Will Russert's fading rep survive HinzSight?

Tim Russert deservedly established a reputation for fair and objective examinations of politicians of both parties from the beginning of his installation as sole host of NBC's Meet the Press in 1991. Before September 11, 2001, he was one of a very few major MSM reporter/anchors that was greatly respected by conservatives. He used to spend an hour each year around Thanksgiving interviewing Rush Limbaugh for many years and has even been a guest on the Talk Radio giant's show, sometimes for the purpose of promoting a book. But, since 911, and especially since the Iraq War didn't produce a second Connecticut within the 13-week period given to sitcoms to produce ratings justifying renewal, Tim's reputation has deservedly suffered. He frequently tosses softballs to democrats and treats republicans like lepers. On many occasions he treats the far left's (see mainstream dem party) bushlied line as Known Fact. Tim has let us down so much, that we no longer expect him to be fair or impressive. So, tomorrow's scheduled hour long interview with Barack Obama is as much a test of Russert as Obama. More so. Obama has mostly gotten a pass. And when ABC's Charlie Gibson (the new Russert in fact) and even former Clintonite, George Stephanopolous, asked Obama tough questions the left deem out of bounds about his hate America pastor of 20 years and his terrorist neighbor that hosted his first campaign fundraiser, they were treated like republicans, i.e. as if they were racist, bigot homophobes. Everyone knows that NBC is in the tank for Obama. (Just as they know CBS is incompetent, but, like ABC and CNN are near said tank.) Look in the mirror Tim. We know you still listen to Rush since you met Limbaugh's dare to ask Hillary about NY state drivers' licenses for illegals and greatly disabled her campaign. The question now is if you will meet David Hinz's challenge and ask Obama tough questions about his terrorist pal. [Dave has been a the best writer on Redstate since gamecock discovered same three years ago and is the main reason I gave the site a second look.] Tim, read and prepare. We will be watching you more so than Obama. Obama has already disqualified himself from getting the nukes. We aren't going to give a person that needs psychotherapy the nukes. He will soon get to re-join his 99 other colleagues as a full-time yea/nay voter in that low-skilled position answering to We the People. But you, Tim, will still be regularly in our face after Election Day 2008. Do you care if you are respected? Are you comfortable being seen as an incompetent bought and paid for elitist shill for eggheads? If your answers are yes, and no, respectively, then air the hinzsight on Ayers and break the MSM's 40 year practice of giving respectability to 60's radicals and crazy black preachers and providing cover to the sell out of the Democrat party to anti-American kooks. Read Tim, and call Ayers a terrorist (not just a "radical"). So, what we have emerging is a picture not of a tenuous relationship, but an ongoing relationship dating back more than 20 years. Strangely enough, that is also the timeline of Obama's tenure with the right Reverent Wright. Ayres, a unrepentant terrorist, still harbors resentment toward the United States. Famously, on 9-11 he penned an Op-Ed in the New York Times in which he stated that he not only did not regret the terrorist bombings he participated in, but he only wished he had done more. To close out this piece, and to better understand the longtime Obama friend and associate, we need a few words from Ayres himself. In 2006, Ayres traveled to Caracas, Venezuela to speak before the World Education Forum, and, of course Hugo Chavez. His speech provides us with insight into the man. The avowed Marxist. From that speech: President Hugo Chavez, Vice-President Vicente Rangel, Ministers Moncada and Isturiz, invited guests,comrades. I’m honored and humbled to be here with you this morning. I bring greetings and support from your brothers and sisters throughout Northamerica. Welcome to the World Education Forum! Amamos la revolucion Bolivariana! This is my fourth visit to Venezuela, each time at the invitation of my comrade and friend Luis Bonilla, a brilliant educator and inspiring fighter for justice. Luis has taught me a great deal about the Bolivarian Revolution and about the profound educational reforms underway here in Venezuela under the leadership of President Chavez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution, and I’ve come to appreciate Luis as a major asset in both the Venezuelan and the international struggle—I look forward to seeing how he and all of you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane. Thank you, Luis, for everything you’ve done. --snip-- I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position—and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice. --snip-- Totalitarianism demands obedience and conformity, hierarchy, command and control. Royalty requires allegiance. Capitalism promotes racism and militarism – turning people into consumers, not citizens. Participatory democracy, by contrast, requires free people coming together voluntarily as equals who are capable of both self-realization and, at the same time, full participation in a shared political and economic life. --snip-- Despite being under constant attack from within and from abroad, the Bolivarian revolution has made astonishing strides in a brief period: from the Mission Simoncito to the Mission Robinson to the Mission Ribas to the Mission Sucre, to the Bolivarian schools and the UBV, Venezuelans have shown the world that with full participation, full inclusion, and popular empowerment, the failings of capitalist schooling can be resisted and overcome. Venezuela is a beacon to the world in its accomplishment of eliminating illiteracy in record time, and engaging virtually the entire population in the ongoing project of education. This is a man who hates America and all that it stands for. This is a man who has had a long and close association with Barack Obama for more than 20 years. William Ayres, Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration? Read it all at The HinzSight Report, Tim: William Ayres -- La educacion es revolucion! Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer columns The HinzSight Report The Minority Report Race 4 2008 "One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson