After watching Donald Trump complete another softball interview (this one with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press) I started thinking about and longing for the late Tim Russert. I think it is fair to say that a very large percentage of Americans regardless of their political affiliation loved and respected Tim Russert. People from all walks of life including Republicans and Democrats saw him as genuine, fair, and tough, but most importantly, we all had a sense that he knew right from wrong and when confronted with something he felt was fundamentally wrong or against the values of what America stands for, he made sure that he did everything in his power to point it out. He was in many ways America’s gatekeeper, making sure we all had what we needed to make informed, intelligent decisions, regardless of our place in society.
I am not sure when the American news media, particularly the television news media decided ratings and ‘gotcha’ moments were more important than the truth. Maybe it is connected with the decline of newspapers which truth be told is one of the last bastions of real journalistic integrity. As people get more of their news from the Internet they have no idea if it is fabricated or real and in many cases they may not care. The Internet is in direct competition with TV news which has TV news channels scrambling for ratings. Maybe that is why it has been so hard to find someone who is willing to do the tough work of getting to the truth and holding people accountable.
Whatever the reasons, television news people have for the most part become talking heads. They seem more interested in giving an opinion, getting someone to answer questions in a way that makes the days new cycle or simply trying to get the highest ratings they can. Ultimately much of the blame for all of this lies at the feet of the people who run the TV news media, particularly (but not limited to) the cable news channels.
That brings us to the news media and Donald Trump. How many times must we be subjected to Donald Trump being interviewed by someone who is afraid to put his feet to the fire? Media talking heads asking silly lightweight questions and getting no answers to their question with absolutely no follow-up or pressure to give an honest answer. Even the major networks like CBS, ABC and NBC do this with Trump. It makes you start to wonder if the heads of all of these networks are directing their people not to push too hard for fear that Trump and his surrogates may not be willing to come back and do more interviews.
This brings me back to Tim Russert. After watching the Chuck Todd interview with Trump I was trying to imagine how Tim Russert would handle Donald Trump if he were still with us today. I think I have a pretty good idea so let me give you a scenario of how it might have gone.
Mr. Trump, when you first announced your candidacy you referenced that ‘Mexico is sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.’ Mr. Trump why did you say that?
Tim I did not really say it that way. I love Mexicans. I have a lot of them working for me. This is a case of the liberal media changing what I said. They are against me. They are dishonest.
Mr. Trump let me show you a video of what you said when you announced for President.
At this point Tim Russert shows the video of Mr. Trump denouncing Mexicans when he announced his candidacy. Once the video is done playing he turns to Mr. Trump with that wonderful smile Tim always had and probably says ‘Mr. Trump, the video s right there in front of your eyes, so what do you have to say about it’? Trump would more than likely respond with something along the lines of ‘you know Tim I am not going to talk about it anymore but I think you are being very unfair’.
Then Tim Russert would probably move onto a different subject. Probably saying ‘OK so let’s move onto another subject. Mr. Trump, why are so many white supremacists including David Duke supporting you’?
You know Tim I really have no idea why.
Well Mr. Trump let me show you some video.
At this point Tim Russert shows a bunch of videos of Mr. Trump making racist and bigoted comments. Once the video is over he turns to Mr. Trump and says ‘Mr. Trump, don’t you think these types of comments make people like David Duke feel empowered’?
Well Tim I think what you are doing is very unfair. You are taking bits and pieces of my comments out of context.
But Mr. Trump these are your words. You say you denounce the KKK and white supremicists now but you never expand on that. Would you like to expand on that now?
At this point Mr. Trump would probably be about to explode. But Tim Russert would continue on as he always did.
Mr. Trump one last thing I would like to cover with you. You have refused to release your tax returns. Why won’t you release your tax returns?
Tim as I have said repeatedly, as long as I am getting audited I cannot release my returns.
But Mr. Trump according to the IRS that is not an issue. Let me show you a statement the IRS put out on this matter.
Then Tim Russert would read the IRS statement indicating they did not have any issue with Trump releasing his tax returns while letting viewers see the text on screen.
Mr Trump are you ready to release those tax returns for the American public to see?
Tim I am not going to do it until the audit is complete.
But why not? You have tax returns that are not under audit so why not release those returns? People feel you are hiding something. Are you hiding something you don’t want us to know?
You know Tim I am not going to discuss it anymore on this show. I will get back to you on it.
Mr. Trump you have a history of doing interviews and saying you’ll get back to us on it next week and never do. Can I have a specific date when you will get back to us?
Tim I am done discussing this.
Well Mr. Trump thanks for being with us today.
As I mentioned earlier in this piece, I really think Tim Russert is rolling over in his grave watching the cowardly manner the news media has conducted itself regarding the Trump candidacy. Are there news people who could make Tim Russert proud in today’s media? Sure there are. People such as Lawrence O’Donnell get it but unfortunately he’ll l never get the chance to get people like Donald Trump one-on-one because they fear him and his network doesn’t want to get their guests too angry. After all they might not be willing to come back to their network for future interviews.
I get the feeling that Tim Russert understood that not everyone follows these political issues closely and in many cases it is tough for the average person to understand these complicated matters so he made it easy for regular people to understand without talking down to them. It seems to me that Tim Russert was not concerned with impressing anyone or making sure people’s feelings did not get hurt. He was simply interested in the truth and making sure all of us got the truth, and doing it in a manner that was not mean spirited but got the job done.
So to those of you in the television news media in a position to get to the truth and confront misinformation, I think I can safely say I speak for many people when I ask you to DO YOUR DAMN JOB! It is not that hard. It simply takes hard work, guts and a commitment to the truth. If you can’t do that then you should find another career because you are our last line of defense. In many ways our last hope to stop this insanity.
To be perfectly honest I started to get depressed writing this piece since we may be on the verge of electing Donald Trump President, in large part due to the media hyping him, giving him free air time and cowering to him whenever they have an opportunity to confront him while allowing a large percentage of Americans to remain either uniformed or misinformed.
Then I suddenly had a thought. I remembered that Tim has a son named Luke Russert. He does some work for MSNBC. He is only 30 years of age but soon he will be at an age where a network will say ‘hey this is Tim Russert’s kid and he is old enough now to do what Tim did and he’s got Tim’s genes. Let’s give him a show, maybe even Meet The Press. Let’s set him loose and see what he can do.
If this scenario ever occurs with Luke Russert my hope is before he goes on the air for the first time he sits down and looks at some of the videos of his dad (as I am sure he has done many times since his dad passed away) just for some inspiration. Watch him doing those tough interviews showing him always searching for the truth. I can just see it now, Luke Russert getting ready to do his first Meet The Press since the announcement that he is taking over his dad’s old show. Hopefully someone in the studio will turn to him right before going on the air to interview Donald Trump or the next politician trying to sell a bunch of garbage to the American people and say ‘Luke just do exactly what your dad would have done with every interview you do and make him proud. You’ve got his genes, it is inside of you so let’s keep his legacy going’.
Hey you can’t knock a guy for dreaming can you? For now all I can do is hope someone hears our pleas to do the work necessary to give us a new gatekeeper. In the meantime Paul Simon if you are reading this, I think you should change one of the lines from the great song Mrs. Robinson. Instead of ‘where have you gone Joe DiMaggio’ to ‘where have you gone Tim Russert our nation turns its lonely eyes to you’.