Regardless how one feels about MSNBC/NBC, we should take a moment of silence for the passing of Tim Russert. All life is precious and all families feel the pain of loss; the hole in life that will never be filled. We wish you God speed Mr. Russert.
Yet let us be clear. Mr. Russert in the end was a talk show host. His topic? Politics. He made an impressive impact in his field. He did not decode DNA strands for humanity. He did not cure polio.
MSNBC’s coverage (granted they knew him personally; don’t professional standards still apply?) borders on the emotionally psychotic. Olbermann for hours teetered on the edge of being appallinly unglued. One can only cringe thinking what a lunatic Olbermann will do on Countdown. Not everyone lost composure. Gregory, for example, retained a sobriety and measure. Al Hunt, possibly Mr. Russert’s closest friend in life, also gave graceful, heartfelt yet professional observations about Mr. Russert the man and journalist. His grief was obvious, dignified and enhanced its resonance for Mr. Russert. It is possible for some to be in mourning, miss the man and mentor, and still keep composure and emotional balance. The inevitable canonization does not require mawkish obsequiousness. There is enough to remember on its own.
Absurdly (but predictably), Pat turned Mr. Russert into a Volkish staple standing against the SDS, Tom Hayden, hippies and all that has gone wrong with America since 1965. Pat all but declared Russert an honorary party member. Similarly, Tweety also emphasized the class side of Tim’s background, carefully (but appearing to be spontaneous) making sure that Mr. Russert’s bio tracked Tweety’s own mythology. Quelle suprise.
Mr. Russert, we in our little band here often made genial fun of you (and tossed in some snark as well). To you now and to your family here behind we extend deepest condolences and sympathy. But those overwrought parts of the groundswell of choreographed testimonials beginning at 4 today leading up the apotheosis on Sunday? Already not so much.
Russert’s obvious stellar personal qualities is the crux of all this – We knew he’d have The Boss at his memorial service.
“Obviously, in any compromise, there are compromises.”
~Condi
(rationalizing her recent appeasment of
Hezbollah)
This guy’s neocon monomania is sometimes over the top – as is Paul worship. But sadly, he is correct on 90 percent here – But what to do? That’s life. Ideologues never learn to live with realities. That’s why the make for good polemicists and critics but bad war planners and war opponents. Btw – Gee Dubs at Russ’s wake – MSNBC said they were respectful adversaries. Please.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13006
Interesting Tweet video – Tweety tuckes in an inappropriately timed and poorly contexted (but mostly accurate – for the wrong reasons) critique of Russert here. He then compliments Russert on having the kind of qualities that led him to broadcast Warlord propaganda. Tweety intuits this because he thinks the same way – Tweety extols the low-info Muricans who revel in mis-knowlege and he also admires Bush’s heart etc,
Anyway – The transcript of the vid is oddly missing from the msnbc website.
Memory Hole-Bye Bye
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=113283
Tweety is losing his bearings again. His mind is on succession.
Apologies again, portions of the Imperial City electrical grid have collapsed twice in recent days.
OT – Tim would be non plussed, but the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty was a 4GW moment – Little Ireland – less than one percent of Europe , just threw Brussells into a tailspin.
Moreveor – It was Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein who were key – so a fraction of a fraction of one percent in Europe rocked Brussells – Incidentally, now funny that Adams is doing the work that the UK Tories claim they want done.
Also, did you notice that Pat dialed back Russ’s age a few years to make him a 50s guy rather than the 60s guy he actually was – Including a trip to Woodstock, but not Nam. Then again, Pat avoided Nam too. Too busy worrying about Danzig.
Pat was amusing – He declared Russ to be the last of a breed – In fact, if Pat went south of the border he would find many poor, but sturdy, Mexican villages where Russ would be regarded as something of a modernist.
Tweety was careful not to mention Nantucket.