First this: Last Wednesday, Tim Russert of NBC and MSNBC was laid to rest.  May he rest in peace.  And I am sorry that I’ve called him a “Mongoloid-looking moron, with a fat face” in my column.

But, you see, I didn’t like the way he disrespected Senator Hillary Clinton when he had her as a guest on his “Meet the Press” talk show.  He tried to make Ms. Hillary look bad.  He was so unkind to her.  It was so obvious that he favored Senator Obama’s candidacy.  I have a lot of respect for Ms. Hillary and I earnestly supported her candidacy.  So when I saw this kind of treatment that Mr. Russert gave Ms. Hillary, I got so angry that when I wrote my column that week, I called him a “Mongoloid-looking moron, with a fat face” to spite him.

Yet, I felt bad when I heard of his sudden passing away last week.  For indeed, he was a “giant” of a man and will be terribly missed by many of his fans, who watched his talk show on Sunday mornings, or the re-runs, late Sunday evenings. 

Tim Russert was NOT a journalist!  He was a pundit, a talk head, and very opinionated at that, like those two other MSNBC talk heads, Chris Matthews and that bespectacled guy with a German Jewish name … Olberman.

I usually watched the late evening re-runs of his show.  You see, even though, I didn’t like him, I still admired him.  I admired his candor and bluntness and direct no-frills questionings … and the way he would give that quizzical STARE at the person he was interrogating.  He was a lawyer, so he interrogated like a lawyer. 

He was brutal, ruthless and merciless.

 
“He was really the best political journalist in America, not just the best television journalist in America,” said Al Hunt, the Washington executive of Bloomberg News and former Washington bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal.

 
May I beg to differ?  The best television journalist in America, I think, was the late Peter Jennings of ABC.  And the best political journalist, whether print or broadcast, is Maureen Dowd, of the New York Times.  Tim Russert was NOT a journalist!  He was a pundit, a talk head, and very opinionated at that, like those two other MSNBC talk heads, Chris Matthews and that bespectacled guy with a German Jewish name … Olberman, I think is the way his name is spelled.  These two are really obnoxious!  Ya man, even more obnoxious than me.  And much more obnoxious and opinionated than Mr. Tim Russert.  Again, may this giant of a man in TV punditry rest in peace.  And may I also say “thank you” for the many maddening, but stimulating late Sunday nights that I’ve spent watching his talk shows.

MS. HILLARY IS A WITCH?  As y’ll know, a lot of people have called Ms. Hillary a witch.  Could that be true?  I mean, a real witch, a witchy witch, who casts spells and magic on people and things.  You know, there’s a belief that if you’ve hurt or offended a witch, you’ll have to pay for it.  Now, I am only speculating.  Don’t take my word that Ms. Hillary is a witch.     

But check this out:

. Iowa, the state that made Hillary “cry,” so to speak.  This state that voted overwhelmingly for Senator Barack HUSSEIN Obama, is now under water.  Rising floodwaters inundated its cities and towns, creating widespread destruction.  Last week, Iowa’s nine rivers were above historic flood levels.

. Senator Ted Kennedy, who endorsed Mr. Obama at the most crucial time for Ms. Hillary … was found to have malignant brain cancer, a few weeks after that endorsement.

. Tim Russert, who made Ms. Hillary looked bad on his show, suddenly died of a heart attack.

As I said, these are just speculations.  You witch hunters, don’t y’all grab Ms. Hillary now and burn her on the stakes.

MICHELLE OBAMA IS FAIR GAME?  Mrs. Obama said that America had gotten “downright mean.”  Now, facing a barrage of attacks, her husband’s campaign is coming to grips with her new status as a target for attacks.  “Leave my wife alone!” Mr. Obama angrily said.

Really, I don’t think critics should leave her alone and treat her with kid’s gloves.  She’s fair game.  Picking on potential first ladies is nothing new.

In the early months of this presidential campaign, Judith Giuliani, the third wife of Rudy Giuliani, was the subject of merciless write-ups and profiles that depicted her as a “husband-stealing social climber.”

In 1992, when Bill Clinton made his run for his second term presidency, Ms. Hillary was mocked, ridiculed and belittled when she said: “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public office.”  Conservative critics called her a “bitch” for that remark.

The conservative hate-mongers loved to hate Hillary Rodham Clinton.  They loved to hate Teresa Heinz Kerry.  Will they also love to hate Michelle Obama?  They do already.  For saying: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country . . .”

In 2004, when Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts ran against the incumbent President George “Dubya” Bush, his wife, Teresa Kerry became a target.  She was attacked relentlessly by the media when she told a disrespectful reporter to “shove it.”  And when she said that Laura Bush had never held a “real job,” the conservative media showed no mercy on her. 

Even Fil-Am Republicans called her a “lukarit.”

Yeah, the conservative hate-mongers loved to hate Hillary Rodham Clinton.  They loved to hate Teresa Heinz Kerry.  Will they also love to hate Michelle Obama?  They do already.  For saying: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country,” they have already lashed out at her.  Cable news shows played her words in an endless loop of outrage. 

They have called her “Obama’s Bitter Half” and “Mrs. Grievance.”  Fox News last week called her “Obama’s Baby Mama,” a slang term for an unwed mother.  Recently, there are rumors about the “WHITEY” comments that she has made.  Although said to be unsubstantiated, they have appeared on the Web repeatedly and the bloggers and hate-mongers have had a field day bedeviling her.

“There is dirt and lies that are circulated in e-mails, and they pump them out long enough until finally … a mainstream reporter, asks me about it,” Barack Obama said.  “That gives legs to the story.  Frankly, my hope is people don’t play this game.”

Hey, Mr. Obama, welcome to the GAME of politics.  As Bill Clinton said, “Politics is contact sports.”  And, as Ms. Hillary told ya before, “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.” 

The game had just begun, Mr. Barack HUSSEIN Obama.   The Republican attack machine will soon be all over you and your darling, scowling wife, Michelle.  Contrary to what your supporters say, she’s no Jackie O.   JJ