Goodbye, Tim Russert

Why oh why couldn't it have been Bill O'Reilly?

Any dead news agent is a bonus to the civilized world.

Tim Russert was a good guy though...

:_( Im a huge Meet The Press fan and Tim was a great newsman Im so sad that he's gone. I was really looking forward to his coverage of the presidential election. My first presidential election was Bush v Gore and Russert kept me glued to the televison with his passion and excitement. While everyone else was flashing fancy graphics, there was Tim with his little slate board adding up the results. He was great :)

That's not neat.. Thats sad.. =(

RIP Tim Russert!

I loved Meet the Press.. It just won't be the same without him.

Sad.

personality ,and the value of, aside, don't forget what is real journal-ism.
and such a voice as this one resonates and still an inspiration.

Wow. Sad - Tim was one of the good ones.

Very sad, he seemed like a decent guy, and a fellow Buffalo Bills fan.

@Tim Commenter #2 - Real class act pal, do us all a favor & take yourself out of the gene pool, soon.

He held politicians accountable for their actions, something that's become increasingly rare in the media.

The random sudden passing of someone fairly young gives you the opportunity to stop and meditate upon the fleetingness of life. One minute you're here, the next you're gone. In the space of one afternoon nap all could be done for.

Tim (comment #2), get some class. What a horrible thing to say.

Rest in Peace Tim Russert.

This is a shame and a shock. A lot of journalists wear their bias on their sleeves, but Russert was fairly impartial. He'll be impossible to replace.

I liked Russert a lot for his genuine enthusiasm and open love for his job... Watching his giddyness over the tightness of the 2000 race (save his whiteboard for the Smithsonian!) was wonderful. He didn't toss softball questions to candidates from either party and would actually followup when some weasel politican tried to dodge an answer. Bummer.

Tim Russert was a tool.

He had the chance right before the 2004 election to ask Bush some real hard and pointed questions and Russert
completely failed to do his duty as an American and as a member of the media.

Walter Cronkite is still alive at age 93

It should how much longer you can live if you have a clear conscience.

It SHOWS how much longer you can live if you have a clear conscience.

Wow, and here I thought his death was due to a compromised heart when all along it was a guilty conscience. Thank you, "the man", for enlightening all of us. What good is a degree in advanced physiology when I've got you around to set me straight?

This is as good a time as any to remind all of you to get a full physical if you haven't had one recently. Being taken by surprise by something like this can be the difference between living and dying.

Really horrible news. He was one of the few journalists that I still had a measure of respect for.

Please, oh please don't let that asshat Keith Olbermann replace him.

What a terrible thing to happen so suddenly. In a media so easily drowned in sensationalism and stupidity, why does one of the few honest, worthwhile reporters have to be the one to go? Damn.
My thoughts are with his family.

What a shame. Another overweight American who didn't eat right nor exercise enough.

Really interesting to see how folks vilify one news anchor and canonize another based on their political views.

"This is as good a time as any to remind all of you to get a full physical"

Because it doesn't matter if you have a good mental. Apparently Neurogirl doesn't think the mind and soul have anything to do with health.

in other words Neurogirl,

You are shallow.

Y6K: Tim Russert was on the treadmill hours before he died. Just because his head was shaped vaguely like a pumpkin doesn't mean he was in terrible shape. In fact, he had a physical recently, and passed a full stress-test on his heart back in April. By all accounts he should still be kicking.

Ted: Are you referring to O'riley? If so, there's a difference between a news anchor and a hate monger.

From wiki : "In accordance with American journalistic tradition, the public announcement of Russert's death was withheld by both the wire services and his network's competitors. After Russert's family had been notified [..] Tom Brokaw delivered [...] the news of his passing"

Hu? so journalists have a double standard, crushing anybody's family's heart right away but having a soft spot for themselves?...

Its quite hard comprehending what it is like when you are close to death. I can't imagine dying. I used to have nightmares when I was a kid about dying. I'd always imagine not being able to breath for what seemed like hours. Then eventually my heart stops and I sort of "zoom out". My vision seems as if I am moving backwards through a tunnel of darkness and the room in which I was in would become the end of the tunnel that I "entered".

