Friday, June 13, 2008

So long to a true professional

The news about Tim Russert was shocking and sad to say the least. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Losing someone is bad enough but when it's unexpected it hurts even worse. Our time is indeed limited here on this third rock from the sun.

Although Mr. Russert had previously worked for Democrats in his early days one could hardly tell--he was unquestionably a true fair and balanced journalist. The true measure of his craft was the fact that he could irritate partisans on both sides of the aisles, having both swear he was in the tank for the other side.

There were times where this blog was hard on him, but the respect was always there. It's nice that he was able to honor his dad in these past few years and sadly, he won't be around for Father's Day this Sunday. But he'll certainly leave a void. There was nobody at NBC even close.

3 comments:

LA Sunset said...

This certainly a very shocking event that no one could've ever expected. Not only is it a loss to those of us that watched him performing his craft (and even more importantly those that knew and loved him), it forces us baby boomers to come to a realistic understanding of our own mortality.

My sadness is not confined to the loss for those of us that watched him, it is for his family. His dad, his son, his wife, all are probably just sick right now. I know how I felt when I found out my dad (and earlier my brother)had died suddenly. It never leaves you. You can heal and if you are strong it does heal, but it never completely goes away.

A.C. McCloud said...

I lost my dad to a slow battle with cancer until he finally just faded out, and it still hurt. I can only imagine a man being taken out of the blue. At least he died doing what he loved.

Don't want to get too negative here, but turned on MSNBC tonight and Brokaw was on reminiscing eloquently about his friend while being interviewed by Olbermann, who feebly lauded Russert for reaching a neutrality he's not even trying to reach. It struck me there that NBC has nothing now, and I can't help but believe Brokaw was feeling the same.

LA Sunset said...

//Don't want to get too negative here, but turned on MSNBC tonight and Brokaw was on reminiscing eloquently about his friend while being interviewed by Olbermann, who feebly lauded Russert for reaching a neutrality he's not even trying to reach.//

It's negative, but it's true and not the least bit surprising.