Irish Wake Via Cable TV and Internet

Chicago-7 p.m. CST

UPDATED 8:15 p.m.

It’s been an incredible 24 hours. I’ve been pretty glued to the TV watching the various and continuous tributes to Tim Russert. I must say I have never seen anything like this and have never felt this way about the death of a celebrity. First of all, I never considered Russert a celebrity. I think he’d take that as a compliment. I’d like to share a few observations and reflections....

1. Tim Russert was always introduced as Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and Moderator of Meet The Press. I knew that the Bureau job made him the boss of all of the reporters and corespondents covering the White House, Capital, Defense Department, etc. It really was more of a COO position than I realized.

2. When you watch the old clips of Meet The Press you realize the difference between Meet The Press and what Bob Novak once called, Meet The Russert. Prior to Tim Russert’s tenure as Moderator of Meet The Press, and for some time after, Meet The Press was a show where political leaders and others went to be interviewed by several members of the press. As Russert resurrected Meet The Press, he did away with the other members of the press. He was the sole interviewer. Given his unique skills as a lawyer and journalist, he was able to pull it off. I think it created a more seamless and serious endeavor. Under Russert’s leadership, the pols came to be grilled by Tim and the press would come to have round table discussions with "Little Russ."

3. The ProConPundit has confirmed that Joseph Gawler Sons Funeral Directors in Washington, DC, is handling the funeral. Gawlers’ were founded in 1850 and handled the funerals of Abraham Lincoln, JFK, Gerald Ford, most presidents in between, and as their website says, "Supreme Court Justices, Senators, Congressmen, Military leaders, Foreign Dignitaries and many other notable Americans." They can add one more notable American to their files. Their website is www.josephgawlers.com

I am curious as to which church the funeral will be held at. My hunch would be Holy Trinity in Georgetown, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, or St. Joe’s on Capital Hill. I would also bet the milk money that he will be buried in a small, Catholic cemetery in Buffalo. No doubt on a lot where Big Russ will some day be buried.

4. A seldom disclosed fact is that Tim Russert’s mother, Elizabeth, died a few years ago after a short battle with cancer. She divorced his father after the kids were raised.

5. Its been incredible to see and hear the words of love and tribute offered by Russert’s colleagues and friends, dignitaries from church and state. Everyone from Joe Lieberman to Newt Gingrich, from Archbishop John Foley to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

6. As a passionate funeral director and irreverent minister, times like this remind me of the well-intended but foolish things people can say. Theodore Cardinal McCarrick is the retired Archbishop of Washington, DC. He arrived to the Washington Bureau office of NBC News after Russert’s death and offered an impromptu prayer service for the friends of Tim Russert. Later last night when he was interviewed on MSNBC he spoke eloquent words of tribute to Tim’s life. He’s a great man. He summed them by reflecting on how much Russert meant to everyone on earth but that "God wanted him now." Well-intended, but terrible. I can’t tell you how many times, though the years, I have heard someone tell a grieving family member that the death of their loved one was God’s will.

I’m really not aware of any theological premise anywhere, in any religious tradition, that enables any one of us to think we know that someone’s death was God’s will. Catholic theology has traditionally held that everything that happens is either a part of God’s ordaining will: things God specifically wills; and God’s permitting will: things God allows to happen that may not have been God’s intention. In that sense, God’s permitting will may be employed to explain death. For instance, if someone drives their car over a cliff and God does not stop them, one can be stretched to understand why an omnipotent God didn't stop them. With all due respect to that teaching, isn’t God’s permitting will just a coping mechanism, a way for us to explain what we don’t and cannot understand? My criticism of McCarrick is affectionate but I think it is a coping mechanism and, what is sometimes called in theological circles, cheap grace. Cheap grace is dismissing ultimate concerns with the tritest of explanations. Sometimes we have to wrestle with the complex and, other times, we have to be honest about what is real.

Tim Russert was a hundred pounds over weight, over worked, sleep deprived, and under extreme pressure, not the least of which was in light of budget cuts at NBC News. Look at pictures of him. He has aged dramatically in the last two years. We cannot dismiss his death as God’s will. God may have greeted Tim yesterday by saying, "You’re 30 years early." God may have wanted a healthier Russert to continue doing the work that he did so superbly and uniquely. In death, we should celebrate people’s lives, absolutely. But we shouldn’t explain away their death in ways that keep us from, as the great Apostle Paul said, running the race so as to win.

7. Tom Brokaw will convene an awesome Meet The Press tribute to Tim Russert tomorrow with seven of Tim’s nearest and dearest colleagues. As a great touch, Russert’s chair will remain vacant.

