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INTERNET MEMORIALS

Tim Russert’s Last Blog Post

Oh Tim, you are making everybody feel like a slacker today, when we were already feeling sad. Your last blog thing on MSNBC was posted at 9:50 a.m. Friday, a few hours before you collapsed while doing voiceovers for Sunday’s Meet the Press. You talked about Obama’s new anti-smear team on the Internet, and plugged your Sunday show, which was to feature Obama and McCain surrogates Joe Biden and Lindsey Graham debating each other, which would actually be pretty lame. But still …. [RUSSERT ON POLITICS]


1:47 AM on Sat June 14 2008
By Ken Layne
6756 Views

  1. ronaldpagan says at 1:58 am, June 14th, 2008

    I know this is meant to be about what a mensch Tim is (and he certainly is one), but if I can refer to the content of his blog post for a second:

    Now I’m told there’s a counter organization with a very similar name that is going to be positioned and posted to spread the rumors, so that people that go to the Internet to get clarification will go to the wrong web site and get confused.

    That’s fucked up.

  2. obfuscator says at 2:06 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan:

    The most prevalent and frustrating and meaningless criticism of Barry that I get from people I talk to is some variation of “I just don’t trust him… we don’t know anything about him… I’m afraid that he’ll get into the White House and then the country will be in big trouble… “.

  3. ronaldpagan says at 2:09 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: Yeah, I’d much rather go with the candidates who have been vetted and tested…the ones we KNOW are going to fuck us over! Less suspense.

    But that criticism is still better than how he’s an elitist or unpatriotic or radical or Muslim or the countless other permutations of “uppity Negro.”

  4. obfuscator says at 2:14 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan:

    That’s the thing. I’d almost rather they come at me with crazy pastor or secret Muzz than this “vaguely sinister” bullshit. Fuck, even “woman-hating Antichrist Arugula farmer” has some specifics to it.

  5. Magsbe says at 2:18 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan: I really don’t believe anyone who says they won’t vote for Obama because he’s “an unknown quality” or whatever. Maybe I’m just paranoid and epically sensitive about Hopes McGee, but it always come across as “I really don’t want to avoid for him because he’s black, but I know that’s socially unacceptable to admit except in West Virginia, so it’s time to whip out the code words”.

  6. ronaldpagan says at 2:23 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: Magsbe: Good points. But I think there are times when “vaguely sinister” = inexperienced, and times when “vaguely sinister” = “dark-skinned.” You can usually tell by context. Inexperience is at least a somewhat valid concern.

  7. ZombieRaegan says at 2:24 am, June 14th, 2008

    A little off the topic here but does any one else’s GAYDAR go off every time they hear Lindsey Graham’s voice? I guess he could one of those mythical soft-spoken Southern unicorns I keep hearing about, but i find that hard to believe.

    I’m taking odds on a geisecks scandal going down on him. Any takers?

  8. ronaldpagan: I get this knee jerk reaction to “uppity negro.” I have to roll in shoe polish and get my Rufus on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9gO59ooAA8 Power to the people that goin’ to get up/stand up. It ain’t what you got, it’s what you do with what you got.

  9. AudicityofHope says at 2:26 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan: I’m sure the faux websites contain bullshit like this e-mail I received today from a bitter female friend of the family.

    STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

    A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they imagine that America can suffer defeat without any inconvenience to themselves.
    Pause a moment, reflect back. These event are actual events from history. They really happened! Do you remember?

    1. 1968 Boby Kennedy was shot and killed by a Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 & 40.
    2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    3. In 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    4. During the 1980s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    8. In 1988, Pan Am flight 103 was bombed by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    10. In 1998, the Us embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked, two were used as missles to take down the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    12.In 2002, the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.
    13. In 2002, reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by, you guessed it–Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 & 40.

    No, There really is no pattern here that would justify profiling, is there? I don’t see one do you? So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatic Muslim male extremists, intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people…Absolutely No Profiling!!!

    They must conduct random searches of 80 year old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper ID, secret service agent who are members of the President’s security detail, 85 year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner and former Governor Joe Foss,…but leave those Muslim males between the ages of 17 & 40 alone lest they be guilty of profiling.

