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The Two Sides of Tim Russert
Jerry Pippin
hen it came to political matters. Then there is the over riding factor that will also be apparent in this article, Tim Russert was wildly successful, while from common roots much like myself, he rose to the very top of a couple of professions and his career makes mine look like a minor league player.
So why write anything? Shouldn't Tim Russert be allowed to rest in peace, after all, look at what has been done in his name in just recent days. President Bush, Laura, the first lady, Jack Welch the former chairman of Russert's parent company GE, heaping praise on this man. The obvious emotions of his fellow colleagues and competitors being truly felt and transmitted to everyone.
The two presidential to be candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama sitting together, even the Clinton's were there, competitor CBS news even offered a video feed of the memorial service. But there is something that needs to be said to counter balance the natural re-writing of history by the media on their fallen media leader, so I am going to say it in the next paragraph and just let it hang out there for the reader to contemplate.
The problem with the career of Tim Russert rising to the top is the problem we have with the corporate media today and have had for some time. It was just brought home with the untimely death of their leading journalistic general. As far as Russert was concerned, religion and his belief's based on that religion were evident in his work as an editor of truth. He was in charge of the NBC news bureau and his liberal background working for Democrats in the past was over compensated by his effort to show fairness to the other side. In short, he slanted his "Meet the Press" questions in favor of the neo con movement. It was apparent to many liberals and in death, the elite of the corporate crowd and the leader of the neo conservative movement President Bush himself showed up with emotion to honor in their opinion a good foot soldier for their movement.
Russert in this writer's opinion is solely responsible for Hillary Clinton's demise as the apparent nominee of the Democratic party. Russert had allowed without prejudice, the right wing conspiracy to trash President Clinton by using his forum every Sunday morning, with Russert not asking hard questions about war, graft, abuse of power by the Republican party. Yet he hammered away at the Democratic players with tough questions. He seemed to have it in for the Clintons.
Why would he say two months ago that "this contest is over" referring to Hillary's race and it appeared to me the NBC news bias for Barack Obama and John McCain was there. Hillary is a better person than me, I guess. I would not have gone to his funeral; but I guess that is just another piece of the evidence of what is wrong with national politics. The players decided sometime ago that Russert and NBC would be the national deal makers, why?
Well, it was easy to see the pure sadness in the eyes of former GE chairman Welch as he revealed a personal relationship with Russert the other night on TV. The same with the President of the United States. This is not the time to write about the sins of corporate media and what they have done to America, we do that on a regular basis already.
Corporate influence and religious ideology should be out of government and I think it should be out of the media coverage of politics as well. Tonight the sun sets on the tomb on Tim Russert, for the first night of many futures days and nights. In the corporate board rooms and the news rooms of the networks and across America, the work will continue, reporting news hourly and daily.
Russert was a good warrior for the corporate world, for the big media world, a king maker in national politics. Is this the way we want our news to be told in the future? I salute Mr. Russert for his success and for his humanity on a personal level, but did he do us any favors in his loyal pursuit of ideals that are fine for the million dollar a year men in communications and corporations; but what about the rest of us?
Shouldn't a reporter, especially one who has clout, one who controls the destiny of so many who work for him, shouldn't he have been a little more objective in the matter of the Clinton's, the matter of war under false pretenses, the matter of billions being stolen by a fraudulent administration?
Our sympathy goes out to the Russert family and to NBC news; but I leave with this question. How did a political animal with no journalism training become the boss of the most important news bureau in the NBC news family? Well, one thing is apparent Mr. Welch liked him a lot.
Jerry Pippin
8:00 p.m. CDT
6-18-08