Today I Shall Speak Ill Of The Dead

[zehnkatzen]

One thing that will never fail to boggle me is the outpouring of kind words for someone who died, even if they did most people no good at all. I am not a fan of Tim Russert, and I never was.

I don't wish further depression and despair upon his loved ones ... I've lost family members too. I know how that's like the world ending on you. Because, it kind of is.

But for some reason, speaking up about what this man's worth was is considered evil and "dancing on his grave".

Well, step back. I'm going to gravedance just a bit, then.

This week Tim Russert gakked his last quite suddenly on the floor of NBC's Washington Bureau, and the lachrymose comments immediately went into overdrive about how "beloved", "powerful", "connected", and "fair" he was.

When John McCain calls someone fair, you know that maybe he wasn't. Everyone else remembers a man who was insightful and keen. I remember a commentator who lobbed softballs at republicans and hardballs at Democrats. If you weren't part of the inside the Beltway, Federal City cocktail crowd, this man was not your friend. Just like the rest of the chattering classes these days, he was more interested in the influence he held than in any power he had to change the world for good with his high pulpit. Just like the rest of the Washington press class, he was satisfied in himself, and pleased with the power he wielded.

Just like the rest of the chattering class, when he could have made a difference, he stood by and let republicans have the store. As long as he had influence there was nothing wrong in his world, regardless of what was wrong in yours. And what was wrong in yours was at least abetted by what he did ... and didn't do. So much power for good, and it was wasted.

Need I remind anyone here that it's a well-known open secret that the VP considered Meet the Press the best channel for control of their message?

Another journal keeper here, 'greenman3610', said it most eloquently:

Russert became a hollow caricature of the hard hitting journalist, by
knowing exactly how far to go in any encounter, with a keen
eye for just which players in the power structure could be challenged,
exactly how much he could pretend to challenge them, and above all,
those lines that must never be crossed.

By following these rules, he defined the modern millionaire
media star journalist -less the hard bitten investigator, and
more the courtier in the palace - laughing the loudest at the president's
jokes about missing WMD - making sure always to
be one of the in crowd, the coolest kids in school, and making his program the place to go
for an administration that wanted "message control", - saying in
a moment of candor, "principles are for paupers.." --
the tenet he lived by to the end.

Truer words were never spoken. Honor the man if you must, but don't ignore the damage he and his sort did to our lives as Americans.

Mourn Tim Russert if you want.

I prefer not to.

[PinkTiger]

1. Well said.

I prefer to think of it as being his time to go, as he had done as many bad deeds as he was allowed for this incarnation. He was called home by his maker. :evilfrown:

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Thank you. Although I respect the loss to his family and friends I also

believe that we can simply say just that, without reviewing his career through rose-tinted glasses. The two things can be separated.

[eleny]

3. When talking heads comment that they don't know how they will do without him....

Maybe they mean that they don't know who will do what he did as well. To get away with it so well. Maybe nobody wants to walk in his real shoes because his balancing act is a tough one to emulate. He made it easy for them to follow along in his draft, so to speak. Setting their agenda for the week. I always wondered why the heck his show set the agenda.

Thanks for your thoughts. We really do need to stay in the real world where TR's agenda was not ours.

[vi5]

4. The coverage of his death has been so over the top...

I'm sorry, and it ultimately has much less to do with Russert himself than with the general culture of media pontificators in general and their smug self reverence that they thought the death of one of their own necessitated literally hours and hours of coverage. When I saw more than one talking head look into the camera and talk about him in the green room of Heaven doing his research to be able to "ask the tough questions." I just couldn't hack it and had to turn it off.

[Mabus]

5. Very eloquent and well-stated

Kudos to you and greenman3610 for putting into words what I have been feeling. Russert could have used his influence to become a man of the people. He chose to become a mouthpiece of the powerful.

Most of all, I agree with the comments about gravedancing. I am not dancing on his grave, rather I have been expressing my opinion and the disappointment in Russert's so-called journalistic standards. He sold us out. He sold all of us out when he became a cheerleader and protector of those whose approval he sought.

I understand that there are some who loved him and looked up to him. I do not share these sentiments. I did not mourn and try to remember Reagan as a someone to look up to or relate to. I will not mourn or try to remember George W. Bush as someone admirable in the days and weeks after he is gone from this earth. Nor will I cower and hide my opinions of Russert now.

He could have done so much to hold those in power accountable for their actions. Instead, he opted to be used as a tool to promote the agendas that are decried here daily and to protect those who are responsible for these atrocities.

[zehnkatzen]

6. I just wanted to vomit over the national Reagan funeral, FWIW. N/T

[Mabus]

7. I was wanting to go rent a ditch witch

so I could bury him and end the madness.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. "He was a real shill's shill *sniff* -- we'll never see his like again." {wipes tear}

Honestly, when he was given MTP, my reaction was "THAT guy? WHY?"

Of course, now I know.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. He was more the puppet than the puppetmaster

The puppetmaster was the consummately evil Jack Welch.



Russert: "Integrity is for paupers"

[BridgeTheGap]

10. Mark Twain was once asked to comment on the passing of someone he loathed

He responded: "I've sent the family a note letting them know that I approved."

"Integrity is for Paupers" purportedly said by Tim Russert. More:
http://progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=84844