[tomder55]

Like Tim Russert before him, Tony Snow brought an infectious passion and likability to his craft. He brought those skills not only to his media jobs in print, radio and television, but to the White House, where he was a speechwriter for the first President Bush and press secretary for the second. His 17 months at the White House press room podium made predecessor Scott McClellan look like the useless shlub history now reveals him to be.When Tony Snow took over that post in Spring 2006, one of President Bush's key problems was the passionless ineptitude that poisoned the delivery of his message. Snow fixed that in one day, establishing a style of addressing the press with conviction and humor. There had been no one like him before, and I don't see anyone equaling him again.
But there have been a lot of good White House press secretaries, and a lot of good TV hosts and writers. It was his radio show that proved from 2003 to 2006 that he was an even rarer breed-- someone who could move from print and television into the completely different world of talk radio.
History is littered with failed talk show attempts by people who seemed interesting at something else. But there is little if anything in writing, acting or government service that equips one to offer opinions compellingly for three hours while taking extemporaneous calls from the public.
Tony did it, and he was great at it. Just like everything else he did.
And by that I mean more than his very public jobs. He was a man of varied interests, wide and deep friendships and a master of many musical instruments. He also managed to navigate through a government and media career while maintaining his most important job-- his devotion to his wife and kids...

Tony Snow should have been able to see his kids grow older as he grew old with his bride, and we should have been able to enjoy his sunny demeanor during political clashes lasting well into the middle of this century.
It is his gifts, the kind he shared with Tim Russert, that are sorely needed, not just in government and on TV, but in our entire national discourse.
Tony Snow 1955-2008 - Real Clear Politics - Elections 2008 - TIME

[NeedKarma]

Not a big fan of his. He was a bad man.

[George_1950]

The cheerful and bright demeanor of Tony Snow will be greatly missed.

[tomder55]

No he was NOT a bad man. I largely disagreed with Tim Russert's positions . Still I thought he was a professional at what he did and clearly a family man and would never make such a comment upon his passing.

[George_1950]

No he was NOT a bad man. I largely disagreed with Tim Russert's positions . Still I thought he was a professional at what he did and clearly a family man and would never make such a comment upon his passing.

A sort-of bipartisan moment with two journalistic titans in repose just as the nation is electing a new president and congress.

[NeedKarma]

Just because he might have been nice to his family or maybe he enjoyed petting kittens is irrelevant.

He was a willing and eager participant in aiding an evil regime engaged in war crimes, and that is just the little we know right now. God only knows what we will learn about this administration's crimes in the next fifty years, assuming that we will be allowed to know anything remotely resembling the truth.
I am so sick of being subjected to trivial feel-good bullsh*t about evil men just because they die. Screw that. He was scum, as illustrated by his aiding this gang of thugs, and now he is dead.

If he wanted to be remembered as a good guy he would have chosen to do good things.. but he didn't.

[tomder55]

A sort-of bipartisan moment with two journalistic titans in repose just as the nation is electing a new president and congress.

That was the ancillary point of the oped I posted . There is none on the scene their equal.

[tomder55]

Well NK I could nitpick your vitriol or just ignore it as over the top rhetoric.

Yours is the type of reply you continuosly complain to the adm. About others.

[NeedKarma]

Ad hominem Tom? Pourquoi?

[tomder55]

Because I'm tired of the double standard . Anyone associated with the Bush administration is fair game to be call the most vile things . But when someone posts about Obama ,some unpardonable offense has been committed .

[HistorianChick]

I met Tony Snow about 5 years ago at a conference. As a person, he was an amazing man. I was working a President General's reception room where all the "dignitaries" waited before going on stage and he was the guest speaker for the night. Sitting and talking with him, watching as his wife would call and tell him dinner was ready, then that dinner was on the table, then that it was getting cold, and watching his demeanor and attitude. He was a real guy.

I'll have to dig out my picture with him. I hadn't heard he passed away. (I'm news illiterate... ) RIP

[NeedKarma]

Lets' see now, Bush and cronies are currently being pursued for war crimes and other shenanigans so I'm not the only one that sees some problems with his actions. I realize you like the guy so we'll have to disagree there.

You have made a career on this website of airing out your 'extreme contempt" for all things liberal/democrat; it's all you do here. But right now we are talking about Tony Snow, and he chose to stand up and lie in front of people repeatedly.

[tomder55]

Do you have proof of his so called lies... or is that just one more slander ?

[George_1950]

What is the greatest lie told by Tony Snow?

[tomder55]

HistorianChick.

From what I have heard the sponsors of the event were lucky he did not call it a night and go home to his family . From all accounts he had his priorities in order.

[HistorianChick]

It was DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution)... I was lucky to get the "job" of being behind the curtain. Course, it never hurts to have a DAR dignitary in the family :)

He was a kind person. Seldom to we ever really get to meet people who are in the public eye. I can honestly say that he was a real, kind person... in person. :)

[tomder55]

Would love to see the photo if you can find it.

[HistorianChick]

I'm in the process of moving - its in my apt up in Nashville. I know right where it is, but it may be a few weeks before I can lay my hands on it! :)

[speechlesstx]

Just because he might have been nice to his family or maybe he enjoyed petting kittens is irrelevant.

He was a willing and eager participant in aiding an evil regime engaged in war crimes, and that is just the little we know right now. God only knows what we will learn about this administration's crimes in the next fifty years, assuming that we will be allowed to know anything remotely resembling the truth.
I am so sick of being subjected to trivial feel-good bullsh*t about evil men just because they die. Screw that. He was scum, as illustrated by his aiding this gang of thugs, and now he is dead.

If he wanted to be remembered as a good guy he would have chosen to do good things..but he didn't.

Tom's right, the double standard is nauseating. Tony Snow was a good man who loved God, loved his family, loved his country and put others first. Your diatribe is absolutely pathetic.

[NeedKarma]

Media Matters - The many falsehoods of Tony Snow

From his statement that evolutionary theory is a "hypothesis" to his defense of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Media Matters for America has documented numerous false and misleading claims advanced by Snow as a Fox News commentator:

• Snow falsely asserted that former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV said his wife, Valerie Plame, "wasn't covert for six years" before she was exposed as a CIA operative by syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

• Snow put forward numerous falsehoods to argue that "[e]volutionary theory, like ID [intelligent design], isn't verifiable or testable. It's pure hypothesis."

• Snow claimed that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the "most liberal justice in American history," despite evidence to the contrary.

• Snow peddled the baseless Republican National Committee talking point that 2004 presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) had blamed U.S. troops for the explosives looted from the Al Qaqaa military installation following the invasion of Iraq. Snow said, "[T]he Kerry campaign is not criticizing the president here. They're criticizing our troops."

• Following President Bush's lead, Snow distorted Kerry's stated desire to reduce terrorism to a "horrible nuisance." Snow claimed Kerry had "called terrorists a nuisance."

• Snow backed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's attacks on Kerry, falsely claiming, "[T]here has been no documentary contradiction of the Swift Boat stuff."

• Snow falsely defended Bush from probing questions regarding his National Guard service.