind of an ironic headline though.

[tom_paine]

43. No, it isn't. Time after time after time, Bushies were allowed to lie without followup questions.

It was only with Democrats that Tim played journalist.

Years ago, maybe it was less true. But since the Phony Clinton Impeachment it has been ridiculous, ludicrous and obvious.

Methinks Jack Welch had a "Mr. Jensen talks to Howard Beale" conversation with Tim.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AI8mC8XucY

In either case, it's not nonsense by any stretch of the imagination. Look up the transcripts for Tim's deferential "never ask a followup" with Cheney. Then review the transcripts of his 2004 interviews with Kerry.

[kath]

55. uh, no, it's not.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:6ow6j_Y8azkJ:www.bartcop.com/1022.htm+%22greg+palast%22+%22best+democracy+money%22+russert&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

http://sideshow.me.uk/smar03.htm (see "13:23 GMT" about halfway down the page)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/why-does-tim-russert-fear_b_20656.html

[apocalypsehow]

58. The reactions to this accurate post of mine have been priceless - and proof that I was spot-on. n/t.

Pardon me if I can't help but give myself a big 'ole :thumbsup:

[kath]

61. "accurate"?

yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that. Many documented exchanges from his show on the intertubes where he utterly failed to question neo-con lies and bullshit. But you're "accurate". mmm-kay.
:eyes: :eyes:

[lib2DaBone]

74. You must admit...

He threw lots of big easy softball questions at Republicans, but if you had a D by your name, he would hammer you. I'm not saying anything bad about the man, just noting that his bias was for Republicans. (like the time he flashed his lapel pin and it was a BUSH-04 button.) I don't understand why he was like that, considering his Catholic/Democrat background?

[Hippo_Tron]

52. The media's job is to scrutinize the people in power

And for the past 8 years that has been the Republicans. Until 2007 there was nothing to scrutinize with the Democrats because they had no policy-making power.

[kath]

56. Egg-zackly! And the Corporate Propaganda Ministry (aka the MSM) has utterly refused to do so.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Russert actually started as a Democrat. Met his wife at the 1976 Convention. He worked as staff to

a couple of Democrats. Doubt he was a neocon.

[Royal Oak Rog]

27. Hey I'm sorry he died and all

but come on, he was certainly complicit in allowing the Bush administration in committing an illegal war in Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands. He also was a major cog at NBC news. Would I feel bad if a General Electric executive died at 58 years old? well sure I would. But lets face it that's what he was a General Electric executive, IMHO!

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. He also allowed himself to be played in the lead up to the war

It was repulsive. Moyers did a terrific piece on how Cheney played Russert. He certainly didn't act like a Democrat on that show.

But even so, his family has my deepest sympathy.

[PeaceNikki]

5. Word.

:hi:

[Occam Bandage]

6. Completely agreed. Russert was one of the good journalists.

[Lex]

7. Freepers also think McCain is too liberal as well ya know.

nt

[AlCzervik]

8. people here have lost their damn minds today, i wasn't a huge Russert fan but

christ the grave dancing is just sickening.

[realisticphish]

i agree

hell, even if bush were to die, i wouldn't cheer, even though i hate him. I never cheer at a death, even if deserved.

[kath]

62. NO ONE here has been cheering, or "grave dancing". Just pointing out that the man was no saint.

Too bad so many are too stoopid to know the difference...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. That's politics for you......

....unless you come on the air, declare who you support, and then make it a point to only parrot one view, someone on either side of the aisle will accuse you of being biased for the other guy.

[jgraz]

10. Or, it demonstrates that Freepers are idiots

As if we needed more proof...

[rainman99]

11. I just ran into a Dubya-voter in the neighborhood.

I asked if she'd heard about Tim Russert and she said 'Who?'. I said 'the guy on Meet the Press'. She didn't know what that was either. Those are the people who voted for Bush.
Her daughter said that 'everyone LOVES Bush' and 'it's too bad he can't run again' a week ago.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. Wow.

Talk about disconnect.

[rainman99]

17. Well, it's Texas, so surprise surprise.

[CountAllVotes]

38. sad isn't it?

I just spoke to someone today who thought Hillary Clinton was in the race. She did not know who Obama is and she didn't know about McCain either.

I asked her if she was going to vote and she said no and that she did not want to know what is going on in the world. Ignorance is bliss it seems.

