to The Village Square

A passing.

June 13th, 2008

There are moments when you hear news that knocks the breathe out of you. The death today of NBC’s Tim Russert took mine. He’s nearly a member of my family, joining me as he does on Sunday mornings for bagels and coffee for as long as I can remember.

It’s not that I haven’t whined at times when in his company. Some question he could have asked differently or didn’t ask at all.

But I offer a yardstick by which I think Mr. Russert can be judged, one of our very American DNA poetically offered by Dr. David Abshire of The Center for the Study of the Presidency:

I argue that in the great historical accomplishments of America,
these apparent opposites—commitment and tolerance—are bridged
by civility. Civility, as used here, is not simply following rules of etiquette
and decorum for the sake of tradition or in order to coat over
any differences. In its deepest sense, civility means respect, listening,
and dialogue. It does not mean watering down or giving up cherished
principles. Indeed, civility has often been exercised in the American
experience in order to move to the higher, common ground.

Commitment and tolerance as our great American traditions. Bridged by civility. By that measure - and I suspect many others - Russert was a giant.

Entry Filed under: On the media, On this we agree