Tim Russert, host of NBC’s Meet The Press, died this afternoon of a heart attack. He was 58.
Russert’s one of the reasons I felt okay moving to DC. I have a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, almost the entirety of it taken through political philosophy and international relations theory. I couldn’t stand the idea of wasting my time in a class where all I learned how to do was posture and bullshit, and so I stayed away from the American Government classes at Denison. I know there’s a whole dark art to the way Congress works, and I know there’s an acceptance of that that has to happen in order to work here.
But Russert didn’t care about the posturing part. He pressed on with questions when he didn’t like the answer he got. He was a real pest that way, and I remember a number of Sunday mornings when it was clear he took a bit of relish in needling the politician on the other side of his desk.
I remember the 2000 elections and Tim had his whiteboard out and was doing all kinds of electoral math that made everyone else he talked to that night look like an absolute simpleton. He was the only one who really got it. It’s why that whiteboard is sitting now in the Smithsonian.
Thank you, Tim. I will miss you immensely.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
