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Posted at 10:00am on Jun. 15, 2008 Tim Russert in Conservative HinzSight

By gamecock

Tim Russert "A Giant Passes... The Death of a Network"
By Gamecock for TMR Management

The Minority and HinzSight Reports mourn the passing of Tim Russert, a man Rush Limbaugh called "the closest thing there was at any of the networks to an objective journalist."

Conservatives understand that all people have subjective points of view and opinions about the issues of the day. We admit ours. When the conservative movement flexed its muscles with the advent of Rush and his clones in the late 1980’s, Tim Russert was singularly respectful of Rush and the movement, very often quoting El Rushbo, and, significantly, doing an hour long interview with him every Thanksgiving holiday on MSNBC.

Read On ...

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Posted at 2:08am on Jun. 14, 2008 Tim Russert, RIP

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

As his NBC colleagues have been reporting, Tim Russert was Everyman. The rumpled and cheap looking suits, the unremarkable ties, unremarkably tied around the collar, the non-matinee idol hair and the obesity that led to his untimely demise could easily cause people to fail to take him seriously. Too often, despite all warnings to the contrary, we still tend to judge books by their cover and to judge people by their physical appearances. Many people looked at Tim Russert, assumed certain things about his abilities from his looks--especially when they compared his visage to the visages of other television news personalities--and decided that when it came to abilities, Russert occupied the middle of the bell curve.

Those people would be in for nasty surprises when they realized that they were being questioned on Sunday mornings by a man in possession of a powerful intellect, a man who used that intellect diligently and prodigiously--backed up with a fearsome work ethic--to learn all he possibly could about his guests and their positions, in order to take the other side when he asked them questions, precisely what Meet the Press legend Lawrence Spivak trained and advised him to do when Russert took over the show. In addition to being the moderator of Meet the Press, Russert was the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, a kind of player-coach the likes of which are no longer seen in journalism.

He was a class act. He was a tough and demanding interrogator, but one who always wanted his guests to come up with answers, instead of being left stammering and flummoxed. And he conducted his interrogations with good cheer and great enthusiasm. He conducted them with kindness as well; given the manner of his death, I can't help but remember that in his interviews of Vice President Cheney, he would always close by asking the Vice President about his health. To be sure, the health of the Vice President was and is a newsworthy event. But given the stories of Tim Russert's many kindnesses to others, I cannot believe that he didn't ask those questions out of genuine care and concern for a fellow human being. Russert never saw others in the great game of politics as adversaries or enemies. He didn't hector like Chris Matthews does and he didn't pompously pontificate the way Keith Olbermann does. He informed. And he was always civil and good-natured about it--leading people to respect his opinions and to admire his style. Now that he is gone, the colleagues that he left behind can pay tribute to his memory by adopting the very exemplary professional and personal characteristics that so defined Tim Russert's life.

He was blessed amongst men. As David Gregory pointed out in NBC's coverage of Russert's death and life, Judaism teaches us that when the departed meets God and his angels, he or she is asked two things. Did the departed try to have a family and did he or she work for the redemption of the world? It is indisputable that for Tim Russert, both questions could be answered in the affirmative. He took joy in his work and in his family. He got to make a vocation out of his avocation and he was constantly surrounded by the love of his wife, his son, his father and his sisters and their families.

You can't ask for anything more.

Tim Russert was taken from us far too early. Sundays will never be the same and during the course of this political season, a whole treasure trove of insights and analysis will be missed by lesser journalists and pundits, or will be discovered by the public eye far too late simply because Tim Russert is no longer around to offer them.

He was taken from us far too early. But while we wish that his life could have been longer, we rejoice in the fact that it was so filled and so fulfilling.

Rest in Peace.

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Posted at 3:51pm on Jun. 13, 2008 Tim Russert: RIP

A Giant Passes

By Ben Domenech

One of the most capable, influential and powerful figures in the history of political television left us today. I grew up watching him, and I will miss him the way you miss an old friend - he had the ability to put anyone, no matter how much they would squirm on the MTP set, on the spot. Whatever you thought of Tim Russert's personal politics, he leaves a giant hole behind.

RIP. Go Bills.

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Posted at 9:44am on Nov. 1, 2007 Tim Russert Rapes Mrs. Bill Clinton. Just Like Rick Lazio.

Hillary Clinton's Victorian Era Campaign

By Erick

Damn Tim Russert. He actually asked tough questions of Hillary Clinton in the debate Monday night. And now, Hillary's campaign is on the attack.

This is all part of Hillary's Victorian Campaign Strategy. You know the one. She is to be seen and heard, but not "listened to." You are to presume that she is a dainty, delightful creature with pleasant opinions acceptable enough to be welcomed into polite society, but never you ask her tough policy questions, that would be cruel, offensive, and impolite.

And so Hillary Clinton seeks to have it both ways. A strategy we all knew was coming because of what happened to Rick Lazio when he ran against Clinton for the U.S. Senate in 2000. Lazio walked across the stage, dared to one up Mrs. Bill Clinton, and the media had a field day. Hillary Attacked! read the headline. "How *dare* Rick Lazio do that. She's a woman! This is mental, verbal rape! *And* it's the FIRST lady!", the left wing pundits in the New York Times sneered.

And now Tim Russert has done it too. Save for a few guys at National Review the other night, most analysts have lambasted Hillary Clinton's performance Monday night. The result is predictable.

Tim Russert roughed up a girl, is the spin. He dared to ask the front runner who leads by a wide margin tough questions. And she's a girl. That's unfair.

Doesn't Tim Russert know that he's not allowed to ask a girl tough questions even when she wants to play with the boys? That's not to say he can't ask the boy's tough questions. He can. Equality is a one way street to the Clintons. But how dare he allow Mrs. Bill Clinton to answer one question, drivers licenses for illegal aliens, two different ways.

That, sadly, amounted to rape. Or at least you'd think so, given the outrage Mrs. Bill Clinton's campaign and supporters are expressing.

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