Tim Russert has died.

[Fabricated]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Holy shit. The guy was only 58.

[Grand Design]

No matter what your politics are, this man brought class to every debate.

Tim Russert, Rest in Peace.

As usual, the good go too early.

[Draegan]

wow.  RIP

[Brogarn]

RIP

[Sir T]

Sad to hear. He was an excellent journalist. May he rest in peace.

[WayAbvPar]

That sucks. Didn't always agree with him, but he was reasonably impartial, which is far more than I can say for the vast majority of his colleagues.

[Ookii]

Merged the two threads, RIP Mr. Russert.

[Miasma]

The only reason I wake up Sundays before noon is to watch Meet the Press.  That's pretty shocking, I liked him, he at least tried to get his guests to answer real questions.

RIP

[Grand Design]

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, and to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that’s what I try to do every Sunday.

And he did it so well.  I'll have a Killian's tonight for Russ.

[sigil]

Wow, I just don't know what to say, but as one of Americas leading pundits and somone I saw as a person who fought to get through the crap, this hits really hard.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/

[WayAbvPar]

Merged in a 3rd thread and moved to GD for more exposure.

[stray]

58, overweight, and probably a massive workaholic. That'll do it unfortunately.

Not to demean him or anything, just saying... Kind of sad that that'll killl you first, while the Don Imus(es) and Keith Richards(es) of the world creak by.

[Merusk]

This is a hell of a shock. The man was one of the last good journalists out there, imo. The election will not be the same without him, much less political reporting.

[Oban]

Sad to hear, his books were quite good and I enjoyed his respectful in-your-face questioning style on Meet the Press.

Even sadder that his books were focused on Fathers and Father's Day is upon us this weekend.

[Grand Design]

And his father outlived him.  Truly sad for him.

[Paelos]

That sucks, my Mother loved him.

[Surlyboi]

That sucks, my Mother loved him.

Go gently, sir. You will be missed.

[Fabricated]

For those of us who didn't regularly watch Meet the Press, this is the guy we lost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs

Watch that. Think of another journalist who could do that. Yeah, we've lost something huge.

[NiX]

For those of us who didn't regularly watch Meet the Press, this is the guy we lost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs

Watch that. Think of another journalist who could do that. Yeah, we've lost something huge.

Thanks for the link. I had no idea who he was, but seeing that it's sad to hear he passed.

[Chimpy]

Russert was possibly the only true journalist left on television in this country, he will definitely be missed.

[Jayce]

Agreed with all that.  I'm not a huge politico (or even a small one) but I enjoyed his analysis, mostly because it seemed to be very earnest and not particularly biased either way.

The one bright spot is that as a Catholic, in his last few months he both helped host the Pope in the US, and went to visit him in Rome.  I'm glad he was able to have that experience.

[Tebonas]

Oh, that was Tim Russert? From what little I saw of him he actually was a journalist contrary to the other opinion mouthpieces that pollute your TV. Thats really a tragic loss.

[Tannhauser]

Yah I remember growing up with the 'most trusted man in America'.  I loved when he covered the moon landings.  He was such a class act, a shame his legendary seat is now occupied by that Mary Kay saleswoman Couric.

[Fabricated]

Oh, that was Tim Russert? From what little I saw of him he actually was a journalist contrary to the other opinion mouthpieces that pollute your TV. Thats really a tragic loss.

Overall from what I've seen of him he's sorta left leaning but he was quite possibly the most fair of any of the hosts across CNN/NBC/Fox. His show was a rite of passage for people in politics since Russert was a very hardcore fact checker and would make a fucking fool out of you if you weren't prepared. People were actually scared to go on his show due to the fact-based clobberings he could dish out.

The guy was civil and not overbearing on top of all that, so he was a rarity. It wasn't my show of choice but typically whenever someone got punked on a political show, it was on Meet the Press.

[Paelos]

He was a moderate in my book. He had leanings to both sides of the spectrum.

I liked him, and I liked his approach when he made people stand up and account for their positions with facts. I don't care what conclusions you draw as long as you are informed of the situation. That's often the cause of a lot of political crap.

[Murgos]

Yah I remember growing up with the 'most trusted man in America'.  I loved when he covered the moon landings.  He was such a class act, a shame his legendary seat is now occupied by that Mary Kay saleswoman Couric.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite