Tag Archives: Tim Russert

national news, political news

‘Florida, Florida, Florida’ … again!

The late, great broadcast journalist Tim Russert famously held up a white board in 2000 printed with “Florida, Florida, Florida,” meaning that Florida likely would determine the outcome of that year’s presidential race between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore.

Boy, howdy! Did it ever!

Here we are. Eighteen years later and Florida has returned to the center of the political stage for all the wrong reasons.

They cannot get the ballots counted properly in Broward County or in Palm Beach County. Two races, one for governor and one for U.S. senator, hang in the balance. The Republicans are leading at the moment: Ron DeSantis for governor and Rick Scott for senator.

Donald Trump, along with Scott, are alleging voter fraud. Trump accuses Democrats of trying to “steal” the election from the GOP.

Hold on here!

They need to count all the ballots. Then we can determine the winners of those key races.

But after that? It seems Florida has a serious, extremely troubling history that needs to be corrected. It seems that these voting irregularities are occurring with far too much frequency in the Sunshine State.

Why in the world does this keep happening in Florida? Why can’t the good folks there conduct an election without this kind of kerfuffle?

Texas has more voters than Florida. So does California. Do we hear of this kind of thing happening in those two bigger states? No! It’s Florida, always Florida, time and again.

I am not prepared to declare there to be fraud taking place. I am sitting far away in Collin County, Texas. I do, though, remain troubled that this kind of mess keeps recurring.

We all ought to value our democratic process too much to stand for such scandalous conduct of this vastly important constitutional exercise.

media news, national news, political news

How would Tim Russert react to today’s politics?

imrs.wdp

Tim Russert died eight years ago today.

Do I still miss him? You bet I do.

So does Chris Cillizza, a columnist for the Washington Post, who reposted a piece he wrote three years ago to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Russert’s sudden and shocking death from a heart attack.

Here it is.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/06/13/remembering-tim-russert-5-years-later/?tid=sm_tw_pp&wprss=rss_the-fix

Cillizza wonders what Russert would think of today’s political climate and particularly what he’d think of Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

I think I know the answer.

He’d be appalled at both things.

Russert came from the political world into the world of broadcast journalism. He worked for U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who during his years in the Senate was many Republicans’ favorite Democrat. He also worked for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who didn’t have as many friends in the GOP. But still, Russert knew his way around politicians.

He joined NBC News and stumbled onto the “Meet the Press” moderator gig while filling in one Sunday.

He did so well, proved to be so comfortable, that the NBC News brass made him the permanent moderator.

What set Russert apart from so many of his peers and those who came along after him was his preparation. He knew all there was to know about the people who sat in front of him. Russert was an expert at making politicians account for the very things they said in public.

“You said this, senator,” he would say, “How do you explain that?”

He was an equal-opportunity afflicter. Democrats and Republicans all had to bring their “A game” to a session on “Meet the Press” when facing Tim Russert.

What would he think of Trump? He’d no doubt be aghast, but he’d keep it to himself. One can rest assured, too, that he’d give Hillary Rodham Clinton just as stern a grilling.

 

media news, national news, political news

Now it's Stephanopoulos on the block

What gives with media superstars who keep making serious professional “mistakes”?

Brian Williams fibs about being shot down during the Iraq War and he gets suspended by NBC News.

Bill O’Reilly fibs about “covering” the Falklands War while reporting from a safe distance … but he’s still on the job at Fox.

Now it’s George Stephanopoulos giving 75 grand to the Clinton Foundation and then failing to report it to his employers or to his ABC News viewers.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/05/the-great-stephanopoulos-mess-117971.html?ml=po&cmpid=sf#.VVjyylLbKt9

ABC calls it an honest mistake. It’s standing by the “Good Morning America” co-host and moderator of “This Week.”

It’s been known for 20 years that Stephanopoulos was an avid supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton. He worked in the Clinton White House as a senior political adviser. Then he made the switch to broadcast journalism and by most accounts — yes, some conservatives haven’t been so charitable — he’s done a credible job.

Why did he give to the Clinton Foundation — with one of its principals, Hillary Clinton, running for president? He said he’s deeply interested in two issues the foundation supports: the fight against deforestation and HIV/AIDS.

OK, fine. Has he not heard of, say, Greenpeace and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who fund efforts to fight those very causes? If he was interested more in the causes and less in the people who champion them, then he could have given to any number of reputable foundations to carry on those battles.

He didn’t. Now his reputation as a journalist has been called into serious — and legitimate — question.

Stephanopoulos isn’t the first political hired hand to make the transition to TV news. Diane Sawyer once wrote speeches for President Nixon and the late Tim Russert once was a key aide to New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. They made the switch. Others have gone into political commentary after working for partisan pols — or themselves been politicians — on both sides of the aisle.

None of them, though, gave large sums of money to overtly political foundations while working as journalists or pundits or commentators.

George Stephanopoulos has created a huge mess for himself — and for his colleagues.

national news, political news

NBC journalist faces conflicting interests

Chuck Todd wears an important hat for NBC News as moderator of “Meet the Press.”

