An Irish Flack
The encomia for Timothy John Russert, Jr. take one's breath away. They astound even the sympathetic critic. For in reality, Russert practiced evasion and obfuscation, replacing real news with pap. He was no teller of great truths, no champion of the powerless, no voice of conscience. To the contrary, he diligently enforced the status quo. Sure, he was a nice guy. And he had a gift for handicapping political races. But the agitation surrounding his passing marks less his admirable qualities than his failings: without his happy face the establishment media may now more easily be seen for the toxic parasites that they are. Their exaggerated grieving serves the grievers, not the man. It would be better to remember Tim Russert without memorializing the system.
Posted by George Kenney on June 14, 2008 2:26 PM 
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Comments
Even in the progressive blogosphere, they seem to be gushing over him. Only you are not. And I think you're right.
By the way, did you notice how Obama, as soon as he clinched the nomination, did a 180 degree turn, not only with AIPAC but also with his 'free market' financial pals? In other words, he metamorphosed into Hillary! How's that, for irony?
Well, we must vote for him, because McCain is truly awful. The recent Habeas decision was only 5-4 and McCain opposed it strongly. You can clearly see what McCain would do to the court. We must all hold our nose and vote for Obama.
Posted by: benjamin777
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June 15, 2008 10:06 AM
Truth to tell, I didn't pay that much attention to Tim Russert; he neither held his guests' feet to the fire nor provided helpful insight and context to the issues of the day.
This current overgrieving on the media is just one more example with the celebritization of the 'news' and opinion portion of the corporate media. Hype sells.
Posted by: rita | June 16, 2008 10:09 AM
So true. I've been astounded at the way the same blogs who were bashing "Timmeh" just a few days ago, have suddenly discovered that he was a god amongst men.
Posted by: Behihoo | June 16, 2008 2:37 PM
Remember CNN's Jessica Yellin talking about how her superiors at MSNBC during the lead-up to the Iraq War were pressuring her? Now who was NBC's Washington bureau chief during that time...wait for it...Tim Russert.
Posted by: ramon | June 19, 2008 11:53 PM
Tim Russert? Never heard of him. Is he somebody important? I assume it helps if you're American.
Posted by: David | June 21, 2008 6:07 PM