TIM RUSSERT - ONE FOR THE AGES

[parklane]

Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed Michael Chertoff his head.

This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.


One brave and straight shooting guy.


He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The Army McCarthy Hearings"

 

[KeithE]

> Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> Michael Chertoff his head.
>
> This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
>
>
> One brave and straight shooting guy.
>
>
> He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The Army
> McCarthy Hearings"

That interview redefined the term "tearing someone a new a**hole." And Chertoff deserved every bit of it. Congrats to Russert for telling it like it is.

 

[valkyrie777]

> > Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> > Michael Chertoff his head.
> >
> > This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
> >
> >
> > One brave and straight shooting guy.
> >
> >
> > He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The Army
>
> > McCarthy Hearings"
>
> That interview redefined the term "tearing someone a new
> a**hole." And Chertoff deserved every bit of it. Congrats
> to Russert for telling it like it is.
>

If you both think that Chertoff or Bush will EVER admit they screwed the pooch...think again. Those people have Master's Degrees in "Butt-Covering". Unfortunately.

 

[Darrel]

> > Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed Michael Chertoff
> > his head.
> >
> > This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
> >
> >
> > One brave and straight shooting guy.
> >
> >
> > He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The Army McCarthy
> > Hearings"

> That interview redefined the term "tearing someone a new a**hole." And
> Chertoff deserved every bit of it. Congrats to Russert for telling it like
> it is.

Tim Russert's just part of a pretty strong line of media types who have critized government(s) over the scene on the Gulf Coast (either from afar or on location). But giving his criticism directly to a member of the administration (who could only hem and haw for a reaction) made this different--and powerful.

Actually, the whole hour was pretty good. I believe CNBC may rebroadcast it tonight (like they usually do every Sunday night). Watch it again if for anything than for the interview with a very emotional Jefferson Parish President (right after the talk with Chertoff) and the closing montage set to Aaron Neville's "Louisiana 1927". A very, very powerful hour, in my honest opinion.

 

[parklane]

Amen.

> > > Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> Michael Chertoff
> > > his head.
> > >
> > > This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
> > >
> > >
> > > One brave and straight shooting guy.
> > >
> > >
> > > He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The
> Army McCarthy
> > > Hearings"
>
> > That interview redefined the term "tearing someone a new
> a**hole." And
> > Chertoff deserved every bit of it. Congrats to Russert
> for telling it like
> > it is.
>
> Tim Russert's just part of a pretty strong line of media
> types who have critized government(s) over the scene on the
> Gulf Coast (either from afar or on location). But giving
> his criticism directly to a member of the administration
> (who could only hem and haw for a reaction) made this
> different--and powerful.
>
> Actually, the whole hour was pretty good. I believe CNBC
> may rebroadcast it tonight (like they usually do every
> Sunday night). Watch it again if for anything than for the
> interview with a very emotional Jefferson Parish President
> (right after the talk with Chertoff) and the closing montage
> set to Aaron Neville's "Louisiana 1927". A very, very
> powerful hour, in my honest opinion.
>

 

[parklane]

Fortunately, Karl Rove et al. will not be writing the history books. That is an ignominious fate which George Walker Bush will not be able to avoid.


> > > Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> > > Michael Chertoff his head.
> > >
> > > This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
> > >
> > >
> > > One brave and straight shooting guy.
> > >
> > >
> > > He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The
> Army
> >
> > > McCarthy Hearings"
> >
> > That interview redefined the term "tearing someone a new
> > a**hole." And Chertoff deserved every bit of it.
> Congrats
> > to Russert for telling it like it is.
> >
>
> If you both think that Chertoff or Bush will EVER admit they
> screwed the pooch...think again. Those people have Master's
> Degrees in "Butt-Covering". Unfortunately.
>

 

[dampier]

Re: The Sunday Morning Talk Shows

> Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> Michael Chertoff his head.

Russert, much like Wolf Blitzer, only asks these kinds of questions when he first puts his toe in the water to check the temperature. Knowing there is safety in numbers, we are seeing some journalists now asking hard questions. If there were only one or two people doing it, you wouldn't be seeing it.

This also applies to some politicians. After Senator Landrieu spent earlier this week congratulating her political colleagues, herself, government agencies, etc., (much to the severe annoyance of Anderson Cooper who had heard enough), suddenly on this morning's ABC's This Week (which should be renamed - Missing the Point This Week for dwelling on the totally irrelevent Supreme Court story when people are dying on the gulf coast) we get the new and improved senator who is now ticked at the president, threatened to punch the next person she hears criticizing the decision to evacuate the jails, and broke down (my cynical side makes me think it was on queue) because she saw only one piece of equipment dumping rocks in the levee breach. That's not the tune we heard just 48 hours earlier.