He must remain impartial and he must be clear of any association with a partisan political campaign. And by “any association,” that means the woman in his life, his wife.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/12/chuck-todds-wife-aiding-jim-webb-199431.html?hp=l5_4

It turns out that Kristian Denny Todd is assisting former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., as he considers whether to run for president in 2016. Kristian Todd is one of those Democratic “strategists” who assists people in public life.

Meanwhile, her husband is going to be covering the still-growing 2016 campaign and all its players. That must include former Sen. Webb, for whom his wife is working in an unpaid basis.

Todd’s role as a major news network’s main political reporters must be free of any association with a partisan campaign.

Let’s be clear about a thing or two. First, Todd isn’t the first network personality to make that crossover. Others include: George Stephanopoulos of ABC, who once worked in the Clinton White House; Pete Williams of NBC, who was spokesman for the Pentagon in the George H.W. Bush administration; Diane Sawyer of ABC, who once wrote speeches for Richard Nixon; the late Tim Russert of NBC, who worked for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and the late Sen. Pat Moynihan of New York.

This kind of political affiliation involves both parties.

If Mr. and Mrs. Todd are going to allow this kind of association with a potential presidential candidate to continue, it falls on Chuck Todd to ensure that he doesn’t pull his punches with his wife’s boss if and when he gets the chance.

Be very careful, Chuck.

 

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Gregory out, Todd in at 'MTP'

Tim Russert didn’t do his successors at “Meet the Press” any favors.

The late host of the iconic news-talk show set a seemingly impossible standard, or so it seems. How, you ask? Only by being a student of politics, knowledgeable about his guests, intensely interested in what they had to say and having an ability to let their own words be (a) their nemesis or (b) their friend.

Russert died suddenly in 2008 at age 58. David Gregory was named to replace him at NBC’s premier Sunday talk show.

Gregory didn’t make the grade. It took some time for the network to realize the problem it had on its hands.

Now it has made a change.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/14/media/meet-press-david-gregory-chuck-todd/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Chuck Todd is the new host of “Meet the Press.” Gregory is leaving NBC after 20 years. He’s receiving the obligatory good wishes from his colleagues at NBC and other networks.

For news junkies such as yours truly, I hope this latest change works for NBC.

Gregory eventually “led” “Meet the Press” from its customary No. 1 ranking to No. 3 among the broadcast networks’ Sunday news-talk ratings pile.

It really doesn’t matter to which talk show is on top. I just want “Meet the Press” to regain the stature it once enjoyed.

I don’t know much about Todd, other than I do enjoy his presence on TV. He’s generally reasonable, balanced, fair and inquisitive — all the things you want to see in a broadcast journalist.

And if it’s true that Todd is more of a student of politics and policy than Gregory, then the network — and viewers like you and me — will be served better.

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What's wrong with Meet the Press?

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Michelle Malkin is a noted conservative firebrand/columnist whose views on the “mainstream media” are well-known.

I read her recent column on “Meet the Press”‘s ratings troubles and she lays the problem squarely at the feet of the host, David Gregory, who she calls a lot of names.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/04/23/nbcs_cognitive_dissonant_hack_syndrome_122382.html

She said he’s boorish, a “jerk,” he throws tantrums, he hates conservatives. In other words, he’s a “typical Washington elite.”

OK, I’ll accept her bias going in. My own view of Gregory’s troubles can be summed up simply. He isn’t Tim Russert, the man who preceded Gregory in the moderator’s chair on TV’s longest-running program.

Russert died of a massive heart attack in 2008 at the age of 58. NBC-TV went to great lengths to eulogize Russert, an everyman from Buffalo, N.Y., who went to law school, worked for Democratic U.S. Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan and Democratic New York Gov. Mario Cuomo before settling into the “Meet the Press” chair he occupied with such distinction.

Malkin’s recollections of Gregory’s hectoring of NRA guru Wayne LaPierre and Cardinal Timothy Dolan are vivid. They’re also accurate portrayals of the way Gregory often crosses an invisible line that is supposed to separate him from the issues he is covering.

I didn’t know about the tantrums or the boorish behavior until I read Malkin’s column (see attached link).

To my eyes and ears, Gregory just hasn’t met the standard Russert set with his equal-opportunity grilling of guests. He was tough on lefties and righties, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.

The one thing Russert did so artfully was to research his interview subjects’ own statements. He would then use their words to make a point and ask them to clarify what they said. If they could, so much the better — for them. If they couldn’t, well, score one for Russert.

Malkin also noted that Russert conducted himself like the gentleman he was and it showed in the way he handled his tasks as “Meet the Press” moderator.

I also should add that a little self-deprecation goes a long way in the ego-filled world of TV journalism. Russert could poke fun at himself, such as when he told the story of when NBC asked him to fill in on “Meet the Press.” “What?” Russert would say. “Look at this face.” It didn’t matter. He knew his stuff and was good at what he did.

It is that legacy that is dragging David Gregory down. Pure and simple.