Regarding Russert's death

[PSPS]

It’s always sad to see a family left behind when someone dies. Frankly, that’s the way I want to go: fine one moment, clutch my chest the next and keel over dead.

But what gets me about this is the way the media is covering it. On the radio station I was listening to, it was nothing but somber voices repeating this "shocking event." Then the hagiographies and testimonials began and were repeated over and over. Next they had a guy from "the news room" saying "Without Tim Russert, how will I know who (sic) to vote for?" Next, a political academic espousing on the "political and social effects."

Geez, what’s next? A state funeral carried live on every network? A national holiday? A new face for the $100 bill?

What this says is that, to the mainstream corporate media, it’s all about them. What kind of coverage do they give the "shocking events" committed against us daily by bush and the GOP? The needlessly killed and deformed soldiers and civilians? Where are those testimonials?

Maybe I'd feel different if I watched television. I don’t know. It just seems so out of proportion.

[Name removed]

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[Kolesar]

4. false outrage ^

[Danger Mouse]

31. no...it's real outrage at the incredible lack of maturity and compassion among some duer's.

such as, you know...you.

[Danger Mouse]

30. i hate grave dancing, it's a disgusting practice.

wouldn't you agree, OMC?

[Name removed]

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[hfojvt]

45. do you call this OP grave dancing?

There was no celebration, just a little outrage at the hagiography and the way a celbrity's death and life are so much more important to the media than the rest of us ordinary folk.

[NashVegas]

38. OMC, They're Supposed to Be Professionals

Instead, they're behaving like necrophiliacs. If someone is so personally affected by the loss that they cannot concentrate on other important events and items that affect the lives of the millions watching, they should take the day off from being on the air.

[Kolesar]

2. What did Russert ever sacrifice for the good of all?

Maybe somebody knows. Celebrity worship always squicks me out.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

6. they are mourning the loss of someone

who was a colleague and likely a friend...and Tim would have been the last person to refer to himself as a celebrity...

sP

[malaise]

22. The public airwaves n/t

[enid602]

25. Russert

I haven't watched him in a long while, but I figured he must have been favborable to Obama of late, given DU's reaction to his demise.

[Danger Mouse]

32. They mourn him as a colleague and a friend. He was a stalwart of the field of journalism.

[LisaM]

3. Well to the people on the air he's a colleague and co-worker

If someone in our office dropped dead at work, I think we would all be shocked, and we'd probably go home. In fact, when my sister was in elementary school, one of the teachers did die right at school and everyone was sent home. My god, the guy dropped dead ON THE JOB. It's natural to talk about nothing else.

[InvisibleTouch]

12. That's the way to go, IMO.

On the job, doing what he loved. No lingering agony of anticipation. Not the only good way to go, of course, but it certainly beats most!

I barely watch TV, so I really hadn't seen him much beyond being a recognizable name, but RIP.

[kath]

26. but they're using this as an excuse to not cover NEWS.

Lots going on out there. Death of some network celebrity is not a momentous event that should block out all other coverage.

[PeaceNikki]

5. He was in integral part of the news team he lead and a man passionate about news.

[ecstatic]

7. The bigger story for me is heart disease. He died at 58

I hope at least one person changes their lifestyle based on this story. I pray that my parents will.

[hlthe2b]

9. That is not yet clear... autopsy pending... may have been DVT

Deep Vein Thrombosis resulting in acute pulmonary embolism would be consistent with his having returned from a long haul flight overseas and also the sudden collapse/death.

Nonetheless, I agree with you that we all need reminders on issues related to heart disease prevention.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

14. That was my first thought

when I heard he'd just flown back from Italy.

Also, he was diabetic. And overweight.

But, damn, he was good. I can't imagine what Mario Cuomo is going through right now.

[newmajority]

17. Should have eaten more hot peppers

They thin the blood out. I think they're supposed to have a positive effect on blood sugar as well.

Tim wasn't all that tall, so I'm sure he didn't have the legroom issues that some of us have on airplanes, but in my opinion, it should be fucking criminal to force someone into an uncomfortable seat for hours at a time, especially when it can have adverse effects on health, and possibly even kill them, as it might have in this case.

[tulsakatz]

16. that was another shocking thing........

he was 1 yr younger than me!!

[MiniMe]

33. Coronary Thrombosis

They apparently already did the autopsy. Russert's doctor was on MSNBC. They found a fresh blood clot in the coronary artery. I'm sure that the plane flight didnt' help, but the doctor did say that he had coronary artery disease, and it was knows and they thought managed.

