Russert and the American Dream

More reflections on Tim Russert to come soon, but for now, I wanted to share this amazing piece by American Spectator contributor Jeffrey Lord. It brought tears to my eyes, and reminded me of some of the values I hold most dear. It highlights Russert’s all-American biography as the son of a garbageman who dreamed big and pursued his dreams with great drive and optimism in the face of challenges.

One of the things I like best about the piece is a paragraph in which the author points out it is not just the famous and super-achievers like Russert who can be said to epitomize America’s cultural currency of dreams, and optimism. It is also “ordinary” Americans–in Lord’s words, “the garbage men, small business owners, family farmers, religious leaders, and all the rest” who carry forth the unique American legacy.

What is our legacy? Pride in our work, commitment to ethics including common decency and a sense of fairness, happiness and appreciation for our freedom and all the joys it makes possible. Gratitude for what is good, and a future-oriented, positive mindset, as opposed to one that is mired in envy, morbidity, pettiness, pessimism, bitterness, or old resentments.

Surely that optimism and positive orientation are among the many qualities viewers sensed in Tim Russert, and that made him such a beloved human being. His were a career and a life to admire.

This entry was written by and posted on June 25, 2008 at 2:37 pm and filed under Blog. permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Keywords: . Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. */?>