i can't understand all the hate directed at russert here

[Gato Moteado]

i know i'm usually on the other end of this argument. i'm usually the one taking hits from DUers when i refuse to show sympathy or when i make light of a repuke douchebag biting the dust or getting sick.

but russert wasn't a repuke. he wasn't perfect....he should have asked harder questions in the run up to the war. he should have been harder on cheney. but he wasn't a bad guy. in fact, i think the last eight years of the media coddling bushco was finally making him open his eyes.

had this been o'reilly or hannity or limbaugh or any one of the other faux snooze or hate radio fascists that had croaked, i admit i'd be dancing on the ceilings right now. but it was russert. sure, the media is probably overdoing the memorial programming but that isn't russert's fault. if anything, he wouldn't want this....he'd want them to broadcast the news.

cut timmy some slack folks.

let's get back to attacking the real enemy.....the nazis and fascists that go by the name of republicans, fox news personalities, freepers and what have you.

[Gore1FL]

1. I don;t hate Russert

I hate the endless coverage of it, though.

[kimmerspixelated]

6. Bingo!

My feelings exactly. I find it quite odd that there is SO much coverage. Not even Brokaw would have a televised memorial, do you think?

I think, once again, they have a reason to shun the real news, the real bad news!

[truedelphi]

120. Hmm. Funny his funeral occurred right as the Senate was holding hearings over the

Top Down orders that occurred at Gitmo.

Guess it could be a coincidence, though.

[malaise]

12. GEM$NBC has done this

because they can. They decide what is news; they decide what you should see on the public airwaves. It is beyond vulgar abuse by General Electric and their cronies.

Now they are going to repeat ad nausuem.

add.

[devilgrrl]

20. Thank you!

:thumbsup:

[Nite Owl]

31. Even the coverage wouldn't

bother me if they covered the troops and Iraqi's that have died just half as much. For them there is little recognition or thanks.

[K Gardner]

57. Exactly ! I don't think we would have heard any of the comments we've heard here IF they had

eulogized him appropriately (key word, appropriate) and moved on respectfully.

Its the coverage that turned people sour.

[MadAnne]

72. Do you only get MSNBC or NBC?

[question everything]

88. Good point. I stopped watching either

except last Friday when we were watching the local ABC affiliate and for the first time heard the news.

We then switched to NBC news with Brian Williams which, of course, was dedicated to him.

[devilgrrl]

2. The Buffalo Bills have dedicated their 2008 season to Tim Russert's memory. Check out the helmet...

[tom_paine]

103. You mean the Timmalo Tims? I'm an NFC guy, myself.

So I don't follow the Timmalo Tims all that closely.

I do hear that Timmalo Tims star, Marshawn Lynch, is changing him name to Tim-meh! and printing the words "Clinton's Cock" on his Tims jersey to honor the man and his journalism skills in the years 1996-98.

[melody]

3. Amen

I watched the memorial this afternoon. With all the mentions of Kennedys and various figures in the Democratic Party,
I wonder how all the people who had him undeniably pegged as a right wing shill feel now. But I know, self-doubt doesn't mix well with indignation.

I agree with your sentiments entirely.

[devilgrrl]

7. "I wonder how all the people who had him undeniably pegged as a right wing shill feel now."

The same as I did before Melody.... He's a right wing shill.

:popcorn:

[melody]

11. Your perfection is, of course, sterling and bright

Eat your popcorn.

[devilgrrl]

13. I'll eat my popcorn while you reburry you're head in the sand.

:hi:

[melody]

17. Now don't get angry

When you start misspelling, you're angry.

My head is out of the sand. And I'm here to say I'll bet (right wing shill or not) he has done more good in the world than most of us here by a factor of five.

[devilgrrl]

18. "he has done more good in the world than most of us here by a factor of five."

Oh really? Do share.

[JuniperLea]

92. Seriously...

I find it hard to think of someone who gave a strong voice to the RW lies over the past 7 years has done enough good to outweigh the deaths that came out of the lies.

Of course he had a lot of "friends". You are either a friend, or you are not. Being "Not A Friend" to the media is political suicide.

[tom_paine]

102. Gonna have to pony up with some facts on a statement like that.

Did Lil' Russ write a check?

And HOW in the world he could possibly make up for the million or so innocent dead Iraqis as well as the 5,000,000 displaced, not to mention the 100,000 wounded American Soldiers and 4100 dead American soldiers, the looting of the Public Treasury, etc., in which Timmeh had a massive role for suckering people who trusted him.

