I think many here on DU have failed to read Senator Obama's comments on Tim Russert

[Politics_Guy25]

Senator Obama has it exactly right about Tim. Senator Obama is the kind of democrat that we should all strive to be. Senator Obama is the person that I will take my cues from on all major issues/events of the day from now on.

Here's what he said about the passing of NBC's Tim Russert:

I’ve known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He’s somebody who, over time, I came to consider not only a journalist but a friend. There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics, and he was also one of the finest men I knew. Somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family. I am grief-stricken with the loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. And I hope that, even though Tim is irreplaceable, that the standard that he set in his professional life and his family life are standards that we all carry with us in our own lives.

Perhaps, those of you with such harsh things to say about Tim Russert should read the above statement first from one of America's best and take your cues from him.

[eleny]

1. Obama is not my role model and he doesn't think for me

He's welcome to his opinion. I'll continue to think for myself and probably will disagree with Obama many times over the years ahead.

[YDogg]

2. that's exactly what he should say. but i disagree with him. nobody else has to think for me.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

16. I used to work at Cisco Systems, home of "others thinking for me." NEVER AGAIN.

So yeah, I think what I want to think, and if someone else agrees with that, super-duper.

If not, my message to that person is "have a nice day."

[Kahuna]

3. Obama doesn't think for me. Plus, what would you expect him to say?

"Tim was a GOP shill?" Even if that is what he thought he would never say it.

[elocs]

8. Obama could have said much less than he did

and his comments could have simply been sympathetic in general. I think he meant what he said, otherwise you would have to conclude that he was lying. Anybody have a geeky truth detector device which enables you to tell when somebody means what they say or is just expediently lying?

[Kahuna]

9. See my comment #7. It explains why I think Obama was "generous" in his comments. nt

[pt22]

14. Why would anybody bother to lie if it weren't expedient?

I don't quite get that...

[elocs]

19. When you reach 100 posts, you will understand. n/t

[pt22]

23. I anticipate that moment of revelation with preorgasmic anticipation.

Thank you!
:D

[Maine-ah]

39. lol!

welcome to DU!

and thankyou for the laugh! :hi: :rofl:

[pt22]

44. Thanks. I'm not as good as I once was but I think I'm as good once as I ever was.

:D
:toast:

[pt22]

4. I saw those comments and I think he's full of crap. But he probably thinks he has to say those

kinds of things to get elected. Obama is no dummy, he knows how to pander for maximum effect.

[Kahuna]

7. True. Plus Obama could afford to be "generous" about Tim. Tim

seemed to genuinely like Obama. Of course we never know at what point Tim would have turned on him. But I like to think that Tim was looking forward to living to see the first AA president. I'm sad that he won't get the opportunity.

[pt22]

11. It's just the old saw about politics and bedfellows. Totally unpredictable.

;-)

[Captain Hilts]

22. You forgot to mention Russert won't see the first female president either. nt

[Kahuna]

25. I didn't forget that at all. nt

[Captain Hilts]

26. Just decided not to mention it? nt

[Kahuna]

Which is my right if I'm not mistaken.

:shrug:

[babylonsister]

5. Obama's kind words (and what else would he say?) don't negate

the fact that Russert was a tool for this admin. I am sorry he died, but this canonization of him isn't merited imo.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x365742

snip//

He did not revolutionize anything. He was a news reader, a media celebrity, not a soldier dying in a futile war.

As our body count in Iraq keeps right on climbing, I'll recall Russert's classic '02 interview of Dick Cheney on Meet the Press as a true exemplar of recent American journalism.

I don't mean that in a nice way.

The exact date was September 8, 2002, as Cheney and his frontman, George W. Bush, were lobbying Americans and members of Congress on the urgent necessity of invading Iraq. This was before the key Senate vote.

We now know they were lying, but many of us were thinking that back in '02. Drowning out the dissenters were most of the U.S. media outlets — not all, but most.

And media celebs such as Russert were playing their roles as wing men for schnooks such as Cheney.

