Russert and Broussard both won

[Cocoa]

I see what Russert did differently from the prevailing view.

The way I see it, he gave Broussard the chance to answer the charges, which as far as I know he hadn't done.

In other words, suppose Russert had not asked the questions? Then the debate would have remained on the RW blogs.

[babylonsister]

1. Broussard is doing an EXCELLENT job! Pack sand, Russert!

Why did Timmie change his tune again? He's trying to protect the feds, but it's not working with Broussard!

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Timmie is a media whore.

Wasn't he the one who said that Republicans are more efficient, and when pressed he admitted that it was a Republican who paid his paycheck?

[nonconformist]

2. The debate will remain anyway.

Since when have they let facts or logic or perspective stop them from their cruel antics?

Russert was accusatory and aggressive for apparently no reason other than to be cruel and to push the WH agenda, and I think he was disgusting.

[kid a]

7. Tone a voice further veruified his ass licking of * - sick mind

black heart - paid off blowhard . . .etc

[mandyky]

3. Ya don't mess with those Cajuns!

Broussard handed Timmy his butt after recovering from hearing himself on the other MTP clip. I hope Tim will have him back for a debate!

[Botany]

5. No Tim was trying the old dodge .....

...... "So when did you stop beating your wife?"

And afterwards some of the talking heads on why the dems lost the election .....
Freidman (NY Times)

BECAUSE THEY FUCKING CHEATED ..... Damn i hate so much of what the news
become

[mikehiggins]

6. If Russert hadn't spent the last few years kicking the underdog

I might agree. As far as I could tell, Timmy was trying to undercut the story by carrying Bush's water. After all, it wasn't just the FEMA people who screwed up, right? The guy involved didn't call his mother EVERYDAY like Broussard said, right? That must mean the woman is still alive right? She probably didn't even drown, right? And anyway, it couldn't be Bush's fault, could it?

What kind of sick mind comes up with things like that to roil the mud and throw up dust screens? Well, we know the answer to that question, don't we?

Russert is Rove's pratboy.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. Cthulhu Movies!!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432262

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478988/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478126/

[Skidmore]

8. Russert was trying to play "gotcha" and to retrieve some

shred of dignity afer he had been skewered for his insensitivity and single minded focus on presenting the R talking points with Broussard in that initial interview. Nope, Timmy lost big time. Broussard has a couple of attributes that Timmy and his cronies sorely lack--integrity and compassion.

[Cocoa]

18. I like the concept of Russert's "gotcha" gimmick

I like the idea of Russert guests knowing as they're speaking that Russert might in a future interview hold them accountable for what they're saying.

There's a problem with Russert's execution, because he goes after some people harder than is warranted, and he goes easy on others, but the concept is something I'd like to see more interviewers pick up.

[fortyfeetunder]

22. The loaded question is...

whether Russert will use this "gotcha" technique with Condi, Dick, Rummy, Dr. Frist, and * . I bet not.

[Cocoa]

26. he has, at times

and has been applauded here at DU. For playing tapes of that gang's statements about WMDs, etc.

I'm conceding that he doesn't apply the technique equally, and the Daily Howler for example correctly keeps tabs and excoriates Russert when he fails by far to live up to his reputation.

But the technique itself, if applied equally, is definitely valuable and should be encouraged.

[XanaDUer]

9. Thank you.

I'm on EST so did not get to see it until it rolled around to my time zone.

Actually, I saw Russert, who usually drives me :mad: let Broussard explain what these "bloggers" accuse him of-lying, hyperbole about the mom's death, etc.

Broussard seemed pissed, but not at Russert. More like he got his side out and explained his POV. Russert let him do so.

:shrug:

[Quixote1818]

13. I agree

He wasn't mad at Russert he was mad at the people saying those things.

[XanaDUer]

17. Russert said what these accusations were

and let Broussard explain himself.

[FARAFIELD]

10. russert is a cock

Can i say that, i had always heard he is a BUSHBOT, but he proved it this morning, i even sent him an email which is rare for me to get to that level or dissapointment. Broussard handled himself and when it was clear that he hadnt even heard what he said three weeks ago, i think every saw him in an even better light, And he did say that it was his staff that told him. Russert in my opinion aligned himself with the bloggers and came out looking like a shill. Thts just me

[Jim__]

11. Timmy looked like the ass that he is!

He was trying to play his Washington parlor game and "catch" a man who reacted emotionally to a real-life tragedy. Broussard said it all, "What kind of sick mind is that?"

[Cosmocat]

14. Yeah ...

He kept coming back, over and over, to the "it was on ALL levels, right, the local, state and federal levels" thing ... He kept coming back to it, and to Brousards credit, he smelled the rat ...

His position has NEVER been that the locals are blameless ... BUT, he didn't let Russart get away with passively protecting the federal government by acquiesing to that point ... SO, he would not let Russert box him into that framework ...

Again, TRUTH TO POWER ...

[rumpel]

15. Russert lost big time. As a human being. It is not the context of the

question, it is the way he delivered it.

Utterly, disgusting.

[Spazito]

16. Russert DELIBERATELY ambushed Broussard by playing the

tape of his previous appearance. Broussard had no idea that was going to be played, he thought he was on to talk about the latest conditions of his parish after Rita. Russert was a gross pig, imo, who was shown up as the ultimate creep that he is.

[Birthmark]

19. Really?

Then why did Timmy-baby bring up the Mayor of NO? The Mayor had ZIP to do with Jefferson Parish. Timmy tried to deflect responsiblity from the feds - who presumably give him man-flesh to eat.