[rdenney]

48. How about changing people's lives, like Paul Wellstone did? Thats a life worth living. n/t

[BlueManDude]

8. They are demonstrating the very reason why I despised Russert - bloated self-importance

They think his death is a huge blow for America. They all lost a personl friend - that's sad but ut doesn't make it an earth shattering story that will impacy anyone's life.

[kath]

27. wish I could recommend this post.

:applause: :toast:

[Clovis Sangrail]

10. you misjudge his value to network news

I'm no great fan, but he was more than 'just a reporter'.

(I don't really watch TV either.. aside from clips I get online)

[kath]

29. well, he was of *great* value to the MIC and the Bushco regime.

and these days the powers-that-be want "network news" to be the propaganda arm of the WH and the corporate kleptocracy, so...

[Kolesar]

11. I lost a pennyless inlaw to a heart attack at age 58 Wednesday

We will mourn and Sunday will be just another day

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. Well, if you don't watch television, you don't know

who or what Tim Russert was, so your opinion is, by your own admission, without value.

[tulsakatz]

15. I was personally shocked to hear about this!!

Today I turned on my TV and watched MSNBC and discovered he had died. It was shocking to hear it.

No matter what your opinion is about Russert, he is an icon in the media and he will be greatly missed by many.

Not only was he moderator of Meet the Press, but he also had another show on CNBC and was also Washington Bureau Chief for NBC news. Some have marveled at how he managed to do all those jobs so well.

It was deeply sorrowful to know that he is now gone. He will be greatly missed by many.

[Zodiak]

53. tulsakatz, that is exactly how I would word it, too

He was an icon and will be missed by many.

[bigwillq]

18. Russert was BIG

in the news business regardless of whether we personally liked him or not.
This is a big news event. Of course it will be non-stop for awhile, which may not be necessary, but the guy does deserve a bit of respect.

I can see MSNBC going all night with this, because that was the station he worked for.

When I turned on Faux, they were not covering it. But I only flipped by for a minute.

[rdenney]

47. Tim Russert was a PUFF-BALL. n/t

[Ilsa]

19. Even if something prickish he said bugged me during MTP, his

little comments about sports or his family usually lifted me up, helped me remember that we are all human, and what is most important, and that life is short.

I doubt he had any financial interest in the fraud going on within the Bush* Admin. He was trying to do a job he loved.

God Speed.

[Kickin_Donkey]

52. He had a big financial interest in the fraud going on ...

in the Bush administration, especially the war in Iraq.

He worked for General Electric, one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, military contractors.

And he was specially groomed by former GE head Jack Welch to serve as a shill for corporate interests.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Yeah, I want to die that way too. fine one moment then keel over dead the next...

...but at 158.

[MaryRN]

21. Condolences to his family...

Having read at least a 200 posts here with various subjects containing Tim Russert's name, it's really fascinating to watch the responses people have to news of an event like this. Very revealing as to who we are as a people. The lowest common denominator here is that regardless of what your personal opinion is of the man, he shared in our collective humanity.

It would be a wonderful thing if for at least 24 hours, we might refrain from negative commentary, not because we don't have the right to but because we choose to. Such is the way life goes...you or your loved ones can be here one moment and literally gone the next. Seems like that's the greatest fear being expressed and maybe if we could turn ourselves toward empathy and compassion as a priority and hold off on the critiques and smackdowns, sometimes disguised in a very subtle way, we might benefit far more from tapping into that aspect of ourselves rather than devoting energy to useless speculation or critique of the man. One way or the other, we're all going to meet our ultimate fate. This might be a good time to wonder what it is that might be said of us at the time of our passing.

[pretzel4gore]

24. russert shared nothing

a million people died in part because of russert's work- defrauding the american people. he despised you, and anyone who did not fully comply with the corporate agenda, but hid his real opinions under his lapel (with a giggle) because truth was toxic to the liar media...you people are too nice to a very awful man, who almost certainly died in personal horror of his betrayal of everything decent.

[rdenney]

34. Russert was exactly that. I hope he rots in hell, the bastard.

[Danger Mouse]

36. i hope nobody says this about you when you die.

