Equal Parts Sad And Angry

Wow, wasn't yesterday a black letter day for the world?

Thing One: By every account, one of the most decent men in television died unexpectedly of coronary thrombosis in his office at age 58 (!). Tim Russert was, to me, the face of NBC News as a political analyst who appeared frequently across their whole day's news programming. He was also the longest running host (since 1991) of the longest running show in worldwide television history (Meet The Press, on the air since 1947, and on radio before that!).

I try hard not to write posts for StronglyWordedLetter.com about subjects that are going to be covered so much better elsewhere and there are no shortage of tributes to Tim all over the internet, on TV, and in print this morning. I urge you to seek them out to read about this giant of American journalism.

On last night's Dateline NBC special remembrance, they showed interviews with Russert's colleagues and friends in the news business who all spoke of his decency, his loyalty, his passion for his work and family, his deep Catholicism, his love of baseball, his patriotism and so much more.

I didn't know some of the stories I heard but do know that as a viewer I was always impressed by how smart, articulate, fair and prepared he was every time I saw him on television. In a medium that is increasingly filled with Bill O'Reilly, Keith Olbermann, John Gibson and other blowhards like them, Tim Russert was a rare broadcaster, one that made you proud of how he used his platform to educate and enlighten the audience.

Thing Two: Are you kidding me that R. Kelly was acquitted of all 14 counts of child pornography yesterday? Even though I have been predicting it for years, I secretly hoped I was just being pessimistic about the American judicial system.

For those who didn't follow the case, Kelly is a popular R&B singer who managed to delay this trial for nearly six years before it got to court last month. He was accused of having sex with an underage girl. The principal evidence in the prosecution's case was A VIDEO OF R. KELLY HAVING SEX WITH THE UNDERAGE GIRL!!!          

The defense attorney lied argued that it was not his client in the video even though the whole courtroom could see that the man on the tape was the man in the suit sitting next to the defense attorney. At one point it was argued that a couple must have broken into R. Kelly's house and filmed the sex tape there, then digitally altered the video to make it look like the singer and his underage goddaughter. (!)

That the defendant is an internationally known celebrity didn't hurt him; he has even had numerous Top Ten albums and singles on the pop charts even since the charges were filed. You won't convince me that having eight  African-Americans on the jury wasn't as good as a Get Out Of Jail Free card either. Go ahead and argue that the racial makeup was appropriate for the trial's location, Chicago, and I'll even agree with you. It would be hard to find eight blacks in America who want to see R. Kelly in jail, much less eight in one jury pool. 

All in all, a truly sucky Friday the Thirteenth this year.

Comments

[Geo]

Truly the best of his profession. RIP Tim.

But at least OJ got away with murder!

[Ana]

What I know about politics, I owe to Tim Russert. Friday was a SAD day.
As for R. Kelly, didn't the jurors say that they believed that WAS him in the video??? What's happening!

[Raul]

Your Tim Russert tribute was well done my friend, well done. I was shocked to see Brokaw hold up so well.

I work a lot of high tech crimes against children and this I thought was a open shut case. Guess fame and money no matter what color you are can get you out of anything

[DanGarion]

So they would rather have a man that rapes children out of jail then in it. It makes no sense why just because there were 8 blacks on the jury that they would let him go. I could understand if the girl was white or if it was a film of him beating on whitey. Well it's not that I could understand, it's that I would get it, wouldn't think it's right but I'd still get it.

It's just pathetic that things is a race thing, when he's hurting his own people. Very sad that people would let him walk free.

[me! =)]

Bean,

Don't even get me started on how HORRIBLE yesterday was!!! I was past shocked & livid with the R. Kelly verdict AND THEN poor Tim Russert??? My GOD! I just don't get life.... How is it that a man, who's as guilty as anyone could be, get away without a slap on the hand yet a man, who brought integrity into not only the world of politics but just to life itself, passes on at the age 58???

Now, let me preface this and say that I am NOT a very religious person yet when things like this happen, in my opinion, there's only 2 ways of thinking:
1- that what we live in now is Hell and when we do pass on, we truly are rewarded by going to Heaven and if someone passes too early then it means that they have suffered enough in this ''Hell" and are being rewarded earlier than most for being such an outstanding human being
or
2- there is no God.

But hey, I'm just sayin...

Hoping for a better day,

me. ={

[Fred G.]

R. Kelly must have sold his soul. First there was "Trapped in the Closet" and now he's acquitted.

[Stacey]

Re: Tim Russert - Yep, he brought some integrity to the world of television news, and without him, it will continue to slide into the deep abyss of stupidity.

Re: R. Kelly - Money talks. Sometimes, it even screams.

I cannot, I repeat, CANNOT speak with any authority about the jury, since I don't know anything about it (that's my disclaimer about this particular case). But I don't doubt that there's a lot of reverse racism in the world. That is, it doesn't seem all that farfetched to me that, if you are of a race that is more likely to be imprisoned than any other race, even when factors such as the severity of the crime are removed, then you are probably more likely to give another member of your race the benefit of ANY tiny little doubt than you would be otherwise, if only to even things up a bit.

Either that, or it's just plain old starpower, which is just as bad.

Just sayin'.

[peff]

Just let it go people. It's better to let guilty people go free than send innocent people to jail. On the scale of injustice, the biggest injustice here would be fame and money buying celebrities out of trouble, not alleging (without a shred of evidence supporting this theory) that a jury acquitted a man because he was black. I'd be more concerned with innocent people getting convicted.

And, honestly, why does every freaking thing have to be about race? We all get angry when Al Sharpton brings race as an issue, so why are we making it an issue here? Can't have it both ways.

Pretty sad and disturbing to see the lynch mob mentality back in such strength these days.

Just let it go. There's so much more to complain about right now than this. Who knows. Maybe the jury actually saw REASONABLE DOUBT.

[Kathy]

After spending the weekend watching coverage of Tim Russert's life and work, I am even more saddened than I was upon initially hearing the news on Friday. Not only do I feel a sense of personal loss in losing the one person I always trusted to help me navigate the bewildering onslaught of today's political news, but an entire network of people, and indeed the nation and the world, has lost one of its most beloved, talented, hard-working, big-hearted, public service-motivated spirits.

As you mentioned in your post on Fred Rogers, losses like this make you wonder if there's anyone who can even come close to walking this person's path. Considering the so much lesser talents regularly paraded in front of us throughout the media, your headline "equal parts sad and angry" perfectly captures the nature of my grief.

Bean, I think a strongly worded letter to the cosmos is in order. If only we knew where to send it.

-Kathy