Tony Snow: same job, different office
Hiring Fox commentator Tony Snow as the new White House spokesman seems redundant to me. Snow, like everybody else on the payroll at Fox, is already a White House spokesman. Is there really a need to give him an office in the West Wing and pay him a government salary? He’s been doing fine right where he is. Actually the White House could save money by just eliminating the job of Press Secretary and referring all questions to Fox.
By the way, all these references to the ‘criticisms’ Snow has supposedly levelled at Bush are red herrings. Nobody at Fox ever really criticizes Bush. They occasionally make a show of questioning his policies, but that’s just to give the surface impression that the entire channel isn’t a wholly-owned subsidiary of the GOP. Every two weeks somebody says, “Could President Jesus be making a tiny mistake here, or is this really what God is telling him to do?” Then they point to these soul-searching moments as proof of how Fair and Balanced they are.
18 Responses to “Tony Snow: same job, different office”
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Paul Tergeist says:
How can anyone with the least bit of ethical conscience take a job which requires them to lie?
Does the aura of the White House so utterly and completely corrupt anyone who is invited inside that it has become a temple of evil?
April 26th, 2006 at 3:02 pm EST -
Timothy Shortell says:
Sean Wilentz’s recent essay in Rolling Stone has an interesting observation that I think helps explain this appointment. Where other administrations in trouble have brought in people outside of the President’s circle for a fresh perspective, Bush is surrounded by true believers and no one else.
An administration in such a desperate crisis of credibility might have thought that bringing in someone who would be perceived as an outsider or as independent would be a good move. This administration is either incapable of thinking that way or believes that more Rovism (never admit mistakes) not less is the way to rescue their sinking ship.
It is going to be fodder for the comedians for a while. Hey, maybe that is the real plan: distract us from the criminality by giving us an easy target?
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Infidel says:
I liked Ari Fliescher he had spunk.
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Violet says:
Timothy:
My copy of Rolling Stone arrived yesterday and I’m looking forward to reading that essay. The cover cartoon is a hoot. I laughed out loud.
As for their credibility problem, do you really think they see it as a problem? This White House has never been concerned with public opinion. This is a guy who was appointed into office, then when he squeaked out a bare majority in 2004 crowed that he had a “mandate.” And nobody in Congress seems to have the balls or the ovaries to actually confront these criminals.
Bush is not running for re-election, and he’s already achieved wonderful things: billions of dollars in no-bid contracts and kickbacks for his friends, the gift that keeps on giving in Iraq, rollbacks of those pesky environmental laws, gutting of social services, an extremist pro-right Supreme Court… This country is going to be recovering from Bush for decades. And his rich friends are going to be living off the fat for decades.
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manxome says:
I’m coveting that first paragraph. It truly is a beatiful thing.
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Violet says:
Why, thanx, manx.
Hey, welcome back from your trip. I need to come over to your place and say hi.
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manxome says:
You do? Are you planning a trip to hell? I admire your bravery!
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maupassant says:
Every time a reason to visit the US comes up I get an image of Ali McGraw deciding to vist Germany in the late ’30s in “The Winds of War.” “Don’t go, you fool,” I yell, and every time she goes anyway. I stay home. I don’t know how any of you manage to resist the saturation-level onslaught of propaganda.
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Timothy Shortell says:
I don’t think that Bush cares about public opinion because he has his self-delusions. But I think his handlers care a lot, because they have to think of the party’s interests, and if they can’t turn around the perception that Republicans are incompetent and corrupt they’ll be out of power for a generation. I think Rove and his minions will be working overtime for a while. Perhaps they believe that everything will be forgotten if they start another war.
Remember, the Texas Republicans thought they had a plan to create a permanent majority for the party. That plan has crashed and is burning. They’ve got to be looking for a new gimmick.
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Paul Tergeist says:
From 8: “I don’t know how any of you manage to resist the saturation-level onslaught of propaganda.”
-maupassantFirst one must understand that it IS propaganda. Then one must simply ignore it, much like religion.
One must never listen to politicians, managers, Priests or ‘official spokesmen’ . It is difficult enough to get the whole, complete truth from your spouse or children much less a professional obfuscator.
The only way to know the truth is to rely on intelligence guided by experience but even this sometimes fails. There are ways….eye movement, body language, ‘tells’. That technique works for most people but not for sociopaths or people who have been professionally trained. I can beat a lie detector every time and so can any professional intelligence agent. There are simple secrets that work wonderfully. You can also pass a Rorschach or an eye test. The eye test for 20-20 is the simplest. Just remember four lines of letters and quote them when asked.
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Alon Levy says:
The eye test for 20-20 is the simplest. Just remember four lines of letters and quote them when asked.
What? When I took eye test, I’d need to read different letters or numbers each time.
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schemanista says:
Paul Tergeist: The only way to know the truth is to rely on intelligence guided by experience but even this sometimes fails.
Acquiring good critical thinking skills also helps. You probably assumed this implicitly but I thought I might point it out anyway.
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Txfeminist says:
to #1 well, he already had a job lying before, so clearly he didnt’ have a problem with it. Some people will do anything for money, fame.
to #8, I don’t get the local paper, and I don’t have television. You’d be amazed at how well-informed I am. :-)
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Violet says:
What? When I took eye test, I’d need to read different letters or numbers each time.
Here in the States we have a standard eye chart that’s been hanging on walls at doctors’ offices and drivers’ license bureaus for decades. It’s the same chart.
If you’re being tested by an optometrist through one of those machines it’s different — the machines use cards, which are probably standardized as well, but I don’t think you can know what order they’ll appear in.
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Alon Levy says:
Well, in Israel and Singapore it’s different. I had my first few eye tests at the same clinic, and each time I got different digits (it had no letters).
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Alon Levy says:
Acquiring good critical thinking skills also helps.
Actually, it helps a lot more… I’ve had to argue with many people who assumed that having the experience of a 40-something made them right, and then got things wrong because of lack of critical thinking. I’ve seen the opposite happen much less frequently.
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Paul Tergeist says:
It isn’t my age that makes me right. It is because I am male. :-)
What happend to the girl I used to know,
You let your mind out somewhere down the road,
Don’t bring me down,no no no no no,
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down. -
Infidel says:
TotalScope, I’m on their mailing list and they send a weekly rag. Anyway I get this weird thing from TotalScope that the McKenzie brothers or something are gonna be on Fox news. The McKenzie brothers(not their name but I’m not gonna look it up) are former Lacross players from Duke. Apparently there are a bunch of brothers in the history of the Duke team that played for them at the same time. Anyways…this E-Mail out of the blue from a Endoscope repair company telling me to catch these brothers on Fox on such & such a date, such&such a time. Tell me about how Fox isn’t complicit in the manipulation of public opinion dancing to the tune of corporate puppeteers. Tell me how everything this guy says won’t be laughed off in the media as a “snow job”(I’m serious as a heart attack) Starting some kind of sick jovial spin on globally bad decisions. Well hah hah that was a snow job. nudge nudge say no more nuff said say no more(the very silly party)