:(

[LWolf]

12. I don't think he was a neocon.

I regret his passing, even though I don't think he was a "damned fine journalist."

A "damned fine journalist" can find something more substantive to ask a presidential candidate in a debate than whether or not he's seen a UFO.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

13. Can someone explain to me...

Why the frothing right has so fetishized those who they even mildly disagree with as "commies" and "Marxists"?

And you are quite correct in your assessment: "Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted" is the highest calling of the journalist and that tends to piss off sycophants. Lord knows the right is the largest collection of sycophants ever assembled. As for around here: Mr. Russert has carried the wrong water in the past and sucked up to the wrong orifii. That said, now is not the time for slagging him.

[blondeatlast]

14. Exactly. Thank you. nt

[KaptBunnyPants]

16. This is not true.

The man is dead, so the grief police are out in full patrol to rehabilitate his character. The man was a useful tool for the Bush administration, nothing more, nothing less. But go ahead, enjoy the deification. I can't wait until I die so that I become flawless.

[Occam Bandage]

20. I have a feeling you're not the only one who's getting impatient.

[TwilightGardener]

24. LOL!

[KaptBunnyPants]

30. Don't worry. I'll celebrate your death too.

Have your family send me an invitation to your funeral. I won't promise to wait for them to lower you in before I piss on your grave.

[Occam Bandage]

33. Ouch, someone feels burned.

[KaptBunnyPants]

41. I did leave myself wide open.

But quite frankly, I don't care that much about the opinions of people who detest me. If you feel that way about me, do both of us a favor and put me on ignore. If you really are the kind of person who thought of Russet as a "good journalist", then I doubt I'd be missing much.

[Blue-Jay]

63. HA! Classy!

[spoony]

80. Well duh, why would you change your MO

[PeaceNikki]

29. You didn't read the text of the OP at all did you?

[KaptBunnyPants]

34. You mean the OP's point that some idiots on DU think he's a left winger and some think he's not

actually means he's "fair and balanced"? Truth is not democratic, you're thinking of truthiness. The truth is what it is, and it's the same truth it was before Tim died. I'm sorry if that upsets some of you.

[PeaceNikki]

39. No the "I think" and "to me". He stated his opinion. Like assholes, we all have them.

And we think everybody else's stinks.

[kath]

31. yeah, me too -- I'm really grooving on this concept that once you die you become absofuckinlutely

wonderful!! WHEEEEE!!! You can do anything you want, but once you die you're POIFECT!!

Saint Ronnie, Saint Timmy. Waiting on St. Dick, St. Chimpyshit...

[Mabus]

44. KaptBunnyPants, I don't recall seeing you post before but

I think I like you and your honesty.

I just got off the phone with a friend in California. Her head was about ready to explode. She asked me if all this fawning was over the same Tim Russert she remembered. I told her it was and that I couldn't take it anymore either and I turned the channel to watch old reruns of "Cops".

If I could K&R a reply to an OP, yours, my dear KaptBunnyPants, would be it.

[classof56]

45. Well, this won't break your heart I'm sure but my ignore list has just grown by one.

In death we should be honored for what we have been in life, but human compassion gives us permission to look for the good in others, in life and in death.

May you live long and prosper.

[hfojvt]

49. Look for the good, but don't pretend it outweighs the bad

when somebody has been very well paid to shovel sh*t (corporate/Republican spin) at the public and tries to pretend it's really chocolate pudding (unbiased investigative journalistic truth) it's only fair to point out that he has not exactly covered himself in glory.

He may not have been as evil as Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, but he was certainly not 'one of the good guys'. I am not saying we should have a big bash Russert fest, but going overboard on praise is not warranted either.

[Raineyb]

82. Look for good is one thing

Making up shit out of whole cloth is quite another.

#16 is absolutely correct.

Regards

[TwilightGardener]

18. Some people, you just come to depend on, even if you don't always agree with them--

he was one of those.

[mmonk]

19. He was good at not letting his politics be known.

[kath]

57. What????

not sure what universe you've been living in for the last 10 years. Clinton's cock? Gore's zillions of "lies"? Promoting the war?

[WinkyDink]

21. I lost my liking of his commentary, but it's still a shock. Maybe mostly because he was my age.

[apocalypsehow]

23. Agree 100%.

Sympathy to his family, and may Mr. Russert R.I.P.

[mzmolly]

25. Absolutely. I just told my husband "he was one of the rare journalists in television who was even

handed."