[GreenPartyVoter]

53. Amen Sister

[Jakes Progress]

6. Okay. If everyone on DU

would also take their cue from something else he said:

" I am thrilled and honored to have Senator Clinton's support. But more than that, I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run. She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams. And she inspired millions with her strength, courage and unyielding commitment to the cause of working Americans. Our party and our country are stronger because of the work she has done throughout her life, and I'm a better candidate for having had the privilege of competing with her in this campaign."

[pt22]

12. Well, it's pretty unlikely he would ever say

"Anybody with a brain knew the old hag couldn't compete with me"

[Kahuna]

15. LOL! Why do they think they're called "POL-I-TI-CIANS?"

Politicians are notorious for not saying what they really think.

[pt22]

17. A characteristic they share with used car salesmen and fundamentalist preachers.

:D

[Captain Hilts]

28. LOVE the sexism....NOT. nt

[Kahuna]

30. You need to chill. The only person ro bring gender up is you. Everybody

was having a nice thread and you just couldn't stand it could you? Does everything have to be about Hillary????

[niyad]

46. sorry, that individual is not the only person to bring up gender. some of us are

very much aware of gender and sexism issues (see susan faludi's colulmn in the nyt today)

[Jakes Progress]

47. Why are you so obsessed with Hillary?

About half the Democrats in the country voted for her. She didn't win and now we are supporting Barack. Why does this bother you so much?

Maybe it is your twisted sense of sexism. Check the definition of "hag" and if you still can't see sexism in the remark, then perhaps we have our answer.

[Kahuna]

52. I'm through with you. You can play your little games with your little friends. nt

[Jakes Progress]

69. Good. If that means I'm on your ignored list

that means I won't have your snarking about when I post. Lovely.

[pt22]

34. You found sexism...where, exactly?

:eyes:

[Jakes Progress]

48. Look up the words you write.

Check the definition of the word "hag" and then see if you can figure it out.

[pt22]

51. It was hypothetical. Perhaps you should review what I actually DID write.

:eyes:

[Jakes Progress]

72. What was hypothetical?

If I put in a post that that wondered if Barack meant to say "I'm so glad that blitering idiots like pt22 don't represent my point of view", would that be violating the rules because I called you an idiot? Or could I hide behind my words by calling them "hypothetical"?

Your version is like some red neck politician telling race jokes as an example of the kinds of terrible things some people say.

Laying claim to your words and an apology would be appropriate now.

[Jakes Progress]

33. Nor would anyone

with any modicum of class. A commodity remarkably lacking in many posts here.

[pt22]

38. Exactly! I'm learning that it's not safe to post here and assume reasonable inference

will obtain. ;-)

[Captain Hilts]

27. Go, baby, go!

[hlthe2b]

10. Unleash the Hounds! How DARE Obama be so CIVIL

and sensitive! Let the DU-McCarthy Inquisition Hearings (and PURGE) begin!

Have you now (or EVER) been a vocal supporter (or defender) of said Timothy Russert???! Hmmmmmm?

[kath]

36. Oh, PUH-LEEZE.

spare us.

:eyes:

[hlthe2b]

59. Touch a nerve, eh, kath?

:eyes: back at ya

[lame54]

13. Here are two much better interviewers...

[Runcible Spoon]

18. wow a politician speaking like a politician. will wonders never cease

:eyes:

[niyad]

20. I don't take my cues from ANYONE, including obama, even if he is the

presumptive nominee. that does not make him my moral role model. I can dislike anyone I please, for whatever reasons, regardless of what anyone else thinks of that person. I don't even care that KO said nice things about russert (how many times did he make "worst persons" list?)

[Captain Hilts]

21. Then WHY did Russert keep stoking the Lewinsky case? Ask HRC about it in a prez. debate????

[grasswire]

24. He needed Russert, and he needs the press.

It could be just that simple.

Gentlemen and the naive don't always fare well in Washington. To wit: Al Gore, and Jimmy Carter.

[TexanDem]

29. I love Obama to death, but he tends to overdo a bit when it comes to extolling praises n/t

[earth mom]

41. Obama is a politician through and through. nt.

[pt22]

42. Yes, he loves some people to death.

:rofl:

Sorry I couldn't pass that one up. :D

[TexanDem]

54. Indeed -- :))

[Jakes Progress]

31. It appears now that the popular feeling

as judged by the replies to this post is that all political figures are liars and weasels. Really makes you want get out and vote if even Obama's supporters think his a liar and a weasel.

