Tim Russert
May 7, 1950 - June 13, 2008
I want to be perfectly clear on this: I wasn't a huge Tim Russert fan. Not that he was a bad guy, or that I was opposed to his politics...but the simple truth was, I didn't really know who he was. In fact, in my mind Meet The Press host Tim Russert and Hardball host Chris Matthews were one. To me, they were literally interchangeable. Who hosted Hardball? Beats me. That fat NBC guy? What's his name? Oh yeah, Tim Russert.
Now...not so much, I suppose. Tim Russert had just returned from a vacation to Italy with his family and was recording some audio this morning when he had a massive heart attack and died. Which is indeed a bummer, even though I couldn't really pick him out of a lineup. Everyone else in the media seems to suddenly have an enormous amount of respect for him.
Maybe even Keith Olbermann will have a thoughtful, tearful tribute to him on Countdown tonight. And, maybe, just maybe, the vengeful spirit of Edward R. Murrow will appear and drag Keith's sorry ass screaming down to Hell, Ghost-style.
