Rating: 
Summary: Ah Drats
Review: Tim Russert's new book about his father and the lessons of life, Big Russ and Me, was an incredible disappointment. In reading this book, one is drawn to the current Walgreens Drugs commercial that features an ideallic life devoid of problems and inconveniences. That's not the way it was in South Buffalo (I'm sure), anymore than it was in New York, Chicago, Detroit or even Nashville neighborhoods.
Face it. Tim wrote a Buffalo version of the television show "The Wonder Years." At least the TV show made a pass at representing itself as fiction based on fact.
Admittedly, Russert is a truly remarkable person and a quintessential American success story. His parents were not atypical of most nuclear Catholic families in America. Most reasonably successful people have very similar stories to tell.
Until, that is, the "secret," which off-handedly appeared toward the end of the book -- his parents separation.
The cavalier attitude with which Author Russert treats this central fact in his household was reason enough to send the book back to the publisher with the inevitable angel stamp Nuns put on their charges' inadequate papers back then, "You can do better... I know you can."
One almost thinks there was a lot more going on in the Russert household than Tim was admitting. This is a huge fatal flaw in a nationally published book leading one to wonder whether too much of the book might be almost idealized romance from a man well into middle age longing for a simpler time.
It would be nice if we knew more about the "inner workings" of these people,notably his mother and father. Why they are who they are -- what the core source of the values were and are. In short, Tim needs to be a good reporter and now just ask who, what, when, where and how, but also "why."
One of the "why" questions is the comparatively minimal and stereotypical role Mrs. Russert played in his life. She came off as a traditional housewife who cooked, cleaned and supported but who comparatively had little impact. Who was she? How did she formulate his thinking and who he is. It's amazing that she gets so little press in the book, especially given that she was with him in gross terms far more than his father was. She almost seems like a blue collar June Cleaver.
Another disappointing fact was Tim' attitude toward some of the priests with whom he came in contact, specifically those who "might have been a bit different." Given what's happened between priests and schoolboys, a four paragraph kiss-off of this subject is surprisingly light. Perhaps Mr. Russert could have shed some light on some of the more hidden secrets of the 1960s era Catholic church too, if he was so inclined.
If Russert approached his Meet the Press job the way he approached this book -- he'd be the Larry King of Sunday morning television. One hopes someday Tim writes a sequel and tells us everything he did not tell us in this book about life in the 1950s and 1960s in South Buffalo.
Rating: 
Summary: By the Grace of Daily Obligations
Review: We all know Tim Russert as the moderator of "Meet the Press", and now we meet Tim Russert, son of Big Russ. Tim Russert tells the story of growing up in Buffalo, and how he grew to be the man he is today has much to do with the father he idolizes. His father is his hero. This is a story of love, family love, religious love, love of sports, love of people and love of life.Much of this book has to do with the lessons learned at the knee of Big Russ. Big Russ was a hard worker- he loved his family, a wife and four children. Big Russ learned his love of life in the Army. He was in World War II and was badly injured in a plane accident. Big Russ learned valuable lessons that day- he was saved from certain death by another soldier who threw caution to the wind to save his brother soldier. Big Russ is a reticent man who does not talk much about his experiences, as is common with WWII soldiers. It took Tim Russert many years to learn about his dad and about his experiences in the Army. Tim Russert once said the person he most wanted to interview was his own dad! Tim Russert had an idyllic childhood, but it was not an easy life. He worked hard at school and hard at home. He came from a family who loved him and taught him many lessons. The family was Catholic, and his entire education was completed at Jesuit's schools. Food was a big part of their life. Big Russ worked two jobs to give his family a home, clothing and food on the table. There is an entire chapter talking about the food of the Russert home and the food of Buffalo. The roast beef weck sandwich is one of the famous foods of Buffalo but it is the Buffalo chicken wings that are the best known. Tim Russert goes on to tell about his life, college, law school, working for Senator Moynihan and Governor Cuomo. He was well liked and as always a very hard worker. His work with these politicians was noted, and he was picked by NBC to work in the news division. He became the news Director of the Washington Bureau, and was later asked to be the moderator of "Meet the Press". He has made "Meet the Press' the most popular Sunday political show on television. He credits his success to Big Russ who told him to be himself, and to always tell the truth, and to ask questions the little guys would ask. Tim Russert met and married a reporter, Maureen Orth, in 1983, and in 1985 one of the most important days of his life occurred with the birth of his son, Luke. Luke is a much beloved son, and from the stories Tim Russert tells, we know that Luke must idolize his dad much as Tim does Big Russ. Tim Russert has made a success of his life. He attributes much of his success to his father. Tim Russert can best describe his father with this sentence taken from Gail Godwin's book
"Father Melancholy's Daughter".
