Tony Snow wasn't an elected official. But he was the model of a statesman.
That's why the former White House spokesman and commentator is being mourned across the political and ideological spectrum today.
At only 53, Snow was a throwback to the Washington of old, when deeply principled politicians could disagree without being disagreeable.
The conservative former speech writer for the first President Bush was asked by the current President Bush in April 2006 to save a White House press office in full disrepair. And he fixed it.
He did it by being candid, respectful, civil, funny and congenial with a hostile Washington press corps that couldn't help but be charmed by his sincerity and humanity.
You could tell by watching and listening to him that Snow loved a good battle over ideas, loved his work -- but most of all loved people. His fight with colon cancer, which he succumbed to Sunday, may have given him the peace to know that a disagreement or a full frontal attack by the press wasn't the end of the world or even the most important thing that day. Friends said his family always was.
It's that kind of guileless, priorities-straight lifestyle that seems to be dying out in Washington. In its place is a 24/7 tussle for partisan supremacy and political advantage.
Tony Snow was as principled and passionate as anyone in the nation's capital. But he wore those convictions with dignity and plied them with integrity. And he never took intellectual disputes personally. He was bigger than that.
And he was bigger than most of the politicians he covered and worked for.
We knew we were losing him when he had to leave the White House in September 2007.
We just didn't know how much we were losing.
Comments
While we'd like to think Mr Snow was a throwback to an era passed, he wasn't. He was one of a rare breed that was honest all of the time, inoffensively so, and didn't get caught up in the glitz surrounding him. His demeanor made this obvious, even on t.v. I'm sorry to see him gone, but I'm glad he's received the recognition he deserved.
Things are often not as they appear on the surface. I liked Ronald Reagan's public persona when he introduced General Electric theater back in the last 1950's or early 1960's. Ronald Reagan was a pampered spokesman for General Electric because of that appealing image. Reagan sold out to corporatism. Tony Blair has a pleasant public persona. But Tony Blair was dead wrong on Iraq. The patina of pleasantness tarnishes with time. Tony Snow was good looking and affable, but he sold out to the radical right and to FOX News. The biggest stain on Snow's reputation is that he bought into the Bush/Cheney regime's radical agenda. Tony Snow was associated closely with George H.W. Bush. If he had stayed away from Bush Junior his reputation would only be that of a right wing radio talk show host and a FOX News talking head. But Snow chose to defend the indefensible (the immoral and illegal U.S. war of aggression in Iraq) as Press Secretary to President George W. Bush AND Snow publicly complained that he wasn't paid enough to do it. That leaves Tony Snow's legacy in the category of political hack not that of statesman.
True True I used to the think JRHC was a Blithering idiot...then..oh wait..no change. JRHC any comment on the 500 METRIC TONS (for you thats a WHOLE LOT) of Uranium removed from Iraq? NO? I mean thats the Nuke stuff that you said wasn't there.
Tony Snow was admirable man and he will be sorely missed.
500 METRIC TONS of UNENRICHED yellowcake or whatever SCREAMING FIGURE you want to post, yak1, has nothing to do with any supposed threat posed by Saddam Hussein. In fact, the yellowcake uranium was KNOWN & accounted for by the IAEA & IT WAS LEGAL! Furthermore, the fact that Saddam Hussein had 500 METRIC TONS of yellowcake already on hand for years underscores the lie that President George W. Bush uttered in those 16 infamous words in his State of the Union Address in Jan 2003: "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Why would Saddam Hussein seek "significant quantaties" of yellowcake uranium from mines in Niger in Africa when he already had 500 METRIC TONS of the stuff on hand? The fact is that Saddam Hussein did not have the ability to enrich the uranium & BUSH KNEW IT! George W. Bush lied this country into war AND TONY SNOW BOUGHT INTO & DEFENDED THAT LIE. The U.S. war in Iraq is illegal because Iraq never attacked or threatened United States. The Bush/Cheney "administration" FIXED intelligence around a nonexistent WMD threat. Tony Snow defended those lies & the unnecessary, immoral, illegal, unwinnable war.
JRHC- This editiorial is a eulogy. You certainly do not have to agree with it, nor with values or political positions of Mr. Snow, but there are other places and times to argue your point. To hurl insults at the departed displays a complete lack of character and decency.
Tony Snow was a stooge who took over after Scott McClellan had had enough. Too bad Tony Snow didn't see the light before he died. Dana Perino is the current Press Secretary paid to lie for Bush. Never be surprised what people will do for money and notoriety (even though Tony Snow complained the money wasn't that good). Snow was a pampered hack. It is easy for media pundits (Snow was one before and after he served up lies on Bush's behalf) to believe their own press, to believe that they a special, to believe that they somehow earn their blood money, and to lose touch with reality. To McClellan's credit he has managed to rediscover reality to some extent. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher never has and now "serves" as spokesman for the right wing Freedom's Watch telling more lies to the public. Tony Snow's only claim to fame is he was handsome, well paid, and now is dead.
...and sanity.
Cain wouldn't make a pimple on Tony Snow's [filtered word]. Snow was the best Presidential Press Secretary in recent years. As for McClellan, he didn't "get enoug and leave", he was fired because he was ineffective and couldn't handle the job. Cain, I have more respect for a pile of dog dung than I will ever have for a scumbag like you.
Tony Snow, a good and gracious person and a great loss for the country. Tony Snow and Tim Russert, both men who can never be replaced. BTW..Ignore Cain. You are playing into his hands.
What I don't understand is how colon cancer got him. He had the best doctors in the world and colon cancer can be detected early by colonoscopy and cured.
There can be no greater eulogy than to have a traitor to his country, like Cain, criticize you.
Ok, I know that you'll dog Cain a bit b/c you differ politically, but Cain, in this one, here is another Dem telling you to ease up. This guy was the mouthpiece. He did not make any policy or set any policy. Ease up...I know they don't ease up on us, but do as you'd have them to do...not as they do.
Yea, Gunby, because we really ripped up Tim Russert. Right.
I wasn't referring to Russert, who you have to admit did a pretty good job of keeping his views out of it. He was solid on attacking both sides. I was referring to issues in general.
Okay, Tony Snow was only a lying mouthpiece. Put that on his tombstone.
Johnson-This must have been a very aggressive cancer as I have heard it said that Tony Snow was screened every 6m due to a family history of the disease. I lost my Dad to colon cancer a few years back. As I recall, it typically grows very slowly and can be treated in the earliest stages. Once it gets in the lymph nodes it can show up again anywhere. A secondary tumor in the liver, as in Tony's case, is pretty much a death sentence.
Cain you are a cancer. You are one sick SOB to speak poorly of this man who has just recently passed because of your delusional political beliefs. You have no humanity at all. I'm sure there is a long list of posters who can't wait for you to pass so they can all use their SCOTUS and ACLU sanctioned right to protest and carry posters describing what a coward, traitor, terrorist, unamerican, subhuman you were in this life. You are delusional and you need psychiatric treatment in the worst way. If this isn't proof I don't know what is.
I vote we ! all of Cain's post as obscene and unbecoming. When your political beliefs jade any aspect of humanity you are one sick puppy. He should be banned for not being a human being.
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