    According to the Book of Revelation (that’s in the Bible)…

    The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s of Muslim descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal…the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, he will destroy everything…AND NOW

    For the award winning Act of Stupidity of all times;

    The People of America want to elect, to the most powerful position on the face of the Planet — The Presidency of the United States of America:

    A Muslim Male Extremist…between the ages of 17 & 40.

    Have the American People completely lost their minds, or just their Power of Reason…?

    I’m sorry but I refuse to take a chance on the “unknown” candidate bHussein Obama…!

    As the writer of the award winning story “Forrest Gump” so aptly put it…

    “STUPID is as STUPID DOES”…!!!

    That’s right. Stupid is as stupid does. BARACK IS FUCKING 46 YEARS OLD, DUMBASS!

  10. Cicada says at 2:28 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: The vaguely sinister crap is very much in play on certain blogs, HuffPo comes to mind immediately. I think for a lot of people, he really is unknown. Clinton they know, McCain has been around since dirt got invented. Barack Obama? Is that some kind of air freshener from Japan? His mocha-ness may also make it harder for some to identify with him.

    The GE is going to take care of a lot of this stuff, but Barry and his team are going to have to work hard. I think the odds are pretty good for Bear-bear nonetheless.

  11. obfuscator says at 2:29 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan:

    You’re right, but I just wish that I’d hear the words “too inexperienced” more often than all that other nonsense.

    Magsbe:

    Totes. I don’t even think it’s always a conscious thing, but there’s definitely some level of awareness. “Whew, thank God he’s got a crazy pastor and doesn’t wear a flag pin… now I don’t have to tell anyone I won’t vote for a nigger.”

  12. obfuscator says at 2:30 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope:

    Who’s Boby Kennedy?

    You know Chuck Todd is going to miss Russert’s election night dry erase board the most.

  13. AudicityofHope says at 2:31 am, June 14th, 2008

    ZombieRaegan: The unhealthy fascination with Reagan has seeped into the snark community. We’ve got: ronaldpagan, Ronald Reagan’s Hair, and now ZombieRaegan? My ReaDar in addition to my GAYDAR are hittin’ on all cylinders.

  14. Cicada says at 2:32 am, June 14th, 2008

    ZombieRaegan: I think I’d lose that bet. It’s the nasal/whiny quality to his voice. And his rabid homophobic policy positions, of course. Dead giveaway!

  15. trai_dep says at 2:34 am, June 14th, 2008

    Anything on Russet’s blog about eating 3 McMuffins and a side of Chicken McNuggets that morning?
    …To soon?

  16. Cicada says at 2:36 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: The “uppity nigger” voters are also in play, unfortunately. Of course, the KKK is supporting Barry because he’ll help start the race war they’ve been hoping for, so maybe it’ll be a wash. We’ll know if he wins WV by a landslide.

  17. trai_dep says at 2:37 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: I’d write a wordy email totaling the number of Christian “extremists” killing boatloads of innocents in response, but fear that it’d take far longer than late November to finish it up.

  18. Cicada says at 2:39 am, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada: Oops, by “uppity nigger” voters, I meant people who think Barry is one, not actual black voters. That was horribly, horrible worded on my part. Sorry!

  19. obfuscator says at 2:40 am, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada:

    It’s my fault for not remembering recent history, but I was severely disappointed by the % of southern Dems who admitted in exit polls that race was a factor in their decisions.

    1,2,3,4, I declare a race war! By that, I mean that President Bear Bear should use the DNC to find a few candidates in southern congressional districts who don’t hate black people and use them to unseat TruckNutz Dems in the 2010 primaries.

  20. ronaldpagan says at 2:43 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: Oh my God, I’ve seen that before on some Hillary pages! Really hope it’s mostly Republican plants, because, in my fantasy world, the Democrats are at least more closeted with their racism. That is definitely the racist context of the “vaguely sinister” meme.

    What do the people who shot Lincoln, JFK, and MLK have in common with the perpetrators of Watergate, the Columbine shooters, the Unabomber, the Oklahoma City bomber, Hitler, and Stalin? That’s right: they’re all white dudes. And now we want to make one president? WAKE UP, AMERICA!!