In my opinion, for being Cheney's "go to guy", i.e. the guy who could be counted on not to challenege any of Cheney's lies nor ask a folloup questions (follow questions are for Democrats only, dont'cha know?), for betraying millions like you who trusted him and swallowed his bullshit hook, line and sinker, Ol' Timmeh could work in a free clinic in the rainforest, saving an average of three lives a day, and you know what?

He'd be caught up to the numbers of murders he helped to facilitate and the number of ruined lives...oh somewhere around the year 3027.

So please do tell me of all the "good" Timmeh did. Don't forget to list the check numbers and amounts for verification.

:rofl:

[Raster]

106. Tom, don't hold your breath. The Russert revisionist history crowd can't cite what you ask.

The only thing they can do is hurl insults questioning YOUR morality. It truly is sad.

[EOTE]

91. No doubt. He may not have been a repuke, but that hardly matters.

He was without a doubt their best friend. He voted for Bush twice. He was probably more responsible than anyone for allowing the first election to be stolen. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

[truedelphi]

121. Maybe worse - he started out more progressive but then

he decided, as he put it, that "Integrity is for paupers."

Some RW shills really believe what they are saying. Russert had to lie to himself and he admitted as much.

[Gato Moteado]

21. i know i busted on russert on more than one occasion....

...but in reality i knew he was trying his best to be balanced. so many journalists have felt the need to overcorrect because of the "liberal media" lie spread by the right wing. they were going out of their way to not seem biased, and often times they went too far.

many are now realizing that there just isn't a good side to global climate change or pre-emptive illegal wars to be reported. maybe more will realize that being balanced simply means reporting the honest truth.

anyway, i think the media hype about russert is a little much but i feel bad about the times i attacked him here on DU. maybe he was deserving of it at the time but i still feel bad. i wish he was still here with us.

now on the other hand, when o'reilly and hannity and limbaugh croak, i'll throw huge parties. i'll never regret anything i ever said about those fascist douchebags. the days of their demises will be happy ones for me. and i bet bruce springsteen won't play at their memorials. the best they'll be able to muster will be ted nugent playing "stormtroopin".

[Gabi Hayes]

45. perhaps when the dust settles, your head will clear, because

some of the things you said up there are totally off base

look up Cathie Martin for starters

you really don't know what you're talking about when you say "i knew he was trying his best to be balanced"

[endarkenment]

98. Balanced journalism is bullshit.

You have mistaken 'balanced' for 'objective'. Journalists should strive for (but fail to reach) objectivity. Balanced journalism treats total bullshit as equivalent to honest fact based opinion. The 'balanced journalist' does not strive for objectivity, and can easily, as Russert was, be engaged in agenda-driven biased propagandizing, covered with today's veneer of respectability: 'balance'. There have been several excellent essays that rose to the greatest page with rec's in the hundreds that documented Russert's balanced style and just how non-objective it was. He was not our friend, he was Jack Welch's good servant.

[Individualist]

63. Death does not bestow automatic sainthood

Nor does it eliminate the fact that he was a willing and enthusiastic propaganda tool for the Bush administration.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=3472805

[pepperbear]

5. Here's one reason. This is an excellent post, and verifiable.

I'm with you; the hateful posts don't help, but there is a little more to it than "he should've been a little harder on Cheney."


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3472805

[Gabi Hayes]

47. excellent post and link. here's one to add to the list, along with one by TomPaine, which I can't

find

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3464938

Bob Somerby's response

[kath]

79. Here is tom_paine's excellent thread (for any of you who are willing to learn something):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3455657

[stillcool]

8. I can't understand all the accusations..

of hate. I don't know anyone who would know Mr. Russert enough, or care enough, to hate him. Hate his life long career of pimping the bullshit..now that I can understand!

[Lex]

9. He's getting more than plenty of praise as far as I can tell.

nt

[EFerrari]

10. People toss the word "hate" around really easily around here.

And Russert was a fully embedded media personality, not a journalist. He is missed by many friends, has a great kid AND he kissed up to Cheney. That doesn't make him hateful but it does make him complicit in the last 8 years of constitution shredding.

That really did happen and no amount of hagiography changes that, sorry to say.

