Wonkette
- OH JESUS CHRIST: “Breaking News 3:23 PM ET: Tim Russert Is Dead of a Heart Attack, His Family Says.” [New York Times]
BREAKING
Woah. That’s no good. I thought he was, like, young-ish?
He drove me nuts most of the time, but he was an institution, and television punditry will be a bit less watchable if this is true. Too bad.
GE might have to hire an actual journalist to host their signature Washington news program now!
Nah, just kidding, they’ll find another political hack.
This BLOWS
Sad day. Seriously. He’s been a Sunday morning staple for years.
Yikes. I didn’t like the guy, but that’s really sad. Poor guy. Poor family.
You’d think MSNBC would be talking about it. It’d be a shame if someone else scoops them on this.
What the fuck? Oh God, I always thought he was one of the good ones. Please let this be bullshit. I don’t want Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann to be the only people on MSNBC.
Wow, shit.
And so the retaliation begins, eh Hillary?
Please tell me this is a joke, or shoddy NYtimes sourcing etc. Pretty please?
…if its true that is sad. Where was Terry McCauliffe when this happened?!
Oh my God! He was only 58. And had the balls to call the election for Obama.
Got anything to say for yourself, Terry McAuliffe?
Aw… Goodnight, funnyman.
Note to networks: This does not, repeat does NOT give you an excuse to book George Stephanopoulos to moderate any debates.
Jeez, that sucks. I just thought Terry McAuliffe was an asshole. I didn’t think he could kill people with misdirected mind bullets.
Tim Russert was a decent guy and a good journalist. I will certainly miss him. He was too young to go.
Truculent: McCain’s goons finally caught up with him.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs
Matthews and Olbermann better be sleeping with one eye open.
Poor dude. That’s too young to die.
The good news is that I’m sure he and Terry McAuliffe’s father are sharing a drink in heaven right now.
The NY Times has a headline on it now, so it looks like it’s true. Damn. He was the best one in the whole business, and we are all a lot worse off without him. Especially this year.
ohiolobbyist: El Bombastico: AngryBlakGuy: Obviously I’m not as quick-witted as I thought…
Damn, I liked him, that’s sad…
This really saps the snark I was going to direct toward the news of R. Kelly’s acquittal on all charges a few minutes ago.
NBC is tributing him now. What a loss. I’m totally bummed that he won’t be around when Barry leads us to the Promised Land.
My heart goes out to his family. And to Dick Cheney - were will he go now to spread propaganda?
This both Sucks and Blows, at least he got people on the record, I’ll miss him…
He honed his craft as Mario Cuomo’s press secretary. If you can stand up for that douche, you never need to prove your courage again.
In more pleasant breaking news….R. Kelly got acquitte-um, uh never mind. Friday the 13th indeed.
Memento mori.
I wonder who’ll they’ll get to replace him. Oh, PLEASE let it be tag team of Katie Couric and Kathleen Harris. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I would TiVo every weekend for that.
Squiggyfm: http://cbs11tv.com/national/tim.russert.dead.2.747824.html
i almost feel bad for all the horrible things i’ve said about him. almost.
Here’s the best Tim Russert obituary I’ve been able to find:
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=tim_russert_stop_the_inanity
That’s sad personally, but it doesn’t make me any less ambivalent about his not-too-critical approach to the Bushies. Maybe some other reporters will wake up and realize that life is too short to be mere relayers of the party line.
Well, shit, it’s a lot easier to hate on someone when you just kind of think they’re going to live forever, annoying you forever.
Brokaw is somehow managing to keep his shit together, but it’s heartbreaking to hear the pain in his voice. I can’t even imagine having to go on the air and tell everyone about your friend who just died.
By NY Times, I obviously meant MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/
Hillary did it.
eatsshootsleaves: knuckle-bump
The latest:
Posted at 3:21 p.m.; Updated at 3:36 p.m.
Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of “Meet the Press,” has died after collapsing at NBC’s Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.
Russert, who rose from the inside world of politics where he was former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s press secretary and one-time chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was able to successfully cross over to political journalism and rise to become one of its leading lights.
