Tim Russert - The Day Our Voice Died
Tim Russert's sudden death from a heart attack upset me more than the death of any public figure in a long time. Tim Russert was one the few mainstream broadcast journalists (other than a few dinosaurs like Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Leslie Stahl and Barbara Walters) who you could count on for true grit and substance.
At the time I heard of Tim Russert's death I was with a group of 20-something lawyers working on a complex Medicaid planning case. I got a CNN Breaking News flash and I announced it to the room. "Who is Tim Russert?" "What band was he in?" They sincerely did not know him, or at least his name, they feigned knowledge upon seeing his telltale Irish face. They admitted to getting their news and opinion from short clips on the internet. The sound bite generation. How can you really understand an issue unless you drill down and know the facts? Tim Russert was a master interviewer - no doubt from his legal training and working class roots.
So what else died with Tim Russert? In an America where the average person's attention span is just slightly greater than that of a gnat, Tim Russert's death represents nothing short than a great loss to mainstream intelligentia. Not to say that Tim Russert was a nerd or stuck in an ivory tower, far from it, but he was someone who demonstrated everyday the inquiry that America needs to make of its leaders. Jay Severin was in tears for most of his daily talk show on WTKK (96.9) in Boston. Jay and I have little in common from the perspective of how we think America should run, but we agree that Tim Russert asked the hard questions and now there is a void.
I would be failing my loyal blog readers if I did not point out the obvious in a sudden death like the death of Tim Russert - plan for it. No matter who you are, how healthy and robust you may be - if you have loved ones or property plan for your death now. At least have a simple will, but preferably take the time to do what Tim Russert did with political figures - ask the hard questions, demand sober thinking, get to the truth in your own life.
Tim Russert, I wish we had had time for a beer.
