The New York Times is reporting that MSNBC's Tim Russert has died of a heart attack at the age of 58.
Russert suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed Friday afternoon in NBC's Washington bureau, according to the New York Post
MORE... My condolences to his wife, Maureen, and his son, Luke. While I didn't always agree with his choice of questions or the makeup of his panels, I always admired his professional consistency and very much related to his insatiable love of politics, America and presidential history.
MORE... Ezra Klein:
Presumably, he's up somewhere beyond the cloudline, hectoring God about His inconsistencies. "But Lord, in Exodus 6:12, you clearly said..."
MORE... A friend e-mailed me and mentioned that if you Google "Tim Russert" my recent Huffington Post essay about his Farrakhan questioning of Senator Obama comes up as #7 in the results. I wish it wouldn't for the next several days. I was extraordinarily hard on Russert in that piece -- not necessarily unfair, but rough. Hopefully it'll be bumped down soon.
MORE... Chuck Todd and Keith Olbermann:
MORE... Senator Obama:
"I've known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He's somebody who, over time, I came to consider not only a journalist but a friend. There wasn't a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics, and he was also one of the finest men I knew. Somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family. I am grief-stricken with the loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. And I hope that, even though Tim is irreplaceable, that the standard that he set in his professional life and his family life are standards that we all carry with us in our own lives."