I smell positioning.

Frankly, Tim Russert was a lightweight in making an impact in comparison to the HEART-WRENCHING HORROR that came from Aaron Broussard, the Jefferson Parish president when he relayed the death of the mother of his emergency operations coordinator when nobody showed up for five days and she drowned to death. Cut to Honorary Vulcan Haley Barbour who read his talking points.

On CNN, when they reran that incredibly painful clip, it just amazed me to watch Steve Forbes pick things up as if nothing important or emotional just happened. A haggard-looking Robert Reich at least appeared to have some mini-emotion, but what the hell has happened to him... he is looking more like the Unibomber these days.

Maybe they didn't see the total breakdown of Broussard on the air and perhaps that part of the emotional impact component was missing. But if they did and they could still do their little talking points and posturing all emotion-free, I gotta ask what the hell is the matter with these people. I was grabbing a second handful of tissue after that.

On CNN and even Fox:

After watching the head of FEMA now being called the failed (and actually fired for incompetence) leader of a horse association-rehired-as-disaster-czar, it's time to set up the Hurricane Katrina Bookie Group - first bet, how many days before the head of FEMA turns in his resignation or is fired. Proceeds should go to hurricane relief.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

I haven't see today's (September 4th) "Meet The Press", but given that Chief Justice William Rehnquist died last night, I thought that some discussion about the Supreme Court would have been included, even though we are less than a week removed from the worst natural disaster in the recent history of this planet.

 

[Joe_Capitano]

The same-night replays have moved to MSNBC. 10 PM ET/PT tonight, assuming no breaking news. Most local NBC stations have also reran the show during the overnight hours.

But why wait? <a href=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/>Click here</a> to see a clip now (Runs 4 minutes, plus a 15 second ad). Just look for Chertoff's "cheery" face.

 

[parklane]

Re: The Sunday Morning Talk Shows

Still in all Tim Russert is the best we've got. You won't see any of the Fox bimbos or their female bimbettes counterparts doing anything close to Russert.




> > Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> > Michael Chertoff his head.
>
> Russert, much like Wolf Blitzer, only asks these kinds of
> questions when he first puts his toe in the water to check
> the temperature. Knowing there is safety in numbers, we are
> seeing some journalists now asking hard questions. If there
> were only one or two people doing it, you wouldn't be seeing
> it.
>
> This also applies to some politicians. After Senator
> Landrieu spent earlier this week congratulating her
> political colleagues, herself, government agencies, etc.,
> (much to the severe annoyance of Anderson Cooper who had
> heard enough), suddenly on this morning's ABC's This Week
> (which should be renamed - Missing the Point This Week for
> dwelling on the totally irrelevent Supreme Court story when
> people are dying on the gulf coast) we get the new and
> improved senator who is now ticked at the president,
> threatened to punch the next person she hears criticizing
> the decision to evacuate the jails, and broke down (my
> cynical side makes me think it was on queue) because she saw
> only one piece of equipment dumping rocks in the levee
> breach. That's not the tune we heard just 48 hours earlier.
>
>
> I smell positioning.
>
> Frankly, Tim Russert was a lightweight in making an impact
> in comparison to the HEART-WRENCHING HORROR that came from
> Aaron Broussard, the Jefferson Parish president when he
> relayed the death of the mother of his emergency operations
> coordinator when nobody showed up for five days and she
> drowned to death. Cut to Honorary Vulcan Haley Barbour who
> read his talking points.
>
> On CNN, when they reran that incredibly painful clip, it
> just amazed me to watch Steve Forbes pick things up as if
> nothing important or emotional just happened. A
> haggard-looking Robert Reich at least appeared to have some
> mini-emotion, but what the hell has happened to him... he is
> looking more like the Unibomber these days.
>
> Maybe they didn't see the total breakdown of Broussard on
> the air and perhaps that part of the emotional impact
> component was missing. But if they did and they could still
> do their little talking points and posturing all
> emotion-free, I gotta ask what the hell is the matter with
> these people. I was grabbing a second handful of tissue
> after that.
>
> On CNN and even Fox:
>
> After watching the head of FEMA now being called the failed
> (and actually fired for incompetence) leader of a horse
> association-rehired-as-disaster-czar, it's time to set up
> the Hurricane Katrina Bookie Group - first bet, how many
> days before the head of FEMA turns in his resignation or is
> fired. Proceeds should go to hurricane relief.
>

 

[parklane]

> The same-night replays have moved to MSNBC. 10 PM ET/PT
> tonight, assuming no breaking news. Most local NBC stations
> have also reran the show during the overnight hours.
>
> But why wait? Click here to see it now. Just look for
> Chertoff's "cheery" face. It's not hard to find.
>
No just hard to look at !

