Missing "Lil Russ"...

It was a year ago this weekend that the great Tim Russert passed away, suffering a major heart attack while preparing for his Sunday “Meet the Press” political talk show. As a fan of the show, and a major fan of Tim’s, I was shocked to learn later that evening (the announcement was delayed until NBC was sure all family members were notified) that we lost him. Tim was a wonderful moderator and possessed and brilliant political mind, which I admired. I often quoted Tim’s quotes on a politician’s statement rather than the politician himself. The reason was simple- I find it very difficult to trust anything a politician says, but found Tim to be thoroughly honest and real. This was one of the many charms of Tim- his “realness”. He didn’t go Ivy League; he worked his way through a regular Liberal Arts school. He took jobs based on principals rather than pay. Even though he traveled the world, he never really left Buffalo, New York. Although he dined with Kings and Queens, Presidents and Popes, he continued to honor his father, the sanitation engineer, and all of “Big Russ’s” veteran friends from the local V.F.W. saloon.I often thought about Tim during this past year- not only because I missed his brilliance and his professionalism and how he made watching political debate that much more interesting. I often thought of how he might respond to the recent actions of his station- NBC and MSNBC- and how embarrassed and ashamed he would no doubt feel when hearing how they are operating. Since his death, NBC has gravitated left by leaps and bounds, and making a mockery of the neutral Fourth Estate. Not only has this broadcast company become a shill for the Obama Presidency (“Our job is not to question the President, but to support him and help him succeed”), but owner General Electric CEO has openly admitted to continuing to trade with terrorist sponsored countries (Iran, Syria) despite the government’s requests to stop. Tim would now doubt cower at the personal attacks and false accusations hurled at certain people- politicians and non-politicians alike- simply because they don’t happen to agree with the positions held by their company. While close friends, I cannot believe that Tim Russert had any respect for Keith Olberman as a NEWS anchor. Olberman has every right to have his own political views- and voicing them on his show- IF he was considered a commentator or analyst, but NOT as a news anchor. While Tim was clearly a Democrat, and pretty liberal by some standards, he was a realist as well. He knew Democrats made mistakes and recognized that Republicans had good ideas and were just as “patriotic and American” as their Democratic counterparts. He said so on many occasions. I miss Tim Russert for these, and many other reasons. I think the country misses him for these reasons as well. Keeping it real and honest was what Tim was all about and it is something painfully missing in today’s political discussion.