Let it Snow, Tony Snow, Tony Snow

By Lee Russ, Section OpEd Posted on Wed Apr 26, 2006 at 05:52:42 PM EST

So Fox's Snow is now America's Snow, with the White House's unwavering one having named the Foxy one the new Press Secretary. The best the news headlines seem to be able to do is "Snow has been critical of Bush."

If only that was the major point...or even a medium point.

Tony Snow (almost certainly to become known as Tony Snowjob) has quite a paper trail, so to speak. Detroit News columnist, columnist for many conservative web sites including Jewish World Review and Town Hall, columnist for USA Today, editorial page editor for the Washington Times, Fox t.v. and radio "host," speechwriter for Bush I, substitute host for Rush Limbaugh, holder of a B.A. in...Philosophy.

Margaret Atwood is quoted as having said that Eskimos have 52 names for snow "because it is important to them." I suspect that we'll only have one name for this Snow after a pretty short time: pretzel man. Not because he's limber; because for a guy with a lot of newspaper experience, a degree in Philosophy, and experience in the White House, he's got some twisted logic in his writings. I kid you not. Check out these gems:

1. In a November 4, 2005 Town Hall column, Snow said:

...Joe Wilson himself made his wife a public figure by yowling about her supposedly rough treatment at the hands of the meanies working for the president. But there was no roughing up. When exposed, she was not "covert" and hadn't been for years. A number of reporters, including Michael Isikoff of Newsweek and Andrea Mitchell of NBC, described her CIA work as an "open secret" in Washington.Now he said this just after rebutting Dem claims that the indictment is related to the White House use of intelligence to spur the war by citing Patrick Fitzgerald's statement that the Libby indictment was "not about the war ... not about the propriety of the war ... This indictment will not seek to prove that the war was justified or unjustified ... this is focused on a narrow transaction." So he trusts Fitzgerald's statements, right?

Well how come he doesn't trust (or bother to cite) Fitzgerald on whether Plame's status was a secret? Fitzgerald could not have been clearer that Plame's CIA role was not well known until she was outed by the White House:

a. The Fitzgerald press statementabout the indictment specifically says that "on or about July 7, 2003, Libby had lunch with the then White House Press Secretary and advised that individual that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA, noting that such information was not widely known;

b. At Fitzgerald's press conference on Oct. 28, Fitzgerald specifically stated "In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community. Valerie Wilson's friends, neighbors, college classmates had no idea she had another life. The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well known for her protection or for the benefit of all of us."

c. The Libby indictment itself specifically states "At all relevant times from January 1, 2002 through July 2003, Valerie Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003, Valerie Wilson's affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community.">>>cont

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