  21. obfuscator says at 2:47 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope:

    My idea of ‘trickle down economics’ was always the cartoon image of the Monopoly guy drinking champagne and pissing down onto the faces of a bunch of Depression-era Commie hobos.

  22. ronaldpagan says at 2:48 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: Ronald Ray-gun is a cute name that’s still up for grabs.

    Cicada: And he’s gayer for McCain than Orrin Hatch and Joe Lieberman combined.

  23. Magsbe says at 2:48 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: One would almost think that selectively edited, anecdotal evidence can be used to manipulate!

  24. ronaldpagan says at 2:53 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: I love your coinage. “Muzz.” It reminds me of Muzzy, the lovable blue fellow who taught us all foreign languages.

    And as for trickle-down economics, I might have to change my avatar. Do you think it would translate to the tiny icons?

  25. AudicityofHope says at 2:54 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: Hey, Chuckie T. Forgive me if this sounds insensitive, but I think it’s really sexy when a man cries.

  26. obfuscator says at 2:58 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan:

    A new Monopoly card:

    “You’re the victim of Reaganomics! Drive your Welfare Queen Cadillac to the nearest debtor’s prison. Do not collect $200.”

  27. obfuscator says at 3:00 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope:

    Quite the opposite, it sounds so sensitive.

    /John Edworts

  28. ronaldpagan says at 3:04 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: Speaking of deaths I celebrated… There could be an entire Reaganopoly. “You have AIDS; lose a turn.”

    And to any trolls running around, after Ray-Ray died, I didn’t call up Nancy and be like, “Looks like your husband just said no…to breathing! Look forward to Mourning in America, bitch! AHAHAHAHAHAH!” (Because I have class, and because Nance no longer takes my calls.)

  29. Cicada says at 3:07 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: Oh gawd! That takes me back to my youth, when all of my conservative family members “knew someone who knew someone” who used their food stamps to buy steak and champagne.

    The irony was that my family actually went on food stamps for awhile when my mom got laid off. I still remember standing in line at the grocery store and feeling embarrassed when we used them. Some checkers would be total judgmental dicks. And lord help you if you used some cash to buy cigarettes, because that just PROVED you didn’t need the food stamps.

    Fuck Reaganomics.

  30. AudicityofHope says at 3:09 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: I meant in the context of Russert dying and all. I also wanted to cuddle with my baby daddy, Keith “Puffy-Faced, Red-Nosed” Olbermann today.

  31. obfuscator says at 3:13 am, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada:

    See, if your mom had been an executive at an airline or a Wall Street investment bank, she wouldn’t have needed to leech money from hardworking taxpayers. Shame on her.

    I also like the idea of a bunch of rich fuckers in the 80’s complaining about welfare mothers during a period of massive deregulation and tax cuts.

  32. Cicada says at 3:14 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan: “Mourning in America” made me laugh out loud. Thanks!

  33. obfuscator says at 3:15 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope:

    I’m sure that Chuck T. and the MSNBC crew will get weepy in November when the Russert Dry-Erase Electoral Math Board appears.

  34. AudicityofHope says at 3:18 am, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan: “You’re a schizophrenic and have just been deinstitutionalized. You’re now homeless. Give all your money to bank and stop playing. YOU LOSE!!”

  35. AudicityofHope says at 3:20 am, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: When you say “appears” it sounds rather ominous. Will the board be flying in mid-air with the word “Redrum” written on it three times?

  36. Magsbe says at 3:22 am, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada: When I was a teenie and working at a supermarket as a cashier, one of my coworkers was the biggest dick ever about foodstamps and WIC checks. She’d deliberately screw up processing them just so she could call the manager over and make him deal with the filthy Poors, because how dare they need her to do something that takes an extra two seconds out of her (paid) time?

    I’m still pissed, almost a decade later, that she didn’t get her ass fired over doing that.

  37. obfuscator says at 3:23 am, June 14th, 2008

    A Portentous Omen of a Secret Muzz Coup on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! Now back to the MSNBC studios with McCain surrogate Rudy Giuliani.

