Meet the press - Tim Russert Tribute

I wonder if he knew how extraordinary we thought he was? Thousands probably tens of thousands of strangers, acquaintances, colleagues and friends missing him, missing his perspectives. Somehow, although I never knew the man, I just think he would be surprised by the outpouring of emotion and tears from so many strangers...maybe even a bit embarrassed.


Watching Barack Obama speak in Berlin today I couldn't help but think of Tim and what he would have to say about it. Most of us would like to believe we will leave a positive imprint on the world. Few leave a hole so big it simply can't be filled. Tim did. No one can fill his shoes. Whoever gets recruited to carry on Meet the Press will have to put on a new pair and step out to pave a new path.


A short video of excerpts from a select few interviews as shown on Meet the Press the Sunday after he passed away.

Russert the Lawyer versus David Duke

I had heard about this interview but hadn't seen it until Dan Abrams ran it on his show. It shows Tim at his best

Why I could never vote for John McCain

I've never really liked to be part of a group or labeled in a way that would seemingly define my identity. For that reason I've never referred to myself as a Democrat. Instead, when asked, my reply was always "fiscally conservative and socially liberal". Putting aside my feelings and enthusiasm about Barack Obama I could never vote for John McCain for the following reasons:
1) Isn't one dense, narrow minded, inarticulate President enough? What is it with middle America that sees education, curiosity and a progressive open-minded view a negative thing? Case in point, Bush famously referred to the "Internets" clueless and not even embarrassed after being corrected it's not plural. Now we have McCain quoted from an interview with the NY Times:

He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online. “They go on for me,” he said. “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”


Please tell me, how hard is it to "get on the Internet"? Is it the 1st click or the 2nd one that's so complicated?

As the interview continued Mr. McCain said he did not use a BlackBerry, though he regularly reads messages on those of his aides. “I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail,” Mr. McCain said.


Maybe it's just me but I don't want any elected official let alone President stuck in the previous century. I wonder if he's still renting video's saying "who needs those "newfangled DVDS"?

2)I understand that there are Evangelical Christians that don't believe in evolution and they are entitled to believe whatever they want. But last I heard there was supposed to be a separation of church and state. Those on the far right have been using all of their leverage to push their beliefs on the rest of us across many issues. One being teaching evolution as a "concept" rather than a science and Intelligent Design as another option to be considered. I'm sorry but you learn science in school and religion must be saved for the home and place of worship. In this same interview, John McCain declined to take a specific position when asked whether only evolution should be taught in public schools. “It’s up to the school boards,” he said. “That’s why we have local control over education.” Mr. McCain has said he believes in evolution.

3)The right wing needs to stay out of peoples bedrooms. Their fear of anything they don't understand and certainly anything that relates to sex is quite telling. Bill Maher says that Republicans are sexually repressed and that's why so many vote one way while hiding their real life sexuality behind their rhetoric and wives backs. Why is Gay marriage a threat to heterosexuals? Why is it a problem for Gay people to adopt? Why is it ok to execute a living breathing person but it's not ok eliminate a group of cells that could, someday become a living breathing person? John McCain wants to appoint Supreme Court Justices to overturn Roe V Wade, he is against Gay marriage and adoption. Strike 1, strike 2, strike 3 yerrrrrrrrrr out!


As a side note, my girlfriend Brenda teased me on how picky I am when it comes to dating and definitively stated "you would never date a Republican!" That's simply not true, however I would have a problem understanding and relating to anyone that had the opposite point of view on these topics. We did agree however, that I couldn't date anyone that didn't know the difference between their and there :-)

No Senator McCain, Jokes About Killing Iranians isn't Funny

First it was his rendition of "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" sung to the tune of the Beach Boys Barbara Ann and now it's

Missing Tim Russert

I'm traveling and stuck in a hotel without MSNBC. The bed is great, the sheets are soft & I have a lovely view BUT NO MSNBC!! Thank God for the Internet and video! After a few laughs with Dan Abrams and Rachel Maddow I couldn't move on without checking in on Tim and was so happy to find these videos's from his memorial that I watched many times over and over again that weekend after he passed away. If you don't know already what an amazing man he was, you will after watching these.

Mike Barnicle


Brian Williams

What do Veterans think of McCain?

Ringo versus Larry King - Ringo won!

McCain, Too Slow to Respond & Then Responds Wrong

McCain's Straight Talk Express hit an uncomfortable road block yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports:

While John McCain often embodies an anything-goes attitude when talking to reporters, it doesn't mean some subjects can't make him sweat--say, birth control.

A female Los Angeles Times reporter inquired today about comments made earlier this week by McCain campaign adviser Carly Fiorina, the former head of Hewlett Packard.

At a breakfast with reporters, Fiorina suggested that individuals-and women in particular-be given more flexibility to determine what their health insurance plans should cover. "There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice," she observed.

When McCain was asked for his position on the issue, he said--with a nervous laugh-"I certainly do not want to discuss that issue."


McCain twice voted against measures that would have required insurance companies to cover birth control -- in 2003 and 2005.

The Republican said Wednesday that he did not recall those votes. "It's something that I had not thought much about," he added.