[melody]

14. He was a human being with lots of faults

But with all his faults, I'll bet he's done more good in the world than most of the critics bitching about him on the board.

There was plenty of hate thrown at him -- I was amazed. I'm not talking about the funny ones commenting upon the ongoing
coverage (which is overdone). There were nasty, shrill attacks, too.

[devilgrrl]

15. "he's done more good in the world"

Like what?

[melody]

19. It's not my job to inform your ignorance

Go read something ... learn something. Find out about the good people he has nurtured in the business.

And welcome, yet again, to my ignore list.

[devilgrrl]

27. Melody can't answer and put me on her ignore list. Oh Poo!

[grasswire]

28. hm?

you wrote: "the good people he has nurtured in the business."

What business would that be? Network commentary? I'd seriously like to know what you meant.

[devilgrrl]

32. Now now, don't ask any tough questions or you'll be put on her "ignore" list

:scared:

[melody]

38. Keith Olbermann for one person

Half of MSNBC for another.

[Gabi Hayes]

49. you know, like Joe (Laurie K) Scarborough

Michael Smerconish

Michael Savage

Michelle Bernard

rising MSNBC starts like them

he loves older, more established ones, like David Broder, too

and he LOVES Rush!

[Gabi Hayes]

50. check this

Rush Limbaugh guest Tim Russert: "Should I nominate you" to be the next Meet the Press moderator?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200406140006

I got super reamed for linking this early on in the canonization process

[kath]

80. Quiz - (re: the "Laurie K reference) how many here know who Lori Klausutis was?

Hint - she died the same summer that Chandra Levy did.

[FiveGoodMen]

84. In Joe's office, of a supposedly undiscovered heart problem, causing her to hit her head...

...according to a disgraced coroner

(if I remember correctly)

[Patsy Stone]

76. Well, Chuck Todd credits him for hiring him

and nurturing him. So that's one.

[kath]

78. devilgrrl, this one's hopelessly ignorant. You're trying to encourage critical thought, and she's

apparently not capable of such -- it's all about emotion, and how she FEEEEEELS.

But take heart --a TINY number (I've counted 2)of the previously uninformed have said that they read some of the links posted and have changed their opinion of Russert. Better than nothing. Maybe there are more - maybe we should start a "Check in here I've you've read some links at DU and become more informed" thread.

Meanwhile, the Ignorant List is up to 252. I really thought that people here were more knowledgeable...

[grasswire]

16. could you name one act of goodness?

Please. Do tell.

[melody]

25. He came up with the money to bail out the Buffalo food bank twice

That's one. Only one of many.

[devilgrrl]

48. Link please. Just googled for info - couldn't find beaux.

:popcorn:

Oh, wait. She's got me on ignore! :cry:

[texanwitch]

52. He was rich, he could afford to.

I give money to the local food bank every month, I know a lot of people who do.


My aunt gives fresh produce to the food bank in the summer months, she has a small farm.


Tim used blood money.

[ThePowerofWill]

61. Reminds me of a story.

I'm not religious so folks please don't try to paint me as a bible thumper for this but....

It does remind me of the story in the bible of the poor old lady who could only tithe a penny, She got much derision for her small offering, until Jesus pointed out the penny was likely all she had, and more than equaled the offerings of those who were scornful.

[melody]

65. I'm pleased there are so many virtuous souls out there

It's so much easier to take potshots at a public person when you can hide behind anonymity.

[texanwitch]

68. Tim made $6 million a year, I make after taxes $35.000.

My aunt makes about the same, maybe a little less.

My $25 a month and the produce my aunt gives to the food bank is a hit on our incomes.

It is good that Tim helped the food bank, but look how he earned the money to do it with.

I earned my money in a honest way, so did my Aunt.

Tim's money is still blood money.

[JuniperLea]

97. For tax reasons...

The wealthy MUST donate to charity. Did he go to the food bank himself? Help deliver food? Did he not submit a tax deduction for these donations?

In times like these when the media is tugging at our heartstrings 24/7, it's important to do two things. #1 - Think with your head, not your heart; #2 - Ask yourself "who benefits".

[JuniperLea]

96. The rich MUST donate...

I worked in the home office of a well-known billionaire... one of my jobs was to find worthy causes to donate $4 million dollars to every month. Yes, every month. For tax reasons...