  38. Cicada says at 3:25 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: Perhaps the magic board will descend from the heavens, escorted by two tater-headed angels. Chuckie Todd the Numbers God will be bathed in a heavenly glow and an image of St. Russert’s face will appear on his left buttock. Thus we will all know that he is the anointed one.

  39. AudicityofHope says at 3:29 am, June 14th, 2008

    Magsbe: That’s the sickest thing I’ve heard in a while. What a bitch. Don’t worry though. Satan will get her, give her a footstamp card, and make her wait for eternity in line while she looks at her food (which she is not allowed to touch) on a long conveyor belt.

  40. Cicada says at 3:31 am, June 14th, 2008

    Magsbe: She should have been chewed out by her manager for being an incompetent boob, preferably in front of the filthy Poors.

  41. AudicityofHope says at 3:36 am, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada: I like that vision. Chuck will then take the proverbial reigns and moderate “Meet the Blessed”. He’ll ask his guests confusing number riddles and give them three attempts to answer them correctly. If they answer incorrectly, they will be sacrificed to the show’s killer bunny, Pat Buchanan. “Sure he looks soft and cuddly on the outside…”

  42. Gopherit v2.0 says at 3:36 am, June 14th, 2008

    Magsbe: Karma tends to be a bitch to people like that. Bet she’s using one of those brand-new WIC debit cards even as we speak.

  43. gurukalehuru says at 6:03 am, June 14th, 2008

    @audicity of hope OMG, so many things wrong with that e-mail, so I’ll just point out my favorite: it could not possibly be in the bible that the anti-christ will be a muslim, because christianity predates islam, by several centuries.

  44. Mr Blifil says at 7:22 am, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada: Is this supposed to be the entertainment portion of the program? I thought you had a problem with boring and unfunny? Here’s some hilarity, however unintentional. People feeling bad about Tim Russert came to Wonkette to mourn.

  45. Vanity Smurf says at 7:57 am, June 14th, 2008

    The best part is that Tweety was on vacation in Paris when it all went down. Wall to wall MSNBC “talent” for hour after hour and no Tweety in sight…. you know that has to burn him up. They finally got him to a satellite truck — hours after the CBS guy showed up at the same spot — for about 10 minutes. It was Commander Keith and Mrs. Greenspan all night. Poor, poor Tweety, even in death Russert screws him.

  46. AudicityofHope: So the Book of Revelations talks about muzzies, a religion that didn’t exist when the bible was supposed to have been written. Someone’s fibbing here, but the bible is the word of god and that can’t be questioned. CAN’T!

  47. DoctorCulturae says at 9:02 am, June 14th, 2008

    Mr Blifil: Just proves that snarkers are people too.

    Vanity Smurf: Keith O was masterful, and Mrs. G, as usual, dignified and articulate. Like them as a pair.

  48. Johnny Zhivago says at 9:51 am, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: The TSA stops and searches former Governor Joe Foss???? You MUST be kidding me. This injustice MUST BE STOPPED!!!!!

  49. Johnny Zhivago says at 9:55 am, June 14th, 2008

    The thing about Russert (IMHO) was that he was the only person on the tee-vee who struck me as not a lightweight “actor” (Brian Williams) or not a flat out ideologue (Keith, Chris, etc). And NBC/MSNBC resides at the top of the heap (perhaps my bias since I used to work for the company).

    Very sad!

  50. wallythepug says at 10:13 am, June 14th, 2008

    ZombieRaegan: Oh, I’ve always had Lindsay Graham, Larry Craig and Mitch McConnell on MY gaydar. One down, 2 to go.

  51. AudicityofHope: Thus is Barry defeated by his black not cracking.

  52. Hopey McSlamdunk says at 10:57 am, June 14th, 2008

    Does anybody else besides me find MSNBC’s wall-to-wall coverage of Russert’s demise a bit excessive? Influential? Sure. The boss of their Washington office? Sure. But it’s hard to imagine that Lil’ Russ himself would have approved of the graphics package, and the theme music and the uninterrupted musings on the life of an effing teevee host.

    K-I-L-L-I-NG- ME.

