Bush hires a Fox news commentator. No, seriously
Jonny_Paycheck
17,825 Posts
WASHINGTON, April 26 ??? President Bush today named Tony Snow, the Fox News radio and television commentator, as the new White House press secretary, despite Mr. Snow's past criticisms of his policies.Mr. Bush, while praising Mr. Snow's long experience in print, radio and television, noted that "he's not afraid of expressing his own opinions" and that "he sometimes disagreed with me." He said when he asked Mr. Snow about those critical remarks, he replied, "You should have heard what I said about the other guy."But he made it clear that Mr. Snow is no longer an independent agent. "My job is to make decisions," the president said. "And his job is to help explain those decisions to the press corps and the American people."Mr. Bush tried to strike a light note, saying Mr. Snow already knew most of the people in the White House press corps. "He's agreed to take the job anyway," Mr. Bush said.Mr. Snow spoke briefly, saying, "One of the I reasons took this job is not only because I believe in the president, because, believe it or not, I want to work with you."Unlike the soft-spoken current press secretary, Scott McClellan, who announced his resignation last week, Mr. Snow is something of a showman, having earned his living in a world in which success hinges upon being provocative.Mr. Snow has written recent columns critical of Mr. Bush, arguing that his White House had lost its verve and direction in his second term.A senior administration official said the president chose Mr. Snow, 50, to become one of the most visible faces of the administration because he understood newspapers, radio, television and government, having worked in all four areas.This official, who was granted anonymity to speak about a major personnel move before it was announced by Mr. Bush, added that the White House was hoping that Mr. Snow would use his television skills to take better advantage of the daily briefings so often televised live on cable news, giving the administration unfiltered time to push its points of the day.Mr. Snow is also a star in the conservative movement, some of whose members, including him, have been openly critical of the White House in recent months.His appointment comes as the new White House chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, is shuffling the president's top staff as part of an effort to salvage Mr. Bush's second-term agenda. One area on which Mr. Bolten has already focused is Mr. Bush's press operation, which he is trying to make more effective at presenting the president's message, Republicans with ties to the White House have said.Mr. Snow has been the host of "The Tony Snow Show" on radio and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow" on the Fox News Channel; he also had been the host of "Fox News Sunday," one of the five major Sunday morning public affairs programs. Before that, he was a columnist at USA Today and the editorial page editor of The Washington Times.Mr. Snow took a break from journalism to work as a White House speechwriter for Mr. Bush's father.His appointment as press secretary has been rumored for more than a week, even before Mr. McClellan's resigned. White House officials had expressed surprise at the rumors, however, and wondered whether the appointment would happen, given Mr. Snow's freewheeling style and some of his commentary.In a column titled "Thud!" on his radio show Web site, Mr. Snow called the president's domestic policy proposals in his State of the Union address "lackluster" and worried that the president had a dearth of people around him willing to tell him when his ideas were bad. Mr. Snow added, however, that Mr. Bush was "the only figure who counts in American politics."Late Tuesday, Democrats were already circulating, via e-mail messages, a link to a blog affiliated with the Center for American Progress, which features a list of Mr. Snow's critical comments about the president in his columns.In a November column, posted on Townhall.com, Mr. Snow wrote of Mr. Bush: "His wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson. The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment."In a March column, Mr. Snow wrote, "A Republican president and a Republican Congress have lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc." And he derided the new prescription drug benefit that Mr. Bush signed into law.As press secretary, Mr. Snow would probably have to defend just such a program.When asked about Mr. Snow's more critical comments, the administration official said, "What better way to pop the bubble that people think there is here."Senior administration officials consider Mr. Snow to be just the sort of outsider for whom some of their concerned Republican allies have been calling.Mr. Snow had surgery for colon cancer last year, and he was said to have been waiting for his doctors' approval before signing on as press secretary. He is healthy now, and his physicians carefully monitor his condition.In the past week, Mr. Snow has also made it clear that he was negotiating for as much access as possible before taking the job. He said in an interview on the Fox News Channel that he was interested in the position because he would be part of "an inner White House circle."Though White House officials have consistently said that Mr. McClellan has had all the access he wanted, the perception remained among members of both parties that he did not. Either way, the senior administration official who spoke for this article said Mr. Snow would have "walk-in privileges" and an important role in "strategic thinking."
Comments
Not really. Basically, the job of the press secretary for Bush these days is to spend your time doling out half-truths, obfuscations and denials. That plus getting "ass raped to death" by the White House press corps. You're not allowed to bark back and I imagine Saba would have a hard time biting his tongue and taking one for the team.
This appointment makes perfect sense. I mean, why keep up any pretenses?
Dude it was a joke.
honestly I'd be shocked if bush didn't make a move like this.
still waiting to see the headline "Yet another cabinet shakeup Oliver North to Replace Donald Rumsfeld"
The big personnel change at the Whitehouse.
Replacing Andy Card with Lil' Andy Card, "demoting" Rove to focus on the mid-terms and then replacing the lying parrot with a lying cockatoo.
I'm not sure -atoo[/b] is the proper suffix for that one....
I kinda see the democratic party as the political equivelent of Bill Buckners legs
That would take the Democrats growing some testicles. I'm so disappointed on how pussy-like they've been over the last 5 years. The Bush administration is teetering so why don't they give a hard to push to topple it. They're too busy trying to please everybody. Instead, the democrats should take a strong stand (on some things like foreign policy, the environment, etc.) and stick to it.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Rahm Emanuel went on Bill Mahers show and Meet the Press speaking about a 5 part plan for the democratic party. If it becoes more than just talk I may actually gain faith in the power of government
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein/article/0,9565,1129493,00.html
Expand support for higher education. "Make college as universal in the 21st century as high school was in the 20th"; three out of four jobs in the new, high-tech economy require two years or more of higher education.
