Ironically, because of his iconic personal brand, we already know everything he’s going to say!

My mouth literally fell open at the news today that Tim Russert had died suddenly. It felt like a death in the family, although I never knew him except from his television appearances and books.

Tim was one of the good guys: passionate about politics, a master of his craft, a hard working, decent man who adored his family and never forgot his working class roots in his (and my) hometown of Buffalo, NY. In fact, Tim and I went to the same high school at the same time. I regret never getting to know him then. Now, I guess, I never will.

My thoughts are with you, Tim — and of course, with Big Russ, too.

Wait, that can’t be all there is to it, can it? It must be more complicated than that. Nope, not according to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster. In a recent Marketplace interview, he said:

“Like a lot of stuff we do, we’ve found it to be very effective and basically fool-proof to just prioritize our activities according to what users are asking for.”

Ryssdal: Seems bizarre in this economy to be so democratic.

Buckmaster: Well, it certainly makes our lives simpler since we just have the one criterion to go on. We don’t have to sit in rooms trying to figure out how to conquer the world because basically we are not trying to achieve any particular market share or world dominance. We’re just trying to follow up on requests that we get from users.

Ryssdal: And yet you have enormous market share and very nearly world dominance.

Buckmaster: … what better way to operate is there than to just follow up on what your customers or users are asking for, and to just block out everything else.”

Via The Consumerist

[Aside: Dan Rather was all wrong, too, imho. Too edgy and twitchy for an anchor. But he was awesome getting in Nixon’s face at news conferences. A news anchor used to require an authoritative, avuncular presence. That’s why “Uncle” Walter Cronkite was so perfect in the ’60s and ’70s. Of course, those halcyon television days are long gone, with the Internet (and the Daily Show) now the primary news source for people like me. And the most important qualification for a news anchor today is blonde hair, long legs and short skirts. ]

But I digress.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m seeking revenge on Time Magazine for passing over me for their Top 25 blogs. So far I haven’t been able to sink my fangs into Time. But I HAVE nudged Katie Couric closer to the ledge, sparked a blow up at Howard Stern’s show, and gotten Michael Johns kicked off of America Idol.

Yeah, that was all me, folks. Heh heh.

Time — consider yourself warned.

I mean, really, what has the Huffington Post or Lifehacker got that I don’t got? Besides worthwhile content, I mean. Which is sooo overrated.

You honestly think TechCrunch and Boing Boing are better than my crummy rag? I suppose you also think Godiva dark chocolate tastes better than Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, too. God, there’s just no accounting for taste.

Obviously, there’s some hanky-panky going on. I mean, I was assured I had a lock on Time’s stupid list. I mean, hell —  they cashed the damn check.

Heads will roll for this. I guarantee it. Stay tuned.