RIP Mr. Russert. I hope that Meet The Press will find half as good a person for the job.

[kath]

35. So why was he named "MediaWhore of the Year"? Were all the people who voted for him for that

"honor", people who were being *very* attentive to the political landscape and the press, totally delusional??


There are many examples of the whorishness and *lack* of even-handedness of RTussert and others out there, but they can wait a few days...

[mzmolly]

48. Well, with such a prestigious award the voting must be tighly controlled?

:eyes:

I'm guessing that this title, it's because he had a weekly, hard hitting political show in which he pissed off conservatives and liberals?

[kath]

59. true, not tightly controlled. But he was well-known as a neo-con tool by those who were paying

attention.

see links in post # 55, above.

Maybe you didn't know MWO.com, but they did a DAMNED good job of pointing out all the bullshit going on in our so called "press". They are much missed by many of us here.

[mzmolly]

65. I have an opinion of my own on this matter.

I had days where I despised him, and days where I applauded him.

[kath]

67. do you have links to stuff from days when you applauded him? I'd honestly be happy to read them

with an open mind. No one's 100% bad. I strongly suspect though, that, on balance, overall he definitely tilted toward the side of his corporate masters.

[mzmolly]

75. A man has just died. I don't feel inclined to want to justify my feelings on this.

Watch MSNBC if you like - there is a special about Tim Russert now.

Peace

[jane_pippin]

28. Yep. He made me nuts sometimes, but that's how it goes.

I liked his little election white board and how he said "Our Issues This Sunday," and I'll miss both of those things. And agree or disagree with his analysis, he always seemed like he was having the time of his life on election night, and that was fun to watch.

[hfojvt]

32. Does it really?

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh092807.shtml

Headline: "Russert bungled Social Security, as he has done through the years:"

"Special report: Russert happens!

PART 2—IT TAKES A VILLAGE BURGHER: Tim Russert didn’t ask about climate change at Wednesday night’s Democratic debate. We had no time for a topic like that. But we did have time for these ruminations. To Russert, these things really mattered:

1) Russert found time to ask John Edwards (for the ten millionth time) about his troubling haircuts.

2) He found time to present the latest 24-style hypothetical—and to play “gotcha” with Hillary Clinton, employing an old Sean Hannity trick. (You get your guest to disagree with a quote. Then, you try to embarrass your guest when you reveal who said it!)

3) He found time to bore the world with a question (to Dennis Kucinich) about a municipal problem in Cleveland—a problem which occurred in Cleveland in 1978.

4) He found time to collect a Bible passage from each of the hopefuls—after leading with the latest RNC-scripted suggestion about the troubling lack of faith among these bad vile Democrats. (“Before we go, there’s been a lot of discussion about the Democrats and the issue of faith and values. I want to ask you a simple question...”)

“There’s been a lot of discussion about the Democrats and the issue of faith and values!” And yes, that’s true, there has been such discussion—among the nation’s pseudo-conservative hacks. But then, Russert has increasingly become a parody of a corporate-selected, multimillionaire mogul. And this is before we consider the bungled discussion he led Wednesday night about Social Security, his favorite topic—the topic on which he has misled the public, and roiled our politics. over the past many years."

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh100704.shtml

Headline: "TIMOTHY’S CHOICE! Russert knew that Cheney had lied. And Russert knew not to tell you:"

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh070207.shtml

Headline: "IT’S TIME FOR TIM TO GO! Russert misstated elementary facts. It’s high time the public was told:"


I doubt if Somerby would want me to use his incomparable archives to trash Russert on the day he died, but let's not bury a record of the truth either. There's a lot more at the Daily Howler and very little of it is positive.

My condolences to his family and friends though.

[screembloodymurder]

36. Sorry to disagree,

I thought he pitched fastballs, curves and sliders to Dems while lobbing softballs to the Bush administration. Journalist is not a word I'd use to describe Russert.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. I agree

He wasn't without bias. Not at all.

[Gabi Hayes]

51. put this on his tombsone, from Cathie Martin, during the Libby trial:

As Martin rated their options, putting Cheney on "Meet the Press," NBC's Sunday morning talk show, "is our best format." Cheney was their best person for the show and "we control the message a little bit more," according to Martin.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/27/national/w093216S19.DTL&hw=

Martin replaced Mary Matalin in Cheney's office, fwiw

something like this for his headstone....

