Okay, I know we don't like Tim Russert, but...

[Dawgs]

He's really going after Frist(and even defending Democrats). Frist looks like a dumbass.

Example,

(paraphrasing)

Russert asked: 'The Democrats say that if you take away the tax cuts from the top 1% then you'll have enough to pay for Katrina and Iraq'.

Frist: 'Well, the Democrats have no ideas. They just want to raise taxes for the American people.'

Russert: 'but the Democrats left the administration with a surplus.'

Frist: 'Yes, but we had Katrina and Iraq to pay for...'

Now, just read Russert's initial question and Frist's final answer. :-)

[Dawgs]

1. Now, he asking him about the Schaivo embarrassment.

This is fun.

[Dawgs]

2. Frist is saying that he doesn't regret saying she was in a persistent...

vegetative state. :rofl:

[skiddlybop]

5. Just because Russert doesn't like Frist personally

is no reason to trust anything he says.

He's a liar on Plamegate and Abramoff, and smearing Arianna Huffington like he thinks he's the next Karl Rove.-

[Dawgs]

14. I agree. I never said I like Russert or trust him.

I thought he was good today, and today only.

He made Frist look like a fool.

[hatrack]

15. Making Frist look like a fool is like kicking a duck

He'd lose in a battle of wits with a coffee table.

[spooky3]

30. LOL!!!!

[XanaDUer]

3. He may be responding today to this...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=24620&mode=nested&order=0

[Dawgs]

6. That sounds about right, but...

he really was good today.

[XanaDUer]

10. Yeah

he did do okay. Let's see how he performs in the future.

[0007]

22. very good article and nails Tim down to a nats ass.

I like this;

What is particularly shameful about his behavior is that Russert does not toady to a conservative Administration out of ideological conviction. However one feels about Sean Hannity, he is at least sincere. Russert, however, has no real beliefs. He sucks up to conservatives today simply to build his career, income, and power.

.....and there in the woods a piggy-wig stood, with a ring in the end of his nose. "Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring? Said the Piggy, "I will"

Hello Piggy Tim

[oldtime dfl_er]

27. Love that piggy wig story!

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/1097640

[linazelle]

28. Why ask Frist instead of Bush--he has access; while the interview

was better than any recent ones, he still let too much go unquestioned. He let Frist talk and talk...

I get the feeling that Frist is the new Delay--to be ostracized from the "Party" and face the firing line.

[Jade Fox]

35. Or this....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/nbc-news-pr-department-ge_b_14540.html

[XanaDUer]

37. Didn't see that one. Thank you.

Eom.

[Jade Fox]

41. Huffington is becoming a formidable force....

to be reckoned with when it comes to calling the Press/Media on the carpet for their crimes against honest reporting and democracy. I'm convinced that Huffington's devastatingly critical articles on Judith Miller were what finally forced the NYT to show Miller the door.

[still_one]

4. he probably felt obligated to do so because of the Huffington post

[XanaDUer]

7. Yup.

He only semifellated Frist today.

[still_one]

9. LOL

[pretzel4gore]

13. doesn't matter, russert should face his executioner

the greasy pig.....fukk him

[tsuki]

8. Frist is no longer the "Boy Wonder" of the Republican Party. I

suspect the Repugs have named him "fair game."

[patrice]

17. They're afraid to run Kitty-Killer for president.

Really! No matter what your politics are, killing kitties IS Disturbing.

[tsuki]

53. He's a problem on several levels. I don't think I would be as

upset if I didn't know that he made a "pet" of them before he killed them. Terry Schiavo's diagnosis by video tape is a problem. His stock deal is a problem. And now with the backlash against the irreligious right, Just-Us Sunday is a problem. At the last Just-Us Sunday, they had to get DeLay to speak.

Nope, he's "fair game." They want him out.

[patrice]

54. oooooooo!!! Just-Us Sundays!!! You remind me . . .

I went to Juneteenth celebrations here 3 years in a row. One year, after being around people who are fighting Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines, I decided to talk to our Black community at Juneteenth by asking them "What is Justice?" and recording their answers. Several of them said, "Justice is Just Us." That was the first time I ever heard that and I was a little puzzled at first. I understand them better now. Another answer I got to my question was "Justice is whatever ISN'T in the Plea Bargain."

The next "Justice Sunday", I and my sign-holding friends on our street corner should hold signs about Just Us Sunday and repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat when and wherever possible.