    Maybe I’m just pissed because I’ve now been forced to watch that Black Vulcan and the vaccous Hmong leg model over on the CNN…

  53. SayItWithWookies says at 11:34 am, June 14th, 2008

    Hopey McSlamdunk: What?! How disrespectful. You can’t be annoyed with anything about Russert’s death until after his body lies in state at the Capitol Rotunda for three days. Okay, wait, that’s still too soon. After his body is placed on a train and travels across the country. Wait — after his coffin is carried by twelve virgins to the top of Mt. McKinley and the fiery chariot comes to convey him to heaven accompanied by an angelic choir singing hosannas in the highest. After that — and maybe a respectful period of about a year or so — you’ll be able to say how much the coverage bugs you. And don’t worry, it’ll still be going on.

  54. Neilist says at 11:44 am, June 14th, 2008

    In a related “From Beyond The Grave” story:

    Benazir Bhutto governs Pakistan from Beyond The Grave!

    Tim Russett’s exclusive interview . . . LIV . . . whoops! . . . DEAD on MSN.com!

  55. jagorev says at 12:22 pm, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: What really annoys me about that list is that Sirhan Sirhan, the Arab who killed Bobby Kennedy, was actually a Christian. He was born in the Maronite church and later adopted some weird mix of Baptist and Seventh-Day Adventist Christianity after moving to America.

  56. jagorev says at 12:29 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Johnny Zhivago: Especially outrageous because Joe Foss died in 2003, obviously at the hands of a male Muslim extremist between the ages of 17 and 40.

  57. El Bombastico says at 12:36 pm, June 14th, 2008

    gurukalehuru: Yeah, I thought the anti-Christ was supposed to be a Jew, and that’s why all the esteemed Christianist leaders are saying Barry can’t be the anti-Christ (whew!). It’s so hard to keep up with this inerrable tract called the Bible. It’s almost like they’re making it up as they go along.

  58. naveed says at 12:51 pm, June 14th, 2008

    obfuscator: He needs to do a huge bio tour to counter this. Perhaps make a feature length made for TV movie about his life?

  59. Mr Blifil says at 1:15 pm, June 14th, 2008

    jagorev: I’m imagining that if Sirhan Sirhan were to let his weight go, and suddenly experience a major infarction and snuff it, there would be a train of commenters here lavishing him with encomiums.

    Meanwhile I hear Larry Craig sent the family a SuperTuber.

  60. Gormogon says at 1:30 pm, June 14th, 2008

    ZombieRaegan: Lindsey Graham is gayer than Larry Sinclair. He’d be a good VP for McCrazy

  61. Gormogon says at 1:37 pm, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: Tell your bitter that Sirhan Sirhan was framed. There’s been new legal action in the case — http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080605/NEWS/806050363/-1/NEWS

  62. jagorev says at 1:54 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Mr Blifil: Oh, go fuck yourself.

  63. El Bombastico says at 2:23 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Meanwhile, at Drudge the headline is “Dies from a Big Heart”. He’s so adorable.

  64. Cicada says at 2:39 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Mr Blifil: Your problem is the inability to cloak your offensive comments with humor. People here say unfunny stuff, but when it’s offensive AND unfunny it sucks. Take a cue from Neilist. He says horrible things but still makes me laugh 60% of the time.

    In short: bite my TRUCK NUTZ, loser.

  65. user-of-owls says at 3:02 pm, June 14th, 2008

    User-of-Owls Roth: “There was this kid I grew up with; she was younger than me. Sorta looked up to me, you know… That kid’s name was Ana Marie [or for later arrivals, Meghan], and the blog she invented was Wonkette. This was a great woman, a woman of vision and guts, and panda porn [or sweater puppies]…Someone put a bullet through her job. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn’t angry; I knew Ana/Meg, I knew she was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when she turned up gone, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we’ve chosen; I didn’t ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!”

    Let the culling begin anew.

  66. ronaldpagan says at 3:25 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Good morning, everyone! You’re still obnoxious, Mr. Blifil. Maybe there should be a thread about the massive Taliban prison break.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/world/asia/14kandahar.html?hp

    And maybe Hillary should piss her pants in public so we can have some lighter news for a change.

