Russert was a good good man
Writing by abuhatem on Saturday, 14 of June , 2008 at 1:53 am
As all of you already know, today died one of the only remainders of true journalism left on television - veteran NBC newsman Tim Russert, moderator of Meet the Press. As an avid TV news viewer, I was shocked and saddened at the news which I read from an AP wire on the New York Times website first at 3:19 PM EST.
I have been watching the Russert coverage all day on MSNBC and CNN as well as NBC’s special about his life tonight. What a great guy, but I already knew that. I have been watching Meet the Press weekly, before my Sunday trip to the masjid for afternoon prayers, for many, many years. In fact, only two weeks ago when my local TV affiliate canceled Meet the Press one week for storm warnings, I contemplated writing an angry letter in protest.
Tim is really a testament about what is great about America. He is a reason why I am so happy and glad and thankful to God that I was born in this country. Former NBC News correspondent and current CNN anchor Campbell Brown tearfully reflected today that Tim had written a letter to her new born son on the day of his birth telling him how lucky he had been to be born into such a great world. A man of faith, Tim believed in God’s greatness like the true faithful optimist. He knew of the virtue of hope, or as Muslims would say to see God’s jamal or beauty in everything in life even hardship. The true believer is an optimist.
Tim believed in God, family, and his good ‘ol town of Buffalo which he reverberated constantly throughout his broadcasts. He always was a fighter for the common man, he knew the follies of arrogance and hubris, and stayed down to earth. He was genuinely kind which was apparent both on air and by those who knew him in the business. And he always reached out to help other people, knowing that this was such a great country with opportunity to all that sought it. He said once that every time he contemplated missing a test for Law School he remembered his father picking up heavy trash as a garbage truck man and how his dad’s sacrifice paled in comparison to his. And Lord knows, Russert did work hard, on TV news he did his job especially well working as hard as he could to present the most excellent Sunday morning broadcast. As the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, “Verily, God loves that when one do a task he does it excellently.”
Big Russ and Me, Tim’s 2004 book was a bestseller and truly reflected the strong value of family. The traditional natural order, the good ‘ol family man, taking care of others around you and seeing optimism in all that you do. Tim did what he loved and loved what he did. He truly is the example of happiness in life, of how we can spread goodness in this world, and how the traditional values of the natural and transcendent moral order yield far more benefits even in our worldly existence than the nihilistic essence of postmodernism.
It seems like common sense, and it is, to love and be loved, to give and you shall receive, to lift up others and stay humble, to do what one is good at and do it well, to care for and serve your fellow man especially your family, and to be an optimist in seeing God’s grace throughout life. Common sense keys to happiness in a confused world. Russert was a smarter cookie than you think, a devout Catholic and intellectual he did not have to rhetorically expound upon these self-evident truths of the wisdom of the ages, he lived them. The great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), the great Imam Ja’faar as-Sadiq used to say “Call people to the Lord in secret, through your own example.”
An example of Russert’s wisdom can be seen in the final pages of his book Big Russ and Me wherein he pens a letter to his own son Luke advising him on what to do in life. Russert, in such a common-sense way devoid of the abstract theories of moral philosophes, proudly and graciously provides the common man’s insight to the good life:
But remember, while you are always, always loved, you are never, never entitled. As grandpa likes to say, the world doesn’t owe you a favor. You do, however, owe the world this something, to live a good and decent and meaningful life, and would be the ultimate affirmation of grandpa’s lessons and values. The wisest commencement speech I ever heard was all of 15 words; the best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up. I’m so proud to be your father. Pursue every one of your dreams. They really are reachable. As Big Russ would say, what a country. Love dad.
I’ll take Tim Russert any day before the mumblings of the coffee house intellectual crew. If its Sunday, its Meet the Press… Russert, you will be severely missed.
Category: The media
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