Nowadays I tend to think with more of an adventurous mind. I see death as something that, when it happens to me, I will "know" that I am going to Heaven. I have thought about this for a long time. They say faith alone allows one to enter the gates of heaven. Therefore expecting to go to heaven after the dying process, will result in the actuality of you being there. I am a spiritual person. I do not fall for psychics and mediums. My beliefs were justified once. I suffered what is known as a visual hallucination. I say suffered but there was no suffering. I was enlightened if you will. Not to the point where I can ease the pain of mankind. But to the point where I can justify it. Every being experiences pain at one point. Whether it be loss of a loved one, suffering from any kind of abuse, loss of limb(s), etc. For one to experience true happiness they must first endure hurt,pain,sorrow,etc. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Love the Lord God (not His/Her/Its actual name, more of a title).

As for Tim Russert, he's probably up there with the best of them. Reporting on whats going on up there. Laughing away with all his heroes, friends and family who entered Heaven before him. Please don't piss on my fire by trying denying Heavens existence. Heaven lies in a place where telescopes cannot see. It is outsde of our space/time continuum. Therefore, man cannot deny or prove the existence of Heaven. Take from this comment what you will. God Bless. W.J.C.M Rest in peace William. I'll see ye again wee man.

the man = the troll

Happy Father's Day, Tim. Your last act was to take your son to Italy. What a dude. Bittersweet and wonderful. Oh, and Tim...forgive the shallow comments here. R.I.P.

Thomas........

"In fact, he had a physical recently, and passed a full stress-test on his heart back in April. By all accounts he should still be kicking."

What does that say about the LIE his doctors told him just because he HAD to carry on working?
While Y6K's point is taken, your assumption that he was in good health must be looked at with a hint of something suspect, know what I mean?

when i first heard he died, my first thought was of april fool's day.

i'm not too familiar with the guy because i canNOT watch faux news, but i'm glad he was held with high regard (as opposed to the rest of the hot-heads on there). it's always a shame when the good ones bite it before the evil ones do... they just seem to live forEVER!

and from that picture above, it doesn't look like he was all that healthy.. just because you can pass a stress/heart test doesn't mean you're healthy. i can pass a drug test, but that doesn't mean i'm clean. he most likely ate very poorly, maybe not in excess (obviously none of us know his diet), but just not the "right" foods. the heart diseases and colon problems these days aren't just caused by over-eating and genetics, but by all the processing commercial food goes through before we eat it. more preservatives = less real, which is difficult for you body to process because you should be eating REAL food. all that stuff just sticks to your insides, clogging practically everything. but it's a shame this dude bit the dust.. it's always terrible to lose someone and my heart goes out to his family.

The man sounds like a Scientologist. He spews some claptrap about how everything's mental, and this guy was feeling "guilty" about something. Then, when somebody tells him he's full of crap, he goes on the offensive with condescending, personal insults.
Seen it before.

And, yes, Thomas, I was referring to the hateful comment, where someone actually wished he had died - you people really enjoy your good vs evil mindset.

So anytime a doctor tells you you're fine, he must be lying. Got it. I'll just remember to do the opposite of everything my doctor tells me, and expect a long, happy life.

Missed by whom? People who enjoy the fact that allt the top journalists in the US suck up to the establishment? Please - while I do not applaud or welcome his death, his reputation is built on little but a self-important air of hardnosedness that he rarely if ever lived up to. He was one of the many top journos who abdicated their responsibility in the runup to the Iraq war and one who coddled Bush, a buffooon that by rights should be one of the easiest political figures in the world to catch flat-footed.

As usual, The Editors gets it right:

http://thepoorman.net/2008/06/14/tim-russert-wasnt-a-very-good-journalist/

What??? He held politicians accountable? You forgot a rather HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE one: Dick Cheney...who muttered--as he always does--that he liked Meet the Press because he could "manage the message" there.

Give me a break. RIP, sure, but Russert was no journalist. He couldn't even wear a shoelace from the shoes of Lawrence Spivak, who was in charge of the REAL Meet the PRess--you know, where "The Press" wasn't Tim Russert alone...kind of a sad statement when you step back from the Koolaid punchbowl a bit to examine just how little he contributed. That makes for a sad eulogy, actually. People remember Lawrence Spivak to this day: will Tim Russert be remembered in the same vein?

In no way do I mean to diss the Russert family; I would like to help others wake up from the sleeping sickness Americans have fallen prey to.

One of the last great journalists. RIP.

You gotta be kidding, this guy was part of the problem. I won't say that I'm glad that he died, because that would be incredibly crass but to say that this man was a good interviewer or journalist is bull.