How many days would tributes to Skinner or Will Pitt flood DU if they died suddenly?

[Seen the light]

I have a feeling that the forum would practically have to shut down for days because of the number of people expressing their condolences for their fellow DUer.

So why would that be fine, but it's outrageous and ridiculous for NBC News to devote several days worth of coverage to a well-known personality on their network that they worked with for years? A personality that was loved by millions of people across the country?

Oh wait, both things would be fine and there are just an incredible number of rude assholes that practically make DU intolerable when someone well-known dies that they had some beef with.

[trumad]

1. Because they're not hacks.

Nuff said.

Besides---I thought Pitt was dead?

[onenote]

36. and lots and lots of people didn't think Russert was a hack

Some here disagree. But I'm at a loss to figure out why I should pay greater deference to the opinion of bloggers and internet posters who generally view any reporting or commentary from the media that doesn't agree in its entirety with their worldview as biased as if their own views represented an objective truth from which no deviation could be permitted.

[ananda]

2. I don't know but..

.. If Andy Stevenson is anything to go by, well..

.. nuff said.

[theboss]

6. I will just get myself in trouble if I comment on that

So...I'll just say: Good point.

[trumad]

7. Andy wasn't a hack.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. 9.11, sorry we cannot respond, we are in mourning

sorry, but they usually have a duty to cover something strange, that most muricans have forgotten

They just told you that you, aka the little people, don't matter

[Lex]

4. MSNBC's job is to be a news channel?

That would be one difference?

[malaise]

5. Is DU the public airwaves or a members' club? n/t

[peace13]

18. Oh ya..members only as I recall.

But hey, if there is dead horse to be beaten Tim is as good as any. Sooner or later these die hards will realize that we have memorialized one man to the point of nausea while hundreds of thousands died in our name without so much as one single call out from us. This is what makes me weep.

[malaise]

33. Bingo n/t

[SteppingRazor]

8. I don't think either of those things are out of line...

but at the same time, I don't think that reasonable, legitimate criticism of Tim Russert's life's work at this, the end of his life, is out of bounds.

Of course, there's a huge gap between "reasonable criticism" and "pointless flamebait," and I think everyone knows which is which.

[Seen the light]

10. I agree but...

The sheer volume of threads on people whining and crying about how horrible the media is for continuing to cover this story WAY outweighs any overboard coverage networks like MSNBC have given the Russert death imo.

Seems like there's a couple of dozen threads I've read about it just today...

[trumad]

11. Whining...

I gues if the truth is whining...count me in.

[Seen the light]

16. Is it REALLY that big of a deal?

The same people whining about the media overexposing the Russert death have practically crippled parts of DU over the past few days.

Shouldn't we be focused on, gee, I don't know, things like electing Barack Obama to President instead of obsessing over the media obsession story?

[Lex]

12. You should see the number of threads of people whining and crying

about people whining and crying.

[SteppingRazor]

17. It's the way of things.

Media criticism, right or wrong, has become the mantra of political partisans of all stripes. Journalists are easy whipping posts because it's so much easier to shoot the messenger. I personally can't help but wince a little when I invariably hear the eulogies to Russert commend his "tough" brand of journalism (a style I found to be far from tough in far too many cases), but I don't begrudge the folks at NBC offering such eulogies in the wake of the sudden and untimely death of a friend, colleague and role model. Had to be a tough one to swallow. Hell, I actually give them credit for doing as well as they did in the hours immediately following the man's death.

[peace13]

21. They should have sent in the second string and allowed people to regroup.

Like they do in the real world. As far as Tims tough style, my TV has felt a shoe or two on a Sunday morning as my candidate was slaughtered and slandered right before my eyes. I am all for acknowledging a persons contribution but this has gone beyond absurd. Sorry.

[SteppingRazor]

24. I don't necessarily disagree.

But I think all too often, posting to point out the absurdity, when one has a previous dislike of Russert's reportage, leads to some pretty breathtakingly crass posts.

[Dora]

9. Because their medium uses the public commons, the airwaves.

Journalism is not festschrift.

[peace13]

13. Not a good comparison.

Kill me now! This is taking things too far!

[parasim]

14. I don't watch the news to be part of a like-minded community.

I watch it to get the news.

Besides the mediums are not comparable. Because now that I think about it, I actually get my news more from DU than I do the network news. Even with all of the Russert threads. So to me, I guess it really doesn't matter much how much they talk about Russert.

