June 13, 2008

• Can't say that I liked or disliked him much. But I can say that he seemed so genuinely interested in everything he was talking about. I did like that.
• I liked him. I got up early every Sunday to watch "Meet the Press." Now I guess I'll sleep in.
• Can't say that I watched him, but he seemed like a nice enough guy.
• Tom Brokaw, close to tears. Me, too.
• Nice guy, good political analyst. His death also brings up a good example of what's wrong with network news. NBC News spent the entire evening broadcast talking about him, and Brian Williams was overseas running the anchor desk from a US military base. So that's a half hour news broadcast, plus a live transatlantic feed, spent talking about how great Russert was. Which, if Russert was as good a journalist as everyone thinks he was, would have pissed him off royally.
• I don't agree about the quality of his work or his position but I won't speak ill of the dead at this juncture. It is terribly sad he died so young, horrible for his family. He shouldn't have worked so hard.
• I think it's fine to discuss his work honestly. That's not necessarily speaking ill of the dead. My sense of him was that he was a nice man who had a very strong, probably brilliant political mind, but who was only as tough an interviewer as his official reputation had it if he was on the other side of the political fence from his interviewee. Great political analyst, at best questionable (I think pretty slanted) journalist. Like the rest of us, a mixed bag.
• I agree with mct about the coverage. It was very odd... Williams was sitting there, obviously with news happening all around him, giving semi-empty platitudes all evening. I'd much rather have seen him say something like a quick mention of Russert, then a statement like "To honor our colleague, let's see what's happening around the world right now." Also, did anyone else get the sense from Bernstein that he felt like this was much ado about a tv talking head when, dammit, he broke Watergate? I could be wrong, here. I'm in the middle of a bout of insomnia, so I might be getting a little silly.
• The Boss paid his respects today.