In his role as host of the seminal Sunday morning political program “Meet the Press” - which he took over in 1991 - he became renowned for his hard-nosed interviews where he frequently cornered some of Washington’s cagiest political figures with tough questions.
Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of the Today program from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II - a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987 Russert led NBC News weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.
In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
And yet Bill O’Reilly keeps breathing.
Good night, Sweet Potato Punditry Prince.
SayItWithWookies: Would that that were true. But with Rupert Murdoch and such taking over the media, you can probably just count on another passably impressive, slightly opinionated shill to fill Russert’s shoes.
Must! Not! Snark!…. trying….. trying……..
SayItWithWookies:
Thank you. I never wished him dead, just sent to some place without TV cameras.
Fuck him. He was a horrid fake who never deserved an ounce of his “tough-guy” reputation. His her-worship of Big Russ was bizarre. His blue collar persona was faker than Cindy McCain’s tattooed eyebrows. His interviewing style was so maddeningly obtuse, I’m glad he’ll never be on again.
This is fucking shocking and sad.
El Bombastico: ohiolobbyist: AngryBlakGuy: eatsshootsleaves: I’m hoping he’s currently spitting in the drink of Terry MacCuliff’s father…
RIP
He was one of the very few major media journalists whose death has the power to sadden me. This sucks.
When Russert spoke, it was true. The election has got a lot worse suddenly.
He seemed like a decent man, and I’m sorry for his family’s loss.
But check out the comments on the NYT site. Two in and some chick is already twatting out over how this is related to That Black Man Who Thinks He Can Be President.
Terrible news. Nothing worth watching on Sunday mornings now.
Constance Bradley: No shit. Who said you can’t thrive on hate and bitterness.
Death takes the snark out of my sails. I really feel for his family. Must have been a shock.
Tweety and Keith O. are left to sustain MSNBC’s ginormous head to body ratio.
Seriously though, this sucks. What am I supposed to do on Sunday mornings, talk to my husband? Say it ain’t so!
Constance Bradley: Only the good die young.
Well, that’s one way to get out of testifying.
It is shocking, though. He’s not much older than me.
Fuckity fuck fuck FUCK.
Who the heck takes his place? There is no one I can think of. This is totally and completely shitty.
Botswana Meat Commission FC: THANK YOU. YES! SO CORRECT! 50 WHORE DIAMONDS!
Seriously, he was a fucking lap dog for Bush and friends, his demeanor was always as if it APPEARED he was asking REAL questions, but the whole thing was put together better than a Shostakovitch symphony.
Yes, death sucks. But he’s no Kennedy.
Holy shit NBC, can you at least acknowledge this on your own friggin web site? nbc.com has nothing. Jackasses.
junkscience: Yeah, well lay off the deep fried egg yolks and cheese fries…
I was so looking forward to the day Russert retired his Pumpkinhead from the TV. Now, I can’t even enjoy it.
This has Terry McAuliffe’s handiwork written all over. I hope MSNBC transport Keith O and Chris Matthews to a safe, undisclosed location, soon.
What a terrible way to start the weekend. RIP.
dball213: Try MSNBC.com… that’s where all the actual news content goes.
MARCdMan: Aw, c’mon, cheer up. They can just CGI his corpse asking a politician if he’ll run for VP, then they can cut to 40 minutes of Doris Kearns Goodwin and Mary Matalin. You won’t be able to tell the difference.
Unreal!
Somebody needs to jump on the NYT comments and slam that Hilltard. “Noobama” — that’s some quality commentary. She’s what WALNUTS calls his wife when angry.
Link: NYT on Russert
damn, it’s a shame he didn’t get to see a black man president. he seemed genuinely excited by the concept and what it would mean to the USA on the 3rd when the primaries ended.
I had the pleasure of seeing Russert speak live. I have to say, the man does his homework. He seemed to be quite smart, even without a teleprompter in front of him. I will miss the concise commentary he offers when the other pundits are rambling on about statistics we don’t give a hoot about. Yes, the loss of Tim will make the rest of this Presidential campaign seem even longer. I for one expect I will miss Tim quite a bit in the days and weeks to come. Not replaceable.
I will miss most Tim Russert’s low tech magic marker and board as he calculated the electoral math live on air every 4 years. That is, to me, the ultimate political geek tradition. And forver more I will on election night miss his enthusiasm as he does the math. Only Tim could make math so exciting. He will be deeply, deeply missed.
