The Timmeh and Smerky Show

Philadelphia’s pre-eminent conservative pundit (a label not to be worn with pride as far as I’m concerned) tells us the following (from here)…

Tim Russert didn't become the pre-eminent political journalist in the nation by browbeating, condescension or debate-stifling. He was a facilitator of intelligent, political conversation, not an enabler of the stark left-right, black-white, Democrat-Republican, liberal-conservative cable world in which we now live.

Smerky makes it sound as if he and "Big Tim" were just so honorable at all times, doesn’t it?

I’m definitely seeing the same type of mythologizing concerning Russert as I did when The Sainted Ronnie R rode off into the sunset to That Great Hollywood Back Lot In The Sky (on a lesser scale, I’ll admit; it was sickeningly omnipresent when The Gipper kicked).

As far as “debate-stifling” is concerned, here is an episode of Russert slapping down John Harwood of the New York Times when Harwood got a little too close to Russert’s inflated sense of entitlement over the press serving as McCain’s “base” in 2002, as so stated by “Senator Honor and Virtue.”

Want more of the same? Eric Boehlert tells us here how Arianna Huffington was frozen out of appearances on The Peacock Network to promote her book after she committed the unpardonable effrontery of actually criticizing Russert (though, all the while, NBC ignored the story of the co-opted Pentagon military analysts – and that goes for Russert too).

And while this item by reporter Colman McCarthy doesn’t qualify as “debate-stifling” I realize (maybe “debate-avoiding”), it nonetheless shows how, when granted the opportunity to grill Deadeye Dick Cheney on the Iraq war, Russert took a pass.

Finally, if Russert was such “a facilitator of intelligent political conversation,” why did he suggest here that the Repugs would attack Barack Obama over the supposed issue of not saying the pledge of allegiance even though Russert didn’t state that the charge was false?

And of course, it’s pretty funny to read Smerky anointing Russert given that the former said here that Muslims requesting a designated prayer area at Giants Stadium were “playing a game of, you know, mind blank with the audience. And that they should know better four years removed from September 11."

Our intrepid Inky columnist also trivialized the photos from Abu Ghraib that outraged the world and said that educating women means "they're not going to be around to instill these lessons in their kids" here (and his "sissification of America" comments are equally moronic).

Once again, I respect the fact that Tim Russert’s career should be appraised in its entirety since the man is now dead; though there was plenty of dreck in his body of work, there were also moments of great journalism for which he should be remembered also.

Smerky, however, is still very much with us. Given that, his good moments and bad should be evaluated individually as they occur (with many more of the latter than the former).

Update: Silly me, how could I forget this Smerky "golden moment," calling Arianna "a hooker giving up her john" (all class).