[noiretextatique]

22. i'll ask to: what "good" did he do? thanks. eom

[melody]

23. You'll ask to what? n/t

[noiretextatique]

40. you claim russert did more good things than the people who

criticize his shilling for the rw. i asked you what good things russert did, as have several other people. i don't think anyone should be dancing on his grave, but i also think his career should be assessed honestly. i am sure he did some good things, but that probably applies to a lot of people who have enabled the rw.

[arcadian]

24. I don't hate Russert

If the media had left his death alone I don't think anybody would be commenting the way that they are, like my post which is intentionally over the top to prove a point. I personnaly am sick of getting shafted by these corporate elitists. They don't ask the tough questions for years then, when it looks like their might be the slightest hint of accountability on the air the media starts to report on itself and try to examine why they didn't ask the tough questions to begin with. It's all bullshit and Russert was a bullshit artist.

[melody]

26. Backdate if you like and check out my posts on Russert

But he did good things as well as bad. (and no, I'm not going to cite them all)

To see him turned into Sean Hannity II on this board is simply ridiculous.

[arcadian]

29. It's not ridiculous when you understand that he was the head of the News Dept at NBC

He was responsible for us going to war in Iraq. If Bushie didn't have the media's compliance, he never would have been able to invade Iraq. It's just that simple.

[melody]

37. Tim Russert was personally responsible?

No, he was part of a news team. Media bureaucracies are filled with people who bend your arm behind your back just until the point of breaking it. But some get along and go along in order to do the good they can do in that situation.

[Raster]

99. I am sick and tired of the redeem Tim crowd. Russert was the number one go-to guy

when cheney*/bush* needed to sell their lies to the American public. NUMBER ONE!!! Please, use Google and check it out. Second, Russert was a MAJOR PLAYER in the scam to put bush* in the White House instead of Gore. Again, LOOK I UP! You like bush*, thank Russert. And yes, he was PERSONALLY FUCKING RESPONSIBLE!

[JuniperLea]

104. Yep... too bad we forget history so easily...

Worse, we are so easily manipulated when the media tugs our heartstrings 24/7. Worse still is that those who DON'T allow history to be re-written are chastised for lack of empathy.

My empathy is all used up at the moment... for the soldiers of all nations who fought and died in this war we were lied into. Russert knew what he was doing. He was helping BushCo. He wasn't a stupid man.

[Raster]

117. Yep. How much blood money did it take to buy his Nantucket summer house?

The very worst thing about Russert was that he was such a likeable guy. He appeared trustable and believable. Millions of Americans knew of him and many of those bought into the PR that he was such a fair, impartial, hard interviewer. Russert had an air of credibility. And that's why Jack "the weasel" Welch cultivated Russert and advanced his career--Russert's supposed credibility. I stopped watching Russert YEARS AGO. His treatment of Al Gore in 2000 opened my eyes and turned my stomach. And now the over-the-top treatment of his death speaks volumes. It really isn't about Russert anymore. It's about the corporate-controlled media that has failed this country miserably, and their whitewashing one of their own, and by proxy, themselves. This is a blatant attempt at revisionist history, and not just for Russert, but for the whole dirty lot that abdicated journalistic responsibility and became accomplices to the worst bunch of criminals to ever darken DC.

[librechik]

42. He was a top executive (Senior Vice President of NBC)

and a key voice in decision-making at the business and editorial level. Not the Chief, though. I thought he was, I was misinformed.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

58. so all those schmoes in congress who voted for the war

after seeing what was obviously flawed intelligence are somehow less to blame than Tim Russert?

Interesting angle you have there...

sP

[Raster]

107. Oh no, they are as much to blame. The Iraq War con job required several playhas:

(1) cheney*/bush* that came up with the original lies to start the illegal and immoral war;
(2) The MSM (Russert, et al) that pimped the illegal and immoral war; and
(3) The Congress of Collaborators that abdicated their Constitutional responsibility and gave their seal of approval on the illegal and immoral war.

So you see, there is plenty of blame to go around. Plenty.

[Gabi Hayes]

53. melody, he was the most influential news person on TV, which made him

the most powerful news person in the US, which means he was the most powerful news person in the world

he's what's called an opinion leader, and as the most powerful of those, he sets/set the tone of discourse for all others to follow

and he FOLLOWED the wishes of his bosses, chief among those being Jack Welch.

do you know what that meant?

