I'm going to defend Tim Russert

Matthew Yglesias writes

As Steve Benen says, Steven Hayes is clearly insane. That said, is Hayes more insane or less insane than Tim Russert, who decided that Bob Woodward, David Brooks, and Steve Hayes would be a good balanced panel to discuss the news?

Duncan Black answers the first question but not the second
"Less."

However, over at think progress Satyam is pretty interested in that meet the press. Yglesias and Atrios note that it is now official according to the Bush administrations top expert that the Bush administration fudged the evidence before invading Iraq. They don't note that Russert had something to do with getting that officially announced on TV. I list to the snip at think progress. Russert uses Hayes' book to introduce McConnell's damning criticism. I'd say it was worth putting an insane person on TV in order to reconcile getting the fact that the intelligence director believes something about the Bush administration that many Americans think justify impeachment (search for Iraq) with the obscure rules of US journalism

TR But did the policy makers hype the intelligence ?
MM I think that's a judgement that the American people have to make.

OUCH