Smarmy beyond words and his Big Russ schtick made me ill.

Reading some of the posts here; I wonder how much of it was jealousy?? It will be different on Sundays not watching Tim hosting Meet the Press, and I had just gotten into his interviews that started on CNBC and moved to MSNBC shown on weekends -- he touched so many people because he truly seemed authentic and on his interview shows did have a lot of knowledge about the subjects and certainly did quick fact checks as I remember one with Andrew Sullivan and another individual who started sparing on what was said and when. I know that in three households he will be missed -- that of mine and that of my two daughters.

I also feel that although I read some speculation today on a replacement; NBC has a good part of the summer and should take it's time and perhaps have some guest hosts -- Tom Brochaw, Gwen Iffel, Bill Moyers, are ones that come to mind --

I would like to see someone who doesn't show their partiship too clearly -- and has the ability to do a good interview.

Over at Talking Points Memo, there is a very simple message re Tim Russert, expressing sadness at his passing and sympathy for the family. Period. That kind of expression doesn't prompt one to any kind of rebuttal. On the other hand, people who print statements about Russert's "fearless" journalism and "even-handed" treatment of all sides of a debate are just asking to be corrected. There is plenty on the record to show that Russert was an administration enabler. Take a little of your own advice--if you want to keep the focus on sympathy for Russert, then do so and refrain from putting out worshipful exaggerations about his work.

I appreciate the fact that there is an outpouring of emotion about Tim Russert, the family man, colleague and public persona. And, I understand the desire of the network to honor their fallen family member and pay last respects to his family in tributes. However, this wall-to-wall coverage now in its fourth day is WAY OUT of perspective. You would have thought they were going on about a fallen head of state rather than a talk show host. Seriously, enough is enough. And I suspect Russert himself might even agree with me...

I liked Tim Russert--and I have to cry shame on the people blasting the man. (Show a little decorum--some grasp of the facts). But saying that he's the best of our news media, if true, is nothing to cheer about. In fact, it's profoundly depressing. There's not a single BBC reporter that couldn't run circles around the American press corps in an interviewing challenge. We are poorly, poorly served by a press that is ever diverted by the shiny, the sexy, and pathologically incapable of grappling with the substantive.

My favorite Russert moment was during an interview with wild ass CIA agent Michael Scheuer, who told the story of Bush sending him to find and capture Bin Ladin and ordered him to send back Bin Ladin's head in a box. Scheuer and Russert became quite animated, enthusiastically dissecting the logistics of transporting a head from the desert mountains in the Middle East to the President's desk in Washington.

"........and where would you find dry ice?", Russert asked Scheuer.

I miss him already. Sundays will not be the same.

Good, mediocre, bad, whatever one might say in regard to Russert's abilities/questions etc., he did do one thing that stands-out to my mind that shows the degree to how many people thought he was honest: When Libby tried to stick him with a lie about Valerie Plame's outing, Russert's word trumped the felon's hands down. That says legions about the man's integrity. It also, of course, says the opposite about the felon's...

<"If someone a victim of the fascist Chilean regime like Dorfman was able to refrain from gloating about the death of Pinochet to his mourners- is it too much to ask for someone to maintain a civil tongue about the passing of Tim Russert?">

Let's see, what is the difference between the passing of the fascist, universally despised, murderous, torturing thug Pinochet and the smiling face of a boisterous, contented propagandist for the ruling political and economic class?

A big one. One that needs to be pointed out by those who weren't fooled, especially in the face of the onslaught of gushing, trite tributes.

For Dorfman to have been "mature" in his remarks on the monster Pinochet would have been made much easier by the black and white nature of the task. Everyone in the world--nearly--agrees with the premise that Pinochet was a very bad man. Stating the obvious, etc. Dorfman's reticence in criticizing the old fascist makes him look saintly. But for people to rightly point out that Russert, no matter how great a family man and friend, was a tool of the club that led us into Iraq, etc., is completely different. It's necessary! In a democracy, you have to pull the curtain back and look behind it.

This man had no accomplishments in "journalism" that are worth citing--which may be why even his own network has to fall back on endless crap-talking about what a great guy he was. All he actually "did" was invite ruling class people onto his show and let them get across their talking points with few serious interruptions or road blocks. Quite an accomplishment! And all this blather about what a "working class" stiff he was. Wow. Talk about pouring out a nice, stiff drink of Kool Aid for the masses to suck up. In the U.S. at this time, I would gather a pretty large group of Boomers of his age are the children of working class or lower-middle class parents. Fact is, he was a richly paid VP of NBC--the Neocons' favorite network--hobnobbed in D.C. and had a second home on Cape Cod. Look at the people eulogizing him! They are all heavyhitters in the corridors of power. And a few deluded "working class" people from Buffalo and "working class sympathizers" who have bought the goods.

Side Note: Didn't he just ban Arianna Huffington from NBC b/c of her critical book about him? Pretty thin-skinned for such a fabulously nice guy. I notice Anne Coulter got a free seat at the table everytime one of her slithery manifestoes against decent people hit the bookstores. Why didn't he ban her?

Cab Driver, your customers no doubt appreciate your natural politeness. So do the rich and powerful--hugely! (And I'm sure the Russert supporters LOVE your putting him in the same letter with Pinochet! Funny.)