Tony Snow is checking out:
President Bush announced Friday that press secretary Tony Snow, who has waged a battle with cancer while manning the White House lectern, will resign and be replaced by his deputy, Dana Perino, on Sept. 14.
“It’s been a joy to watch him spar with you,” Bush told the White House press corps in the briefing room.
Snow, who had said recently that he would leave before the end of Bush’s presidency, said cancer was not the reason he was stepping down. Instead, the father of three said he needs to make more than his White House salary of $168,000. He can earn far more on the speechmaking circuit.
I thought I would say goodbye in a song.
So sad that it should come to this
We tried to warn you all but oh dear?
You may not share our intellect
Which might explain your disrespect
For all the natural wonders that
grow around you
So long, so long and thanks
for all the fish
The world’s about to be destroyed
There’s no point getting all annoyed
Lie back and let the planet dissolve
Despite those nets of tuna fleets
We thought that most of you were sweet
Especially tiny tots and your
pregnant women
So long, so long, so long, so long, so long
So long, so long, so long, so long, so long
So long, so long and thanks
for all the fish
jnfr
Ear worm. Every time we watch that movie, I have that song in my head for days.
Xenos
Remember how Tony Snow demanded some sort of policy-making input in return for his superior rhetorical skills?
Any indication as to what that meant?
Stooleo
Off Topic, but potential for much schadenfreude.
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2007/08/wholl-be-next-republican-hypocrite-to.html
Punchy
So his obfuscation, non-truths, stonewalling, and pomposity was a source of amusement for Bush? He found it funny that his spokesman was such a chump as to willfully frustrate the media? That’s 6th grade mentality.
Of couse, the media is liberal, and liberals made Schiavo thirsty…
Andrew
Is it just me, or is saying, “$168,000 just isn’t enough,” a little out of touch?
John S.
Get yer smelly hand out of Tony’s pockets, ya Commie!
OhReally
Andrew:
I can’t stand the guy, but he may be looking at his possibly bleak and short future and thinking he would like to put away as much as he can for those he’ll leave behind.
Cromagnon
I think you are right. My sister recently died of the same type of cancer he has. About the same age as well. He is starting to look a lot like she did a few months before the end
Drew
“Is it just me, or is saying, “$168,000 just isn’t enough,” a little out of touch?”
Its not out of touch when you know you will die within 3-4 years. Tony Snow appears to be a great guy who tried to serve his country and now wants to take care of his family. I think its admirable.
Tax Analyst
Not to worry, I’m sure Dana Perino will be able to shovel the bullshit out with equal aplomb for at least a little while. There’s really no shortage of ethics-free Republican Shills & Whores willing to lie to the Press and the American People for $168k/yr.
Snow’s just “Movin’ On Up”, he can still be talking bullshit on the Speech Circuit, talking to bullshit-friendly crowds, and probably making 10-to-20 times that paltry $168k he gets now.
Andrew
Fixed.
Zifnab
Yes, but he’s probably got way better medical coverage, what with him being “in the family” and all.
John Cole
There really is no reason to hate Tony Snow. Seriously. The WH spokesman is always full of shit- that is, by definition, their job. They don’t set or enforce policy, they run cover for their boss. All of them.
If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the modern press who have allowed this practice of standing up in front of the nation and lying to your country be so commonplace it is an actual job description. Tony Snow was no better or worse than a long line of hacks that got up and just made shit up for their President.
Not to mention the guy is fucking dying.
Drew
There are plenty of problems with the Republican Party. Tony Snow is not one of them.
168k really isn’t that much money for someone as talent and smart as Tony Snow. Sorry.
Tax Analyst
True.
Gus
Yeah, I’m no fan of Tony Snow, but there’s no other way to do that job than to say good-bye to any personal integrity you might have. I actually wish him the best, and I hope against hope that he beats the cancer.
Zifnab
Dude’s a hack. I can tell because he worked for FOX News.
That said, you’re right, he is just a mouthpiece. But all I can say to that is, I wouldn’t punch Bush in the mouth because I hate his teeth. If Tony Snow wants to play unapologetic lightning rod for 7 years of catastrophic national policy, don’t pretend to be surprised when he gets a high-voltage hit.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with the PR department, and a good journalist just takes the Press Secretary’s announcement as the White House Side Of The Story. If they don’t go out and do some legwork to verify or refute it, that’s not the Press Secretary’s fault. However, the guy who knowingly takes up the job of White House Joseph Goebbels is a far cry from the President’s face man. I mean, these Press guys told some of the most bold and shameless lies, lies that everyone and his kid brother knew were false. But they read them into the record anyway.
