Biden was to be on Meet the Press but Russert just passed away

[Muttocracy]

so don't know if that schedule will hold.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3898804/

[jillan]

1. omg - I am freaking out here.

I was a huge mtp fan....

what happened?
Just turned on msnbc.

[Muttocracy]

2. it's over in LBN and GD - heart attack at work this afternoon. nt

[jillan]

3. I'll be looking forward to Biden's statement on this sad day.

He was a regular on MTP. This has got to be painful for Biden as well.

[Muttocracy]

4. yeah. :-(

[gateley]

5. I think they truly liked one another.

And that Irish Catholic bond can be pretty strong -- I saw that a lot when I was growing up. (My dad graduated from BC, by the way, as did Russert, son.)

I'm so sad about Tim Russert -- REALLY sad. I liked him a lot and tended to give him a pass when he said something that tended to piss off a lot of other people.

[PatSeg]

6. I gave him a pass often

as I really, really liked and admired him. He seemed so genuine and down-to-earth. This is such a shock and his colleagues on TV are really affected. Brian Williams appears to be blinking back the tears as he speaks.

[jillan]

7. I just heard that Russert was preparing for this Sunday's MTP when he passed away.

:cry:

[Muttocracy]

8. they said he came back early from family vacation to prepare. nt

[PatSeg]

9. His son had just graduated from college

He died at a time when his life was going so well and he was really excited about the election.

[Muttocracy]

10. yeah, talk about someone dying at the top of their personal and professional game. nt

[PatSeg]

11. Exactly

Its very sad.

[ribrepin]

12. This is why I like the Joe Biden forum

The lunacy about people being happy about this death just passes us by. I am sad for his colleagues and family. I tried to catch his show each week. Sometimes the guests pissed me off and I didn't feel he challenged them enough...Cheney and Tom Delay. He truly loved politics and his show had content.

I will miss Tim's take on the coming election. Tim's roots were working class catholic.

P.S. I am so sick of the nastiness in GP and GPP. The primary nastiness just died down and here we go again.

[PatSeg]

13. I haven't been "out there" since early afternoon

I had no idea people were being insensitive and ignorant.

I've been an admirer of Russert's for a long time and he gets so little credit from the lefties for the many times he has called politicians to task. One of my favorite interviews was with Bush in the Oval Office. I thought Russert was very hard on him and Bush looked like an absolute fool.

[jillan]

14. I loved it when he recently had McCain on and McCain said I don't know where you

got the quote that I was weak on the economy.

Russert got that look in his eye, and said from you sir. And proceeded to play the clip of McCain saying he doesn't know anything about the economy. That's what I loved about Russert, no one could bs him.

[PatSeg]

18. I love that "look"

Much like the all knowing look from a teacher when calling a student's bluff. I didn't see that one with McCain as I can't listen to McCain for more than 15 seconds anymore.

Watching MSNBC yesterday, I was so moved by how affected his colleagues were. That genuine grief is so rare on TV and brought me to tears numerous times.

[jillan]

20. Me too. I was teary eyed until I finally decided - enough

and turned it off.

They are still at it today. What really got to me was how CNN dedicated the entire day to Russert as well. It was as if the two major cable stations were one. Very touching.

[ribrepin]

15. It was pretty bad

There was one thread that stayed up for hours called "I piss on his Grave" in regards to Tim's passing.

I thought he was O. K. He refused to lay down and take the blame for telling Scooter Libby about Valerie Plame and the jury believed him.

There seem to be some really nasty people on DU right now and they get away with posting some outrageous stuff. I don't find those type of people on the Joe Biden board.

[PatSeg]

19. It is inevitable that we'll disagree with public figures

from time to time. In Russert's case, I think he was always sincere, so I often gave him a pass.

[jillan]

16. I called someone out on their nasty post about Russert yesterday, asking

couldn't this wait? And they replied - when is long enough? A day, a month, a year?

Unbelievable how heartless some people can be.

[ribrepin]

17. At least you tried

I alerted on thread called "I piss on his grave". The thread stayed up for hours. The moderators have finally deleted it and tomb-stoned the poster.

There were good and bad things about Russert. I think he was way too easy on Cheney and Tom Delay. He didn't challenge their lies enough.

He refused to play along with Scooter Libby and Cheney and take the blame for outing Plame to Libby. The jury believed Russert. That's the only reason Libby was convicted.

Russert was an institution. I always tried to catch at least parts of his show. Sometimes it was only clips here on DU. I think Russert show was a bell weather for what was going on in Washington.

I wouldn't even want to piss on Ann Coulter's grave. I don't understand why the moderators are not more on top of this stuff.

[jillan]

21. I'm glad I missed that thread,

About the mods - all I can say is it will be a looooong time before DU sees another penny from me.
I'll donate when I have to renew my star so I can post here and at other groups, but that is it.
I have had it with some of the crap that has been allowed to be posted and remain out there.
Yesterday proved to me that the mods really care about unity. ugh. It's frustrating.