If one lesson arose from the attacks on the World Trade Center, the war in Iraq, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it’s that the American citizens and the authority that represents them need credibility and accountability, according to NBC newsman Tim Russert.
“We have to hold ourselves accountable, and so does our government,” Russert, the political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Today program , told a sold-out audience at the Quick Center on Monday night.
Russert stated that the government’s basic responsibility is to defend and protect its people. It is the role of the government, as well as its citizens, to make sure that people have the opportunity to survive.
However, in regards to the events on Sept. 11 and the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, it was a lack of communication that cost many Americans their lives, he said.
In Louisiana, the police were never told where to go in the evacuation. In New York, the firefighters did not have communication systems and thus were trapped when the buildings went down.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center, Americans had to learn to be more careful and precise. What happened on Sept. 11th created “a whole different world that we had to live in and be conscious of,” Russert said.
The attack on American soil “refined reality,” said the journalist, who was the opening speaker in the annual Open Visions Forum series.
Similarly, the devastation that ensued after Hurricane Katrina brought with it an “objective reality that we could see, touch, feel…and smell,” Russert said.
The people televised standing on rooftops were fellow American citizens: homeless, hungry, their possessions washed away.
At one time, the American public, as well as President Bush and other nations, were convinced that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Now, American citizens are questioning the occupation in Iraq and whether the United States is seen as a liberator for Iraq or if it invaded the country for reasons other than altruistic ones, he said.
A majority of Americans do not believe that the war in Iraq was worth the price of the lives of their soldiers. Nevertheless, Russert argues, the American people must maintain a “fair standard of accountability.”
In order to do this, Americans must question their leaders as to why some events happened and some did not.
One of the reasons Russert claims that he cannot befriend any politicians is because he must ask them uncomfortable questions.
Shortly after joining “NBC News” in 1984, Russert met with Pope John Paul II, an event that was televised for the first time. He joined “Meet the Press” in December 1991 and anchors for “The Tim Russert Show” on CNBC. Serving as senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of “NBC News,” Russert has also written a memoir about his father, “Big Russ ‘ Me,” which became the New York Times #1 bestseller.
“We are not ready, we are not prepared,” said Russert, in regard to the possibility of another terrorist attack or hurricane. American citizens must get involved, he said. “It is imperative that we as a nation are strong enough and objective enough.”
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