[Kahuna]

32. ...

:nopity:

[Jakes Progress]

43. How cryptic.

Sad for your lost innocence? Missing a point?

My point was that many here tend to pick and choose what they believe in based on nothing. I fail to find the connecting thread of what it is that many here value in a candidate. They say one thing today and another thing tomorrow. They value a candidate for this transforming purity and then cast him down as a gutter politician, ascribing methods and behaviors to him that they decried in others.

Cynicism abides.

[pt22]

49. I support Sen. Obama but I have wondered for years why any sane person would want to be

POTUS. Nobody has yet managed to assuage my curiosity.
:shrug:

[Jakes Progress]

81. I agree.

Especially with the mess that we are going to have because of the last 8 years. I can understand the desire to clean things up, but have to question the sanity of anyone who seriously wants to do that to themselves. Bless them.

[countryjake]

35. Many of us had Russert pegged as a media obfuscator...

and a willing corporate-warmonger, working hard to promote the government's agenda, long before Sen. Obama was even a twinkle in the Congress' eye.

"Taking cues" from politicians who find it advantageous to pander does nothing to raise the standard that the media in this country has stooped to and heaping praise upon one of the worst offenders can only perpetuate that lack of truly objective news our nation suffers.

It's high time that Americans began to think for themselves and critically analyze whatever they read in the papers or hear in the tv sound bites and that especially applies to any words from politicians or bloviating beltway boys.

[tulsakatz]

37. I do consider myself an individual and an independent thinker............

...it goes back to my days as a hippie. But I do know what you mean, he said that very well. No one could ask for a more sincere or honorable statement on the event of someone's death.

I'm sure there will be times when I disagree with Obama, although that hasn't happened yet.

And I also know that Russert should have been tougher on Bush and his administration when they appeared on his show. And I think that happened for a couple of reasons. First of all, after 9/11, many journalists did not give them the really tough questions because they didn't want to be perceived as unpatriotic. And second, he supported the war in the beginning because he believed (like many people did) that there just might be a real threat.

Chris Matthews told a story this weekend about asking Tim if he believed what they had been told about the war. Tim said, but what if it's true? That they have nuclear weapons. And Chris said that the administration used the one thing that people would not be able to overlook and they created a fictional story with the nuclear threat as the reason.

Yes, it doesn't make up for all of the times they didn't hold their feet to the fire but, for me, it's a little easier to understand how it happened.

[earth mom]

40. No thanks. nt

[tularetom]

45. Can you imagine how much he'd be crucified if he spoke the truth about Russert?

The man's a politician fer chrissakes. WTF did you think he was gonna say?

[Lex]

50. "Obama is the person that I will take my cues from on all major issues/events of the day from"

Wow.

[Kahuna]

56. ..Must be very very young.

;)

[Lex]

58. I think that would even creep Sen. Obama out

quite frankly.

[slipslidingaway]

57. Exactly! n/t

[Skittles]

61. cult mentality, anyone?

:o

[slipslidingaway]

55. OK...

"Senator Obama is the person that I will take my cues from on all major issues/events of the day from now on."

[Skittles]

60. excuse me

I am an independent thinker and don't need to be advised to "take my cues" from Mr. Obama. :puke:

[MonkeyFunk]

62. Sen. Obama is much nicer than most of his supporters here.

[NashVegas]

63. Barack Obama Is a Politician

Who is running for president and expected to say such things.

I have no desire to emulate him on this.

[mnhtnbb]

64. Obama is sounding like the pol I expected him to be. He had good words to say about Bush, too.

This guy is not the reincarnation of Christ. Not to me, anyway.

[proud2BlibKansan]

65. Obama had no choice but to say something nice

I however am not running for office and I don't need a role model either.

Russert carried water for the Bush administration, especially in the months leading up to the war. Canonizing him is way over the top and I won't participate in that. While my sympathy goes to his family and those who loved him, he was no great journalist. To promote him as anything but a newsreader who provided an audience for a dishonest administration is wrong.

