Posted by
Scott Ott on Saturday, June 14, 2008 6:37:51 AM
Chris Matthews'
initial reaction to the death of colleague Tim Russert can be summed like this: Bush lied. People died.
Yes,
MSNBC's Chris Matthews found a way to use even the death of a beloved journalist (there's a term you don't see often) to again roll out the liberal chestnut that the Bush-Cheney cabal had manipulated Americans into war by raising the specter of nuclear weapons in the hands of Saddam Hussein and like-minded ne'er do wells.
The
Hardball host's live shot from Paris last night gave vivid illustration to the expression "like a belch in church."
Asked by a justifiably teary-eyed Keith Olbermann to reflect on the sudden death, Mr. Matthews professed his love and admiration, calling Mr. Russert "everyman", a "true patriot", "Mr. America" -- by which he meant that the
Meet the Press moderator had supported the Iraq invasion because of the trumped-up threat of nukes.
In other words, Mr. Matthews clearly implied, Tim Russert was like the rest of you rubes who were suckered by Bush.
Less than two minutes into his fond memories of his departed colleague, Mr. Matthews called Mr. Russert's privately-expressed concern about atomic terrorists "the essence of what was wrong with the whole case for the war."
It's hard to fathom a soul so craven that he would use a eulogy to resurrect his timeworn attack on the stagecraft of the Bush administration. But the overflow of Chris Matthews' darkened heart also spilled onto the rest of us 'patriotic Americans' who were fooled by what Bush-Cheney Inc. was "selling." In a nutshell, we're all just a bunch of hard-working dopes like Tim Russert.
"Tim was...us, the American people," said Mr. Matthews.
Of course, by 'us' he doesn't mean 'me and you', just 'you'.
In an uncharacteristic moment of staggering truth, Mr. Olbermann then paraphrased news doyen Barbara Walters in noting, "This is a loss for the country. This is a loss in terms of the ability to get information from an honest broker -- someone who managed a neutrality that the rest of us dream of, perhaps. How big is that gap that we have now seen opened today...How big is the loss, and how on earth is the American public going to fill it in terms of getting the information it needs for the vital choices ahead?"
Mr. Matthews wisely dodged the query, perhaps because the answer is painfully obvious. Having the Olbermann-Matthews dynamic duo discuss this valid question would qualify as satire of the highest order.
How indeed?
As I watched the parade of journalists reminiscing about Tim Russert's integrity and passion for his craft, I realized that not one of them would merit a five-hour interruption of programming on the day of his death.
Timothy J. Russert -- a serious, joyful, gracious, tough, hard-working objective journalist -- died June 13, 2008, at the age of 58. The last of his professional line, he left no survivors in the field. In lieu of flowers, cancel your cable subscription and use the money to take your
Dad to lunch each week for the rest of his, or
your, life.