Tim Russert Dies At 58

SputnikPanic writes "Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and moderator of the popular Sunday talk program Meet the Press, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 58. Russert was known as an even-handed journalist who did not shy away from asking direct and often difficult questions of politicians regardless of their political persuasion. Earlier this year, Russert had been named by Time Magazine as one of the '100 most influential people in the world.'"

Comments

I think I speak for everyone

[Idimmu Xul]

that does not live in American when I say..

who?

--
Free Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Nintendo Wii

Re:I think I speak for everyone

[Anonymous Coward]

Look, everyone! A trolling cocksucker with sig that spams for free video games!

Could someone banhammer this fucking idiot NOW, please?

Paranoid, but...

[Azuma Hazuki]

Does this seem strange to anyone? I'm not sure any politician would have a real motivation to have him taken out, but something doesn't smell right here. Of course that could just me my foil hat cutting off the circulation again...

Goodbye

[Dunbal]

Tim, your contributions to the linux kernel and the open source movement will never be forgotten.

Oh, wait.

Remind me again how this is "News for nerds, stuff that matters"? Call me when they launch his ashes into orbit or something.

Who will toss Obama softballs now...

[Anonymous Coward]

that Tim Russert is gone?

Oh, that's right. Every other mainstream reporter not employed by Fox.

Not to mention Slashdot itself.

Now let the ritual downmodding begin.

RIP.

Re:Who will toss Obama softballs now...

[BlueStrat]

that Tim Russert is gone?

Oh, that's right. Every other mainstream reporter not employed by Fox.

Not to mention Slashdot itself.

Now let the ritual downmodding begin.

RIP.

Yup, typical. "-1 Troll".

Even though you cited every claim.

Even Hillary Rodham Clinton said she got the fairest coverage on Fox News!! People on the left politically tend to believe what they want and are comfortable/reassured/vindicated by, and facts be damned. Any contentions to their views threatens their little bubble of self-created, self-vindicating reality and is viciously attacked with tactics justified by a "the ends justify the means" mindset.

This is not to say there aren't intellectually honest people with liberal/left views. Most of those people I like and respect, and can have very enjoyable and interesting debates with. The same goes for people with right-leaning, conservative views. There are people on the right that suffer some of the same pitfalls and temptations to twist reality to their mindset as people with left-leaning, liberal views. I have little patience with either.

Russert was at the top of his game and worked very hard for a long time to get where he was, and that deserves respect. However, to lament his passing as a loss of a fair and balanced journalist is simply delusional and self-vindicating feel-good mental stroking by people with leftist views at the expense of a dead man.

Oops, in the time I took to type this, someone actually modded the parent up to "-0 Insightful". There's at least one mod that doesn't equate "I disagree politically" with "Troll".

Cheers!

Strat

I'm not the only one thinking this:

[Anonymous Coward]

Why couldn't it have been Sean Hannity instead?

But I suppose that insults Russert by implying they were anything like peers.

Mod OT

[greg1104]

And this is somehow important enough to nerds to be convered here because? Great guy, sorry he's gone, but is this really worth clogging the site with? I'm sure the tiny fraction of readers here who care about US politics would inevitably come across news of his death via sites that cover political news, which should only be this one when said politics directly impacts technology.

Re:Most influential

[Anonymous Coward]

More than you'll be missed when you go, which can't be soon enough!

Ah yes, the tough Tim Russert...

[frank_adrian314159]

That's the same "liberal" Tim Russert who confessed that he operates by the defining law of the Government propagandist: "When I talk to senior government officials on the phone, it's my own policy -- our conversations are confidential. If I want to use anything from that conversation, then I will ask permission."

And tough questions like: "There's been a lot of discussion about the Democrats and the issue of faith and values. I want to ask you a simple question. Senator Obama, what is your favorite Bible verse?" What a hard-hitting issues question.

Yes, a great loss to the hard-hitting news media of our time.

Were you honoring Pol Pot as a human being

[Anonymous Coward]

when he died? And no, I'm not comparing Tim Russert to Pol Pot. I'm just saying that "honoring" *any* person, just because they die, is silly.

Re:Most influential

[megaditto]

And that tells you something sad about American society.

Did we get a slashdot obituary for the first black PhD chemist who discovered steroids?
Did we get a slashdot front page story for Randolph Chase who died this Monday?

But just because this one guy was good at reading teleprompter...

Re:This year's race won't be the same

[Phairdon]

Fair and balanced? Isn't this the same Tim Russert who seriously compared George Bush to Adolf Hitler? The same Tim Russert who said that Bush wanted 9/11 to happen? Before he hosted a tv show he worked closely with several high profile Democrats. He is a former counselor to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Governor Mario Cuomo. He's hosted the Democrat National Conventions. He was anything but fair and balanced. However, I am sad to see him go.

The question remains:

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you honor Pol Pot as a person when he died 10 years ago? It's a simple "yes" or "no" question.

Once again

[Gewalt]

Once again, I find myself rather glad that I don't know who some random celebrity is.