Friday the 13th, Part 2

Well, I guess I put my foot in my mouth (figuratively speaking) with my post about Friday the 13th this morning.

NBC's Tim Russert, host of "Meet the Press," died today.

The New York Times is reporting that Russert "had coronary artery disease, but no symptoms. He had done everything he was supposed to do to manage the disease, although his weight was a problem. [Russert's doctor] said that such attacks can’t be anticipated, but a defibrillator can make a difference."

Do I think Friday the 13th had anything to do with Russert's death? No. And, apparently, neither does his doctor.

"These incidents occur without warning, the doctor said, and there’s no way to anticipate them," the New York Times reports. "He could have had a stress test today and it might have been normal. But there was a rupture of cholesterol plaque in the wall of the coronary artery, which results in a heart attack, or what he called a fatal ventricular arrhythmia."

If you watch "Meet the Press," as I have done from time to time, it's going to be hard to watch it with Russert no longer there. He had his faults, but he was clearly dedicated to his work.

As he was to his family. In fact, he had just returned from a family trip to Italy -- which will now be a bittersweet memory for his widow and son.

Russert asked well-informed and insightful questions on political subjects. We shall miss his involvement in the fall.