  67. obfuscator says at 3:31 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Public pantsuit peeing would be nothing more than a transparent pander to 3 year olds, 83 year olds, and golden shower fetishists.

  68. SayItWithWookies says at 3:31 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Mr Blifil: Yeah, get a fuckin’ clue. It’s encomia. (shakes head).

  69. Cicada says at 3:53 pm, June 14th, 2008

    ronaldpagan: Or if we want a funnier one, what about Barry threatening to kill WALNUTS! with a gun:
    http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/06/14/obama-if-they-bring-a-knife-to-the-fight-we-bring-a-gun/

  70. Cicada: Queue the GBU Music! Rules for a gunfight, Rule 7: In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived. Rule 10: Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

  71. Neilist says at 4:25 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Mr Blifil: Gee, since you brought it up:

    Sirhan Sirhan, internationally known expert on the California criminal justice and correctional systems, died today of a massive heart attack. He was 64.

    Sirhan, born in Jerusalem during the closing years of the British Mandate, was raised in the Maronite Church. Like many of his generation, Sirhan made several religious conversions during his adult life, joining Baptist and Seventh-day Adventist churches, and even dabbling in the occult.
    His family, which moved to the United States when Sirhan was 12, briefly lived in New York, and soon moved to California. He attended John Muir High School and Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California and was employed as a stable boy in 1965 at the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, California.

    In California, Sirhan’s interests moved to politics. In 1968, Sirhan achieved international recognition for his involvement in the abortive campaign of Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Kennedy, who won the privotal California primary, ultimately failed to achieve the nomination he sought. Many observers blamed Sirhan for the abrupt termination of the Kennedy campaign, and some held him responsible for the election of Republican Richard M. Nixon in the later 1968 Presidential election.

    Sirhan always maintained that he had acted properly, “with 20 years of . . . []forethought.” The harsh words of his critics clearly stung, however: Sirhan later consistently claimed to have “no memory” of his involvement in the unsuccessful Kennedy campaign.

    In later years, Sirhan left politics and devoted his life to experiential, “inside” study of the California criminal justice and correctional systems. Sirhan was directly involved in at least one highly publicized capital punishment appeal, which ended in the defendant’s death sentence being commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

    A dedicated prisoners rights advocate to the end, Sirhan refused to view this living-saving effort as a unequivocal victory. Conjuring up the memory of the man who helped make him famous, Sirhan told a California parole board: “I sincerely believe that . . . Robert Kennedy . . . would not countenance singling [the defendant] out for this kind of treatment.”

    Sirhan is survived by an extended family, both in the United States and the Middle East, all of whom are Muslim males between the ages of 17 to 40. The family requests that, rather than flowers, donations be made to Accuracy in Media (”AIM”); and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (”FAIR”); and the Iver Johnson Revolver Collectors Association (”IJRCA”).

    [Cicada: I make you laugh 60% of the time?!?

    You Sick BASTARD!!!!!!

    Shame!

    SHAME!]

  72. Cicada says at 4:29 pm, June 14th, 2008

    2Q: I found that list. So many rules! My personal favorite: 21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

    Neilist: You just bumped it up to 62%. I never claimed I wasn’t a sick bastard.

  73. Buffy and Hildegard says at 4:36 pm, June 14th, 2008

    AudicityofHope: Actually, I’ve mostly retired RR’s Hair to avoid confusion. I had to create a buncha avatars to get back in this joint during The Dark Time. I will keep him in his box until the need for a freshly shellacked head of fabulous hair is needed in the future.

  74. Neilist says at 4:38 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Cicada: Drat. I try so hard to appall everyone with whom I come into contact.

    Sigh.

    Oh, well.

    But speaking of “Gun Rules,” the best one I ever heard — and the most accurate — was along the lines of:

    “A pistol is what you use to fight your way back to the rifle or shotgun you should have had in the first place.”

    But I amended it — based on personal experience, to read as follows”

    “A pistol is what you use to fight your way back to the rifle or shotgun you should have had in the first place . . . so you can get back to your Jeep, drive back over the hill; call in the artillery or airstrike; and then go have a nice, cold beer at the NCO Club without having to get your BDUs all dirty.”

