In no way am I giddy about Tim Russert dying---

[trumad]

but in no way will I jump on the Tim Russert was a great journalist bandwagon. ----- and believe me, for the next 2 weeks, you'll be hearing that the dude was the greatest journalist since Edward R. Murrow.

Russert (RIP) and his gang of DC villagers are simply one of the most dangerous threats to our society today.

[tom_paine]

1. You mirror my own thoughts, trumad. n/t

[indepat]

6. Likewise

[ananda]

2. I think it's a big stretch to call Russert a journalist.

He was a person, though.

RIP

[wtmusic]

3. His vacation in Italy must have been a whirlwind

He was just in town last Sunday to interview McClellan. That's a whole lotta travelin' in not a whole lotta time.

[Disturbed]

10. I agree. RIP Tim & sympathy to his family & friends.

Nuff said.... for now.

[NightWatcher]

4. how about a little respect for the kids that lost a dad just now

dont worship his work, but dont pile on with the criticism. (not saying you did but some have)

[trumad]

11. I agree

and I want to be careful about that.... But I hate revised history and we'll get plenty of it the next couple of weeks.

[tblue37]

56. I am very sorry for them, but I doubt they are reading DU. n/t

[Endangered Specie]

5. More of a journalist than any of his detractors here.

[trumad]

14. You really haven't been paying attention have you?

[Endangered Specie]

25. You have psychic powers now?

he wasn't the best but he sure was alot better than alot of the crowd we have today (or do you not watch any FOX or CNN)?

[trumad]

39. Not even close....

He was a bigger mouthpiece than the crowd today which makes him far worse than any of them.

[kath]

65. yes - since he was on a network show he reached far more people, and therefore did more damage than

the cable MediaWhores.
I loved this post from another thread:

Is a journalist-poseur worse than an upfront right wing mouthpiece?
"Today's essay question, class"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3445868
(post #19 - kudos to TheBorealAvenger)

[krkaufman]

69. Yes, because he was *perceived* as an unbiased source ...

... he held much greater responsibility -- which is why his echo chamber called "Meet the Press" was targeted by Cheney as a key mechanism in their propaganda campaign for selling the Iraq war.

[trumad]

73. exactly....

[krkaufman]

74. WPost on 'Meet the Press' as Cheney's "preferred format"

WPost: Milbank on Cheney spin machine
Friday, January 26, 2007

Memo to Tim Russert: Dick Cheney thinks he controls you.

This delicious morsel about the "Meet the Press" host and the vice president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took the stand in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
...
"I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used," Martin testified. "It's our best format."
...
She put "Meet the Press" at the top of her list of "Options" but noted that it might appear "too defensive."

So the PR flacks working on behalf of the most vile Vice President to hold the office considered 'Meet the Press' to be their "best format" and also considered limiting their appearances to Russert's 'Meet the Press' as "too defensive." Being the favored lapdop of Darth Cheney is not emblematic of a news and interview program associated with journalistic integrity.

[Mabus]

7. Yep

I wasn't sad when Reagan died and I'm not sad that Russert's dead. And all the tributes to him and his professionalism is making me want to gag.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

15. THE FOURTH ESTATE HAS BECOME THE FIFTH COLUMN

BEWARE

[roguevalley]

44. before you get all red army flying flags against the man here, a

family is bereft. There is nothing like it in life than being bereft. My mom and dad passed ten months apart less than a year ago and I can hardly tell you what that feels like. A man left home for work and never came back. his family never got to say goodbye and I love you. Respect the moment. Your critiques are for later. truly, do this right. it won't cost you a thing.

[Mabus]

46. I understand that

but it doesn't change anything. There are people who leave home every day and do not return. Their families mourn too. It's called life.

My grandmother was hit by a car in August of 1994. I lost my grandmother who was 100 years old in June, 1995. In September 1995 I lost my favorite uncle. In May 1996 we were told my mother was dying of cancer. She died in August of 1996. I lost three very important people, all of whom I loved very much, in a little over 14 months. Plus, I got to watch both my grandmother and my mother die over a period of time. Both of my husband's parents died within three months of each other. I know what it is like to lose someone that you dearly love. What it is like to want to talk to them and know that it will never happen. It hurts. It hurts beyond description. But it happens every day.

I don't miss Russert now and I won't miss him tomorrow. I can empathize with what his family is going through but that doesn't change the way I feel about him. fwiw, I didn't withhold my criticism of Reagan when he died and I don't see why I can't express my opinions of Russert now. Believe me, I'm holding back. There's a lot I would like to say.

[krkaufman]

Except that I expect people like this poster are not reacting to his death ...

... or his family's loss, but to the non-stop deification that has begun on MSNBC (and other outlets, I expect).

No one is calling for a protest in front of the Russert home or Rockefeller Center, so there is little harm in allowing venting from those who feel they've been horribly wronged by a media led by Russert. As I've said elsewhere, I'd have less of an issue with the MSNBC mourning and deification of Russert if any news network had demonstrated an iota of similar remorse for the thousands of casualties for which they are partly responsible. The closest any have come, and it has been YEARS, was Ted Koppel's reading of the names of casualties on his Nightline program... before it was taken away from him.

