Fair and Balanced? Russert...Fox is calling 

Fair and Balanced? Russert...Fox is calling

One of the refreshing things about the criticism being leveled at VP Cheney for his performance on Meet the Press, aside from the visible firming of the National Press Backbone, is the implied criticism of Tim Russert that went along with it. For some reason, while Russert has been a loyal lapdog for the Bush people since before the 2000 election, he has somehow maintained a reputation for being hard-hitting and unbiased. In fact he is not unbiased and appears to be hard hitting only with those interview subjects he doesn't like. He hammered Dean earlier this year for not knowing precise answers to questions of the type that Russert had fed to Bush in 2000.

Now, with other journalists asking the hard questions that he didn't and pointing out the inconsistencies that he skated over, the clear implication is that Russert doesn't measure up to his reputation. The curtain is being pulled away, revealing an interviewer who would feel quite at home on Fox.