It’s like being a cancer specialist for RJ Reynolds or a lead paint inspector for the Chinese Government. You can’t give these guys a pass just because, hey, its their job to lie to you.
Mike W
$168K is really not that much – espescially in DC,or for anyone who has to maintain two households with one being in DC (becuase there is no way in hell I would move my wife and kids to DC). And this guy was probably making ten times that or more as a radio talk show host. Why he took that paycut in the first place is beyond me, unless it really was just an opportunity for him the serve. I don’t have a problem with the guy wanting to make more money. Who doesn’t?
Gus
I think I’m being soft on the guy because my dad also has cancer. I was never as soft on Ari Fleischer or Scotty Flopsweat.
Keith
Not to be morbid, but I got that feeling when I saw him on the news last night. When he came back with the white hair, I figured he was starting to get hit with the effects of treatment, but last night, his features were a bit more sunken, and his hair looked much thinner. I wish him the best in his personal life, but from personal experience, it’s difficult watching cancer slowly take someone away and I find it’s true even when you really don’t know the person (Tammy Faye was about the worst state I’ve ever seen someone from cancer, and that image really got to me)
myiq2xu
Remember the good old days when
Roach MotelWhite House spokesman were supposed to tell the truth but do so in a way that potrayed the Preznit in the most favorable light possible?Now they not only tell bald-faced lies, we pretty much expect them to lie and it’s only news when they slip up and tell the truth.
John S.
I have no problem with Snow wanting to make more than 168K. I mean, if he can make more doing something else, then more power to him. But the statement itself does put him somewhat out of touch with the mainstream.
Right now, there are thousands of men in America with families to care for — many who don’t even make a fourth of what Snow makes and who have terminal cancer. There’s a good chance a large number of them don’t have health insurance or life insurance policies or much of a “portfolio” to leave behind.
I just wonder what those men think when they read something like that. 168K (and full benefits!) to spin the WH bullshit probably sounds like a pretty amazing deal.
Pb
It is not our policy to comment on an ongoing administration, and it would be irresponsible to do so, as it may prejudice the results of that administration. Let me also remind you that there is a war on terror, that the United States is determined to make sure that democracy succeeds in Iraq. If you try to sort of “Kumbaya” about what’s going on — people know it’s a war. It’s tough. And you can’t play “Kumbaya.” What you have to do is to take on the harder and more practical business of winning a war and securing a democracy. Next question.
chopper
168K may not be too much to live in the rich parts of the DC area, but its plenty to get by on.
however, not if you’re coming from a lifestyle based on a previous salary many times higher.
Pb
Why are we still talking about DC — Tony Snow doesn’t have to live in DC now, he can go anywhere he wants. He can go back to Ohio, where even a comparable salary would give him about $60k more disposable income, which is more than the majority of Americans make in a year, period.
Xenos
A smidgeon of intellectual honesty would be appreciated, though. I never expected much from him, and I was still disappointed.
John
I wish him the best in his battle with cancer, and while I’d love to make $168,000 a year, it’s his choice to move on if he has options that pay more.
But (come on, you knew there’d be a but)…
“It’s been a joy to watch him spar with you,” Bush told the White House press corps in the briefing room.
That choice of phrases says a lot about Mr. Bush and it’s not very good. The job of the press secretary is to provide information to the press, and by extension, the people – also known as you and me. It’s not to spar with us or try to beat us or try to put one over on us to score a point. Mr. Bush shouldn’t get any joy from the sight of members of his administration sparring with us, and that’s not even addressing the fact that sparring is necessary in the first place.
whippoorwill
John,
Are you singing? This is the blogosphere.
There’s no singing in the Blogosphere!
crayz
Pretty soon it’ll just be Bush and Cheney left. And then, Bush will resign
jnfr
If I had just one last wish
I would like a tasty fish
If we could just change one thing
We would all have learnt to sing
Rome Again
and this surprises you because _________?
Rome Again
Absolutely, and the boy wonder will never get that.
