As the network's Washington Bureau Chief, Mr. Russert was surely alerted to the
broadly publicized campaign. The emerald green tie he donned in Sunday's Meet
the Press interview with Senator Barack Obama would seem to confirm that. But
if
you watched the interview, you probably noticed that Tim Russert didn't
actually
get the memo. Instead, Russert continued his long-running pattern of ignoring
an
issue that the American voters, the international community and the world's
scientists have all identified as one of our most pressing challenges. Not to
mention one of the most consequential.
How bad have Tim's interviews been? Over the past ten months, presidential candidates have made 16 appearances on Meet the Press. In the nearly three hundred questions he has asked the candidates, not once has he uttered the words "global warming." Not once.
At the two debates Mr. Russert has moderated, he has found time to discuss a national smoking ban, the drinking age, Bible verses, baseball, and even UFOs but not once did he ask how candidates would address the climate crisis.
His lack of coverage of the issue has been so glaring that one can only wonder whether he still needs to be convinced that global warming is a problem.
Of course, this failure is not his alone, but he is certainly the worst and most prominent example of it.
As a result, it is not surprising that the majority of the Republican candidates have coasted through the primary without having to outline any specific policies to address global warming. And while most of the Democrats have detailed plans, there has been little effort to compare their policies and gauge who is best prepared to tackle this historic challenge.
So here we are at the tail-end of an unprecedented year-long primary campaign and the media has largely failed to ask difficult and direct questions about one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.
In light of this failure, several groups have partnered with Grist to host a presidential forum -- Global Warming & America's Energy Future -- this Saturday in Los Angeles. This will be the first event exclusively devoted to questioning the candidates on their policies and vision for tackling our growing energy problems. But with dozens more candidate forums, debates and interviews, the real question is this:
As interesting as it is to ponder whether we are alone in the universe, when on Earth will Mr. Russert cover global warming as a political issue?
To learn more about the event or to watch a webcast of it, go here.
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"Welch was absolutely determined to make his employees at NBC News finally genuflect to the most sacred words in his vocabulary
He perceived that there was a widely believed American myth of well-inten
Publicly.
In private, Welch was proud to have personally cultivated Tim Russert from a “lefty” to a responsibl
The sun heats up, the sun cools down, the earth heats up, the earth cools down.
Better get used to it, it's been going on for millions of years and it will continue to do so.
Of course, sometimes suns blow up....do you think greenhouse gases cause them to blow up?
We must debate "real issues" and speak on our economy, Iraq and foreign policy....
Three times this weekend I have heard a Senator and 2 award winning talk show hosts explain that America is in a prime position to impeach this bullshit we have laying up in the peoples house.
The Republican
The Dems have gone along with this.
Consistent
Last week everything changed when Republican
John Conyers has said "this has changed everything
Please call him Monday morning and request impeachmen
These Republican
Bernie Sanders has said "your calls DO matter."
This war will not end unless these people are impeached or "IF" Ron Paul wins the presidency
Please call.
313-961-56
202-225-51
http://met
UFO reference was, to me, Russ' method of boot-licki
the same gang. Kuchinich,
Good job Russie!
If we don't do as they recommend, and they are right, what will we get from the idiots? "It's Clinton's fault!" or better still "It's Gore's fault!"
Gravel's got spine and has put up his own alternativ
Why wouldn't the Hillary corporatoc
http://pol
The former two-term U.S. senator from Alaska watched the debate on a large screen in the Bordeaux Room in the resort's convention area. He paused the live telecast when he wanted to make a comment, such as when New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said: "The American people know where I've stood for 35 years ... fighting for universal health care, women and children."
"Freeze that," Gravel said. "Analyze what she just said." The silver-hai
The no. one way to go green - according to NBC's green week - is to use GE energy saving light bulbs.
Never forget--it