I hope you saw the embarrassing clip of him with Bill Moyers that was linked here. let me see if I saved it. It unmasked him for the disingenuous charlatan/fool that he was

[melody]

66. I've seen it -- I have criticized Russert as much as anyone

But for a period of mourning when someone dies, it's just charitable to speak of the good things they've done.

You don't have to ... I choose to. I'm not perfect either so I give everyone a lot of leeway.

[Gato Moteado]

73. i'd like to see that clip with moyers if you have a link

nt

[AnneD]

30. I am having trouble with a political commentor.....

having a funeral with all the trappings of a state funeral.

I don't recall Edward R Morrow getting the same treatment, and he was a better commentator. God forbid, should Helen die-and they give her the same send off, I'll shut my mouth (cause I think they will be seeing her corpse spinning before burial).

Part of the problem is the lint in the navel syndrome. They are so busy being self centered that they have forgotten that an entire country exists out side the beltway and Rockefeller Plaza.

Yes, I feel bad for him and his family, yes he had some good moment and he was a decent guy, but he was not the best political commentator, he was selective with his fact checks at times and lost objectivity during this administration and failed to ask the hard follow up questions that the public deserved to know.

He could have done better.

[devilgrrl]

33. ...

:thumbsup:

[Dark]

34. He didn't suck the left's cock. Ergo, he was a freeper collaborator.

N/T

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

35. I Can. A Few Posters Doing It Here Are Bitter, Jealous, Immature Assholes Lacking Decency.

[NC_Nurse]

43. Truly.

[Runcible Spoon]

100. I can't believe the acid of irony coming from your posts hasn't corroded the server yet!

sheesh.

[arcadian]

111. Charmer isn't he?

He's able to hold two contradictory thoughts in his head at the same time and believe both of them.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

115. Hey, How's That Lawsuit Comin?

:rofl:

[arcadian]

116. What are you talking about?

n't

[Uncle Joe]

36. I don't hate Russert, I just hate what he and others like him did in enabling Bush to power

and even after these past seven+ disastrous years, I don't see too much if any change with them, that's how you end up with ridiculous even un American one sided questions about flag lapel pins.

I agree with you on the nazis and the fascists, but the nazis and fascists were enabled to power by their propaganda and if you don't call one sided propaganda when you see it, it will happen again just as surely as Cheney wants to kill something.

Regarding FOX "News" to me they're just the red flag, while make no mistake about it FOX is definitely biased in their reporting, they primarily preach to the choir. The ones doing the most damage are those pretending to represent some mythical center while in fact they're just Trojan Horses for the radical right or the belief of corporate supremacy, while superficially pretending to be something they're not. I view them sort of as the sword that actually kills the bull as the bull charges the red flag.

I honestly don't see any commercial corporate media television truly representing the interests of the people, they represent corporations and I see a long term erosion of the American People's freedom and the ultimate disintegration of the Constitution for so long as that systemic dysfunction persists.

[kath]

81. Very good point, Uncle Joe, re; all those who say "but at least TR wasn't as bad as Fox", etc.

I really liked one of the first posts I saw that addressed this:

Is a journalist-poseur worse than an upfront right wing mouthpiece?
"Today's essay question, class" (TheBorealAvenger,post 19)

and someone replied:
heard it said once that a KKK member in a sheet is better than one in a suit
At least you know where you stand with the one in the sheet.

A poseur is worse than an upfront mouthpiece.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...




And I posted a few days ago, as commentary on the "essay question": "the damage Russert did was huge, compared to other mediawhores, because he reached such a large audience on a well-known show, and because he managed to fly under the radar of many and masquerade as a "journalist". Witness how many here at DU think he was just PEACHY. "and so fair! And he pissed off both sides that means he was the best most fair journalist *ever*, and so middle-of-the-road." "


I really like your Trojan Horse and red flag analogies.

We need to keep hammering at this one, because it's so pervasive. Has shown up at least 2 or 3 times in this thread already.

[Stinky The Clown]

39. Hate is only at the fringes, but ...... are you aware of the story of Jack Welch bragging of ......

.... turning Russert and Matthews to, essentially, the neocon perspective? Shortly after that, both bought houses on Nantucket and joined the consumately evil Mr. Welch's social circle.

That, alone, is no indictment. It is, however, emblematic of the tendency of both Russert and Matthews to carry right wing water buckets.

I don't hate the guy, never have. But I sure as hell hold him in no high regard.