[anniebelle]

Yes, it's sad how we glorify these corporate propagandists.

They like to use the word "journalist" for any news reader that appears on the t.v. screen. Thank you for a realistic perspective to this 'news'.

[anniebelle]

8. Yes, it's sad how we glorify these corporate propagandists.

They like to use the word "journalist" for any news reader that appears on the t.v. screen. Thank you for a realistic perspective to this 'news'.

[leftofthedial]

9. surely, even russert didn't think of himself as a "journalist"

he was a corporate media tool.


sheesh.



:thumbsup:

[Echo In Light]

12. This reminds me of the hatred spewed at Greg Palast over his oped after Reagan's death

Killer, Con-Man, Coward
Good Riddance Gipper
by Greg Palast

"You're not going to like this. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. But in this case, someone's got to. Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer."

http://www.gregpalast.com/killer-coward-con-man-rngood-riddance-gipper/

[JuniperLea]

26. Oh, I'm quite sure there are DUers spewing tears all over the place today...

Who on another day have skewered Russert (RIP) unmercifully.

I feel for his family and coworkers... but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact he was a RW tool.

[Echo In Light]

34. Precisely. I've not seen read anyone gloating over his or anyone's death...

But in my estimation, there's no need to fall over one's self because the guy passed into The Beyond.

[JuniperLea]

37. Yet Cheney lives...

I've often wondered what DU would look like when Cheney's ticker finally gives out.

[tom_paine]

76. V-E Day. And we would be right to do so. Tyrants' deaths should ALWAYS be celebrated.

n/t

[phantom power]

13. Amen.

Anybody else remember the Tim Russert who enthusiastically jumped on the media bandwagon to knee-cap Bill Clinton's presidency?

[trumad]

17. He was the worst of the worse ...

The White House organ.

[BlooInBloo]

16. It's just typical DU-ism. You're either the MOST AGGRIEVED PERSON **EVAH***...

or else you're an inhuman heartless monster.

It's often a contest to be the most lefty or the most emotional or the most outraged person, just for the sake of putting down all others.

You get over it.

[Echo In Light]

19. LOL yep ...oh, the drama!

[trumad]

20. I've been around long enough to know that....

and again----RIP to the dude. It's just the aftereffect that is gonna bug the shit out of me.

[Echo In Light]

21. ...and the M$M will milk it as long as they can use it to NOT cover other things

[Endangered Specie]

27. No ones forcing you to read any of it

[BlooInBloo]

41. :) And don't think I'm gonna agree with your crazy sports theories....

just because I'm with you on this!

:rofl:

:P

[cbc5g]

There's a difference between showing respect and attacking a guy after he dies

If you had a dad that just died, and he was maybe a Bush supporter in the past, would you want people attacking him because of that when he just died?

[tblue37]

67. If my dad helped promote and cover up the crimes of a criminal administration,

I might well expect some people to firmly resist the impulse toward hagiography and to want to correct those who could not resist that impulse.

[JuniperLea]

31. Well said, Bloo... eom

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. what bothers me is that this gave the news an excuse to cancel the news

go ahead, have a retrospective and all that, but we have real hard news right now.

This is what in the bizz is known as SOFT news, the kind you deal with a NEWS SPECIAL.

And that people are falling for it going, but, but...

I ain't gonna get into the quality or lack of qualify of his reporting, Interviews over the last seven years have become jokes.

Nor will say a thing about his professional abilities,

Just that real journos hate to become the news... or in this case distractions..

That is why I am not gettin' on any bandwagon... because quite honestly he is NOT more important than the tens of thousands of Americans in the midwest who have lost their life's work

[JuniperLea]

22. DU seems to have ground to a halt too...

Annoying.

[Mabus]

30. Well said

I couldn't agree more. Yesterday I talked to a friend who recognized her friend's neighborhood being washed away in Cedar Rapids. Then I come to DU and find that a Gitmo prisoner had his genitilia slashed with a surgeon's knife and that our use of depleted uranium is screwing up the people in Iraq and our soldiers.

There are things that are news and there are things that need to be reported so the American people know to be informed citizens. And once they are informed, who knows, it might help facilitate a change in direction for our country.

Russert's passing is news but it is not the sort of thing that should stop the presses. And what is currently happening is not reporting.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Good luck to your friend

this is not going to be easy for him... and this is real news

[Mabus]

42. Thanks.

She grew up in Iowa and was almost hysterical yesterday. She spent most of her life in Iowa City but has friends from all over Iowa. It was (and still is) killing her.

[BlooInBloo]

36. Yup, meanwhile, we've got the Taliban busting out of prison and running around.

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. But the news has been cancelled

[RayOfHope]

51. Very true. n/t

[KG]

23. damn straight.

right on.

fuckin' A.

word.

journalist? he was a mouthpiece with an agenda - complicit, and a bushco enabler.


wait, what? i'm agreeing with Trumad?