 

[parklane]

Russert started the program with a segment on Rehnquist.

> I haven't see today's (September 4th) "Meet The Press", but
> given that Chief Justice William Rehnquist died last night,
> I thought that some discussion about the Supreme Court would
> have been included, even though we are less than a week
> removed from the worst natural disaster in the recent
> history of this planet.
>

 

[BRNout]

> Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> Michael Chertoff his head.
>
> This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
>
>
> One brave and straight shooting guy.
>
>
> He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The Army
> McCarthy Hearings"
>
That's fine, as Chertoff deserves the tough questions. However, he is an easy target - like shooting fish in a barrel. It's fair, but also quite convenient.

Here's my gripe:

Where are the tough questions for the mayor and that joke of a governor that Louisiana is stuck with?

Somehow, they've gotten a free pass by the media despite turning in a performance that was the absolute opposite of what Giuliani and Pataki put in after 9-11. A disgraceful lack of preparedness or professionality. Those poor people in New Orleans have had NO ONE to act as their advocate.

Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the N.O. city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of the city.

The silence is deafening....

There's plenty of blame to go around folks. Too bad that our journalistic colleagues fail to highlight that in a manner befitting the scope of the disaster. <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by BRNout on 09/04/05 11:05 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[parklane]

As the old Greek expression goes, "A fish rots from the head" and the head ain't in Louisiana or New Orleans.


> > Tim Russert on this Sunday's Meet The Press just handed
> > Michael Chertoff his head.
> >
> > This is one program for the ages and a news EMMY.
> >
> >
> > One brave and straight shooting guy.
> >
> >
> > He is the Joseph Welch of Sunday talk shows. Re. "The Army
>
> > McCarthy Hearings"
> >
> That's fine, as Chertoff deserves the tough questions.
> However, he is an easy target - like shooting fish in a
> barrel. It's fair, but also quite convenient.
>
> Here's my gripe:
>
> Where are the tough questions for the mayor and that joke of
> a governor that Louisiana is stuck with?
>
> Somehow, they've gotten a free pass by the media despite
> turning in a performance that was the absolute opposite of
> what Giuliani and Pataki put in after 9-11. A disgraceful
> lack of preparedness or professionality. Those poor people
> in New Orleans have had NO ONE to act as their advocate.
>
> Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the N.O.
> city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of
> water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of the
> city.
>
> The silence is deafening....
>
> There's plenty of blame to go around folks. Too bad that
> our journalistic colleagues fail to highlight that in a
> manner befitting the scope of the disaster.
>

 

[network]

THE LOCALS ARE BEING CRITICIZED

> That's fine, as Chertoff deserves the tough questions.
> However, he is an easy target - like shooting fish in a
> barrel. It's fair, but also quite convenient.
>
> Here's my gripe:
>
> Where are the tough questions for the mayor and that joke of
> a governor that Louisiana is stuck with?
>
> Somehow, they've gotten a free pass by the media despite
> turning in a performance that was the absolute opposite of
> what Giuliani and Pataki put in after 9-11. A disgraceful
> lack of preparedness or professionality. Those poor people
> in New Orleans have had NO ONE to act as their advocate.
>
> Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the N.O.
> city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of
> water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of the
> city.

> There's plenty of blame to go around folks. Too bad that
> our journalistic colleagues fail to highlight that in a
> manner befitting the scope of the disaster.

Actually, I have heard local politicians being criticized as well. Particularly on CNN and Lou Dobbs especially. The mayor of NOLA is BLACK. Most of the political powers-that-be in NOLA and LA are BLACK!

While I totally agree there is much blame to go around, most of it does fall onto the Federal level. This was a disaster much to great for local police and fire and what-not to handle. That is where FEMA is supposed to come in.

But wait, FEMA was "demoted" to just another department under the Dept. Of Homeland Security. And now FEMA is being run by people who don't have a clue how to handle disasters such as what's happened in NOLA. They're main focus is terrorism. You should honestly look into what happened to the millions and millions of dollars that were SUPPOSED TO GO to fixing the NOLA levees. That money was diverted to the War in Iraq.

Once again, the US is embarassed how it can NOT handle a disaster on it's own land.

The locals are being criticized, but we are finally seeing our media back to where it should be: grilling those essentially responsible for f**king up -- once again.

 

[KMRichards]

> Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the N.O.
> city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of
> water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of the
> city.

