Snow job
Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary, died yesterday of cancer.
NYT obit here; a much more perceptive Washington Post one is here. Fox News finds a Democrat to offer a soupy take here.
I feel sorry for Snow and for his family, of course. But I think the obits, on the nihil nisi bonum theory, missed a little bit of the man’s edge—the unattractive one.
Nothing I read caught the cheap side of the former Fox News talking head and Republican myrmidon. I care about him for just one reason: A comment he made to a magazine in his home town of Cincinnati. Snow had spent some time at NPR; he’s how he was quoted about that period his life by Cincinnati Gentleman:
“One of the problems with NPR is that there is so much political correctness that if you’ve got a name that looks like it was made up by Rudyard Kipling, you’ve got a better chance of getting hired. I’m a white guy named Tony Snow for heaven’s sake. That’s as white as it goes.”
The short quote exhibits two hateful qualities. For the first, there’s the Big Lie. At NPR, as in most media companies, white guys do very well indeed. I worked at NPR, and I’m a white guy, too, and I did fine. So did a lot of others; it’s a lie, and a deliberate one, to suggest otherwise.
Since Snow went on to become a partisan thug, it’s not surprising that he didn’t fit in well with real journalists.
Secondly, Snow was recklessly spreading racial resentment. He made the remark about NPR to a local news outlet because he had contempt for his hometown audience; he knew it would play well to the (in his mind) rubes in Ohio, who would lap up Big City Tony’s first-hand experience with all those oddly colored folks in DC running the news.
And the Kipling remark wasn’t just deliberately racist, it was racist on the infantile level of making fun of peoples’ names. Think about the young journalists of varying ethnic backgrounds trying to get ahead in America; here’s the White House press secretary, speaking, almost literally, from a podium set in what is supposed to be the world’s pre-eminent symbol of equality and welcome, offering … ridicule.
Again, I feel bad for Snow’s family and friends; no one deserves to die at 53. But the obits should have given a fuller portrait of the man.
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The most vivid memories I have of Snow is his endless obfuscating and goalpoast moving on Real Time With Bill Maher. Maher once made a point about “9/11 changed nothing” and he was talking about the political landscape, but Snow outgunned him with “how dare you say that, when there’s families that were changed completely due to 9/11″ etc etc. Maher folded like Peter Potamus. Later on, he wasn’t so willing to put up with Snow’s RNC water carrying bullshit. Maher even said of him, “you get some alcohol in [Snow] and he starts making sense.” So in other words, he knew better. He just chose not to behave better.
And what’s with Conservatives going off on NPR anyway? First Mamet calling it “national Palestinian Radio” that Chafets quote, and now this. What the hell?
Conservatives — or rather, right-wingers — attack NPR for the same reason they pretend the New York Times is liberal: pushing the center to the right.
…and the pushing has worked. I find NPR news (as opposed to maybe Diane Rehm, who calls “bullshit!” when she smells it) infuriating because they timidly give equal time to both sides of an issue and then stop. Done! No factchecking necessary. “Here’s both sides of the issue. Who’s right? Who knows?! You figure it out!”
Fuck Tony Snow, BTW. He may have been an affable guy, but he was still pretty evil. So fuck him. I’m glad he’s dead. He and Jesse Helms can go golf a few rounds in Hell now.
Jeez, get a life, Wyman, whoever and whatever you are. You and the mopes that get off peeping into keyholes for scraps of quotes to fashion PC scandals or worse sound like justice department creeps on the conspiracy beat. Racisim is a pretty serious charge in my book and shouldn’t be tossed around so casually. By your standards Mark Twain makes Jesse Helms sound like Jesse Jackson.
I seriously doubt that Tony Snow “had contempt for his hometown audience,” but Mr. Wyman’s comment should make us wonder if HE does.
Thanks to all for taking the time to comment. Racism is a serious charge. Making fun of peoples’ names is a buffoonish, schoolyard form form of it, but it’s clearly in the park. On what level, “Stormy,” is what Snow said fair comment, or even defensible?
I think it’s worse because Snow was not able to couch the accusation in acceptable language, because it could have quickly been refuted by the facts. You’ll note he didn’t say something that would have made his point plain and irrefutable: “Over a period of a year I watched NPR’s hiring practices and, in nine out of the ten hires I followed, a non-white male was given the position. I myself was passed over x number of times by a lesser-qualified person of color” or whatever.
He didn’t say that because … it didn’t happen. He was lying.
As for the contempt for his audience issue, I think it’s obvious Fox would never have said that on TV or in Washington. He would know he couldn’t get away with it. But he knew that he could play to the cheap seats at home. He had a lower opinion of the intelligence and tolerance for racist comments of the hometown crowd.
No matter what you or anyone thought of him alive, Andy, it’s sad you would be “glad he’s dead.” It isn’t as though he came over and personally yanked out your toenails. Geez.
Your omniscient revelation of Snow’s motivations leads me to believe you’re at least a little paranoid and holier-than-thou. Have you ever been to Cincinnati? Its population is 52.5 percent white; African Americans make up 42.9. Do you really think he expected his comments to play well there? It was a stupid thing to say, but I doubt it was premeditated.
Snow had his bad side; it was out there for everyone to see. I think I’ve just seen yours. If that comment was his most offensive, then much of the world isn’t in a position to judge him — especially now, when he’s not around to defend himself. I think that’s what is called “cheap.”
The people who rejoice over a person’s death are very sick. Mr. Wyman, there is plenty of time as the mourning passes to complete the obituary if necessary. I cannot even listen to NPR because of it’s obvious bias. Having Bill Moyers on the team is all the proof anyone needs. The racist card is worn out from misuse. Seems like Mr. Wymans views are worn too. Dispite my disagreement with your views, I wish you a happy and fufilled life. It is OK to disagree in this country!
To be specific, the “Kipling” remark was a smarmy reference to a couple of NPR reporters who have South Asian backgrounds. To any observant person, Indian names are NOT exotic anymore, even in Ohio … infantile, indeed.
[…] but never nasty.” For a bit of the nastiness the Journal was apparently unfamiliar with, see my original item on te coverage of Snow’s […]