Farewell to Tim Russert, the thinking man’s Chris Matthews. He will be sorely missed, especially when he is replaced by the idiot’s Chris Matthews, Chris Matthews.
A truly sad day.
And yet Bill O’Reilly still lives.
There is no God.
a damn shame, clearly he’ll be missed…everyone at msnbc seems devastated…bon voyage, Tim.
here’s the link again to the nyt
http://tinyurl.com/5l8y98
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/russert-dies-of-apparent-heart-attack/index.html?hp
TR’s shining moment was after Super Tuesday this year when he went on air looking like he had just been up on a ether bender for about three days.
That was when you knew that he really cared about what was going on. Classic.
I am sad. Who will do Meet the Press? Who will root for the Buffalo Bills at the end of Meet the Press during football season?!?
shortsshortsshorts: At least his show attempted seriousness in a time where most news is basically entertainment. And at least the experts he talked with actually knew what they were talking about, unlike some pundits that frequent news shows.
Chris Matthews is going to be SOOO devastated that he never got that long-sought hug from Russert. I expect tears tonight.
I’m really going to miss that election night dry erase board of his.
He was one of the few that didn’t cause me to start yelling at the boobtube after a few minutes. 15 minutes tops. RIP Russ.
He will be remembered as a master wonksopher.
So conflicted. I hate to see him gone. I just wanted to see him, you know, do a much, much better job with the gilded position he been blessed with.
Rest in Peace, Tim. This really makes me sad.
Tim Russert
Shaped Like An Apple
You Are Missed
Requiem in pace, old friend.
There is no longer a reason to wake up on Sunday mornings. This is shitty news indeed.
Hey, he was no Edward R. Murrow, but I’d take him any over most of the tv talking heads any day of the week.
eatsshootsleaves: Please. MTP was/is beocming indistinguishable from any random hour on cablenews. It was called “Meet the Press” in the first place, because the format orginally was a newsmaker being grilled by several actual working journalists.
In recent months almost half the shows have had no actual guests being interviewed, but rather just an entire hour of pundit-twaddle from political hacks, court-historian plagiarists like DK Goodwin and animated corpses like David Broder.
I am really interested to see what O’Reilly says about this. His recent tirade against NBC ought to be an interesting contrast to the Eulogy he gives Russert. “He will be missed. But he’s probably in Hell for working with a terrorist appeasing, surrender monkey, liberal media outlet.”
“oh yeah, and fuck Keith Olbermann. That guy’s a dick!”
God, MSNBC is gut-wrenching right now. Andrea Mitchell just almost completely lost it. Apparently Tim and her dad are the only people to have called her by the nickname “Mitch.” I feel as though I’ve lost the ability to snark.
Wow — super awkward Andrea Mitchell/Brian Williams exchange on MSNBC. Eegh.
Botswana Meat Commission FC:
…Terry McCauliffe?
Sad day for Sunday morning screamfest fans. He ran the classiest outfit. Sorry to see him go.
We shared a high school and a love for losing sports teams. He’ll be missed ’round these parts for sure.
RIP.
Gormogon: You’re right — and it still was of higher quality than most other news shows, even Sunday news shows. I mean, what else is on at that time? George Stephanopoulos? There’s no comparison.
He sometimes pissed me off, but his commentary was intelligent and heartfelt.
Ah, fuck.
eatsshootsleaves: Point taken… On occasion (once or twice a year), Russert would ask something mildly more confrontational than elsewhere on TV. But it always seemed like Russert wasted half his interview time asking the guest, five different ways, if he/she would run for either President or Vice-President, depending on how far along the election cycle was. This was considered “grilling.”
As to your question, Schieffer on Face the Nation often has/had better interviews than Russert… still pretty bland though.
Big sale on Truck NUTZ.
Time to make room on the menu at an IHOP near you:
TIM RUSSERT MEMORIAL BREAKFAST
4 Eggs Fried in Butter
6 Strips Bacon
4 Strips Salt Pork
Donut Surprise
Its right next to the Rachel Corrie Memorial Flapjack Feast