Ta ta, Timmeh. With Haiku.

So long, Tim Russert. You are no longer conscious, gone from here and now to wherever and who knows. It will be left to others on the screens to report you’re passing, others parsing what it means and who you were, and how you'll be remembered - as if we weren't doing precisely that right now – and portentously forecasting what you’re absence means and further what it will mean to all of us.  

So?

Russert’s winning personality gave him credibility that unfortunately didn’t square with his unwariness at extraordinary times. He was an insider, played the game and got rich, famous and had access to power.

Intoxicating, I imagine.

Russert, in the incubator of Darwinian Corporate TV, created a character who appeared trustworthy, reliable, of high standing, commanding authority, and seemed to maintain integrity and impartiality. A truth seeker? He was TV personality who questioned politicians, officers and other titans. Sometimes incisively, other times as an unwitting obscurantist, used to reinforce the message of those with influence; who run networks, auction spectrum, and tax, reward or regulate, well, just about everything.

He was his own man - I’m sure he imagined - but may never have envisioned using what HE KNEW as Woodward and Bernstein had a generation earlier. Sadly, I discredit his judgment, at best. We ended up HERE. Punditize, please. He will be missed, but the next wave will wash away his footprints in the sand.  

VIDEO HUMAN DEAD
DONE WITH ENGAGE-ENABLE
GREAT POWER PREVAILS