''Meet the Press is our best friend. We control the message a little bit more''....Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States*

*OK, I know he didn't say it, but it sounds better...truthiness is what we're talking about here, with M$M, right?

That's ALL I ever need to know about the man as a journalist

RIP, unlike....well, never mind

one last, from the same story, versions of which are all over the place, having to do with getting Tenet to take the blame for the original yellowcake story, in which they mapped out strategy for dealing with the media:

Top levels of the Bush administration decided that CIA Director George Tenet would issue a statement taking the blame for allowing Bush to mention the Niger story. Cheney and Libby worried Tenet would not go far enough to distance the vice president from the affair.


Libby asked Martin to map a media strategy in case Tenet fell short.


A Harvard law school graduate, Martin had succeeded legendary Republican operative Mary Matalin as Cheney's political and public affairs assistant. Matalin had brought Martin to Cheney's office as her deputy and trained her.


Martin offered these options in order:


Put Cheney on "Meet the Press."


Leak an exclusive version to a selected reporter or the weekly news magazines.


Have national security adviser Condoleezza Rice or Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hold a news conference.


_Persuade a third party or columnist to write an opinion piece that would appear in newspapers on the page opposite the editorials.

note the TOP option for catapulting the propaganda was MTP. what else do you need to know?

and for those who seem squeamish about apparent gravedancing

the TRUTH is always appropriate. the only opinion I've expressed here is contained in the previous sentence and that one doesn't need to know any more about Russert as a journalist than the info I posted.

[hfojvt]

46. Sit UBU, sit!

Good dog.

Russert was sometimes known as a bulldog, but he rarely showed that ferocity towards Republicans. As I wrote before:

"Bulldogs and rottweilers can be ferocious animals, but they can
also be quite friendly - with their owners!
The bulldog will show his ferocity if he gets a shot at Kerry or
Edwards, but he knows better than to attack his owners."


A smart dog does not bite the hand that feeds him.

[tblue37]

69. I am going to get slammed by the death police for this, but I agree with you.

I can't forget the story of how Jack Welch, the former CEO of NBC used to brag about using money to turn TR and other previously liberal journalists into avid supporters of Republican administrations:

He (Welch) perceived that there was a widely believed American myth of well-intended journalists selflessly seeking the truth, and that there would be hell to pay if a business leader like him were to overtly force reporters to be good corporate soldiers. So, being a very bright guy, he largely left the journalists at NBC alone. Publicly.

In private, Welch was proud to have personally cultivated Tim Russert from a “lefty” to a responsible representative of GE interests. Welch sincerely believed that all liberals were phonies. He took great pleasure in “buying their leftist souls”, watching in satisfaction as former Democrats like Russert and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews eagerly discarded the baggage of their former progressive beliefs in exchange for cold hard GE cash. Russert was now an especially obedient and model employee in whom the company could take pride.

<SNIP>

. . . NBC correspondent Claire Shipman . . . made the mistake of offering a positive opinion of Al Gore on the air. Jack Welch, chairman and chief executive officer of a $350 billion conglomerate, responsible for overseeing the highly diversified activities of hundreds of thousands of employees working in over one hundred countries, was so incensed by her disobedience that he took time out of his busy schedule to personally confront her about it. She no longer works for NBC. And her managing editor, Tom Brokaw, did not stand up for her right to journalistic independence from the corporate lord.

“I think Jack Welch’s the smartest boss I’ve ever had and he signs my paychecks,” said Brokaw, exhibiting a profound understanding of the situation.
<SNIP>
by David Podvin and Carolyn Kay
http://makethemaccountable.com/coverup/Part_04.htm

I also can't forget the story about how TR gleefully and surreptitiously turned over his lapel to show the "Bush for President" lapel pin hidden underneath it.

This is from a LTTE onf the blog Open Letter to Tim Russert:

Oldie but goodie from MWO (Media Whores Online)via Roger Ailes:

"Reliable sources have informed MWO that Jack Welch and Tim Russert attended last autumn's Al Smith Dinner in New York together - and that Russert, on the back of his lapel, was cleverly wearing a Bush for President button.