[KoKo]

20. Russert showed himself for the Bullying Buffoon he is and Broussard called

him out on it. Broussard turned Russerts Grand Inquisition back to the issue. He "Reframed" the issue into "you black hearted people, ought to come down here and see what people are living with.." (he repeated black hearted several times.)

They ARE black hearted. Russert wanted to show Broussard as a Liar...and Broussard was doing a Charles Dickens on him. He brought the issue back to those patients who DIED because NO ONE could get to them and that people are suffering down in LA still in over 95 degree temperatures with humidity that makes it feels like a hundred with homes gone nothing left of their lives that they can regognize,while Russert sits in his studio spending time trying to humiliate a guest because his RW cronies got on his case.

Broussard brought the issue back to the people who are suffering and those who died because of incompetence. Russert thought he'd silence Broussard by calling him out.

I loved that Broussard challenged him or any news person to a debate over what the issues are in how Katrina was handled. I don't think Russert quite new what to do because he's so used to being the prosecutor he never expected it to come back and bite him in the ass.

:shrug: Some here may feel it was all staged or that Russert was right to try to humiliate Broussard because he got dates wrong and the dialog between Rodrigue and his mother in the wrong sequence...but as he said...Rodrigues mother is still dead and she drowned in that nursing home, because no one could come to get her.

[cascadiance]

21. This is the same tactic that worked against Dan Rather, etc.

It appears to be a common Rethug tactic to nitpick details and what they perceive as holes in someone else's comments and making them the sole focus of the public perception of someone they want to shut down. In many cases they successfully deflect from the public seeing other publicly exposed severe problems because they have "nailed" this person's credibility. With Rather and CBS, they went after whether documents were fake or not, and dealt with nothing else besides that, just trying to attack and shut down CBS's credibility. Unfortunately as others note in this thread, people from CBS couldn't show the same sense of integrity and compassion that Broussard showed to reframe the discussion back to what really should be more relevant topics of conversation for the public to see.

Kudos for Broussard for standing his ground, not succumbing to this attempt to brutalize him into a corner, and keeping the focus on the larger issues which he was still speaking substantively on. Broussard really laid it out in such a way that you could put yourself in his shoes and understand how you might have said the same things to Russert in the first interview, even if they might not have been completely factually correct. That's what will win over the public, and that is what others should do in the future. Speak from your heart, and emphasize what you know to be true. Whether or not the details are completely true, if the focusing issue of what you speaking of is true, ultimately you can win over others if you keep them focused on that larger issue.

[KoKo]

23. Good points about the Swift Boating. Maybe that's why Sheehan, Galloway

and Broussard are so good. They speak from their hearts without spin and in Galloway and Broussard's case it may sound "blustery" but it's filled with the emotion that those cold hearted, ruthless Repugs and their operatives have no ability to display.

[MoonRiver]

24. Rove's talking points are LIES,

and they shouldn't have been given mainstream airtime. Russert is a whore.

[Land Shark]

25. One could see it as a softball question (Russert is obliged to oppose)

and Broussard hit the softball out of the park.

AS far as him admitting some fault on the part of local officials: BROUSSARD IS A LOCAL OFFICIAL. What evidence of fault is there? His very story and person, without more verbal argument, is a refutation of the idea that any SIGNIFICANT amount of blame (relative to federal officials) lies with locals.

[Catrina]

27. The vast majority of sane

individuals don't read the disturbed ramblings of far-right bloggers, so why did Tim Russert feel the need to bring them to World Attention?

Who cares about countering what the criminally insane's nterpretation of events, unless they want to give them international airtime in an attempt to point all those fingers of justifiable blame away from the 'we'll-take-care-of-your-security' administration?

Nothing can change the fact that this administration failed miserably and American Citizens died unnecessarily, their bodies left in the hot sun, rotting on US streets, to be eaten by dogs for a full week before they got off their shameful rear-ends and did what they could have done on the first day had they not been shopping and partying.

Broussard didn't need to be bothered by such insane ramblings, did he? He is in the business of saving lives. The vast majority of Americans don't have the kind of 'black-hearted' evil mindset of rightwing bloggers, so why introduce it to them?

Why has Tim not invited Cheney on his show, and played 'gotcha' with a VP who was missing for TWO WEEKS while his fellow citizens died? Why has not played 'gotcha' with Condy, who was shopping, or Chertoff, who claims he didn't know there was anyone at the Convention Center when the whole world knew??

Why has Chertoff not been fired? Why is his wife, and niece of Gen. Myers up for a nomination for which she has no qualifications, after we just witnessed the terrible results of this kind of cronyism? Why won't Timmy play 'gotcha' with any of these people??

The answer for me is clear!! Rove is back on the job, and his lackies are falling in line, asking ridiculous questions of a man who told the truth. His friend's mother died because the Federal Govt failed ~ and even if the Local govt. failed, this woman did not die until THURSDAY!!

So, you may see it one way, but what Tim had in mind was to plant the ravings of the radical rightwing in the minds of the viewing audience, thoughts they would not have had in such a situation, in order to undermine this honest and brave man, as they have done to every single person who opposes them or even inadvertently points out their criminality.

It was easily recognizable to those of us, now sadly familiar with their tactics, and Tim is one of them. But he failed, because this country has crossed a threshold of tolerance for their abuse, after the images of NOLA, which are seared into the minds of the world, as are the images of Abu Ghraib, and the dead children of Iraq, for those who have seen them.

Shame on Tim Russert and CNN please put back the splitscreen of the missing children of NOLA, no matter how it bothers Karl Rove. We the people care ~ even if your 'black-hearted' sponsors do not.