I'd like to see an interview with whichever bureaucrat refused to allow the city's fleet of transit buses to be used for that purpose. I've heard that the reason given was the lack of CNG refueling facilities outside of New Orleans, but now two-thirds of the fleet is underwater and potentially damaged by the floodwaters beyond being able to run at all.

However, that said, I agree that Tim Russert's handling of Chertoff this morning was a step in the right direction, and hope his colleagues at NBC and the other networks follow suit.<P ID="signature">______________


</P>

 

[BRNout]

Re: THE LOCALS ARE BEING CRITICIZED

> > That's fine, as Chertoff deserves the tough questions.
> > However, he is an easy target - like shooting fish in a
> > barrel. It's fair, but also quite convenient.
> >
> > Here's my gripe:
> >
> > Where are the tough questions for the mayor and that joke
> of
> > a governor that Louisiana is stuck with?
> >
> > Somehow, they've gotten a free pass by the media despite
> > turning in a performance that was the absolute opposite of
>
> > what Giuliani and Pataki put in after 9-11. A disgraceful
>
> > lack of preparedness or professionality. Those poor
> people
> > in New Orleans have had NO ONE to act as their advocate.
> >
> > Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the
> N.O.
> > city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of
> > water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of
> the
> > city.
>
> > There's plenty of blame to go around folks. Too bad that
> > our journalistic colleagues fail to highlight that in a
> > manner befitting the scope of the disaster.
>
> Actually, I have heard local politicians being criticized as
> well. Particularly on CNN and Lou Dobbs especially. The
> mayor of NOLA is BLACK. Most of the political
> powers-that-be in NOLA and LA are BLACK!
>
> While I totally agree there is much blame to go around, most
> of it does fall onto the Federal level. This was a disaster
> much to great for local police and fire and what-not to
> handle. That is where FEMA is supposed to come in.
>
> But wait, FEMA was "demoted" to just another department
> under the Dept. Of Homeland Security. And now FEMA is being
> run by people who don't have a clue how to handle disasters
> such as what's happened in NOLA. They're main focus is
> terrorism. You should honestly look into what happened to
> the millions and millions of dollars that were SUPPOSED TO
> GO to fixing the NOLA levees. That money was diverted to
> the War in Iraq.
>
> Once again, the US is embarassed how it can NOT handle a
> disaster on it's own land.
>
> The locals are being criticized, but we are finally seeing
> our media back to where it should be: grilling those
> essentially responsible for f**king up -- once again.
>

As I said, there's plenty of blame to go around. However, the first response to a disaster is on the state and local level. ALWAYS. That's because the nature of our big nation makes it impossible for an immediate (physical) Federal response in less than 24-48 hours. Plus, key pieces of equipment and food are moved away from the storm area so that they too are not destroyed. So, the initial screw up was local. I know a bit about this and that is how it works. It takes time for outside help to come - always.

And, the race of the mayor of New Orleans is not at issue here - his performance is what is being questioned. The governor is white and I hold her even MORE responsible for the initial delays and poor planning. Let's nopt even go there. Disaster management is as much the state's job as it is the city's. I am of the opinion that these initial problems allowed the lawlessness to set in and to fester - which further prevented help from getting to the people who needed it.

All that being said, Fed support should have been there at least 36 hours earlier than it was. So, the questioning of Chertoff and FEMA is appropriate. But, I think that the blame needs to go around to all - Fed and State. Only then can we prevent this kind of mess in the future. The coverage that I have seen has been extremely critical of the Federal response, but has given the locals a pass. Both sets need to be held accountable for this tragedy - IMO.

 

[BRNout]

> As the old Greek expression goes, "A fish rots from the
> head" and the head ain't in Louisiana or New Orleans.

An oversimplification that does not take the reality of the situation into account. There are several different fish involved here - including in Washington, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Let's question them all.

 

[DrBear]

We'll be able to tell who really farked up in the federal government - like George Tenet after 9-11, Bush will give 'em medals.

 

[oldiesfan]

Re: The Sunday Morning Talk Shows

> After watching the head of FEMA now being called the failed
> (and actually fired for incompetence) leader of a horse
> association-rehired-as-disaster-czar, it's time to set up
> the Hurricane Katrina Bookie Group - first bet, how many
> days before the head of FEMA turns in his resignation or is
> fired. Proceeds should go to hurricane relief.

Both the Brown-nosing (pun intended) head of FEMA,
and Chertoff (does he remind anyone else of Vincent
Price as Egghead on Batman?) ought to be shown the
door, now. With none of this BS that "he has resigned
to pursue other interests." Tell us they've been canned,
in plain English. And no lovely parting gifts either!

I'll yield to Louisianans to recommend whether or not
the Guv and the Mayor should meet the same fate.