[AnneD]

108. Jack Welch has done more to damage.....

the American worker and American business. I saw that segment and I was utterly disgusted with it. If you want to make TR to be a caring man-you don't bring someone like Welch out to talk about what a good guy he was. Welch is the Cheney of CEO's and it is totally disgusting the way the media (GE owned) practically fellitated him on air every time he brings his wrinkled ass on air, He may have fooled some folks-but not me. He and Cheney breathe from the same tank of sulfuric acid.

[JDPriestly]

41. I'm neutral, really. Russert wasn't Limbaugh or O'Reilly.

But he wasn't Olbermann or Moyers either. He missed so many opportunities to make a real difference in this country. We needed someone in his position with more wisdom on a political level than he had.

People who knew him talk about his wonderful human qualities, what a good friend and father he was, how religious. I turned my TV off a few years ago because I felt that he and virtually all the other newscasters were failing our country precisely because they were not good friends to our country.

He succombed all too often to the pressure to be just another cynical news hack repeating the cliches, the conventional thought of the day. Too often, he failed to have the courage to set aside his ambition and risk speaking unabashedly with a passion for truth and the welfare of our country. He was a man who bowed down to the Bush administration all too often.

Rather than explore the difference between the official lies and the real facts, Russert echoed the double-talk and nonsense that the Bush administration spewed on the American people.

That's why some people feel very disappointed about Russert.

[kath]

83. Please see UncleJoe's post above re; the "he wasn't Limbaugh or O'Reilly" concept

also, do some reading about the role Russert played in the ClintonBlowJob Debacle, the 2000 campaign and the trashing of Gore (Timmy pretty much had a hot line to BushCo's opposition research team), and the 2000 Selection. See also TR's ridiculous "debate" questions to DK, HRC, and others over the years.
There's some real eye-opening stuff out there.

[Overseas]

44. You could read the OP right above your own for a start

Here's an excerpt:
The origin of Russert’s right wing leanings

Podvin and Kay also give us some clue as to how Tim Russert became the right wing corporate shill that he has been for the past several years, in the same article I quoted above, based on anonymous sources who worked at GE:

Welch was absolutely determined to make his employees at NBC News finally genuflect to the most sacred words in his vocabulary: GE bottom line. He 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.


EVIDENCE OF RUSSERT’S RIGHT WING SHILLING

Because Tim Russert had an exceptional ability to come across as an unbiased and fair professional journalist with integrity, most people today, including even some liberals, still think of him in that way. That’s what made him so dangerous. I am convinced that, given the closeness of the last two Presidential elections, without Russert’s help neither one of them would have been close enough for George W. Bush to steal. Imagine how different our country and the world would be today if Al Gore had been our President for the past 7 years. So, let’s consider some of the evidence (much of which I’ve posted previously):


Russert’s role in the 2000 election

Russert’s announcing of the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling that every vote must be counted will forever be branded in my mind. That was the point in time when I suddenly realized who Russert was. The contempt in his eyes and in his voice was palpable. I don’t recall his exact words, but he was obviously enraged that all ballots would now have to be examined to determine the “intent of the voter”, as Florida’s Supreme Court had ruled.

Russert was relentless on Bush’s behalf during the Florida recount. Prior to Bush’s being awarded the presidency, as described by Eric Alterman in “What Liberal Media?”, Russert referred to Bush’s “future presidency” nineteen times, and he referred to Bush himself as “President Elect Bush”. On NBC Nightly News on November 8th, Russert said that Gore “can’t extend it too long, nor can he become a whiner about Florida”. He asked Dick Cheney if he thought that Gore was being a “sore loser”. And when Bush’s Florida campaign chairman, Katherine Harris, announced George Bush as the winner of the Florida election, based on the fact that the uncounted ballots hadn’t been counted by what she interpreted as the deadline date, Russert announced on his November 26th edition of Meet the Press, “He (Bush) has now been declared the official winner of the Florida election … and therefore is the forty-third president of the United States.”

[Swamp Rat]

46. Some of us want news regarding flooding along the Mississippi River, as our lives depend upon it

I live a few blocks from the Mississippi River.





Hey, MSNBC. I don't watch you anymore. :hi:

[texanwitch]

54. Take care Swamp Rat.

That is a lot of water coming your way.

[Gato Moteado]

77. holy cripes bro......stay dry!

ojala el rio no viene a su casa.

my thoughts are with you right now. i hope this thing passes without incident.

but if you have problems, you have a place to stay down here in costa rica!

