Tony Snow

The media is full of reports that Tony Snow has accepted the position of White House press secretary. The moonbats are (very predictably) all atitter over the many criticisms Tony has made of the Bush administration (all in the course of his work as an unabashedly conservative columnist and commentator). The conservatives seem to be mostly supportive of the pick, often citing Tony’s polish, quick wit, and camera presence.

Ordinarily I would care very little who is selected for the position of White House press secretary — other than some entertaining dialog with the almost uniformly barking moonbat White House press corps, there’s been little of lasting value or import from that position no matter who was in it. But the selection of Tony Snow has my attention, for a few reasons.

Most importantly, I just plain like and admire the guy. His plain-spoken, heartfelt commentary has always appealed to me, even when I disagreed with his conclusions or positions. Reading of his battle with colon cancer was inspiring; some of his words on the subject had me reaching for the box of tissues. And he gives every appearance of having in abundance that old-fashioned and now distressingly rare journalistic virtue: integrity.

An interesting twist to his appointment is that it’s hard to imagine Tony Snow mindlessly spinning a position with meaningless hyperbole (it’s that integrity thing, you know). I can’t say the same about any other White House press secretary in memory. It’s equally hard to imagine Tony Snow being bested in a verbal sparring match with any barking moonbat in the White House press corps — or even anyone that the lamestream media could field. Tony is a very bright guy, fully capable of demolishing an uninformed (or under-equipped) moonbat’s argument. I just can’t see Tony Snow getting flustered into making some dumb statement, or into letting some lamestream assertion stand unmolested.

In short, I think that the Bush administration just made a most interesting choice; one that will create sparkle and sizzle in a usually colorless (and thankless) position. I’m looking forward to a little shock and awe in the White House’s press relationship.

It’s badly needed, Tony — get to work!