NBC's Tim Russert dies

[Americanhero1]

WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died Friday of an apparent heart attack. The network's Washington bureau chief was 58.

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In addition to his weekly program, Russert made periodic appearances on the network's other news shows, was moderator for numerous political debates and wrote two best-selling books.

NBC interrupted its regular programming to announce Russert's death, and in the ensuing moments, familiar faces such as Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams took turns mourning his loss.

Williams called him "aggressively unfancy."

Russert, of Buffalo, N.Y., took the helm of the Sunday news show in December 1991 and turned it into the nation's most widely watched program of its type. His signature trait there was an unrelenting style of questioning that made some politicians reluctant to appear, yet confident that they could claim extra credibility if they survived his grilling intact.

He was also a senior vice president at NBC, and this year, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Russert had Buffalo's blue collar roots, a Jesuit education, a law degree and a Democratic pedigree that came from his turn as an aide to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York.

One of his books, "Big Russ and Me," was about his relationship with his father.

He was married to Moureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair Magazine. The couple had one son, Luke.

Carl P. Leubsdorf, president of the Gridiron Club, an organization of journalists, said in a statement, "It was a measure of the degree to which Tim Russert was respected in the journalistic world that he was the first broadcaster elected to membership in the Gridiron Club after the rules were changed in 2004 to end our century-old restriction to print journalists."

"He was an enthusiastic member and a willing participant in our shows. His fellow Gridiron members join with all of those who knew and respected Tim in mourning his untimely death."

"Tim will be sorely missed because his years as Senate staffer and probing TV journalist gave him special insights on political and governmental issues," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "Had he chosen law as a career, his cross-examination would have made him a star in that field as well."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obit_russert

[mord]

Yes he was the only competent reporter on NBC or MSNBC the rest are Obama cheerleaders

[Americanhero1]

since he died of a heart attack he most likely had a poor diet

[mord]

since he died of a heart attack he most likely had a poor diet

yes i remember on the Imus show his wife saying that

[Americanhero1]

since he died of a heart attack he most likely had a poor diet

yes i remember on the Imus show his wife saying that

Don Imus nappy headed hoes

[mord]

since he died of a heart attack he most likely had a poor diet

yes i remember on the Imus show his wife saying that

Don Imus nappy headed hoes

[Dr. Dan]

Oh no!!! I loved his Meet the Press shows!!!   One of the last decent journalists

[Americanhero1]

Oh no!!! I loved his Meet the Press shows!!!   One of the last decent journalists

I never watched his show

[Dan]

Whatever and however he was... he certainly wasn't a Right Wing Kahanist, so I could careless.

[TruthSpreader]

Whatever and however he was... he certainly wasn't a Right Wing Kahanist, so I could careless.

Exactly. I could care less about him.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

He was a Democrat. He worked with Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo.

[Rubystars]

I think it's sad when anyone dies that young unless they're truly evil.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

He was a decent guy regardless of his political leanings.  If only one of the Jew-hating Israel-hating slimeballs could have died instead of him.  Baruch Dayan Haemet.

[MassuhDGoodName]

Russert has proven conclusively, beyond any shadow of doubt, that smoking cuts 10 years off your life!

See?

By not smoking, Russert lived until the ripe age of 57 years!

Had he smoked, he would have died exactly ten years ago this past Friday the 13th.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

He was visibly overweight. Just a guess, but he likely had a poor diet and was physically out of shape.

[Scriabin]

Whatever and however he was... he certainly wasn't a Right Wing Kahanist, so I could careless.

At least you care.

That's what's important.

[DownwithIslam]

I don't know what all the sadness about this guys death is about. So what if he wasn't hitler himself, he still was an establishment animal who did nothing to expose the fact that hussein osama is a shvartza muslim and that he is farrakhans good buddy. He was not a righteous person at all and in fact was attacking israel during the lebanon war even though it was israel who was getting slaughtered cause they refused to kill a muzzy. Forget about this bloated animal russert.

[Dr. Dan]

I don't know what all the sadness about this guys death is about. So what if he wasn't hitler himself, he still was an establishment animal who did nothing to expose the fact that hussein osama is a shvartza muslim and that he is farrakhans good buddy. He was not a righteous person at all and in fact was attacking israel during the lebanon war even though it was israel who was getting slaughtered cause they refused to kill a muzzy. Forget about this bloated animal russert.

No, I think you're wrong.  Russert was the type of journalist unlike the majority today that didn't express his opinion.  On the other hand he presented the questions, and "tough" they were, and let the interviewees answer. Based on their answer, it became up to the viewer to decide what type of people these were.  This is what a true real journalist does.  Today, the majority give their opinoins.  Except opinions are for talk shows... The news is not supposed to have too many of those and that's why this country is in trouble. Not because of Tim Russort not giving an opinion. It's because every other "journalist" on TV and the newspaper does and doesn't let the audience decide for themselves.

Therefore, I'll maintain, Russert was good at what he did and it's too bad that one of the only good journalists died so young.

[DownwithIslam]

I don't know what all the sadness about this guys death is about. So what if he wasn't hitler himself, he still was an establishment animal who did nothing to expose the fact that hussein osama is a shvartza muslim and that he is farrakhans good buddy. He was not a righteous person at all and in fact was attacking israel during the lebanon war even though it was israel who was getting slaughtered cause they refused to kill a muzzy. Forget about this bloated animal russert.

No, I think you're wrong.  Russert was the type of journalist unlike the majority today that didn't express his opinion.  On the other hand he presented the questions, and "tough" they were, and let the interviewees answer. Based on their answer, it became up to the viewer to decide what type of people these were.  This is what a true real journalist does.  Today, the majority give their opinoins.  Except opinions are for talk shows... The news is not supposed to have too many of those and that's why this country is in trouble. Not because of Tim Russort not giving an opinion. It's because every other "journalist" on TV and the newspaper does and doesn't let the audience decide for themselves.

Therefore, I'll maintain, Russert was good at what he did and it's too bad that one of the only good journalists died so young.

Yeah but the problem was that he did not ask the appropriate questions. He didn't ask one tough question to obama. Questioning him aboult healthcare is not tough.

[cjd]

Russert had the ability to be good at what he did but he had one flaw that really made it impossible for me to take him seriously and that was he was a die hard New Deal Democrat. He wrote a book about his father a few years back and he stated the fact the he and his family are Democrats to the bone. His father has to be up in his eighties by now and the type of Democrat his father believed in was a world different from the animals we have today. I don't fault him for his party affiliations but his bias towards people from other parties during interviews was always plain to see. It seems the questions to Democrats were always much less probing then questions asked Republicans. While he did have a good following I think his shoes will be quickly filled on the shows he hosted and his name will soon be a distant memory.