Todays Meet The Press With Brian Williams

Today was the first Meet The Press since Tim's passing. To my surprise Brian Williams is sitting in. Nothing against Brian Williams, I think he is a great guy and all, But I don't think he is the right fit to be the replacement. I just don't see him asking the hard tough questions that need to be asked. In fact I have seen him pass on the tough questions that need to be asked. This I hope is not the choice. Like I said before I think Chuck Todd is really the only viable choice. You need an unknown who will not be worried about making long standing connections angry with tough questions, which is precisely the type of questions that need to be asked on Meet The Press. I just don't think that Brian Williams has what it takes for this spot. He is a great anchor but I just don't see him as the Host for Meet The Press.

Update : Lindsay Graham is a Jackass...

Update2 : Oh man Joe Biden made Lindsey Graham look like the Jackass he is. Totally shut him down. Some transcripts and video Here

Here is another video I found. The Crooks & Liars Piece above is also worth a look.

Meet The Press : New Host Thoughts

This has been a topic I have not been too excited to talk about. I know no host will ever be as great as Tim Russert. I do however think that he found himself a great replacement. A person who is almost or just as level headed as Tim. A person who's political genius has really shown through this year. Tim Russert found this guy and it is almost ironic that the year Tim passed is the same year this person really started to shine. He has proved himself accurate and fair and I think Tim might of had him in mind if he should ever leave. It is the only person I can really see taking his spot and giving it the amount of respect it deserves (Sorry Keith Olbermann, Your my number two). His name? His name is Chuck Todd. Some might not of heard of him. If you watched the Democratic Primaries at all on MSNBC then you already know him. This is the choice I think, I really can't see anyone else doing it but him. I guess we will see.

How say you?

A Rainbow Over Washington : Tim Russert

A Rainbow Showed itself today over Washington in a perfect moment on a day of remembrance for Tim Russert. I have to say it chokes me up. It's almost strange to feel such sadness for a man I never knew but in a way i felt like I knew forever. He played it simple, he went for the truth. I hope others follow his lead. Here is some bits of the Wake...

The Rainbow is at the end, It really is an amazing sight, and Incredible set of circumstances leading up to it.

Issa Invokes Tim Russert In Plea For Drilling

Today on Russert watch... California (R)Rep. Darrell Issa Invoked Tim Russert's name five times in a speech on the house floor. Why you ask? The speech was supposed to be about honoring Tim, Darrell figured he would use it to push lifting the ban on offshore drilling. So if you would like to share your feelings on that or just offshore drilling in general, You can contact him here

Here is the partial text and video ...

"We are going to miss Tim Russert when it comes to the people on both sides of the issue of why we have $5 oil ... $5 gasoline and $135 oil. I think Tim Russert would have been just the right guy to hold people accountable, who would talk about the 68 million acres that are, quote, inactive, while in fact 41 million are under current lease and use and are producing millions of barrels of oil and natural gas a day.

So, Madam Speaker, I am going to miss Tim Russert because this debate is too important not to have a fact-oriented, unbiased moderator who could in fact bring to bear the truth that we need to have."

Madam Speaker,
I would like to take this time to make fun of Darrell Issa.

FOX Morning News Dismisses Tim Russert As "Liberal Media"

Does it really surprise you? Just 2 days after his death. Could not even wait for the funeral. Not to mention totally contradicting their own "news" heads statements Saturday and Sunday. Totally... expected I guess




Still looking for the video of the actual statements, When I get it I'll post it.

Update:

Looks like no one bothers to record FOX&Friends, Not even FOX. There appears to be no video of this that I can find. So maybe it will surface later but I am considering this closed. If it is true it is very disrespectful and I'll leave it at that. I will say in response to a .. or the comment, that the rest of FOX News reaction that I have seen searching for the video of this was heartfelt and respectful.

If someone does find it put the link in the comments. I am curious to see the full context of what was said.

Update 2:

Ok I guess this is it

In Memory Of Tim Russert

Tim Russert 1950 - 2008

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful."
Edward R. Murrow

Your work has had a profound influence on me and others. Your presence will be missed greatly.

Good Bye...

NBC’s Tim Russert dead at 58 Washington bureau chief, ‘Meet the Press’ moderator collapsed on job

I don't even know what to say right now..

This man was a GREAT journalist. He was one of my favorites. He will be missed and the media is a lesser entity without him. I'm still in shock over this.

Tim you will definitely be missed

NBC’s Tim Russert dead at 58
Washington bureau chief, ‘Meet the Press’ moderator collapsed on job

Tim Russert at the Newseum in Washington on Nov. 14.

BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and MSNBC
updated 25 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.

Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. He and his family had recently returned from Italy, where they celebrated the graduation of Russert’s son, Luke, from Boston College.

No further details were immediately available.

Russert was best known as host of “Meet the Press,” which he took over in December 1991. Now in its 60th year, “Meet the Press” is the longest-running program in the history of television.

But he was also a vice president of NBC News and head of its overall Washington operations, a nearly round-the-clock presence on NBC and MSNBC on election nights.

He was “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time,” Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” said in announcing Russert’s death. “This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice.”

In 2008, Time Magazine named Russert him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He was a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.

Senate staffer before entering journalism
After graduating from law school, Russert went into politics as a staff operative. In 1976, he worked on the Senate campaign of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo’s campaign for governor of New York.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of NBC’s TODAY show from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II, a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987, Russert led NBC News’ weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China. Of his background as a Democratic political operative, Russert said, “My views are not important.”

“Lawrence Spivak, who founded ‘Meet the Press,’ told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side,” he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. “And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that’s what I try to do every Sunday.”

Cuomo, Russert’s onetime boss, wrote of Russert: “Most candidates are not eager to present themselves for Tim’s incisive scrutiny, which is fed by his prodigious study and preparation. But they have little choice: appearing on ‘Meet the Press’ is today as vital to a serious candidate as being properly registered to vote.”

Russert wrote two books — “Big Russ and Me” in 2004 and “Wisdom of Our Fathers” in 2006 — both of which were New York Times best-sellers.

Emmy for Reagan funeral coverage
In 2005, Russert was awarded an Emmy for his role in the coverage of the funeral of President Ronald Reagan. His “Meet the Press” interviews with George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000 won the Radio and Television Correspondents’ highest honor, the Joan S. Barone Award, and the Annenberg Center’s Walter Cronkite Award.

Russert’s March 2000 interview of Sen. John McCain shared the 2001 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television Journalism. He was also the recipient of the John Peter Zenger Award, the American Legion Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communication’s Gabriel Award. He was a member of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.

Russert was a trustee of the Freedom Forum’s Newseum and a member of the board of directors of the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Club, and America’s Promise — Alliance for Youth.

In 1995, the National Father’s Day Committee named him “Father of the Year,” Parents magazine honored him as “Dream Dad” in 1998, and in 2001 the National Fatherhood Initiative also recognized him as Father of the Year.

Irish America magazine named him one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the country, and he was selected as a Fellow of the Commission of European Communities.

Survivors include Russert’s wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine, whom he met at the 1976 Democratic National Convention; and their son, Luke