................................

Yeah, it IS pretty Sick that he lived with those kitties before killing them!!! Animal abuse is a hallmark of socio-pathic personality disorders.

[Libby2]

11. Must be something in the water

they all sound the same.
Like they couldn't find their asses with both hands.

What a bunch of slime balls.

[blm]

12. He's knocking Frist out for George Allen, not for journalism.

Allen wants to sew up the rightwing support as early as possible.

[papau]

25. Bingo!

:-)

[Vinnie From Indy]

16. Bullshit!

Russert is as dirty as he ever was and today's interview with Frist doesn't change anything. Imagine how difficult it would be to interview Frist WITHOUT asking questions that appear to be aggressive. My God! Frist is a walking scandal spouting machine. Schiavo, blind trusts, Katrina, the war, the nuclear option etc etc etc. The list goes on and on. I don't see how Russert could have interviewed Frist without asking some questions about these issues. Russert is, and has been, one of BushCo's best paid operatives!

[Ilsa]

18. I think it's all smoke and mirrors. He's asking a few hard questions,

but not following up with more when Frist responds with a bullshit answer, including the tax cuts. Frist said that the Dems want to raise your taxes. Timmy could have said, "Only on the top 1%. That's hardly everyone." but instead, he let him get away with it.

[Dawgs]

20. He did respond. Did you even watch the interview?

Geez. I said Russert was good today; that's it. It wasn't a debate. It was an interview. Russert asked tough questions, and followed up with additional questions. No, it wasn't perfect, but it certainly wasn't a love fest.

You guys really need to look past the initial subject line.

[Ilsa]

46. I'm not saying it was a lovefest.

Yes, I saw the interview, and Frist looked worn out and speechless at times. I'm not ready to cut Russert much slack though, not when I consider how relentless he was interviewing Dems and how many times he has given Repubs a free ride.

I'm not criticizing your perception of today's show. I just feel differently about TR.

[Dawgs]

51. No you don't feel different. I feel the same way about Russert.

I said he did well today; that's it. I'm not saying I like Russert or that I've changed my mind about him. I said he did well today, and Frist looked like an ass. I'm only giving credit to Russert for today's performance. It certainly doesn't change my opinion of him.

[Olney Blue]

19. Frist is so slimy.

[Dawgs]

21. Agree...

I sure hopes he gets the nomination in 2008.

[Olney Blue]

32. I do too-he would be easy to beat. But I don't think the GOP will do it-

he has the charisma of a grapefruit.

[balzac]

23. Russert is a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Bushco

These guys are masters at exuding false integrity and throwing the occassional biscuit to the Democrats in order to appear to be a real journalist. But while they throw us an occassional biscuit, they give the whole feast to the Republicans because that's who owns them.

[Broadslidin]

24. Tim Russert Has Put The Slithering frist "On The Public Record".....!

:nopity:

[balzac]

26. Russert is a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Bushco

These guys are masters at exuding false integrity and throwing the occassional biscuit to the Democrats in order to appear to be a real journalist. But while they throw us an occassional biscuit, they give the whole feast to the Republicans because that's who owns them.

[0007]

29. Very good account of Pig Tim

I like this part, because it is so true to form.

What is particularly shameful about his behavior is that Russert does not toady to a conservative Administration out of ideological conviction. However one feels about Sean Hannity, he is at least sincere. Russert, however, has no real beliefs. He sucks up to conservatives today simply to build his career, income, and power.

And there is the woods a Pigg-wig stood, with a ring at the end of his nose. "Dear Pig, are you will to sell for one for one american dollar Your ring?"
Said the Piggy, "I will."

Hello Piggy Tim

[shance]

31. Frist forgets they created Iraq and Katrina.

And all that has stemmed from both events.

[bklyncowgirl]

33. Frist was squirming like a live cat on a dissection table

Gross image but fitting.

He looked like crap by the way.

