Tim Russert
The picture on the left is Tim Russert arriving at the MSNBC Republican presidential debate at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, January 24, 2008.
Tim Russert died at age 58 on Friday the 13th of June. I did mention him on my blog on June 3, how would I have known that he would be dead only ten days later. I did misspell both his first and last names - that is just an indication of how much attention I pay to the corporate messengers. It appeared to me that there was a stampede to pay homage to the fallen man. Barbara Walters was desperate to pay her tribute and so were so many of the corporate messengers. It is a given that none of the great adjectives were left out to describe the man. I did not subject myself to such an avalanche of expression of sadness; whether truly felt or not is another matter.
Why should anyone be surprised that the man died? He seemed to be at least twice the weight he should be. Millions of God's children around the globe are dropping dead like autumn leaves due to lack of nutrition and this man apparently died due to overindulgence of the good life. I am not happy that he died, of course not.
He is 'irreplaceable? That could be true. Those in his league had the opportunity to hone their skills of telling so many lies by not asking the right questions. As I described him on June 3rd ten days ago, Russert's program to me looked like more a chit-chat session than a serious interview.
Here is what I wrote on June 3, 2008:
June 3 2008
I remember Obama's first interview in regards to his aspirations to be a President. The interviewer was Tim Russert, who never asks any tough questions ... just a friendly chat. But Obama was asked if America should go into North Korea and he replied by saying no and he added that those people had an army of a million-strong. Then he we was asked about Iran. I remember clearly his answer, which was that America should go after Iran and the reason he gave made no sense at all. But Tim Russert never asked him the most logical question which is: if the reason America would not go after Korea was because it had one million-strong army, isn't the reason for going after Iran because it lacks that kind of defensive strength? Nah! Russert would never challenge his guests with tough questions during his chit-chat sessions.
How Tim Russert is being described after he passed away.
- He was an amazing life force,
- Ever gracious, Russert
- the sheer exuberance he brought to his profession, the incredible energy he poured into everything he did, the amazing knowledge he had of American politics
- No one deserved a long life more than Tim Russert because there was no way he could ever get enough of it.
- No one more deserved to see this incredible election year to the finish because he reveled in every twist and turn
- His death leaves a huge hole in both the world of journalism and the world of politics
I think Tim Russet's death should sever as:
- a reminder to lots of people who live in the West, where most of the wealth of the rest of the world is acquired by treacherous means,that a life lived sharing with others is a great life.
- a reminder to those who are bloated to think about family and loved ones and think about trimming the fat.
- a reminder that life is indeed short, and a life lived in harmony and with the disadvantaged in mind is a glorious life.
- a reminder that life many not be about tons of money in the bank but about trying to achieve peace and harmony in the one planet that we should all share.