Russert

Tim Russert's unfortunate death from a heart attack received lots of coverage, none of which I feel obligated to repeat or link to; you can find it easily enough. His Meet the Press is one of those shows loved by political junkies and avoided by the rest of America. I doubt such programs add much to the political discourse except among the chattering class, and I also doubt you learn much from watching such programs. Those who watch such shows already know a lot about politics and public affairs. The audience is into theater, or are policy wonks, or need to get out more in the sunshine.

This isn't to make demean Russert. He was very good at what he did, and he'll be missed by those who watched him and similar programs. It's too bad he couldn't have stuck around until at least the end of the presidential election. He would have loved to play a part in this one.