Comments on: Tom Brokaw Gets To The Heart Of What Was Wrong With Tim Russert’s “Meet The Press”

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:51:13 +0000

I had to comment when I saw this piece.

Dick Cheney personally picked out Tim Russert as the “journalist” who would be “weighty” enough (no pun intended) to be taken seriously and therefore get Cheney’s message out… but who Cheney was confident he could ignore as an investigative journalist.

Exhibit #1 is Cheney going on Russert’s show first after 9/11, and Russert never demanding that Cheney account for the two versions of Cheney’s whereabouts for 20 minutes after the attacks.

In addition, Cheney told Russert he knew where the WMD’s were located in Iraq. Russert never asked for him to account for that statement when no WMD’s were found.

In addition, Russert was chosen by name, along with Judith Miller, to be obedient lapdogs in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

I think if Dick Cheney has used you over and over again, it means you aren’t the kind of journalist the Founders had in mind, when the free press was gifted with their special Constitutional powers to guard the White House for The People.

Thanks for this article. I agree with you, as usual.

By: soullite

soullite — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:16:48 +0000

This post is so unfair.

Madden taught me one invaluable life lesson over the course of a decade of gaming: Big Players. Make. Big. Plays.

What has Brokaw or Tim Russert ever said that’s that memorable?

By: policomic

policomic — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:48:34 +0000

Speaking of being “loaded most of the time,” my theory for Brokaw’s decline is that he suffers from what might euphemistically be termed “Christopher Hitchens’s Disease.” If you’ve paid attention to his casual appearances over the years (e.g., his appearances on Letterman, etc.) it’s striking how often he refers to the restorative powers of alcohol. If memory serves, he responded to the stress of reporting both Election Night 2000 and 9/11 with “a large glass of Scotch.” I also once heard him give a commencement address in which he joked about his own college grades being determined on a “case by case” basis (”a case of Budweiser, a case of Miller…”). His memoir describes a misspent youth of serious boozing, before he straightened himself out and set himself on the path of journalistic success. But like his buddy W., he never really went the whole 12 steps.

This is just scurrilous speculation on my part, but it would explain the slurred speech.

Plus the usual elite media syndrome, in which power is worshiped and conventional wisdom is treated as Holy Writ.

By: Duros 62

Duros 62 — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:07:22 +0000

I gave up on Brokaw during the Lillihamer Winter Olympics. As Willie Wonka said, “MUMBLER!”

By: Scott Ricketts

Scott Ricketts — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:38:15 +0000

O-Dub – Madden does color commentary, not play by play, that’s Al Michael’s job.

But it’s even more illustrative, Madden is supposed to give us the interesting facts about what’s going on. Granted he’s loaded most of the time, but he does more embroidery work than real productive stuff. Russert took the same tack, he’d rather fellate those in power than actually question what’s going on.

By: Jaim

Jaim — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:14:28 +0000

The media’s collective fellation of Russert was and remains embarrassing. Russert was a deeply over-rated journalist. He put on his lil’ serious face and liked to play “tough-guy,” but he was ultimately a mediocre talking-head who looked good only by comparison to the rest of the crappy America press corps.

Ugh. No wonder our country is fucked. Guys like Russert pass for “heroes.”

By: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:21:32 +0000

Madden? Working class wisdom? Please!! He’s probably worth $100 million by now. If not more. What Brokaw ought to remember is that Madden has become a caricature. He was Dick Vitale before Dick Vitale(except that Madden was one hell of a coach where Vitale couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag).

Rudy:
You pegged Brokaw right. He used to be passable. Ever since he came back because of Russert’s death, he’s been horrid. Though if you read Brokaw’s books, you get the sense that he hates the DFH’s. He’s one of those that claims his father was an FDR Democrat that got turned off by the culture wars and anti-war protests.

By: rudy

rudy — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:48:09 +0000

Has Brokaw always been a complete idiot or has he gotten worse over the years? I was a Peter Jennings/ABC guy during Brokaw’s tenure as the anchor for NBC, so I never followed him much until after he left the anchor’s chair behind, but I generally pegged him as reasonably competent. However, his commentary, particularly during this last election cycle was generally clueless, and at times, downright stupid.