8. I was a huge fan of Russert’s and am a huge fan of Chris Matthews–for very different reasons. They were good colleagues and friends in a professional sense. But they were not friends. My hunch is that Matthews resented Russert and that Russert didn’t care so much for the raucous nature of Hardball. I was, therefore, eager to hear Chris Matthews yesterday. He happened to be in Paris, as was, oddly enough, Bob Schieffer, of Face the Nation. I gave Matthews a lot of credit. He spoke of how much he admired Russert and relied on him and trusted him. But he made a point of saying, "You’re hearing a lot of tributes from people who were close friends with Tim. I was not part of that group. We had a good working relationship." I really appreciated his integrity in being sincere. That’s more than I can say for the WORTHLESS Keith Olbermann who emceed the MSNBC coverage of Russert’s death yesterday. I think that was because Matthews was out of the country. Olbermann is just a wind bag and horse’s ass. I can’t stand him. I do credit him yesterday when observing that Russert was a real pro at being non-partisan or trans-partisan in his conduct. Olbermann, referred to that quality in Russert and said "That is a skill I don’t even pretend to be able to exude." Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

9. My heart really goes out to Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell, and proteges: Norah O’Donnell and Chuck Todd. Their words and efforts to stay composed even caused some congestion among the cold hearted ProConPundit. Also, Mike Barnicle, someone I alternately like and dislike, was one of Russert’s best friends. He was at the hospital when Russert was pronounced dead. He was on last night and this morning. I really feel sorry for him.

10. NBC was not the first news outlet to report Russert’s death yesterday. Russert would hate not breaking the story. NBC was holding off until they were certain that Russert’s wife and son, father, and three sisters were informed. Big Russ just entered an Assisted Living facility a week ago.

11. Tim Russert's life proves why John McCain should be the next President and NOT, Barack Obama. Oh yes, my mission takes not a holiday. Tim Russert was 11 years older than Barack Obama and I. He had far less opportunity in life than did Barack Obama and went to the pinnacle of his desires: personally and professionally. And what did he say about that? WHAT A COUNTRY! Yes, Russert always invoked the phrase of his garbage truck driving, WWII veteran dad. In every blessing he knew, he gave thanks to God for being an American. No silly machinations about protesting hand-over-heart during National Anthem.

One of the things a President does is represent the country and speak for the country in times of tragedy. Obama's remarks upon Russert's death underscore his inexperience. He first met Russert four years ago and, concluded some silliness by saying that he "considered him a friend." Get over yourself.

12. Two other touching tributes came from Newt Gingrich and Jack Welch. Gingrich used two words I had never heard used before and never thought I would hear him say: BRILLIANT LIBERALS. Those were the words he used to describe Russert’s former bosses, the late, great, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and former Gov. Mario Cuomo (D-NY). Gingrich said that Russert worked for “arguably the smartest senator of his generation, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and arguably the smartest governor of his generation, Mario Cuomo.” He said Russert benefitted from a “pedigree of practical, hard-nosed politicians who were idealistic and practical, cynical and glorious.” He referred to Moynihan as both “liberal and, perhaps, the first neo-conservative.” They may have been a tremor at Arlington National Cemetery at that moment. He recalled Cuomo as having invented work-fare in New York State as an alternative to welfare. Moynihan, like McCain, was well respected by colleagues in both parties and was adept at negotiating compromises for the sake of getting something done beyond staking out ideological grounds.

Jack Welch, former CEO of GE was a mess. He could barely stay composed. GE owns (or owned?) NBC. Welch was responsible for Russert’s promotion to Meet The Press. Impresses me as micro managing, but what do I know? Welch was beside himself with grief. He said that he received more e-mails and telephone calls yesterday regarding Russert’s death than at any other time for any other reason.

I must pay tribute once again to my friend and former classmate, Ed Hanson. I mentioned yesterday that Ed and I used to watch Meet The Press together on Sunday mornings circa 1998. I forgot that he, in fact, converted me to, what he called, “Meet The Depressed.” I didn’t watch MTP—thought Russert was too young. God forgive me. I was a devotee of THIS WEEK WITH DAVID BRINKLEY. I loved Brinkley. Brinkley retired in 1996. He announced he would retire at the end of 1996, following the presidential election. On the night of Bill Clinton’s re-election, Brinkley was asked by a colleague how he felt about Clinton’s re-election. Thinking they were off the air, don’t you love it already, he said, "The next four years will be filled with pretty words, and pretty music, and a lot of goddamn nonsense!" I did say I loved him, right? I was depressed myself watching THIS WEEK WITH SAM DONALDON & COKIE ROBERTS. Ed converted me to Russert. Thank you, Ed.