[Triana]

24. Same here. I feel badly for him and his friends and family but he was no

Edward R. Murrow.

There ARE no more Edward R. Murrows. The lamestream media is all just propaganda anymore, not news that the public needs to know.

[Cassandra]

28. I don't want to jump on the "great journalist" bandwagon...

either (consider that he treated all statements, from repukes at least, as off-the-record unless told otherwise) but even I wouldn't have deprived him of the results of this election.

[JuniperLea]

38. Wow...

That's a heavy thought. Life, and it's end, is really strange.

[malaise]

29. Thanks Trumad

I am sorry for his family and friends.

[kdmorris]

32. Me, either, trumad

But I do feel bad for his family. He was young and it's got to be hard for them to lose their {brother, father, husband, son}.

The fact that he had Diabetes and I have Diabetes... it goes toward a lot of empathy making. I take great care of myself, but live everyday with the fear that tomorrow, I might wake up and just have a stroke or a heart attack. Keeping your blood sugar low apparently doesn't stop that from happening.

So...I won't jump on the "Russert was a great journalist" bandwagon, either, as that's not true. But I can have sympathy for his family and hope that they have the support they need.

[OzarkDem]

33. Agree wholeheartedly

I have sympathy for his family and friends, its always a tragedy when someone dies before their time.

But he wasn't a great journalist or heroic. He upheld a professional ethic that did harm to freedom of the press, our country, our Constitution, our electoral system.

Perhaps it would be fair to say its a shame he didn't live long enough to realize the mistakes he made and have the opportunity to atone for them and encourage others to uphold higher standards of professionalism and learn the true meaning of love of one's country.

On edit: Thanks for saying it Trumad. It doesn't seem appropriate to praise his journalistic standards simply because he praised one's candidate of choice.

[bbgrunt]

40. I totally agree.

[Kickin_Donkey]

43. I haven't seen anyone giddy over his death ...

but I see a lot of crocodile tears being shed on DU, DK and HP.

Tim Russert? He was a shill for GE and Jack Welch.

Good riddance.

[H2O Man]

45. His role in the

Scooter Libby case was honorable.

He was not among the journalists I watched very often.

But he did other things in life, including working for Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo. Though neither were without fault, these were two good democrats. A person could do worse than working for them.

He also attended Woodstock, and I think he hung out near here in Cooperstown quite a bit.

[paulk]

48. his brand of "gotcha" journalism

went a long way toward reducing the political discourse in this country to it's current pathetic state.

His death is a great human tragedy, but as a journalist he left a lot to be desired.

[wtmusic]

66. Good point.

Interviewing became a scripted game of setting/avoiding traps. And when you're setting them in a partisan manner, there's not much left to watch for anyone who tries to come in with an open mind.

[Stinky The Clown]

49. I agree with you completely

[Runcible Spoon]

50. amen. n/t

[RayOfHope]

52. I agree. n/t

[earth mom]

53. I hear ya and feel the same way. It all begs the question:

Are people going to react this way and expect glowing tributes from us all when someone from the BFEE passes?

[Runcible Spoon]

57. edited...

I'm just gonna leave this alone for today. If people are truly mourning him, I will just go comment on something else.

[tblue37]

54. Trumad, I wrote a very detailed post about this on another thread,

and I fully expect to get slammed hard for it. I consider it extremely foolish to promote and participate in the sanctification of this man just because he died. That's what happened with Reagan, and Republicans are still using his sanctified legend to bash us with and to block progressive efforts.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3446020&mesg_id=3447071

[kath]

64. that was a very good post, tblue

kudos.

[librechik]

55. I believe Russert was one of the 5 or 6 media persons most responsible

for the war on Iraq. Let him square that with his fair and balanced Catholic God now.

[NashVegas]

58. He Was a Telejournalist. He Was Famous

But he wasn't Edward R. Murrow, or Walter Cronkite. He wasn't even a Dan Rather. I turned it to MSNBC for a minute. I turned to CNN. All I see is a bunch of wanking from self-important windbags & Heathers.

[BlooInBloo]

59. "Heathers" - a most excellent way to put it.

[Fox Mulder]

60. I'm not going to jump on that bandwagon either.

I'm with you.

[LWolf]

61. I agree.

I regret his passing, as I regret all human suffering.

[Forkboy]

62. Sums up my feelings nicely.

Plus, I have a very odd outlook about death and what it means. :shrug:

[Downtown Hound]

63. Damn straight. n/t

[Gold Metal Flake]

68. K&R

I'll never understand the willingness of so many to lick at the hands that are clenching our throats.

[lutefisk]

70. Yep...n/t

:thumbsup:

[lonestarnot]

71. Very sensible.

We can't have that can we? :shrug:

[trumad]

72. There's quite a few DUers who think he's a wonderful journalist.

Go figure...

[CODemocrat]

75. Me neither...

it has ruined the 'news' cycle...

[Eurobabe]

77. k&r