Tim Russert has died of a heart attack.

[SeattleGirl]

He pissed me off more often than not, but damn! That's just so sad.

[SharonRB]

1. It really is.

RIP, Timmeh. I loved him when he asked the Repubs the tough questions and put them on the spot. When he did the same to Dems, not so much.

[CC]

2. As much as I like bonus Keith this

is not the way I want it. RIP Tim Russert

[SeattleGirl]

3. Keith looks like he's barely holding it together.

[Berry Cool]

4. How long has he been on?

I just got home at 6 and turned on MSNBC right away and there he was. I had already heard the news. What a shock.

[SeattleGirl]

5. A little over an hour now, I think.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

6. I was shocked when I got home about an hour ago and heard

the news. RIP Tim and my condolences to his wife and son and most especially his father. You never get over the loss of a child, no matter how old they are.

[Berry Cool]

8. It shouldn't be like that. Parents shouldn't outlive their children.

His family...you know, usually you're an ass to even presume you can know anything about how someone else feels at a time like this, but I will be presumptuous and say I do. Because I lost my mom the same way.

The difference: She was much older, was in bed and had eight years of retirement first.

[Berry Cool]

7. Oh, damn. The white dry erase board with the flowers...

:cry:

[Berry Cool]

9. I heard from coworkers

and at 5 today, my boss packs up and says to us all "GO HOME!" I thought, this was a perfect day to say that.

Maybe Keith SHOULD take that damn vacation.

[Berry Cool]

10. A quote from his final report, which was on fightthesmears.com...

I remember being in Indianapolis covering the Indiana primary and a man came up to me and said he wasn’t going to vote for Senator Obama because he was very concerned about the comments made by Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor. I said, “That’s interesting. As a reporter, I’m curious what comments particularly bothered you?” He said, “Well, I can’t think of any that come to mind, but I also read on the Internet that he’s a Muslim.” And I said, “Now wait a minute. You can’t have both. You can’t be offended by his Christian minister and then say he’s a Muslim. You’ve got to pick one.”

Now there's a statement.

Ah..."Mayor McCheese." You used to bug the hell out of me sometimes, but you also had your wisdom and you loved politics like crazy. Obviously Keith felt deeply about you as well...he's half in tears. It's not going to be the same, going through the conventions and election night without you.

When you said at the end of the North Carolina-Indiana primary night that there was no doubt now who the Dem nominee would be, I believed you. Utterly.

[Berry Cool]

11. Now talking to David Bloom's widow about how Tim helped her.

Keith is just breaking up thinking about Bloom again.

[SeattleGirl]

12. Thanks for that, Berry.

I didn't know about that interaction with that man.

[CC]

13. It is hard to watch so I keep

taking breaks. Besides I still have to feed the zoo and force feed Lil-bear.
I wonder if they sent Monica home after telling her. All the ones on the air just before the story broke seem to be off now. I have a feeling they were the last to be told so they didn't break down on the air. If so kudos for whoever made that decision and putting your people first.

[Berry Cool]

14. They must have had some sort of logic to when they broke it to people.

Looks as if a lot of people on DU were bitching and disbelieving when they first heard because MSNBC was carrying on like normal as if nothing had happened. Maybe that was precisely because they didn't want to tell anyone until they were off the air for the day.

[Berry Cool]

15. Pat Puke-cannon: "When you went up against him, you were at Yankee Stadium

up against their top pitcher."

Well, he sure knows how to create a metaphor for Keith.

Keith says Tim was "so smart he scared you."

[CC]

18. After Brokaw was on with a special report

they just never went back to them though it was still early for them to go off. That is why I have a feeling they told them during the commercial and let them have time to absorb it and either go home or who knows hang around in the office and process it. Someone went to so trouble to try to inform people before it hit them unexpectedly.

[Patsy Stone]

20. Monica is so very, very pregnant.

I saw her this morning for the first time in a long time, and I don't know if I knew and forgot, but I was temporarily stunned.

[SeattleGirl]

16. This is interesting. Listening to Rachel and David Bender, and

they were talking about how Russert would pull out old clips of his guests saying something and ask them about it.

I have MSNBC on with closed captioning, and Keith and Buchanan were talking about the very same thing.

[Berry Cool]

17. Keith about to turn over to Andrea Mitchell.

I think he will say something personal now.

[Berry Cool]

19. Special edition of Countdown at 8 tonight.

[Patsy Stone]

21. Just a horrible loss.

And I wish DU would chill out about how they're covering it. He was one of their own, and it's perfectly fine, IMO, to spend some time honoring him.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

22. Patsy, you are so right.

I wasn't exactly fond of Timmeh but the fact that his wife and son are probably right now flying back from Italy makes me want to cry.

And as I said above, his father must be heartbroken..

[Patsy Stone]

23. That's actually when I cried

I had heard on the news that his wife and son were still in Italy, and I thought of them flying home. Then, yes, I thought of his dad. That poor family.

And listening to Andrea, with her voice catching and cracking, is very difficult.

[SharonRB]

27. That's so sad

I hadn't heard that yet.

[Patsy Stone]

28. It's what they reported in the very beginning

But I'm not sure that's actually the truth. But, the fact remains, I cried when I heard it.

Hi, Shar.

[Botany]

24. Good Night Timmy ..... "Sleep pretty darling do not cry"

Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullabye

Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullabye

Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullabye

[Patsy Stone]

25. Someone left a white board and flowers

outside of the DC studios for him. :cry:

[Botany]

26. I give up on so much of D.U. right now

A family has lost a father .... a father has lost his son and people have lost
a friend and some asswipes want to talk politics.

[ailsagirl]

31. The photo of Luke standing by his father's chair is so touching

:patriot:

[GigiMommy]

29. Oh no. My goodness.

R.I.P. Mr. Russert. My condolences to his family and to NBC.

[bunny planet]

30. I haven't been able to watch any tv coverage today. It is so sad.

A very dedicated person even though I sometimes disagreed or thought he didn't push people hard enough and then sometimes pushed others too hard. I liked him in spite of it though and the loss to his family, his wife and son, and his family at NBC is just so sudden and tragic.
Very upsetting. RIP Timmeh.