Russert has reportedly tried to shrug off the incident in private, but has failed to discuss it publicly.
http://openlettertotimrussert.blogspot.com/2006/01/russerts-no-match-for-arianna.html

This interpretation of that pin is offered by David Podvin in the article I link below:

There have been reports from those who were present that journalist Tim Russert was wearing a Bush For President lapel pin when he attended the traditional Al Smith Dinner in New York shortly before the election. This should be interpreted as less of an endorsement than a brownnosing. Russert was accompanied by Welch, who was a strong supporter of Bush and completely intolerant of dissent on the matter.

This is the David Podvin article:

CHOCOLATES AND NYLONS, SIR?
By David Podvin

In 1992, shortly after being named moderator of Meet The Press, Tim Russert was having lunch with a broadcast executive. The mealtime conversation was about the pros and cons of working for General Electric’s NBC subsidiary. Russert expounded on how being employed by GE had brought him to the realization that things functioned better when Republicans were in charge.

“You know, Tim, you used to be such a rabid Democrat when you worked for Pat Moynihan,” said the executive. “But now that you’ve gotten a glimpse of who’s handing out the money in this business, you’ve become quite the Jaycee. Were you wrong about everything you used to believe so strongly? . . . are you concerned about losing yourself? You know, selling out?”

Russert pounded the table. “Integrity is for paupers!”

<SNIP>


Throughout 2000, with less pretense of objectivity than ever, Russert dutifully echoed the Republican theme that the Democratic nominee was “dishonest”. Week after week, the topic on Meet The Press was the “repeated lying” of Al Gore. One lowlight of Russert’s descent into shameless propagandist occurred when it was revealed that George W. Bush had been convicted of drunk driving in Maine, thereby proving that the Republican candidate had been deceitful when he was questioned about whether he had ever been arrested. Russert’s immediate response on national television was, “The question on everybody’s mind is, ‘Did the Gore campaign have something to do with the release of this information?’”That was not the question on everybody’s mind; a poll taken immediately after the revelation showed that most Americans did not believe that Gore was involved. It was, however, the question being faxed nationally by the Republicans in a memo circulated to their operatives who were responsible for diverting attention from the fact that their candidate was guilty of, for want of a better term, “repeated lying”.

<SNIP>

much more at link:
http://makethemaccountable.com/podvin/media/020109_Russert.htm

<emphasis added throughout>

I'm sorry, but I cannot sit by while this man is subject to sanctification just because he died. That is exactly what happened to Ronald Reagan. If we keep going along with this sort of revisionism, then we can hardly complain when these “sainted” men are used against us, the way Reagan has been.

I will not dance on Tim Russert’s grave. I am sorry he is dead, and at such a young age. I will be 58 myself in August, and I can certainly feel pity that a man who had so much to live for and so many who loved him has died too young.

But I will not pretend that he wasn’t a sell-out or that his media whoring didn’t do irreparable harm not just to “our side” but to the nation and to those (both Americans and Iraqis) who have lost life and limb because this criminal administration has been protected and covered for by the MSM.

So to those who say we can’t be allowed to mention what Russert actually did, go ahead and put me on ignore. If we keep going along with--and even actively promoting and participating in--this sort of revisionism, then we can hardly complain when these “sainted” men are used against us, the way Reagan has been.

[kath]

72. awesome post, tblue.

this "when you die you become a saint and how DARE anyone say anything critical about you" stuff is total fokkin' BOO-SHIT.

makes people seem like stoopid child-like morans when they lose all perspective just because someone died.
and the childlike celebrity worship... ACK.


"amusing ourselves to death" by Neil Postman comes to mind... and the ntitle of the new book "Just How Stupid Are We?"

[greyghost]

47. Since 2000 I looked at him as nothing more then a neo-con tool. I wrote

NBC more then once asking for his removal from MTP.

Now if his Buffalo buddy, and fellow con, Wolf Blitzer would go the way of E.D. Hill...

[Endangered Specie]

50. Sorta like how a judge knows hes right when both lawyers are pissed.

[leftofthedial]

53. FR is the psycho home of psychotics with a world view that is utterly divorced from reality.

They think everyone at any network other than Faux is a commie.

Russert was an EXTREMELY successful corporate media whore. Once upon a time he worked for a couple of conservative Democrats. Then he became a well-paid mouthpiece for the MIC and the neocons. He was an ally of George the First, a fierce opponent of Bill Clinton and a reliable supporter of George the Lesser. His relentless cheerleading for the Gulf War, for the invasion of Iraq and for the current administration's attacks on civil liberties helped to get this country into the sorry shape it is in now. His show has been no more "fair" or "balanced" than Faux News for nearly two decades. He was never a journalist.

