I don't much care for President Bush or his Assministration. Let's get that right out of the way. I called for the head of Donald Rumsfeld way back in '04 when George Tenet was fired. I've criticized their handling of the war, the Nation Debt, and damn near everything that they've done since they took office. However, I have to admit an admiration for Tony Snow and here's why.First, as I've explained before, I think the job of White House Press Secretary is the hardest job in American politics. Your life expectancy is shorter than that of a suicide bomber. Presidents flip through Press Secretaries faster than Bill Clinton goes through women (which is pretty quick.). Bush is now on his fourth, or is it fifth, Press Secretary. It's hard to keep count. Tony's predecessor, Scott McClellan, was shit-canned for his inability to defend Dick Cheney's bad shooting. (He mistakes his friends for quail.) That's how hard it is to keep the job. In the arena of Press Secretaries, Tony Snow did something that was amazing, he was one of the very few that left before he was fired or asked to leave. Which is the same. But it's not his handling of the job that earned my respect, or even his devotion to his ideology. It's because Tony Snow showed dignity in doing the one thing that will be the hardest thing in any of our lives to do...dying.
Prior to his death on July 12, 2008, I got to know Tony mostly through his occasionally replacing Bill O'Reilly on "The Factor" radio show. Since I have aspirations to be a talk show host, I study successful radio personalities like Bill regularly. Their positions concern me less than their ability to draw people in. Tony was a surprisingly likable guy. He never made any concessions to his guest's point of view but still managed to be respectful and fun. That is something I'm striving to emulate. I learned a lot about Mr. Snow on Bill's show. That he once played in rock bands much like me, that he has always been married to the same women just like me, that he had 3 kids, two daughters and one son, just like me. And that he had cancer, just like me.
I don't advocate hating people just for their point of view, I get way too much of that myself. I find that's a common feeling amongst people who get attacked. To be more sympathetic to others who get attacked. I'm not whining, if I wanted to stop the attacks, I could simply stop putting myself out there, but I have learned that people can be vicious. Tony Snow must have learned that too, because I never saw him respond in the vicious way that he was sometimes treated. That shows real restraint, and real class.
I may not have agreed with Mr. Snow's opinions. I never could understand why he would even want to take the job of defending the Bush administration. But in the last days of Tony Snow's life I saw a man who never whined about his bad fortune, who never said, "Why me?" Dying is, without a doubt, the hardest thing that any of us will ever have to do and Tony did it with grace and dignity without asking for pity or pitying himself. For that, he will always have my respect. R.I.P. Tony Snow, a real man and a real gentleman. H.C.
4 comments:
and i do believe you show similar class in remembering someone with whom you may disagree but for whom you have respect. we need more of that in the public arena. RIP tony snow.
Hey Lime,
Thank you. I have to admit, there are occassions when I forget the very lessons that I promote. It's a very human failing that I'm trying to overcome. I always try to remember that people are entitled to their opinions...even when I disagree. Some people, like Tony Snow, do it so well that you can't help but respect them even in the face of disagreement. I hope one day to deserve that kind of respect. Thanks for the compliment, coming from someone as nice as you it means a lot.
Despite how unabashedly right winged he was and how propagandistic he was (especially with the war), I suspect that he was so effective in his job because he was otherwise genuinely good to folks. I was watching an interview with David Gregory who has been known to have heated fights with Snow. Even he had nothing but respect for Mr. Snow.
Don't get me wrong: I haven't lost sight of Snow's jerkiness. I think when people die, honest assessments should be made about a person; including some of their less than favorable aspects. What we TEND to see is completely different: nothing but a slew of tributes, memoranda, and montages.
But -- ultimately -- I guess I can live with the tributes; less the complete commentary. Regardless to the extent that I disagreed with his thinking, I have to at least respect the impact he had on the lives of others.
Well Done Andre,
It's incredibly important to respect someone else's opinion in a true functioning democracy. People should be judged on their class and delivery as much as the opinions they carry. I didn't agree much with Tony, but of all the commentators out there he was the one I most would have enjoyed have a brisk debate with over a few beers. I believe this is a lesson I learned from my days boxing, that you can fight with someone with all your heart and still end up respecting them as a warrior and gentleman.
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