All that is on the major channels, especially NBC and MSNBC, is commentary on the death of Tim Russert.



And well-deserved, at least in my opinion. I liked Tim Russert for a lot of reasons.

Though he came to journalism by way of a law degree and a career as a political assistant, he embodied the traits I admire in a journalist. I found him to be fair but tough in his interviews. He did as good a job as anyone could do in keeping his personal bias out of his work. He was equally tough on Democrat and Republican alike.

Secondly, no one prepared himself more meticulously for his interviews. Russert had "his ducks in a row" when he sat across from his adversary. He once said that his job was to take the opposite viewpoint of his subject to try to find the ultimate truth. No "yellow journalism" from this man. He never relied on innuendo or 'half-truths'.

At the same time, he never allowed his time with a subject to lapse into argument. He had a great command of the language, which stood him in good stead. His goal was to ask a tough question in such a way that the "average guy" understood exactly what his point was; yet he did it in such a manner that the interviewee never felt "put-off" nor "angered".

If he got a bit "high-hifalutin", he got an immediate phone call from his dad in Buffalo, reminding him to talk so that "us average guys could understand it".

His dad, just an average "Joe" and definitely Middle Class, was his idol. From him came many of the traits that made Russert so much who he was. Respect for hard work, love for his country, and an affinity for the silent majority--all were touchstones directly attributable to his father.

In his book, BIG RUSS AND ME, he concluded with a message to his son Luke. He wanted Luke to learn the lessons his father had taught to him; specifically, that there is no such thing as "entitlement". No one is entitled to anything being "given" to him. He must work hard for it, because that is the American way. Russert loved this country; he was a patriot in every sense of the word.

Finally, though, what made Russert so likeable was the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face. I don't think he ever took himself too seriously. His sense of humor kept him grounded. He could laugh at himself.

I am reminded this morning of the quote of John Donne.

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all...No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

Tim Russert was my kind of guy, and I will miss him.


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