JGabriel
Bush: “It’s been a joy to watch him spar with you…”
John @ 4:54 pm: “That choice of phrases says a lot about Mr. Bush and it’s not very good. The job of the press secretary is to provide information to the press, and by extension, the people – also known as you and me. It’s not to spar with us or try to beat us or try to put one over on us to score a point.”
True, but, you’re missing the political point here. By characterizing the relationship between Snow and the press as ‘sparring’, Bush flatters the press into believing they’re actually performing their role as adversary.
Clearly, the press is not performing that role, at least not anywhere near to the extent it should. But they’ll lap up the Bush kabuki theater, rather than applying the simple critical reasoning John exemplifies here.
Dave_Violence
$168k is a lot of money. Well, it’s what a law school grad gets right out of school, as opposed to, say, an engineer…
Why will he make more on the speaking circuit than at a steady government job?
Andrew
Let me just say fuck anyone who says 168 thousand dollars isn’t that much money. Oh woe the fuck is that poor bastard who lives on merely 4 times the national average income for an entire household, plus some of the best benefits in existence.
And there sure is hell is a reason to hate someone who is taking advantage of my taxpayer dollars to get excellent oncology treatment when he is the mouthpiece for the folks who are doing their damnest to prevent millions of other Americans from ever receiving such care.
Finally, Tony Snow is not just the spokesman. There was a huge deal about how he would have input on policy and direction when he was hired. So double fuck that fucking fucker.
Stooleo
I’m sort of torn about Tony Snow, in a way. It is apparent, for anyone who chooses to see, that the drugs that he has been taking for his cancer treatment, is ravageing his body. His hair is whiting and thinning, and he is getting gaunt. I take no joy celebrating the possibility of his premature death or the trauma that his wife and children will have to deal with.
On the other hand, he has been: dissembling, mendacious and scornfull to the press, and ultimately to us, the citizens of our nation. He chose to be the mouthpiece for George W. Bush and he took a pay cut to play that role. I think he cast his die for a mention in the history books and I don’t think its going to play out for him so well.
I think that Tony Snow will eventually be be like snow on the ground, that will melt, leaving ground.
Ted
Well, I’m happy for Tony Snow that he’s got that supposedly very well covered federal government health insurance plan. Wonder if he’s ever denounced some Democratic universal health care plan on behalf of his boss.
Georgette Orwell
Here’s the one person in the administration who could have said truthfully, “I’m leaving to spend more time with my family.” and I don’t think anyone would have had anything but best wishes to offer in return. But why does this entire thing simply feel like another (unnecessary) lie from SnowJob? A cancer survivor myself, I’m sympathetic to Snow the person (though his flip lying always has made me want to slap him), but his “it’s all about the money” annoys me. There are many, many people, with or without cancer, who’d love the opportunity to try to struggle through on the salary and benefit package that he dismisses as meager in such a cavalier manner.
A Repugnican to the end…
Catsy
Count me in with the folks who are pooh-poohing Snow. His job is to speak for the President, and of course we expect him to spin things favorably. But that’s not what he does. He lies. Demonstrable, verifiable lies, hundreds of them. He lies to our faces every single day he gets up there, and on those rare occasions where a member of the press nails him on one of them, he lies some more and slips out of it.
It doesn’t matter if that’s in his job description. It’s still despicable, and makes him a willing party to the damage being done to our country. He’s not a decent man trying to do well, he’s a liar and a sycophant who willingly took a job that requires him to lie to the American people every day.
My sympathies are with his family. I have none for him.
JGabriel
“Snow Out”?
Can I recommend instead, the title “S’no Job”?
TenguPhule
Fuck Tony Snow with a pointed dildo.
Some people, when confronted by their own impending demise, manage to do the right thing.
Snow wasn’t one of them.
I won’t pretend that a douche with cancer is anything but a douche to the lingering bitter end.
just sayin
I just wonder what those men think when they read something like that. 168K (and full benefits!) to spin the WH bullshit probably sounds like a pretty amazing deal.
I suspect most of them would very much like to have that deal, and would grab it if offered. And most of them wouldn’t begrudge him going after an even better one if he can get it.
Jimmmmm
Tengu: This may make me the dick of all dicks, but I’m rooting for the cancer. Given the chance over and again to do the right thing, Tony instead beat the drum to send thousands to their graves.
The earth can do with a few less Tony Snows.