Snow Job

The grieving of the media club at the passing of Tony Snow is as predictable as it is ironic. After all, Snow's entire schtick was to play dumb in terms of dispensing anything approaching useful information, but with a knowing tone that could best be described as affable contempt.

Since Snow's brand of "journalism" was really just partisan obfuscation, his skill set translated perfectly into his role in this administration. Unlike radio carnies such as Hannity or Limbaugh, Snow was more adept at concealing the full-bodied disdain he and his fellow travelers genuinely feel for anything less than enthusiastic support. Limbaugh to a great extent is clearly in it for the money; Snow would have carried Dick Cheney's water for free.

At least Snow never made any sloppy, dishonest pretenses to objectivity, unlike so many in his racket. He was as unabashed a shill as any smoke-filled backroom could hope for, shoveling shit with an almost unnerving level of congeniality. And he was that increasingly rare breed of conservative that actually walked the fambly-valyews talk, which is something. Fifty-three is too young for anyone to go, and Snow seemed to face things with a measure of grace and courage. No Lee Atwater deathbed conversions though, apparently; Snow was a company man to the very end.

But tonally, the media encomia almost universally reflect the thoughts of an insular club paying tribute to one of their own, rather than evenhandedly assessing an adversary -- a fairly collegial one, but still a professional adversary -- who was a spokesman for some of the most reprehensible people and policies to infest the American government in some time. Snow clearly understood that his role was as a pitchman in a very high-stakes spectator sport, but you get the distinct impression that most of his colleagues don't quite get that aspect of it.