Well-deserved tribute

It’s hard to read this without a tear in the eye or a lump in the throat.

That is, after the great opening line:

The crowd at Tim Russert’s funeral Wednesday would have made a great panel on his Sunday morning news show.

He was the ‘best of the breed’, said Gen. Colin Powell last week when Russert passed away. “He was a compassionate humanitarian.” His funeral was a testament to that.

The two men vying to become president, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, were there, as were members of Congress, television journalists and several generations of politicians from both parties.

Obama and McCain sat next to each other, per a request by the Russert family.

That, alone, represents Russert’s characteristic goodwill and humanitarian desire to find common ground among people who politically disagree.

He was very close to his son, which is why it’s hard to imagine how the young man got the strength to handle this:

Russert’s 22-year-old son, Luke, gave the eulogy. His mother and Russert’s widow, Maureen Orth, looked on.

“My dad was my best friend,” Luke Russert said, his voice strong and clear. “To explain my bond with my father is utterly impossible to put into words.”

Luke Russert then gave what he described as his father’s last speech.

He urged parents to hug their children, politicians to avoid “low tactics,” and journalists to practice integrity and honesty.

Hopefully, they were listening as intently to those words as they did to Russert each Sunday morning on ‘Meet the Press’.

“Tim Russert led with his heart, his compassion and most of all his honor,” his son said. “I love you, dad, and in his words, let us all go get ’em!”