For once, Tony Snow can't hit back

Posted by Matt

While attending a "conservative" conference put on by the Young America's Foundation in Washington last summer, I had the pleasure of getting a front-row seat during a talk with Tony Snow in the Eisenhower building next to the White House. Since the room we were in was once used for press conferences by JFK, it had the feel of Snow's usual gig, especially when one of us budding right-wingers decided to push him on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. Many present would have gladly bashed President Bush on various charges of not being sufficiently right-wing, but in what I take as an illustration of the power of his affable personality, the room stood up and erupted with enthusiastic applause when Tony Snow waltzed to the podium.

During the question and answer session, I prefaced a question with an expression of sympathy for the fact that day in and day out he had to deal with such the infamously liberal and downright hostile White House press corps. But Snow would have none of that, and so he cut me off right away with a retort: "You should feel sorry for them!"

Unlike many in the Bush administration, Tony Snow was admirable in his ability to be critical of his boss, yet fiercely loyal in defending him the moment he found himself in the public light. And as a man who had been a pundit before coming to the White House, Snow (in stark contrast to his predecessor Scott McClellan) genuinely loved sparring with the press. And so the more I reflected on the job that Tony Snow did in defending President Bush, on occasions when I thought the President right and when I thought him wrong, the more it was the press core that I felt sorry for.

Perhaps, then, it is Snow's relative success at the job that drove the Associated Press to issue such a nasty piece of reporting today, just hours after Snow passed away at the ripe young age of 53, having finally lost a long and tragic bout with cancer. According to the article, Snow possessed "a quick-from-the-lip repartee, good looks and a relentlessly bright outlook — if not always a command of the facts." He "brought partisan zeal and the skills of a seasoned performer" to the task, making him "a popular figure around the country to the delight of his White House bosses." And, it goes without saying, to the dismay of the folks at the Associated Press, who could easily see through Snow to the partisan performer underneath, who "was never shy about playing to the cameras".

But it actually gets worse. "Critics", says the AP, using a word that is all too often no more than a stand-in for what the liberal reporting establishment believes, "suggested that Snow was turning the traditionally informational daily briefing into a personality-driven media event short on facts and long on confrontation." The AP laments that "he challenged reporters, scolded them and questioned their motives as if he were starring in a TV show broadcast live from the West Wing."

Never have I seen such hateful vitriol in a piece that purports to be no more than an objective news update. If Snow were still alive, he'd be taking them to town over this. And despite the attack, he'd probably still be feeling sorry for them.

Rest in Peace, Tony Snow, no matter how hard the press tries to stop you.