[Autumn]

66. The late Tim Russert

has become my favorite thing to say.

[kath]

87. self-delete

[K Gardner]

67. Oh god, another nanny post. Look, most of us are upset about 24/7 coverage for days on end

when there are legitimate news stories occuring. What did you expect Obama to say?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

68. Everybody's entitled to their opinions. Even politicians and talking heads.

For what their worth.

[BlooInBloo]

70. Nope, I read them. Thanks for your concern though!

[GeniusLib]

71. Great Post

The Senator is right about this like he is about most things.

[debbierlus]

73. The LAST thing we need is to simply follow ANY politican - progressives need to hold reps accountabl

Sorry, but Obama isnt a Panacea and he isn't the second coming. I like him. I will vote for him. However, I also disagree with some of his policy ideas and I don't like some of his political history. Russert angered me on a few occassions and I think
he failed to be a true journalist for all the hype he is receiving now. I am sorry for his death and for his families loss. I
don't think he was any shining journalist.

[stillcool]

74. No thanks!

I don't hold the profession of pimping lies to make the big bucks in high regard. I have no idea who he was as a person, but I assume he was like the rest of the human race. People live, people die..that's life.

[JI7]

75. did you expect him to say "good riddance ot the Bush enabling neocon"

or something similar ?

[yella_dawg]

76. I usually try to stay out of this silly crap.

But I have to put in my two cents. Obama is not my role model. He is the least of numerous evils. I support him for that reason, but otherwise, he is nothing to me. I do admit that his words and actions of late have convinced me to keep an open mind. The times make the man. It's damn sure the times, and maybe, if we are extremely lucky, this is the man.

Russert, on the other hand, was a fascist propagandist. Fuck him. I piss on his grave. Obama lost a step in my eyes with this statement. And I don't take cues from anyone who hasn't earned that level of respect the hard way.

Your statements are the words of a sheep. Grow up.

[scarletwoman]

77. Of course Obama has to say such things, he's a politician running for president.

Conversely, we DUers are NOT politicians running for office, therefore we are free to think and say what we want.

Tim Russert was a very well paid propagandist for the MIC and the Owner Class, nothing more.

Obama, as a politician, HAS to mollify the MIC and the Owner Class in order to have a chance at being elected POTUS. And being a skilled politician, he does so skillfully. But I am not so naive as to think that what a politician has to say sets any kind of "moral" example that I ought to follow.

I support Obama because I believe that he is an intelligent and skillful politician and a Democrat, NOT because I think he is beyond reproach.

I will work like hell to get him elected, and then I will work like hell to reproach him when he inevitably disappoints and/or betrays we progressives that helped get him elected.

That's just the way it works in the real world. The sooner people stop living in their naive fantasies, the sooner we can actually affect genuine changes in this country.

sw

[Uncle Joe]

78. Everyone has their roles to play, ours is to tell the unvarnished truth as we see it.

This is especially critical as the corporate media have for the most part abandoned their responsibility.

[LWolf]

79. I read it. I don't agree with it.

Of course, that's not new. I don't agree with much that Obama says, and I've never made a secret of that. Obama saying it doesn't make it true, and doesn't make it dogma.

I regret the man's passing, and my heart goes out to his family and friends.

That doesn't mean that I've suddenly changed my mind about the quality of his professional work. There HAVE to be "better interviewers on tv," don't there?

It's true that I don't watch tv talking heads, but surely there is someone out there who can ask a presidential candidate a more substantive question than whether or not he's seen a UFO.

Why not grieve for the untimely death of a fellow human, without trying to whitewash his career?

No need to use his death as an excuse to criticize his career. I'm sure there are some who have done so, but I'm not one. Most of the criticism I've seen is in response to the "best interviewer on tv," and other unrealistic adulations.

I can honestly and sincerely say, "Go in peace, Mr. Russert; may your next journey be smooth and may those you leave behind be comforted." I can and do say that, and mean it, without trying to make him someone he wasn't.

[warren pease]

80. "There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics..."

