Bush Press Sec.: "Bush... an embarassment."

[Dingfod]

Tony Snow, the new Whitehouse Press Secretary has said a number of things about the current administration. Some of them are catalogued at Think Progress, including such gems as:

Tony Snowjob

George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.

Tony Snowblower

No president has looked this impotent this long...

I look forward to press conferences with this two-faced wingnut.

[Godless Dave]

Well he called Bush's foreign policy "brilliant" so at least he's deluded enough to be on the Bush team. All the negative stuff he said will just go down the memory hole.

[Petra]

How on earth anyone can think the current admin's foreign policy is "brilliant" is beyond me!


Tonight on the news, Bush was asked about Snow's more negative comments, and Bush's rehearsed comeback was: "I asked him about those comments, and he said I should have heard what he had said about the other guy".

Yup, it'll go down the memory hole like so much else. Flip. Flop. *sigh*

[ChuckF]

Tony Snow is the ideal choice for press secretary. Just enough past criticism to be an administration "outsider" (how many others can you think of?) and to give the illusion that he's not a republican stooge. His little barbs about Bush are an asset, not a liability.

And he's a familiar face from Fox News to appeal to Bush's vegetal base.

[Petra]

Good points, Chuck F.

[Godless Dave]

Originally Posted by pepperspray

How on earth anyone can think the current admin's foreign policy is "brilliant" is beyond me!

It's a very common belief among Bush supporters and even some Democratic politicians. Apparently Bush is "tough" and "bringing the fight to the terrorists". After the fall of the Soviet Union, it is seen as America's destiny to overthrow (some) dictatorships in hostile countries and install democracies through military force and covert action. They think that's what the US is good at (why, just ask the South Vietnamese, the Guatamalans, the Chileans, the El Salvadorans, and the Nicaraguans!). Their assumption is that democratically governments would never be hostile to the US, because the citizens of Iraq, Iran, and Syria bear no ill-will towards the US, it's just their repressive governments that are hostile to us.

Needless to say, even hawkish foreign policy experts in the State Department and Pentagon think this is madness, but they hate America so their opinion doesn't matter.

[Petra]

Sadly, what you say is true. Depressing, isn't it.

[Clutch Munny]

Many of Snow's "criticisms" are carefully calculated counterbalances to real criticisms; even the fragmentary quotes on ThinkProgress show that.

By saying that Bush is too fond of Big Government, too concerned with "political correctness", too conciliatory and cooperative with the opposition, or (my favorite) too slow to assert presidential privilege (!), utterance-instruments like Snow can adopt the superficial appearance of criticizing Bush while actually targetting the genuine criticisms.

Well, some people say Bush broke the law with the powers he's assumed, while others say his major flaw is that he doesn't assert presidential privilege. I guess it's just a difference of opinion!

– “George W. Bush and his colleagues have become not merely the custodians of the largest government in the history of humankind, but also exponents of its vigorous expansion.” [3/17/06]
– Bush “has a habit of singing from the Political Correctness hymnal.” [10/7/05]
– “No president has looked this impotent this long when it comes to defending presidential powers and prerogatives.” [9/30/05]
– Bush “has given the impression that [he] is more eager to please than lead, and that political opponents can get their way if they simply dig in their heels and behave like petulant trust-fund brats, demanding money and favor — now!” [9/30/05]
– “When it comes to federal spending, George W. Bush is the boy who can’t say no. In each of his three years at the helm, the president has warned Congress to restrain its spending appetites, but so far nobody has pushed away from the table mainly because the president doesn’t seem to mean what he says.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]
– “The president doesn’t seem to give a rip about spending restraint.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]