Create a National Institute of Science and Engineering, like the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Funding for the nih has quadrupled since the 1980s, from $7 billion to $28 billion. "That's why we lead in pharmaceuticals and medical technology." Funding for science has been stagnant???about $5 billion???during that period. "I'd quadruple it and concentrate on nanotechnology, broadband and energy."
Promote energy independence. Reduce foreign oil by 50% in 10 years. Create a hybrid economy. Use government contracts and tax incentives to boost solar and wind power.
"You got a job, you got health care." Give the uninsured vouchers???"I'm not afraid of vouchers"???for use in the insurance system that covers federal employees. Basic coverage, nothing fancy.
Organize a bipartisan summit on the budget. Balance it.
I sat here for about 10 minutes. Typing and retyping my response to you. Something about being positive and goal oriented. Like you or anyone else needs me to point those things out? I just can't do it anymore. Believe me, I totally know what you mean in you metal exhaustion thread.
I was just thinking about this. People keep saying the dems have no ideas, and that they are afraid to offend.
I don't think that is true. The dems have lots of ideas, but can't get them heard.
But that is not the problem here. The problem is the dems will not be led.
The Contract With America worked so well because nearly every repub lined up behind Newt Gingrich. The last 5 years of total control have been such a big success for big business because every repub was willing to do what ever Delay/Frist/Rove/Bush said. They are like sheep.
Every Dem has their own plan for energy independence, the war in Iraq, taxes. No dem is going to line up behind Polisi, Reid, Kennedy, Kerry or anyone else.
Case in point. Minutes after Clinton was sworn in (1993) Dems in the Senate attacked his "plan" (no plan had been presented, just a campaign promise) to allow gays in the military. The leader of that Democratic rebelion was a senator from GA who's name I can't remember. Same thing happened when Hillary presented her Health Care Plan.
The American people are like the Repub, sheep ready for slaughter. The dems independent style may never win the day again.
John McCain is the only independent repub, that's why people get fooled into thinking he is a good guy. But most dems are independent.
Dan
yes, that's Yngwie changing a diaper.
The Democratic party has been fractured. Their old coalition that they had been building up since the New Deal broke down in the 1970s, and they've never been able to recover.
The conservative Republicans were able to peel away first the working class ethnic whites, then the middle class suburbanites using race baiting, taxes, and finally religion. That left the Democrats with basically the cities, most of which had been declining, and blacks. (Asians were too small of a small group, and Latinos were split, especially depending upon the state and nationality.)
Clinton seemed like he had given the party direction with his Democratic Leadership Conference, which was basically a bunch of centrist and conservative Democrats who tried to dump parts of the old coalition and get back some of the white suburbanites. That obviously didn't last.
The Democrats today just sound like a multi-headed hydra.
more like multi - assed.
That said and then you get something like this bullshit from a top DEM.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/27/kennedy_faces_fight_on_cape_wind/
Kennedy faces fight on Cape Wind
Key lawmakers oppose his bid to block project
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | April 27, 2006
WASHINGTON -- As record oil prices turn attention to the need for renewable fuels, momentum is building in Congress to buck Senator Edward M. Kennedy's bid to block the proposed Cape Cod wind energy project, potentially reviving efforts to construct the sprawling windmill farm in Nantucket Sound.
The chairman and the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee said yesterday that when the bill Kennedy backs that would effectively halt the wind farm comes up for a vote in the Senate, they will object on procedural grounds. They say they'll argue that a renewable energy project shouldn't be lumped in with a bill governing the Coast Guard.
Meanwhile, a group of rank-and-file House members, worried about the political ramifications of rejecting alternative energy sources while motorists pay $3 a gallon at the gas station, have persuaded House leaders to sidetrack the entire bill for at least several weeks, even though it was slated for action this week. The delay could give supporters of the wind farm time to make their case to members of Congress.
''Are we going to be for developing alternative energy or not?" said Representative Charles Bass, a New Hampshire Republican who helped persuade House leaders to table the bill until at least mid-May. ''The longer you delay it, the longer there is for people to examine the issue, and to determine what's going on here."
The efforts to move the wind farm forward occur amid growing attention to Kennedy's role in the secret, behind-the-scenes maneuvering to stop it. Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska, the senator who inserted the wind-farm provision into the Coast Guard bill, has acknowledged discussing the matter privately with the Massachusetts Democrat.
Environmental groups have launched an aggressive advertising and lobbying campaign to persuade Democrats to abandon Kennedy and back a promising source of renewable energy. If the wind farm becomes a reality, advocates say, it could provide three-fourths of the Cape and Islands' energy needs and could set an example for the nation.
The maneuver to stop the wind farm ''is clearly a backroom deal, and they're going to get called publicly on it," said John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace USA. ''The Democrats are going to kill the first big offshore wind farm in the United States because of their relationship with Ted Kennedy."
The 130-turbine, 24-square-mile cluster of windmills would be about 8 miles from Kennedy's home in Hyannis Port, and he has long opposed it. The Coast Guard bill would give Governor Mitt Romney, another wind farm opponent, the power to veto it, even if the project clears all other hurdles.
Kennedy rejected suggestions that he doesn't like the wind farm because it would be near his Cape home, and said the project probably wouldn't be visible from the Kennedy compound. He said he's against the project because it would create a range of environmental and navigational problems and would hurt tourism, one of the area's key industries.
Note: There's a second page, but I'm having probs getting to it.
Wind farms are beautiful. These narrow minded people in New England Elites who are trying to block them should have a nuclear waste dump in their back yard.