  75. Cicada: Ya. Actually, the WSJ distorted this: “Mobster wisdom tells us never to bring a knife to a gun fight.” Rather then being “Mobster wisdom” this is saying commonly heard amoung those who practice self-defense. Interesting the WSJ choose “Mobster” to describe it, eh? A purposeful distortion I would imagine. In addition, this is also commonly heard from with experience in self-defense: “In a knife fight, everybody gets cut.”

  76. Cicada says at 5:04 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Q: What I found hilarious was McCain’s response. They tried to turn it into the “scary black man is trying to mug me”, with a dash of “he hates your guns” for good measure. It was a frigging JOKE. A harmless little metaphor.

    New WSJ Headline
    Obama says “We aren’t going to let the GOP shank us in the yard. Our shivs are sharpened, and we’ve got the Crips on our side.”

  77. Neilist says at 5:06 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Q: The line fell into general usage due to the film, “The Untouchables.” The Old Irish Harness Bull cop played by Sean Connery uses it: “Just like a wop: Bringing a gun to a knife fight.”

    “Wop,” of course, being a Perfectly Acceptable Term of Endearment for our Brother Americans of Italian Descent.

    As Foul And Inappropriate Ethnic Slurs such as Dago, Spaghetti Bender, Greaser, etc.

  78. El Bombastico says at 5:17 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Neilist: I think you have that backwards from the movie. The wop had brought a knife to a gunfight. Won’t those wops ever learn?

    Never heard “spaghetti bender”… gotta start using that one.

  79. Neilist: Wop? I thought Wops were Spics. Or are Spics Puerto Ricans. So many cultures to deride. Too many slurs to remember. My Sometheimer’s disease is getting the better of me.

  80. Cicada says at 5:20 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Neilist: Ah, so this was actually a thinly veiled threat aimed at Gerry Ferraro. I KNEW it!

    Rove wrote an article in March titled “How To Win A Knife Fight: Bring A Gun”, this surely explains why McCain is lagging in the Eye-talian stronghold of New Jersey.

    It’s all becoming clear now.

  81. Neilist says at 5:29 pm, June 14th, 2008

    El Bombastico: El B: My apologies. You are quite correct.

    Q: I don’t care what you call THOSE people:

    “Olson Johnson: All right, we’ll give some land to the niggers and the chinks, but we DON’T WANT THE IRISH.”

    Enough said.

  82. hazmaq says at 5:33 pm, June 14th, 2008

    For a an expresso shooting 4wheel driving secular insurgent leftist whore, I’m still really sad about loosing TIMMY! :[

    The Sunday bobble head gathering will be nothing without him.

    And NBC, you’ve got NO ONE to fill his shoes, so tell Williams to fuck off!

  83. liquiddaddy says at 5:39 pm, June 14th, 2008

    They plan a viking funeral. Go get ‘em, Punkin’ Head.

  84. El Bombastico says at 5:41 pm, June 14th, 2008

    I see on Gawker that Cole is catching hell for his sentiments:

    http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10623

    He makes a certain amount of sense, and is of course being eviscerated for it.

  85. Cicada says at 5:55 pm, June 14th, 2008

    El Bombastico: He definitely has a point. The problem is that people become psychologically attached to television personalities in a very real way. When one of them dies, people feel a loss. He is running into this grief.
    If he had posted the same thing a week later, no one would have cared.

    People thought of ol’ tater-head as their friendly uncle who visits them every Sunday morning. Creepy, but the truth.

  86. gurukalehuru says at 5:58 pm, June 14th, 2008

    If we wish to continue in the spirit of hope and unicorns, what we must bring to the knife fight are pillows. Big, fluffy pillows.

  87. El Bombastico says at 6:26 pm, June 14th, 2008

    gurukalehuru: Big, fluffy pillows with newborn children’s names on them. That’s how Little Russ would have wanted it. I swear, if I hear one more thing about these damn pillows on NBC…

  88. Cicada: Barry needs a fedora, a Typewriter, a better-tailored suit and a white scarf, STAT!

  89. AudicityofHope says at 7:20 pm, June 14th, 2008

    Check out some of the comments Hillary’s Army of Bitters are making over at