Tim Russert, RIP

Matt Welch | June 13, 2008

The nation's Sunday morning advertisement for Lexis-Nexis is dead of a heart attack at the young age of 58. I won't pretend that I was a huge fan of Russert's particular brand of anchorperson nostalgia for the Greatest Generation, but, unlike 99.9% of the rest of us, he did one thing better than anyone else − drag a politician onto network TV and confront him or her with past statements and actions that do not reconcile with the rhetorical BS of the present. The best such example I can recall offhand was Russert's brutal interrogation 13 months ago of a stammering John McCain.

You'd think it wouldn't be rare for a political journalist to read up on his subjects, but Russert was not only a rare exception in that regard, he also used the tactic with admirable efficiency and calm.

Russert-lovers? Haters? Share your memories in the comments.