Tim Russert passed away.
Of all the Sunday morning talking heads, Tim Russert didn't bother me as much as many.
Of course, I kinda liked him after in an interview with some right-wing zealot (I don't remember who,) he outed his son on national TV, but affirmed that he will always love him, no matter what.
(Now that I think about it, he may have been speaking hypothetically; I don't know.)
This exchange happened in a time when coming out to your parents was more likely to get you disowned and homeless than accepted.
But one thing I did like about him, was that when he played GOTCHA with a guest, it never seemed like he was trying to "get" the guest, but rather that he was trying to get at the truth.
And while I'm sure his Moynihan/Cuomo roots indoctrinated him into Leftism, he came across as a jovial Leftist, not an angry one.
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2 comments:
Good post.
The absolute classic Russert moment for me was when he brought out the whiteboard in 2000. The real one, not the electronic one from 2004. There was a combination of concern and glee with a genuine enthusiasm for the process of trying to figure out what might happen. There was really no telling which way his sympathies ran, though he was clearly concerned about the possibility of what actually ended up happening.
His liberalism was informed by a respect for hard work, family and individual rights. Philosophically that sort of all-American liberalism is at its base not all that different from conservatism. Its only unfortunate aspect is its failure to recognize that government is more often the problem for individuals than the solution.
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