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May 05, 2008
Quick Quiz: Tim Russert
Barack Obama's appearance on Meet the Press reminded Paul Slansky how happy it makes host Tim Russert to get aggressive with his Democratic guests.
1) True or false? During the "Scooter" Libby trial, former Cheney communications director Cathie Martin testified that the "last person" his staff wanted Cheney to be interviewed by was Tim Russert because "he's like a pit bull. It's like he has a mission in life to bring down the powerful."
True. The Meet the Press host is the only interviewer who consistently rattles Cheney, to the point where he's been known to feign illness to avoid being subjected to Russert's relentless interrogations .
False. In fact, Meet the Press was their first choice for Cheney TV appearances - Martin said it was "a tactic we often used" when they wanted to "control" their "message" because Russert's compulsion to suck up to power made his show their "best format."
2) When Dick Cheney appeared on Meet the Press on December 9, 2001, he said it was "pretty well confirmed that [9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack." On June 16, 2004, Gloria Borger, host of CNBC's Capitol Report, read Cheney the "pretty well confirmed" quote, to which Cheney responded, "No, I never said that. I never said that. Absolutely not." How did Tim Russert respond to this on the next broadcast of Meet the Press?
He called it "a bald-faced - no, a bald-headed - lie."
He played the tape of Cheney's denial, then the tape of him making the statement, gave the camera an incredulous look and said, "This guy's balls are bigger than my jack-o-lantern head."
Doubtlessly more concerned with staying in Cheney's good graces than with informing the country about his pathological mendacity, he said nothing whatsoever about what he clearly knew to be a brazen - and easily exposed - LIE. It was left to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show to play the tapes back to back and say, "Mr. Vice President, I have to inform you your pants are on fire."
3) True or false? Tim Russert is one of the great original thinkers in the punditocracy.
True. He can be counted on to challenge the beliefs of his journalistic brethren.
False. He can be counted on to parrot the week's conventional wisdom as if it were gospel.
4) What did Arianna Huffington once say about Tim Russert's follow-up-question-free interviewing technique?
"[He] is fast becoming journalism's answer to the 'E-Z Pass,' those electronic tags that allow drivers to go througth toll booths without having to stop."
"If you close your eyes and forget that it's Sunday morning, you'll think you're listening to Larry King."
"You know how soft cashmere is? Compared to Russert it's sandpaper."
Related: Quick Quiz: Bush Abominated
