Bush has named Scott McClelland’s replacement as White House press secretary: FOX News Radio host Tony Snow.
I’m too tired and my brain is too Linux-addled to write much, but this really seems to me like the final consummation of the unholiest of unions after a rather long engagement. As Jon Stewart said when Snow’s selection was only a rumor: “In other words, the White House is considering paying a Fox News reporter to tell the public what they want the public to hear. I hope he’s up to the job.”
Edited to add: Ah, false alarm, folks. This guy is no Bush lackey; in fact, he’s a Bush critic! I’m sure he’ll bring that fair and balanced viewpoint for which Fox is so famous to his new job – because remember, he’s been reassured that he’ll not only be the White House spokesperson, but he’ll also be actively involved in shaping White House policy. (Whew, aren’t you relieved to hear that? I certainly am!) He’ll now get to personally deliver critiques like this to the President on a regular basis:
“His wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back . . . ,” Mr Snow wrote last November after Republicans failed to win the governor’s race in Virginia. “The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.”
A press secretary and, apparently, policy advisor who’s even farther to the right than Bush? Just what we needed.
And another edit to add: Lest you wonder whether Snow has a shred of decent race politics: a couple of years back he declared on Fox News Sunday that racism is no longer a big deal. Another one of those memos that I must not have gotten! And in his free time, Snow also enjoys bashing Kwanzaa and slandering African people as a whole in columns that are later featured on the websites of white supremacist groups. What a gem!
His name is so perfect on so many levels.