[maui9002]

37. Complete and utter nonsense

It's true that television treats the death of one of its own differently, and that the passing of a celebrity all too often is overdone. No doubt Tim Russert will dominate the news today because he was a prominent television personality who's been the face of one of America's longest running news/interview shows, Meet the Press, for more than 15 years, and because he's a colleague. But to suggest he's partially responsible for a million dead, just because he didn't ask the questions you would have asked, or ask them in the manner you would have chose to ask them, is complete and utter nonsense. And to trash him the way you did, saying he despised anyone who did not fully comply with the corporate agenda, is just way out of bounds, particularly within hours of his untimely death.

[rdenney]

40. So we suspend our feelings when someone just keeled over? No way.

[maui9002]

44. No, you don't suspend your feelings

But if you're a decent, caring human being, you keep your feelings to yourself the day someone whom you have issues with dies unexpectedly. If it's Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or Osama bin Laden, ok, celebrate, but it's complete and utter nonsense to even think of Tim Russert in that category.

[rdenney]

46. So when Russert lets Bush-Co push it's agenda in Iraq, its OK when he croaks no matter how many ....

people have died in that ass-hat war for oil and the millions that have died?

No chance, pal ! He attacked Former White House aide Scott McClellan in testifing before House panel in CIA Valerie Plame leak probe, as well.

We live in a world that is EXTREMELY separated from the reality of the OIL WAR in Iraq by television
and soft-ball goons like Russert helped to keep this false-war insanity going on and on, just like some Goebbels-like wraith from many decades ago.

[pretzel4gore]

41. it is mean...

good hearted people shouldn't have to put up with such crudity, but...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

23. people he interviewed...people who knew him...

and what they had to say...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25148584/

sP

[question everything]

28. NBC News dedicated its entire half hour to a tribute

and it was somber and respectful, with a few smiles and some held back tears.

I don't know when he died, but I admired the composure of all of them: Andrea Mitchell, Sally Quinn, Bob Woodward, David Gregory, Tom Brokaw, Bob Schiffer and Ethel Kennedy who, almost on a moment notice, were called to sit in front of a camera and to recall memories of him.

I feel for his father. Sons should not die before their parents, and "Big Russ" lost his wife only a few years ago.

[dorkulon]

39. I think NBC is perfectly entitled to grieve over someone so integral to their operation.

The other networks, maybe a bit much.

[pretzel4gore]

43. all info media are public

nbc uses public airwaves, the airwaves themselves belong to the public. Granted that certain 'big lies' have been skillfully woven into common perceptions- but this was done intentionally, and mostly in secret, because the public can very easily tell nbc to 'beat it, assholes' and no more nbc. As you know, the basic idea of informing the people via radio/tv right in the beginning forced the powers to consider the public interest as unique- which is why when liberalism ruled the roost, public funded non commercial media, radio tv, came to be. Shifting political forces began pushing back almost immediately though, and have never let up, because truth is truly toxic to warmongers and parasites such as the super rich. Russert worked for special interests, so let them PAY to use our airwaves to grieve for one of theirs. The airwaves are OURS. ALL MEDIA belongs to US, including newspaper, magazines, the internet (if they want their own, they must build their own transport, energy system, schools, industrial infastructures, design build or pay for use of our satelite system etc- they'd basically need to go to another planet). The public allows the pretense, but that's because it too busy living etc

[tv45]

42. Here's an article about that:

A satirical article about how different television "journalists" would cover his death:

http://www.thearch-info.com/News/National/Tim_Russert.html

Pretty much rips the media, while revering him.

[pretzel4gore]

55. spot on...

Russert joined a ms media culture that already thought lying was noble if the right reasoning was behind it...and guess what arbitrarily decides what's right?

[Dreamer Tatum]

49. The news and commentary community is close-knit

And they enjoy when they are the story. We just have to indulge them in their deification of Russert.

I thought he seemed like a pleasant fellow and I offer condolences to his family and friends.

Life is better when celebrity deaths don't cause you to lash out in self-righteous indignation...more people should try it.

[Frank Cannon]

50. He was a joke as a "journalist"

Probably no worse than most in the American Pravda media, but certainly no better.

[Honeycombe8]

51. He WAS named by Time as one of the top 100 most influential people in the WORLD.

Are you getting it now? If you are one of the few who didn't have a clue about his importance, well....I wouldn't spread that around, if I were you.

[Orsino]

54. Russert had his moments...

...but mostly I considered him just another mouthpiece for Big Money. I can feel sympathy for his family's loss, but I don't see his passing as significant to the rest of the country.