Guess he never heard of Bill Moyers or Amy Goodman or Greg Palast or Sy Hersch or Saul Landau or the kick-ass lala_rawraw and the rest of the Rawstory staff. Then there's Jason Leopold and Wikileaks, the whistle-blowers' site and severe pain in the ass to ideologues and institutions everywhere, even Michael Moore does a hell of an interview when he's got a mind to.

Russert, on the other hand, was a corporate tool. He was a wholly owned subsidiary of GE and was paid a ridiculous salary to afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable. I haven't been able to watch him for some time -- he became intolerable once he enthusiastically adopted the Bushie suck-up-grovel-kowtow Texas two-step.

His "career" phases ran the gamut from largely harmless blowhard entertainer to dedicated GOP cheerleader and the most prominent apologist, denier and spinmeister for the PNAC maniacs and cover for the Bushies' international crime spree.

He pandered to authority. He failed to ask GOPers to elaborate on the pure bullshit they spread when trying to justify unjustifiable policies. He consistently failed to ask GOPers the most obvious follow-ups. He could have done so much for this country and the world by calling them on their irrational hogwash, but he left so many important questions unasked that he could have fit right in with the celebrity stalking feather-heads on Entertainment Tonight.

He had the hard-ass glower down cold, though. All the better to present himself as a take-no-prisoners interviewer, even as he was pitching some administration toady du jour nine solid innings of softball questions.

When hosting one of the crazies from PNAC or the AEI, or one of the General Jack D. Ripper clones from the pentagon -- be it Cheney or Rumsfeld or Powell or Wolfowitz or Perle or any of the rotating cast of recently retired military "analysts" -- the aura of collegiality and clubbiness was so repulsive that the few actual practicing journalists left in America would struggle to control their gag reflexes before making a mad dash for the "off" button. In his natural element, he was about as tough and aggressive as outed slut, dedicated wingnut and fraudulent reporter Jeff Gannon/Jimmy Guckert.

Of course, if his guest happened to be a centrist or -- dog help us -- a progressive, chummy Tim became Timmy the tyrant. Here's our master journalist at his very best moderating one of the earlier dem debates:

RUSSERT: Shirley MacLaine writes in her new book that you sighted a UFO over her home in Washington state, that you found the encounter extremely moving, that it was a triangular craft, silent and hovering, that you felt a connection to your heart and heard directions in your mind. Now, did you see a UFO?

Now that's journalism. Bushie's threatening WW III, Cheney's recycling the same old Iraq lies and applying them to Iran, the economy's in the sewer, creeping fascism is on the march, everybody with a brain hates the US for becoming the world's most lethal rogue state... But Timmy thinks embarrassing Kucinich with some jerk-off nonsense about space invaders is worth wasting everybody's time and insulting viewers' intelligence.

He died as he lived: Struggling under the weight of his own super-sized ego. Weird, considering he was one of those very mundane people with no discernible reason for self-admiration.

RIP Timmy... Maybe there's reincarnation after all. Maybe you get another chance to live a useful life where your job description doesn't include pandering to the rich and powerful or demonstrating your slavish subservience to and defense of status quo reactionaries.

Brought to you by GE, which remains positively obsessed with bringing good things to life...


wp

[countryjake]

86. Recommended!

So very well stated!

[kath]

88. Way to go, warren.

Way to hit it out of the park. You kick ass, buddy! :toast:


I was so hoping you'd show up in one of these threads.

[Two Americas]

82. or...

We could think for ourselves.

This "what would Obama do?" idea is more appropriate for a religious organization than it is for politics.

I really do not think that anything of critical importance rests upon whether we do or do not agree with a particular politician about a particular media celebrity.

If McCain had said exactly the same thing, would you be demanding that we all then take the opposite position?

[pork medley]

83. what a strange post

you talk of handing your capacity for critical thought over to obama like it's a good thing, like it's something to be proud of? simply bizarre

[Politics_Guy25]

84. I just want to make it clear

That I will absolutely not necessarilly support Senator Obama in everything that he does. I'll look at each decision that he makes as president through my own lens but I have a feeling that I'll agree with him far more often than I disagree. And, on the big issues of the day, I will indeed take my cues from him first and then decide whether or not I must disagree.

In this case, I think that he struck exactly the right note.

[arcadian]

85. I don't get my instructions from Obama.

n't