Why the Russert Hagiography?

I had been listening to almost a week of non-stop "remembrances" of Tim Russert. I believe it to have been overkill (come on, The Kennedy Center???) but so be it. I enjoy seeing his face and hearing his words and listening to the explanation for his adulation from others. There aren't that many American heroes that the leftist media is willing to report on and, if they wish to hold Russert up as one, well at least they're acknowledging that the better does, in fact, exist. It's been good to see Russert and to be reminded of the values that made him special.

Still, this coverage that rivals (and exceeds) the coverage of people whose names are known outside the beltway and whose contributions were more than merely asking good questions of politicians demands explanation.

Clearly self-absorption has a lot to do with it. The insularity and arrogance of the media is well-known and thus they think the passing of one of their own is more significant than the passing of a Pope or a President. But, even that doesn't explain it all. After all, while coverage of Peter Jennings' premature passing was overkill as well, it was nowhere near the hagiography we witnessed last week.

So, what is it about Russert that is engendering this kind of passion amongst the leftists in the media?

I suspect it is their recognition of the passing of the last decent man amongst them. Listening to their eulogies one is struck by how what they single out as the qualities that made Russert great are exactly the one's the rest of them violently reject.

Russert had -- and respected -- his Jesuit roots and Catholic faith. This amongst people to whom faith is the greatest of all evils and whose hatred for Christianity (and specifically Catholicism) is legend.

Russert appreciated the people of small town America. Time and again the story was told this week of Russert making his first call after each program to his father, "Big Russ" of Buffalo, New York, to see if he'd lived up to his standards and values. This in opposition to the leftist news man who holds the people of Buffalo (and all other towns outside what they derisively call "fly-over country") is utter disdain, believing, as their hero Barack Obama believes, that these losers "cling" to their values out of "antipathy for people who aren't like them."

Russert was optimistic and happy -- exactly the opposite traits of the Modern Liberal who is constantly angry, jealous, petty and feeling "victimized." Americans are optimistic and happy. Russert was an American.

What we are witnessing in this unprecedented coverage of Tim Russert is the leftist media mourning the passing of the last decent man amongst them. And it could not come at a worse time for the good people of America as we are left only with people whose values are exactly the opposite of Russert's and whose work shows it. Who is going to ask Barack Obama a tough question now? Will it be Chris Matthews who has admitted on air that Obama sends tingles towards his groin or will it be Keith Olbermann who thinks that the "worst person in the world" isn't Osama Bin Ladin or the butchers in the Sudan, but George Bush?

Tim Russert wasn't blessed with some superhuman powers. He was merely a throwback to a mindset lost to Modern Liberalism. He will be missed.