Tim Russert: Not As Bad As Dan Rather

Clearly, the Government's side of the Libby case is going poorly.

But that's not nearly as bad as things are for Tim Russert, former (D) political operative and currently hosting some NBC program.

Here's a summary of the cross-examination of Russert from Just One Minute.

Wells [Libby's attorney] ... established that (a) the FBI report of [Russert's] conversations (they say he had two, he only recalls one) made far closer in time to the event indicate he conceded that Ms. Wilson's name may have come up in their conversation though he earlier discounted that as "impossible" (b) In a heated matter involving the Buffalo News, [Russert's] own memory was faulty. He'd made two angry calls to a critical reporter, denied that he had, and then, after checking his phone records, apologized, asserting he had no memory whatsoever of the calls, and (c) while making an impassioned plea for the right of reporters to protect the confidentiality of sources, [Rusert had] already twice discussed the Libby exchanges with the FBI and failed to disclose that to the Court or the public.

"Not as bad as Dan Rather" is not how Timmy wants to be remembered. But he's getting there.