Less Than Gracious Responses to Tim Russert's Passing

The responses I've seen and read to the death of NBC newsman Tim Russert has been pretty consistent - grief and shock at the loss of a good guy. However, a couple I've read could be noted for their callousness and crass political posturing. Scott Ott comments on Chris Matthews' response on MSNBC which I didn't see:

The Hardball host's live shot from Paris last night gave vivid illustration to the expression "like a belch in church."

Asked by a justifiably teary-eyed Keith Olbermann to reflect on the sudden death, Mr. Matthews professed his love and admiration, calling Mr. Russert "everyman", a "true patriot", "Mr. America" -- by which he meant that the Meet the Press moderator had supported the Iraq invasion because of the trumped-up threat of nukes.

In other words, Mr. Matthews clearly implied, Tim Russert was like the rest of you rubes who were suckered by Bush.

Less than two minutes into his fond memories of his departed colleague, Mr. Matthews called Mr. Russert's privately-expressed concern about atomic terrorists "the essence of what was wrong with the whole case for the war."

It's hard to fathom a soul so craven that he would use a eulogy to resurrect his timeworn attack on the stagecraft of the Bush administration. But the overflow of Chris Matthews' darkened heart also spilled onto the rest of us 'patriotic Americans' who were fooled by what Bush-Cheney Inc. was "selling." In a nutshell, we're all just a bunch of hard-working dopes like Tim Russert.

Like Russert, Matthews came into broadcasting from politics. Unfortunately, Matthews never learned the basic element of class required to know when politics are appropriate and when they are not.

Another notable exception to the otherwise glowing praise for Russert could be found at the blog HillBuzz, an ardently pro-Hillary site. They still haven't gotten over the tough questions that were asked of Hillary Clinton in the primary debates:

Russert died today of what appears to be a massive heart attack and, in all honesty, we're truly heartbroken he'll never have the chance to make amends for his behavior and conduct in the last few years, but especially in 2008. In our book, his obituary ends in the most vile, misogynistic, sexist, unprofessionalism imaginable. This is NOT how we want to remember the man we admired so much throughout the 90s. This is NOT the proper end to what had once been a stellar career.

But, his passing today is no excuse to absolve Russert, or his memory, of the things he said while covering the Democrats' primary contests this year. He embarrassed himself, journalism as a whole, and NBC in particular by, from the very beginning, shamelessly promoting Barack Obama's candidacy, with zero regard for the impartiality required of him in his capacity as a journalist. Russert was one of the largest cheerleaders of Clinton's demise, singing the same song since weeks before the Iowa primary. It was truly so bad, and so beyond the pale, that NBC should require reimbursement from the Obama campaign for Russert's salary and expenses, because Russert served as a defacto Obama surrogate when he was charged with reporting the news.

We firmly believe, in time, Russert would have realized how badly he got caught up in the moment. In the past, he's owned up to mistakes he's made, though he never did properly address the Bush Administration or its lies. That tells us there must be a policy at NBC and the other networks against rocking the boat with this White House. Russert, underneathe it all, seemed like a man of integrity, despite letting himself get carried away in the He-Man-Woman-Haters-Club this year. Though he ironically seemed to take the most glee in reporting any bad news for Clinton, he was actually more profesional towards her than Chris Matthews or Keith Olbermann, the two survivinng He-Man-Woman-Haters employed by either NBC or the Obama campaign (we really can't tell which anymore).

If you want to find "bitter America", just look at Hillbuzz. Once again, as is typical of the lefty blogs, politics trumps humanity.

I did a post awhile back about the Hillary crowd's reaction to Russert, pretty much demanding his head for realizing much earlier than they did that Hillary didn't have a chance and daring to ask her tough questions. Well, it looks like they got their wish (all except for the making Hillary president part).