NBC's Tim Russert: Dead of apparent Heart Attack

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
I can't help but wonder...

If Tim was "heart attacked" in reprisal for this:

Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press, nailed Hillary Clinton over her repeated falsehoods regarding her 1996 trip to Bosnia. Clinton has said, on multiple occasions, that her plane had to make a "corkscrew" landing due to danger and that she had to run off the plane because there could be sniper fire. These statements were false, and Russert has video of Clinton repeating these statements four different times.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

Maybe add Tim Russert to the voluminous list of people who have conveniently passed on after crossing the Clintons...

RIP Tim...

[edit on 13/6/2008 by Mirthful Me]

When I saw this on CNN that is the first thing I thought of...

Murder. Clintons.

No doubt she blames many people, Tim being one of them, for turning voters against her, and thus, loosing the bid for President. She is a truly evil being, and an assassination (again) on her part would not surprise me!

Jeez, he was "heart attacked" ?

The guy was 58 and a little overweight. Very much the stereotypical heart attack victim. I have a friend whose father is a few years younger and very in good shape, and he just had to have emergency bypass surgery. If he hadn't happened to have had a physical exam that day, he probably would be dead. These things happen.

Sad to see him go, he was one fo the good ones.

Tough loss at a tough time. One of the few news journalists I respected and trusted. RIP Tim Russert, you will be missed.

reply to post by PimpyMcgibbins


You are the only one I've found so far questioning Mr. Russert's early demise. Maybe you're phishing for others to join in or you are genuinely questioning the circumstances. I'm alittle skeptical, particularly with the quick autopsy and his doctor's, Dr. Newman, appearance so swiftly on t.v. to explain that Mr. Russert had coronary artery disease (or heart disease), an enlarged heart (alot of people have one of those). No mention of any medication he was on and yes, five plus hours sitting on a plane wasn't good. That's how David Bloom died - of a thrombosis- from sitting too long on a plane and he was only 39.
He was the most outspoken of the Sunday morning moderators and I just recently read that George Stephanopolis is a member of the Trilaterial Commission or CFR ( I can't remember which). I don't think Mr. Russert was a member of anything and remained outspoken to the end.
My condolences to his family, friends and professional associates who are shocked and grief-stricken.

I'm not a physician, though I once had a relationship with one.

I also know a colleague (airline pilot) who had a minor MI at age 48. He was a fitness freak, worked out all the time....and ya know, to maintain what is called a 'First Class' medical certificate, to be an airline captain, when over the age of 40 you get an EKG once per year. You get a physical every six months, of course.....but the EKG has to be included every other visit. OH, and.....this EKG isn't just done in the office, and malied to Oklahoma City (where all of the FAA medical records are kept)....no, it has to be done live, via a fax connection.

So....heart conditions, no pre-existing symptoms....can strike when least expected.

Tim Russert was a great, great journalist. He will be deeply missed......

WW

I get it was (natural heart failure), but I watched some of the people he would try to corner for the truth and it was intriguing.

reply to post by menguard


I agree it was most likely a natural death but the timing is really weird and a bit spooky.

I think he was good guy and the bad guys probably were not fond of his looking out for the general public's awareness.

Just really strange timing.

It was the Clinton's...

reply to post by Rockpuck


You know that he went to a Jesuit College (John Carroll University)

Not to be insensitive to a sudden, basically premature death of anyone, but to virtually deify someone of the corporate media on a site like this (where allegedly "alternative" discussion is dominant) strikes me as quite ridiculous. True, Russert had his MOMENTS of being a real, tough journalist, but it's obvious he was mainly one of the PTB; another brick in the wall. I've been extra irked at the guy since his "You question George Bush's mental health and you saw a UFO?" idiotic question to Kucinich at one of the debates awhile back. Well, the good side is that if Russert didn't show his horribly prosaic, corporate media drone colors, we wouldn't have heard Dennis' historic (to me) and great response about his UFO sighting.

Btw, Bush's mental health is easily the worst imaginable or unimaginable for a head of state (due to his being primarily a RELIGIOUS zealot); and will (at least eventually) be historically noted as such. Or in terms of the US, where at least reasonably enlightened leadership has been the norm (or mostly so) throughout its history, Bush is the most blithering idiot of a tinpot, "banana republic" dictator, and by a bazillion miles, we've had... Yeah, sorry to turn this topic briefly into a Bush-bashing, but it's related to a Russert comment/question.

I have to admit my first impression upon hearing of Mr. Russert's death was that foul play was involved. I didn't post to this thread then because I didn't have anything to substantiate that feeling other than his recent grilling of the presidential candidates. I had seen the video of McCain's gaffes just a day or two before, and he had played a prominent role in it. I wasn't aware of his calling Hillary on her corkscrew landing/sniper fire comments at the time.

I heard this morning that he'd had a stress test done on April 29th. I had a stress test done in February, and a stent placed in my LAD coronary artery at the end of March. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that the stress test was difficult and scary. I thought I was either having or going to have a heart attack. If Mr. Russert had the pre-existing conditions described, there is no way he would have passed his stress test.

TV news star Tim Russert's abrupt collapse at the NBC News studio in Washington, D.C., Friday came as a shock – even to his doctor.

In a statement detailing autopsy results, Dr. Michael Newman said his famous patient had passed a stress test on April 29 and had even worked out on a treadmill the morning of his death.

"Russert, age 58, was known to have asymptomatic coronary artery disease (atherosclerosis), which resulted in hardening of his coronary arteries," Newman said. "The autopsy revealed an enlarged heart and significant atherosclerosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery with (a) fresh clot which caused a heart attack resulting in a fatal ventricular arrhythmia."

Russert's stress test on April 29 was "normal," Newman said. "At a high level of exercise he had no symptoms," Newman said, adding that his blood pressure and cholesterol were "well-controlled."

Dr. Cyril Wecht, a nationally renowned forensic pathologist, said Newman's description of why Russert died makes sense. "The left anterior descending artery is well known among pathologists as the widow-maker."

Wecht said only one thing does not make sense to him – Newman's claim that Russert passed the stress test on April 29 and that he could have passed one an hour before his death. "This hardening of the arteries is something that builds up over a period of years," said Wecht. "So he wouldn't be able to continue the stress test. He'd get short of breath."

source

The blood clot due to a long flight back from Italy theory makes sense. There is still no way in my mind that he could have passed his stress test, though.

My condolences to his friends and family suffering through this loss.