[kestrel91316]

51. I don't watch much TV other than local news and the Simpsons.

So I really had no opinion of Russert.

But I sure am sick to death of hearing about him on DU. Jeebus H. Christ.

[stray cat]

55. Some members of the extreme right and left come full circle and are indistinguishable.

[Gabi Hayes]

60. why are you spaming this, btw?

the sky is blue much of the time

the sun rises in the east

so what?

[ljm2002]

56. "criticism" != "hate" n/t

[ProdigalJunkMail]

59. no...

saying FUCK Tim Russert might be though...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3478663&mesg_id=3478663

sP

[ljm2002]

62. So alert it if you're so concerned...

...my issue is all the people who bemoan "all the hate" here when the vast majority of posts that are critical, are either criticizing his actual record as a newscaster, or complaining about the round-the-clock, over-the-top coverage that can hardly be justified.

Look: I had no problem with the reporting on the day he died. It was understandable. And even the second day, okay, I get it. But at this point, it's ridiculous to be spending more air time.

Anyway, you point to one thread that I would agree is a bit on the outrageous side. But you know what, DU has facilities for dealing with that. Those who are offended should take advantage of those facilities, rather than posting whole new threads just so they can act holier-than-thou about reactions to Tim Russert's death.

For the record: I don't think Tim was the worst of the right wing, not by a long shot. But he enabled the worst of the right wing, and I don't care whether he did it intentionally or not, a lot of damage was done as a result. And I am A-OK with people on DU pointing that out.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

64. i am all for the criticism...

heck it is warranted...but some of the stuff here is SO over the top hateful that this board, it's admins and moderators should be embarrassed that it lasted as long as it did in that case. hate is hate...regardless of where it is aimed and in all cases hate does more damage to the hater than the hated...

sP

[ljm2002]

67. I guess we're in substantial agreement then...

...I could certainly do without the thread you pointed out. But remember, the mods won't always see things unless they are alerted.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

71. we are for certain...

and i know the mods have a ton of work...but this was alerted on from the OP and hung about for a LONG time...I am sure most of the time the hope is that people will stop responding and that it will just drop from the page (and I did my part in keeping it up there 'cause i was too mad to stop responding) but it would have done them well to yank it early...and not just lock it, but delete it.

Oh well...i am sucker for pissy posts...

sP

[easttexaslefty]

85. I agree

definite difference between criticism and venom.

[Imagevision]

69. If you think Russert is getting too much attention, change your fucking channel!

[L0oniX]

70. I don't hate Russert, I hate Russert threads.

:evilgrin:

[Arugula Latte]

74. How does criticizing him for carrying water for Bushco. become "hate"?

It reminds me of the primaries (**shudder**) when someone who dared criticize something about Hillary or her campaign or her positions was automatically labeled a "Hillary Hater."

Enough of the hyperbole. Sheesh.

[Patsy Stone]

75. Recommended

I, too, would have liked him to ask different/better questions sometimes. But I don't think it's fair to reduce a man's entire life to a few interviews.

Was he part of the corporate media? Yes. Was he the devil incarnate? No.

Tell me, now that he's dead, will the much decried media suddenly become the defenders of democracy DU believes it should be? No. Will they suddenly start reporting on the Iraq war or honoring the fallen? Will they now stop covering the missing white women? The celebrity gossip? No.

Putting all of the blame for the ills of the media on one man is silly. But, as I've found out from reading a lot of threads about him over the past week, sanctimonious bitching seems to make a lot of people feel better.

[ourbluenation]

82. life is too short to hate people. thx for posting.

:kick:

[Nothing Without Hope]

86. Then you need to read this carefully thought out and documented post:

"Why it Is of some Importance How we Remember Tim Russert"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3472805

Hate doesn't help, but knowing just how much damage Russert knowingly did is important. Going forward, our eyes need to be wide open.

[question everything]

87. Thank you. Interesting that Olbermann, who is second to god on these pages

have mourned his friend and colleague Russert.

And, the fact that he started with Moynihan and with Cuomo and admired his blue collar father should make all the ones who accuse him as being a freeper to at least stop and pause.

I know that I paused when I read these comments from Bernard Goldberg, whose opinions I usually ignore:


We ended our conversation that day with an exchange about the criticism he took from some on the political left for wearing a red, white and blue ribbon on his lapel when he interviewed Vice President Dick Cheney on Sept. 16, 2001. He told me a good friend of his died at the World Trade Center on 9/11, and that the friend's family had asked if he would wear the ribbon, "and I never thought for a second about it."

