By Jim Lobaito

I barely got to know Tim Russert before he passed away.  He came into my life, much like he did for most of us, with the popularity of his book, Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life.   Sure, I had seen him on Meet the Press before, and yes, I occasionally watched him interview politicians, but it was only after watching him being interviewed about his book that he caught my interest and I started to tune in to Meet the Press to watch him interview.  There was something genuine about him.  He and his interviewing transcended the perfect plasticized reporters who are masquerading as journalists on newscast today, which would best be described as newsertainment, and then he ...