[nickshepDEM]

34. Frist was speechless on the debt, defecit, and earmarks.

[welshTerrier2]

36. "he's going after a republican so he must be OK"

we really need to stop thinking in such black and white terms ... too many DU'ers see the world in terms of "Dems good; republicans bad"; neither group is quite as monolithic as that ... there are crappy Democrats and republicans have their own internal battles going on ...

do you think the republican Party, i mean the powers behind the republican Party, want Frist to "look good"? ask yourself that ... has he looked good over the last year or so? do you think they're doing all they can to help him build his image?

the reality is that Frist is toast ... they don't want him to see a path to the presidency ... and so, their little hit machine takes him down a peg or two ... it's all very neatly controlled and Russert and the propaganda wing are doing just what they're told to do ...

it's wrong to see bi-partisanship and neutrality in what Russert does ... just because he goes after the "wrong republicans" doesn't mean he's not a republican shill ...

••••••••••••••
☼▒Ŵ▒Ť▒2▒☼
••••••••••••••

[Greyhound]

38. Hardly "going after" the cat killer, if he were the most obvious

follow up would be to point out that the re:puke:s had already blown the surplus before Iraq or Katrina or 9/11...
But that didn't make it, did it? Calling a liar a liar would be "going after" him, not giving him a 20 minute forum to excuse his incompetence.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

39. Only one more year for Frist in the Senate. Say ba bye!!!! n/t

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

40. The Round Table drives me nuts on MTP, as they are not discussing

facts.

It is like everything has moved down one level. Politicians in the GOP doing spin, PR all the time.

Pundits rather than discussing real issues are discussing the effectiveness of the SPIN, the PR, the strategy.

So here at DU and elsewhere we discuss both the facts and the disgusting lack of substance of the media in many cases.

[renie408]

47. Yeah, I watched a little too long.

What amazes me is that they did not have one single person on there who was even PRETENDING to be unbiased. It was all just a "Democrats are douches"-fest.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

48. True, it was sickening. I do believe that if the

Neocons had their way Democrats would have rights taken away, would be denounced all the time, even more than now, and who knows where it might end.

[cybildisobedience]

42. two observations about Russert's "changed" behavior this a.m.

1. Russert is shifting into survival mode -- he knows he's on the hot seat for his personal isuses -- his role in Plame outing, this flap over the promotion of his son's satellite radio show, his audacity in participating in an ethics conference (all, I might add, amplified by Arianna Huffington, who is ON HIS CASE).

2. Don't overlook the second half of the program, which was vintage Russert -- stacked with right-wing ideologues and alleged centrists (Broder -- a/k/a right wing ideologue) and alleged objective journalists (WH correspondent O'Donnell, who has never said a negative thing about Bush that I've heard and can't seem to find anything positive to say about any Dem).

He stacks the deck for the Repukes any way he can, and he does it consistently.

[tyedyeto]

43. Why didn't Russert press him about the tax issue

that raising taxes of those in the top 1% is not They just want to raise taxes for the American people.'. Not raising them for everybody, just the fat cats. Catkiller made it sound like the Democrats want to raise taxes across the board. And Timmy let it slide.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

49. Yes. No tax cuts for the wealthiest is not = tax increases for all

It isn't even tax increases for the wealthy, only the lack of tax cuts.

Unfortunately it seems to be S.O.P. for the GOP to make these claims unchallenged.

[AX10]

44. What's this? Russert is asking Repubs hard questions?

He is, but I wonder why?

[Gabi Hayes]

45. I love this part.....says it all about the lying liars

Russert asked: 'The Democrats say that if you take away the tax cuts from the top 1% then you'll have enough to pay for Katrina and Iraq'.

Frist: 'Well, the Democrats have no ideas. They just want to raise taxes for the American people.'

Russert: 'but the Democrats left the administration with a surplus.'

Frist: 'Yes, but we had Katrina and Iraq to pay for...'

Now, just read Russert's initial question and Frist's final answer.

[Edgewater_Joe]

50. And This Is WHY We Don't Like Him

If Russert was half the journalist his reputation inflates him to be, he would do this EVERY week with EVERY politician regardless of affiliation -- but he doesn't.

Further, look at that "roundtable" discussion: a Bush toady, a phony moderate, an over-the-hill pundit, and Barbie.

Hope that helps.

[Dawgs]

52. Hope what helps...

This thread was started because I enjoyed seeing Frist squirm today. It wasn't about Russert being on our side now.

I enjoyed the interview because it made Frist look bad. Every topic showed Frist and the Republicans as being corrupt. No, Russert didn't go on about tax cuts for the rich, but he did talk about Frist's embarrassing Schaivo diagnosis, Abramoff, and the scandal with his family investments. It was nice to see him bring up scandal after scandal, rather than focusing on one topic, such as the filibuster.