I'm sorry for his family's loss, but let's not paint a cowpie red and call it an apple.

[Hippo_Tron]

54. Even-handed doesn't mean just presenting both sides it means scrutinizing people when they are wrong

We're so caught up in this notion that journalists are just supposed to remain neutral and let both sides pitch their argument. But Ed Murrow and Walter Cronkite were damn fine journalists because they took sides on McCarthy and Vietnam respectively. That doesn't mean they shouldn't allow people who disagree with them to be heard. But they should not just let bullshit go unchallenged in the interest of remaining "neutral".

To put it another way: as Stephen Colbert said "reality has an inherent liberal bias".

[terrya]

60. This a good, honest tribute of a pretty decent journalist.

I liked him, too.

:thumbsup:

[sammythecat]

64. I used to like him.

But gradually, over the last 10 years, I've come to think of him as a self-serving whore. He became an enabler of this murderous "war". I couldn't watch him anymore. He certainly had the talent and skills to be the very best if he hadn't lost his honesty. He knew better, hell, he had more access to the truth than all of us combined. He could have spear-headed a resistance to what this administration has done, but he didn't. In fact, he enabled these pricks to do whatever the hell they wanted to do.

He had a bully pulpit. He could have spoken out just like Walter Cronkite did, but he didn't.

I should say I'm sorry he died, but I am thrilled that he is gone. Thrilled. I hope his replacement has the kind of responsible integrity that Tim Russert abandoned some time ago. I lost the respect I once had for Tim Russert. All of it. And I'm not going to miss him.

[depakid]

66. Pretty shallow analysis

Seems to me that Russert's objective record speaks for itself at the numerous media watchdog sites whose job it is to record and report on such things....

[rucky]

68. Yep. He must've been doing something right.

and I wonder how many heart attacks he's inflicted to the hundreds of bullshitters Timmy's called-out on his show.

[Raineyb]

83. Please name at least one

Because when it came to this administration I can't seem to find any evidence of bullshit being called out on MTP. Perhaps you've had better luck.

Regards

[OzarkDem]

70. I prefer evidence - based politics

Suggest you ask US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the Grand Jury investigating the Plame incident about Russert's role in revealing her identity to the news media to quash the damage resulting from the Niger "yellow cake" lie.

The Bush administration used that as pretext to force Congress into giving him the power to invade Iraq.

You may also wish to ask the families of the CIA operatives who allegedly lost their lives as a result of Plame's outing what they think of Russert's political leanings.

Myself, I prefer to feel sympathy for his family and friends and offer the best I can - forgiveness for the things he did.

[Taverner]

71. Then he must have been a Journalist

True journalists and satirists piss EVERYONE off

[wtmusic]

73. If we assume the country hasn't moved drastically right in the last 40 years

you may have a point. It has. Russert's support for this wicked administration would have made Eisenhower cringe.

[bicentennial_baby]

76. Sundays won't be the same...

Sigh.

Good post.

[Canuckistanian]

77. And we always give FR "equal weight status" here

WTF are you thinking?

Just because FR hates him means NOTHING to me.

SOMETIMES we have a common enemy for different REASONS.

[ShadowLiberal]

78. I've never really understood why a lot of DUers didn't like him, though I didn't think he was biased

[bevoette]

79. i haven't been a member here too long...but i swear it's seems like DU fights over EVERYTHING

the floods, another earthquake, wildfires in California, Afghanistan prison break, R. Kelly's verdict...i managed to find 'other' news today :shrug:

Russert's death was a shock and it made me pretty sad. i watched a couple hours live coverage, teared up a few times...and then i turned if off when we sat down to dinner

i'm not too bothered by the coverage, and i expect it to last through the weekend. i'll manage until things get back to normal, at least on tv.

[underseasurveyor]

81. sounds like balance

i'd say that's a fair indicator of russert's work. we're pretty left around here and they're extremely, fanatically, over the edge on the right.

job well done Tim. RIP

[NNN0LHI]

84. Riiiiiiiing! Cluephone for whoisalhedges

Half of Freerpublic considers Bush a commie pinko liberal.

Does that make Littleboots OK with you too?

Don

[nam78_two]

85. I disagree that DU and FR are mirror images of each other

This country is relatively right shifted and has been for a while.