"He lived his life by the grace of daily obligations." This is a book to be read again and again. Full of stories of hope and goodness and love and life. It is a feel good book. A story of the life of one of our best political reporters. I believe that Tim Russert is the second most respected man in America, the first, of course, is Walter Cronkite. Tim Russert is gaining fast! prisrob
Rating:
Summary: A powerhouse of humility
Review: While Timothy likes Lexus and Mercedes, his dad likes Crown Victoria. Although Tim has inherited the great humility of his dad, he also inherited the desire to remain docile. For example, he failed to aggressively challenge the President and the vise President on the motives for going to war. He naively swallowed the propaganda of WMD, liberation and democratization or Iraq, and the protection of the Middle East oil resources. The suspicion that Mr. Bush has gone to war for hire, on behalf of the Kuwaitis and the Zion lobbies to get rid of Saddam, using the American military as a mercenary army, has skipped this wealthy Washington lawyer and TV moderator. The only beneficiary of the Iraq war is the Kuwaitis and the Israelis. The former still practices slavery until the present times. Kuwaitis import immigrants from Bangladesh, Philippine, and India, restrict their right to work or travel inside Kuwait and mistreat them with subhuman housing, feeding, and underpay. The latter, Israel, has built a racist state on land that does not belong to it, brought immigrants from allover the world and displaced the original inhabitants of Palestine. Thus, Iraq war was to benefit the practice of slavery in Kuwait and racism in Israel. Recall, that VP. Richard Cheney was a supporter of Apartheid in South Africa and that both, the president and the vise president have dodged the military service in Vietnam. The humility of Big Russ might also have weakened Tim's aggressive grilling inquisition regarding vital humane and political issues. For example, he never raised the issues of the roots of terrorism with key administration figures. The September 11's attack has targeted America as a second choice, the first being the Arabic and Islamic governments that oppress millions of hopeless peoples. These are supported by America, which stands in the way of democratization of the a billion Muslims. The latest, being the deal made with colonel Qaddaffy of Libya. Al-Qaeda was a transformation of the 1940th Islamic Brotherhood organization that was organized to resist the British occupation of Egypt and the corrupt royal family of King Farouk. That organization attempted to assassinate Naser in 1956 and was brutally dismantled after the failed attempt. They later assassinated Sadat and gained wide spread popularity among the poor, educated, and oppressed Muslims. They turned their hostility against America after 1967's war, when it became apparent that America is playing the same role of Great Britain, of divide and conquer. Tim Russert witnesses the circus in the Congress that investigates the systemic failure of September 11, in which the Congress and Senate seem to look for a scapegoat somewhere else, other than within. No single senator or congressman has protested making deals with dictators, tyrants, monarchs, or racists. The "axis of evil" propaganda was promoted by the Zionist lobby to fight Israel's war on her behalf. The complacency of the Congress with politically correct issues was a major cause for lingering discrimination against Blacks in America and South Africa. The same complacency is still in work, in ignoring the disillusion of millions of Muslims with the indifference of the Congress on the issues of democracy and equality outside the borders of USA.
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