My gosh, has it already been a year since Tim Russert, NBC commentator and Meet the Press host, died suddenly of a heart attack? Tim, we hardly missed ye.
I remember that after Russert’s untimely death at the age of 58, NBC (and indeed the entire TV news establishment) spent three or four days discussing his life and impact on politics in a gusher of praise that hadn’t been matched since at least the death of Ronald Reagan. To hear the talk among the chattering heads, you would have thought that Jesus had been crucified and taken to the tomb.
My view of Russert was a little more nuanced. To me, he always came across as a leering, pumpkin-headed sycophant who sucked up shamelessly to whichever party was in power so he could retain his precious “access” to Washington bigwigs. Whatever journalistic and political smarts he had were always secondary to his desire to lick the boots of the powers that be. As for his appreciation of journalistic ethics, I’ll note that Russert commented for months on the Valerie Plame scandal without ever disclosing to his viewers that he was a key witness who had been questioned as part of that investigation.
In short, Russert exemplified everything rotten and corrupt about the current media establishment that’s trying desperately to hang on to its influence inside the Beltway.
I certainly don’t wish for the premature death of anyone and I’m sorry that Russert’s wife and son lost someone who was very important to them. But I’m also glad I was spared the ordeal of having to watch his smirking visage during last fall’s presidential campaign.
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