RUSSERT’S COLLEAGUES EULOGIZE — THEMSELVES

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 16…Tim Russert’s sudden death has inspired urgent medical questions, intense soul-searching and even some self-congratulation.

The 58 year old host of MEET THE PRESS died of a massive heart attack last week while recording voice overs for his Sunday show. An autopsy was quickly performed and Russert’s cardiologist announced that the cause of death was “asymptomatic coronary disease” due to an “enlarged heart.” Dr. Michael Newman said “fresh clots” had been found in Russert’s coronary artery.

According to his doctor, Russert had been under treatment and was controlling his heart disease with “medication and exercise.” They said that he had undergone a “successful” treadmill test as recently as last April. His death was described as “sudden,” and “unexpected.”

But some medical authorities challenged this description as applied to a man with Russert’s health problems. They claimed to be surprised that the autopsy was performed so soon after Russert’s death. It is unclear at this time whether Russert was taking cholesterol lowering statins. Dr. Prediman K. Shah, director of cardiology at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles said he was usually “not impressed with the results of the treadmill test,” and suggested that “we have to look for other means” to monitor the disease.

A physician who preferred to be nameless wondered if Russert had been given a simple CRP (C-reactive protein)blood test to determine his susceptibility to coronary disease. Russert had just returned from a short vacation in Italy and this doctor said he should have been advised that after a long flight he might be subject to blood pooling and possible embolism.

Many of Russert’s colleagues chose to bury him with faint praise. Tim Rutten, in the LA Times said he was an “affable” commentator, but reminded his readers that Louis “Scooter” Libby’s conviction on perjury charges was due to in large part to Russert’s testimony. He did not mention that Russert was compelled to testify and concluded that Russert had emerged from that episode looking “more than shabby.”

Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, acknowledged that Russert was an “American patriot,” whose appeal was based on the fact that “he was everyman… he was us.” But Matthews criticized Russert’s support for the invasion of Iraq and oft-expressed insistence on the reality of the terrorist threat. He did not balance this by admitting that Russert gave equal exposure to all shades of opinion on MTP, but posthumously accused Russert of being “the essence of what was wrong with the whole case for the war.”

Other columnists used the occasion of Russert’s death to ponder their own mortality. Elizabeth Snead in the LA Times had nothing in particular to say about Russert other than to confess her shock at her own possibly lethal ignorance. “Until today I had no idea that abdominal or jaw pain could be a symptom of an impending heart attack.”

She said that Russert’s death was “a sudden warning to his generation” and hoped that it ” will inspire you to change our lifestyle, get a check-up or lose weight.”

The cosmetically-obsessed Barbara Walters paid perfunctory tribute to Russert as a “devoted journalist and family man,” but mused that “Tim was not a pretty face.” The septuagenarian TV personality has recently confessed a torrid ’70′s affair with Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke and said that President Nixon was so distracted by her “go go boots” that he could hardly answer her questions. “Tim did not look the part of an anchor man,” she said on the Larry King show, but then quickly dismissed him. “It’s not Tim,” she said. “It’s us. Do we work too hard, do we enjoy ourselves that much?” To which Larry King solemnly assented, “well put, Barbara…”

Later, CNN anchor man Wolfe Blitzer weighed in with tepid praise for Russert saving his real enthusiasm for the restraint CNN had shown in not breaking the story. He said that his staff was the first to get the news of Russert’s death, but had decided not to release the story so that Russert’s network, NBC could be the first on the air . Blitzer seemed more moved by his own righteousness than by Russert’s demise. “You know, we do the right thing, those of us who are journalists,” he said.