March 25, 2007 7:06 AM

Another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener

‘Presumption of Criminality’ Kept Bush, Cheney From 9/11 Testimony

DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener #555: Tony Snow

The job of a Presidential press secretary has always involved a certain (well, OK…a LARGE) degree of spin, manipulation, and falling on metaphorical live grenades. Not since the Nixon Administration, though, has the job description required regular, skillful, and brazen lying to the American people. In this respect, Tony Snow is the perfect DUMB@$$ press secretary. As a former Fox News Channel journalist, Snow long ago mastered the art of lying with a smile and the absolute certainty that he’s relaying the unvarnished truth to the unwashed masses. Little has changed in his role as press secretary to the Worst President EVER © other than instead of asking the softball questions of Republicans, he’s now charging with managing and massaging the flow of propaganda information from BushWorld. Unburdened by conscience or respect for the truth, Snow recognizes that Job One is to PROTECT HIS BOSS.

How bad, how Goebbels-like, how thoroughly craven is Tony Snow? Well, check out the exchange after the jump. If it doesn’t leave you feeling as if you’re head’s going to explode, then you’re probably a faithful Bushie. And if anyone cares to explain to me exact what this exchange was all about, I’m all ears.

Q: But do you agree that transparency is something that this administration shuns?

MR. SNOW: No, I don’t agree.

Q: Okay, when it was time for the Vice President to give up the list of names of his energy council —

MR. SNOW: Well, as you recall, April, that was, in fact, a separation of powers case that the Vice President —

Q: I understand —

MR. SNOW: ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ won precisely because of the checks and balances you’ve talked about.

Q: But secrecy, secrecy —

MR. SNOW: Well, wait a minute. You can’t have it both ways. You’ve just talked about constitutional prerogatives ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ

Q: I’m saying how this White House seems to run from transparency.

MR. SNOW: No, we’re not running.

Q: Then you had the 9/11 Commission, we’re having conversations, nothing under oath. And now this.

MR. SNOW: Well, wait a minute. The 9/11 Commission, number one, was authorized by Congress and signed by the President and supported by the administration. What we were trying to do was, again, to avoid the kind of precedent that we’re talking about now, which is to bring senior aides up under oath. So what you ended up having were, in fact ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ I think they were categorized as briefings. They used that particular ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ they used that formulation for precisely the same reasons I’m talking about now.

So I don’t think this is a matter of transparency. This is a matter of trying to have ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ what do you mean? Condoleezza Rice was on there and she was facing tough questioning from Richard BenVeniste ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ

Q: But certain people ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ the Vice President and the President would not testify under oath. You had “conversations” at that time. And there’s a ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ

MR. SNOW: Yes. That’s perfectly appropriate.

Q: You used the word “avoid.” There is an avoidance, it seems, of this administration to sit down and talk on the record, under oath, about critical issues.

MR. SNOW: What you’re saying is that every time somebody wants to try to mount a charge you ought to be able to get hauled up and testify under oath, with a presumption of criminality, rather than a presumption of goodwill. I’m not going to buy that.

Q: Was it criminal, 9/11 — was that criminal?

MR. SNOW: No. What I’m saying is that the 9/11 Commission, we participated fully.

OK…what in the Hell just happened here?

If there’s a more skillful, bloodless liar, propagandist, spin doctor, and manipulator of the truth out there, he’s keeping a very low profile. NO ONE comes close to Tony Snow. His ability to lie with the certitude of the absolutely just is truly impressive…and truly disturbing. The problem, of course, is that Snow’s antics have no place in a functional democracy…not that anyone with half a brain would describe the current state of our democracy as anything but DYSfunctional.

One can only hope that there’s a very special place in Hell waiting for Tony Snow. Jeebus, what a DUMB@$$….

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on March 25, 2007 7:06 AM.

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