The recent passing of NBC's Tim Russert
has been in many ways, swept under
the rug and conspicuously immune from
the usual onslaught of scrutiny
and raking over overkill which usually
follows in the immediate days of
an unexpected death incident. ABC and
CBS and FOX did not, for example,
jump into the Entertainment Tonight
shark feeding that other weakened
victims such as Anna Nicole Smith
was forced to endure as she was
raked over the coals at the very
peak of her grief and personal pain
at the loss of her only son.

Nothing of the like to happen
to the Russert family for sure.

But if you are to follow all that
has been said in the immediate days
after Tim Russert's passing, it
all plays out like a short list
of questions that a whole lotta
people really would like to know,
but may never know due to the
Double Standards and forked tongue
of the news media and TV networks
who owns them.

Here is their golden goose in
the bank, top kingpin for NBC TV
sitting in his office, suddenly
collapses, and then nobody thinks
to run and get and USE the defibbillator
which is carefully placed nearby.
Now if that doesn't grab your curiousity
then nothing will. Instead they
all stand around over him, call
the local 911 and then do nothing
until the medics cross downtown
Washington with red lights and
backed up car traffic at every
single 1 block distance across
the city until they can park
and ride elevators up the building
to get to a now DOA news anchor
extraordinairre.

It's pretty stunning now don't ya
think??

After all of those newscasts, here,
there, and everywhere about the
value of having a defibbillator
at every major workplace, after it
is all said and done, it is the
entire corps of newscasters who
all stand around and do nothing
at all as their Top Dog slips
completely through their hands!!
Go Figure!

There is also the other tragic side
of a guy who had it all, and wasn't
poor for sure, who could have easily
retired some 5 years ago and lived
a life fully engulfed with his family
and even perhaps, taken better care
of himself into an extended life.

But instead we got a book about
his father who apparently thrived
on Irish beer and corned beef,
which we can only guess was handed
down to Russert junior himself
and perhaps accounted for his
poor appearance wanting for better
health.

Yup, another dead white guy dying
in his work chair far too young.
Now just how many times have we
all heard THAT one before??

In the rememberances given by family
and friends, we heard 2 things.
On the one hand, the guy loved his
son and family, and then on the
other hand, he never left work
to indulge in their time. That word,
"workaholic" again, slips out too
easily on everybody's lips.

How could a building full of
newscasters who make their very
living informing the rest of the
public about information, be
so useless and inept in such a
moment of crisis? This is a fair
question to know.

How could anybody in those fleeting
moments not be able to figure out
that every passing minute was
sealing his permanent demise?

The usual butcher shop of woulda,
shoulda, coulda's that usually takes
place in such events of inaction
are noticeably missing. Perhaps
all of TV and the networks too,
have FINALLY learned their lesson.
Perhaps to look in the mirror
into their own, is too shocking,
too painful, and too Large for
any of them to face.

And perhaps just maybe, they will
be a little kinder to the Anna
Nicole Smith's of the future
when the urge comes upon them
to stick a live microphone into
a grieving face and say: "Well
why didn't ya do this OR Why
didn't ya do that????"