fuck tim russert

Yglesias is a sharp fellow. These, to me, are the key paragraphs:

To say that such exercises offer no information would be unfair. But the information is purely meta. Viewers watch a candidate getting grilled by Russert not to assess the candidate's views but to assess his or her ability to withstand the grilling. And, when this sort of toughness and sparring becomes its own reward, the vacuity of the questioning is almost guaranteed. After all, if you asked a politician a serious, important question and got a perfectly good answer, then maybe, for a moment, you couldn't be tough. Instead, Russert relies on his crutch of confronting politicians with allegedly contradictory statements they've made—to highly monotonous effect.

Worse, Russert has a legion of imitators. At the same debate in which Russert harangued Democrats about driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, audience member LaShannon Spencer came up with an intriguingly open-ended request for candidates to talk about the qualities they would look for in Supreme Court appointments. However, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux swiftly transformed this into a cliched question about "whether or not you would require your nominees to support abortion rights," even though everyone knows all the candidates are pro-choice. Under Russertism, that's a better question, because it's more likely to cause someone to stumble.

So, yes, Tim Russert's interview style usually doesn't elevate the debate.

fuck him, yes, and fuck chris matthews. i am completely at a loss as to why there hasn't been some kind of massive democratic campaign to get both of their asses kicked off of the debate coverage, let alone their individual programs.

Russert always looks like he is trying to keep in laughter from a funny joe he heard just before going on air.

like joe pesci?

This is the best part, all you need to know:

The balls Russert favors may be hard, but the pitches he throws aren't curveballs, which go someplace useful. They're sillyballs, which go somewhere pointless. Russert has created a strike zone of his own where toughness meets irrelevance.

I'd like to see these guys have to talk to this man every week:

http://parkinson.tangozebra.com/images/jeremy_paxman42.jpg

Is this related to the "what nut" poll? xp

The balls Russert favors may be hard

hahah... xp w nicole.

is paxman really all that? i sort of figured he was in the same boat, but i have zero exposure to him

he's not always on target but he at least seems to realize what the actual issues are

and he wouldn't be caught dead asking "what are you best and worst qualities"

he's got a different audience

[NOT WORKSAFE] have you shagged tim russert yet?

gabbneb - you mean a british audience rather than an american one? i thought that was a given! as for demographics though i'd say it's probably about the same - educated, middle class. of course paxman is also on several nights a week.

he wouldn't be caught dead asking "what are you best and worst qualities"

Um, not in those words, but that's exactly what he does!

Haha, F--k you too, Chris Matthews

you mean a british audience rather than an american one?

his audience/culture doesn't seem to stand for such mormonism, at least broadcast-wise

guys, i know it's tough, but you really don't have to pay attention to anything having to do with chris matthews in any way (tho i gotta say his oversold debate react was not bad)

"Chris Matthews apologizes makes exuses for being a total asshole"

http://feministing.com/archives/008433.html

^^ some prime youtubage in there.

uh i think we DO have to pay attention to CM, at least in a meta sense -- or don't you buy the analysis that the sexist glee of cable talking heads tipped the sympathy scales for Hillary in NH?

i don't really buy it - the dynamics of primary voting in a state where anybody from any party can vote in any primary election will be too complex for anyone to really unravel thoroughly. what i do buy, though, is that what chris matthews says and does is a bellwether for his cohort in general. this is not a man who thinks deeply, this is a man who wants to be a top dog in the pack, and to be top dog you have to know where your pack is and what they think and pander to their instincts. like most organizations the press rots from the head down and in his role as cable poobah chris matthews is the fetid, stinking, gnarly skull

well, him and rim fussert

tracer i know this is wierd but i always picture you as a wizened, fist-shaking nun

Tracer OTM re: Matthews. Glad to see him sort of "get the message." he's been saying that kind of garbage about women candidates and commentators for years. It's completely reactionary. Imus got away with treating women like absolute garbage on his show for years too, and it was only when he completely crossed the line into racial slurs that MSNBC took action. It just blows my mind that the kind of language that'd get you fired at most workplaces is commonplace as part of political discourse on national television.

guys, about 300,000 people watch Matthews a night. the idea that he had some influence on NH is laughable. if the media did have an influence, it was their collective decision to play Clintontears as authenticity rather than weakness backlash against them telling NH about Obama's inevitability

whoops, that shd have been strikethru

the chris matthews douchebaggery omnibus

the idea that he's indicative of anything is also laughable - even at his own network he's the overaggressive weirdo eternally losing the competition with russert for the affections/attention of brokawwilliams

insert olbermann after russert

his sunday morning freakshow is kinda successful tho, so maybe he'll turn into mclaughlin some day

they're all backslapping irish catholic hivemind chums, you couldn't fit a cigarette paper between them

and i guess he's learned from o'reilly how to rile people up

gff that is actually not too far from the truth

no, russert at least disdains if not hates matthews

williams would probably rather hang out with conan than either of them

I think he (Matthews) may have realized he's a little haywire after he patted/pinched HRC on the cheek the other night. Can't remember if that's been mentioned on ILE already or not.

bob somerby believes he is actually mentally ill

I'm aware Matthews doesn't have a big audience but I still have a problem with the guy telling 300,000 political junkies that Hillary is an evil witch who only won elections because of Bill messing around. Not to mention all the other comments about women in politics.

I just dropped in on this thread to say "fuck tim russert" is otm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFw7PPXc-rE&feature=related

Russert Krishna

Luke Russertwalker has been a disgrace the last 24 hours.

I'm sorry you are feeling so sad

Maureen Orth, a longtime contributor to Vanity Fair and the widow of Tim Russert,

just wrote the Tom Cruise and his former Scientologist screened girlfriend story many are chattering about

ORTH WIN!

luke russert "leaving NBC to 'take time away from political reporting & to pursue other interests'"

Luke's serious face is just the absolute cutest thing in the world. you know, the one he puts on while the host is introducing him and he's getting ready to speak. BIG BOY JOURNALISM!