"I want a debate about national security and who defines national security," he said. "I understand all that. But in the end, you have to make judgments, and on that day I made a judgment that five days after the most horrific event of my lifetime and of my journalistic career, that for me to say to the country I too am part of this, I too have experienced this gut-wrenching pain and agony, and I too have enormous remorse and sympathy, with not only the people who died in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the field in Pennsylvania, but all of us -- we're in this together. This isn't covering Democrats and Republicans or the Bills versus the Redskins; this is us. The Taliban doesn't believe in the First Amendment."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121375187453382965.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

[kath]

110. Interestingly, you don't seem to be living up to your screen name.

have you read ANY of the informative posts linked to on this thread, or on MANY occasions over the past few days?


Sheesh.

[endarkenment]

113. It rarely does.

The everything it generally questions is limited to the leftwing skeptics here on DU.

[question everything]

122. That's right. I question the orthodoxy of the leftists on DU

and (in other places) the orthodoxy of any other groups.

I used to be a minority liberal on a conservative board and always pointed at their black or right view of the world. Which, of course, made it easier for them go get their candidates elected. They never question their candidates and their representatives.

Sadly, once I joined DU, I realized that liberals here are a mirror image of the conservatives. Just like Bush "you are either for us or against us."

But thank you for so thoroughly read all my posts to form that conclusion.

I don't remember reading any of yours, perhaps have nothing to contribute except the required "you are either with us or against us."

I go through life not being dependent on others' opinions of me. You may want to try it sometimes.

[yardwork]

89. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Another Russert thread! Make them stop!!!!!!!!

[leftofthedial]

90. hate? I haven't seen much hate.

I have seen posters insisting on an accurate accounting of Russert's neocon record, instead of uncritical fawning adulation. He was a corporate media whore--perhaps THE ultimate corporate media whore. One might think that corporate media whores would be unpopular on DU.

[LibDemAlways]

93. Russert was ultimately accountable to

the GE suits who paid his enormous salary. By letting criminals like Bush and Cheney off easy he was giving a pass to disasterous policies that have lead to untold death and destruction.

I hate what "journalists" like Russert represent - a corporate press that has largely devolved into a propaganda arm of the republican party.

[DianeK]

94. do you suppose...

we could let him rest in peace now?

[Raster]

101. Certainly, if hackjobs will stop trying to push their revisionist history on the rest of us.

We have memories, we have the Internet and we WILL NOT FUCKING FORGET WHO RUSSERT SERVED AND HOW HE DID SO. If all the apologists will stop pushing their dishonest eulogizations, then we will stop rebutting them. Until then, post shit, have it responded to. It really is that simple.

[endarkenment]

105. "Russert was the greatest journalist evah!"

Hater: well no, he actually was Jack Welch's servant and he epitomized much of what is wrong with what has become known as 'balanced journalism' as documented here by: <thousands of words and links in multiple posts>.

"Why do you spit on the dead and hate america?"

[FiveGoodMen]

114. Nope.

[endarkenment]

95. No hate, no worship, won't shutup when he gets idolized. nt.

[SoCalDem]

109. It's NOT aimed at HIM... all he did was DIE.. It's about how MSTIMBC was hijacked

for SIX DAYS...a more or less total blackout of anything not Tim-related.

[JackRiddler]

112. I guess your understanding is being blocked by a false definition.

It's not "hate." If anything's hated, it's the corporate media and their trivialization and distortion of everything. Then they suspend coverage for days to heroize Russert as though he were Gandhi plus Elvis, when he is more like Cheney's court jester/stenographer. And in the process, they reveal in compelling fashion that it's all about them, they don't give a shit about anything outside their narrow world. And many people here respond with tributes to their imaginary friend, like slaves in love with their masters. And laughable exaggerations of his significance. Then anyone who merely sums up Russert's career is accused of "grave dancing." A moral hysteria is built up around his death. So it spirals into a nasty back and forth.

[NashVegas]

119. This Post Should Be Required Reading

[NashVegas]

118. I Don't Hate Tim Russert

I hate that his work is being held up as a shining example of great journalism, when really he was just carrying water for people in power.

http://imperialwitness.blogspot.com/