Comments on: Camping in Fallujah.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:44:59 +0000

I agree with Brian, Jolene. I also liked William Kristol’s article (NYTimes) about Tim the other day. I tried to link to it here in comments yesterday, but it wouldn’t work. Not sure why. But I think TR was an all around good guy and the naysayers just haven’t read enough about him to understand.

The coverage does seem to be a little overboard, but isn’t most everything nowadays?

By: Jolene

Jolene — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:14:19 +0000

Glad you liked them, Brian. They’re two of my favorite WaPo columnists. Whenever they have a piece in the paper, I always start there first.

By: brian stouder

brian stouder — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:33:40 +0000

Jolene - thanks for the links to the Shales and the Robinson pieces; I thought they got it right, too

By: Gasman

Gasman — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:01:06 +0000

I too, was perplexed by the hyperbolic nature of the Russert obits. He seemed to be a decent enough guy, but my reaction was one of disappointment for what might have been. I had a similar reaction when Peter Jennings died. Here we had two very intelligent men, who for whatever their personal reasons, chose to be willfully silent while crimes were committed by Cheney/Bush et al. I don’t believe that either man was gullible enough to believe the procession of lies, but they certainly should have been outraged enough by the dishonesty, incompetence, arrogance, and the willful ignorance displayed by W. & Co. to exercise some healthy skepticism and inquisitiveness.

I think one possible explanation for the Russert-For-Sainthood talk has little to do with Russert himself. It seems to be a rather feeble attempt by some in the media to rewrite history - or at least to influence our perception of it. I’ve heard incessantly of how Russert “asked the tough questions.” Really? I don’t recall him being that tough at all on the laughably inept Bushie rhetoric until about 2006, about the same time that other mainstream media types began to explore the use of their spines - albeit tentatively and infrequently.

He did expose Scooter Libby, but only after being subpoenaed in court. He knew damn well that Cheney was targeting Valerie Plame simply because she had the audacity to be married to a man of character, a man who would not buttress the lies of the sniveling occupant of the White House. Damn the press if their code of ethics means protecting a source as malevolent and vile as Dick Cheney. What possible social good was advanced by keeping secret Cheney’s involvement? It’s as if Woodward and Bernstein protected Nixon, Haldeman, and Erlichman while Tricky Dick & Co. smeared John Dean.

As I said above, I am left saddened by what Russert - and his contemporaries in the media - did not do. Had Russert, Browkaw, Gibson, Jennings, Rather, et al., behaved more like Murrow and gone after the bastards, this war very well might have been averted. At the risk of speaking ill of the dead, during this country’s greatest hour of need, when we needed a man of courage and integrity to speak truth to power, Tim Russert did not do his duty.

By: Jolene

Jolene — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:35:05 +0000

I dunno, Scout. The Jack Shafer piece that Nancy linked to seems to me to capture the essential problems with the Russert coverage. The Crimmins piece goes several steps too far, moving beyond criticism into meanness. Among its other problems, it contains no humor, an unfortunate outcome for the work of a satirist.

By: Scout

Scout — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:50:37 +0000

Personally, I think Barry Crimmins has it about right regarding the Russertathon.

http://www.barrycrimmins.com/index.php?page=news&display=1022

By: joodyb

joodyb — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:32:27 +0000

Jolene, that ad is a riot. thanks.

By: joodyb

joodyb — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:31:13 +0000

in newspapers, it’s about how many other more notable deaths there are in the cycle. too weird to speculate, but lots of deaths would have topped his, when you think about it.

that said, a collective gasp went up in this newsroom friday afternoon. people did connect with him. i sat wondering what i’d been doing at 9a sunday, and it was looking like me and doris kearns goodwin, lighting a candle. i actually got up for the damn show. and it was because of him.

By: Jolene

Jolene — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:56:16 +0000

At the risk of further offending those whose tolerance for all things Russert-related has already been surpassed, I want to pass along links to a couple of the best pieces I’ve seen about him–pieces that do a much better job of explaining what was important about him and his death than I did in my earlier post.

Tom Shales describes the difficulty of accepting the idea of Russert’s death, saying that it seems impossible Tim is gone because he was having too much fun to die.

Eugene Robinson talks about what made Russert important and distinctive in journalism.

No false sentimentality in either piece. Guaranteed.

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:06:58 +0000

Crap…I didn’t even know that he was sick…