[seemslikeadream]

15. DID THEY LIED US INTO A WAR DID THEY CONSPIRE TO KEEP THE TRUTH FROM US?

ARE THEY NATIONALY KNOWN "JOURNALISTS" WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO GIVE US UNBIAS INFORMATION, DO THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THOSE LYING SONS OF A BITCH? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

[peace13]

19. Why do you hate Tim and his friends?

Seemslikeadream I feel your pain. Hugs your way as we take a ride on the Crazy Train. Peace, Kim

[seemslikeadream]

22. Sorry peace13 for yelling

I can't believe someone would pose such a stupid question, when Skinner Elad and Earl have given us the opportunity to discuss how evil the M$M is. And the chance to find the truth cause we sure wouldn't have found it on the TV or from Mr. Tim


jah bless i and i

[peace13]

32. Wow that is cool! Thanks and my eyes thank you!

Don't worry out the caps. Myself..I stay away form all sharp objects these days. peace,Kim

[XemaSab]

20. Weeks. EarlG and Elad, mere hours.

:P

[Raven]

23. LISTEN TO ME! JUST FUCKING LISTEN TO ME!!!!!

I am Will Pitt's mother. I don't love to see posts about his death...but..,.I will tell you what I would do if he passed away and I was still on this earth (God forbid). There would be none of this self masterbating shit, none of it. I would ask folks who loved him or respected him to turn their grief into action...to do something, anything, to make this Country the place he wanted it to be. NO TESTIMONIALS. NO TEARFUL REMEMBERANCES, just a little action, that it. And, if somebody wanted to say something about him, I would ask them to write it and send it to me. I think Will would be happy with this. And now, I am sufficiently creeped out...I think we should go on to the more pressing things facing us.

PS:I have a feeling, or hope this is true, that Tim Russert's wife had no say in the spectacle that we have witnessed.

[seemslikeadream]

26. I am so sorry you had to witness this

Absolutly uncalled for, I think the thread should be deleted


Love and peace to you

[JuniperLea]

27. You RAWK Will's Momma!

My first inclination was to alert on the OP... WTF??? Who would talk that way about our Will and our Skinner? Even in jest this is a sick, sick, twisted piece of shit post!

Then I saw your first sentence, and I paused, and I read.

No wonder your kid is so freaking smart, not to mention ornery! (In a good way! Ornery is GOOD in my book... beats the alternative)

Wow. I could feel the restraint ooze... :)

[peace13]

29. Peace and love, your way.

I like the way that you think. Peace, Kim

[Writer]

34. I would look at it this way: We would all lose a friend.

I remember when a DU'er named Andy passed away (and perhaps this is a better example, as it wouldn't seem so careless as using Will) and the entire site filled with posts commemorating his push against Bush and his integrity as a person. I don't think it's too much to assume that if someone so close to us - a colleague in our cause, if you will - wouldn't be so eulogized and honored on our site. Certainly we would push on in our cause in honor of that person's memory, but I don't think it's a position we'd truly understand unless we were there.

Seeing Luke Russert speaking today about his father, it appears to me that he and his mother and his grandfather appreciate the support that they have received from the broadcast community as well as many in the public. I think we need to let this mourning dissipate naturally. They'll move on when they're ready. Doing otherwise, I think, would be callous and a little mean-spirited.

[Seen the light]

35. My apologies

I was just trying to think of well-known members of this community and your son popped to mind.

I didn't mean to offend you or make you uncomfortable or anyone else that knows him.

:hippie:

[Raven]

38. I wasn't offended, I was trying to get a point across about constructive

mourning although I admit it creeped me out a bit because you just don't like to think about those things. But absolutely no offense taken. I understand your point and I was trying to make my own. :-)

[annabanana]

43. You are a 100% doll.

I would love to bump into you in person some day.

[MnFats]

25. in the same voice as that cchris croker (sp) goof on you tube:

LEAVE TIMMY ALONE! YOU BASTARDS!

[seemslikeadream]

28. This thread should be dleted or locked

This is fucking out of line

[MnFats]

31. on reflection, I agree. this ain't good.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

30. How many dead soldiers would be on his head?

NONE godsdammit, not a fucking one.

I have sat in silence for 2 days and avoided all the Tim threads posted, out of respect for his family his friends and their loss.

And you have the sad tamarity to drag Skinner into this maelstrom, simply because he, and the other admin and mods, have allowed divergent points of reaction to a story that has if nothing else, divergent points of reaction.

You have my pity son. And little besides it.

[11 Bravo]

40. As always, Salmon, right on point, and eloquently put. Thank you, my friend.

[lamp_shade]

37. Hurrah!!!!

My mother always said "If you can't say something nice about somebody, don't say anything at all".

[Rhiannon12866]

39. Probably always. We still mourn Andy and Keph and Jeff,

not to mention several other beloved members, like nicknameless and Sapphire Blue, quite recently. But I do think this post is in pretty poor taste, since Will's Mom, Raven, is also one of us.

I don't have a problem with the converge of Tim Russert's death by his NBC colleagues. I've lost colleagues, at work, and we couldn't do enough. But they are fortunate to have the airwaves, so they're taking advantage of that. I was particularly moved by Tom Brokaw's breakdown on the memorial "Meet the Press." People liked this guy, and I liked him much better than I did, having heard their memories...:shrug:

Sorry, typo...:blush:

[Mountainman]

41. We could have a GD obituary forum.

[LWolf]

42. How many days did DU spend

for nostamj, for Kephra, for Andy?

While there was an outpouring of grief and support for family, and, in Andy's case, justifiable anger, I don't remember the posts taking over the board.

For the record, I still remember, appreciate, and miss, all three of them.

[WilliamPitt]

44. Everyone would have three business days to speak their piece.

;)