Tim Russert’s 22-year-old son Luke, who upstaged everyone from Tom Brokaw to Barbara Walters at his father’s funeral yesterday, accomplished something remarkable: bringing Barack Obama and John McCain together. He requested the two sit next to each other as his father’s service, and they agreed. And then there was Bill Clinton, his wife on one side, Condoleezza Rice on the other. And then Obama’s campaign chief David Axelrod was found talking with Hillary Clinton’s Terry McAuliffe in the lobby. It was a moment that brought polarizing personalities to quiet. [Photo: TVN]
It’s only fitting that Today would get the “get” of Luke Russert, the only child of Meet The Press anchor Tim Russert and Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, who appeared on the show this morning for a lengthy segment with Matt Lauer. While Russert’s colleagues have blanketed NBC, MSNBC, as well as other networks including CNN, with their own tales of what it was like to spend their work and personal hours with Russert, this is the first time somebody from Russert’s family has spoken about the tragedy. The well-spoken Luke, of course, is a burgeoning media brand by himself: He’s the co-host of XM sports show 60/20 with Tim’s friend and colleague James Carville.
Like Op-Ed columns, blogs are good for nothing if you can’t attack your worst enemies. Yesterday, as Joel Stein was searching for an enemy in Iraqi soldiers, Arianna Huffington pulls her guns out on her own long standing snarl with Tim Russert.
On Huffington Post yesterday, the columnist turned blogger uncovered the “LukeGate” scandal, in which Tim Russert plugs his son Luke’s new radio shtick on his own Sunday sleeper Meet the Press.
This thing is turning into the most compelling father-son relationship featuring a kid named Luke since the Star Wars saga. I guess that would make Tim the Darth Vader of the analogy. Hey, if the black mask fits…
Ouch. Well, to be fair, Russert Jr. is pairing up with with Meet the Press panelist James Carville. Still, Huff uses this plug as a springboard to completely tear Russert Sr. a new one:
Inviting Tim Russert to keynote a conference on journalistic ethics is like having Jack Abramoff keynote a conference on lobbying reform, Jim Frey lecture on truth in advertising, or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lead High Holy Days services at Temple Beth Israel.
We have to give to Ari, she’s definitely a hoot. But she’s friends with Lloyd Grove … which makes this one a toss-up.
Big fuss over claims about Little Russ [Lloyd Grove, Lowdown]
Irony Alert: Tim Russert to Lecture on Ethics (Get Your Tickets Now!) [Arrianna Huffington, Huffington Post]