I've been disengaged from the news for days and it was with tremendous sadness that I learned of the passing of Tony Snow. I shouldn't veer off into the direction of my next comment but it is what my heart feels at this very moment. The recent passing of Tim Russert created quite a stir of emotion and sadness among many.
Not me.
It wasn't that I didn't like the guy or have great compassion for his family for the sudden loss. I surely did. Russert, I'm sure, was fine guy and was certainly A.O.K. with me in a very neutral kind of way and I easily recognized his talent and love for America.
For me, however, give me Tony Snow!
His passing appears to have affected me the way Russert's passing seems to have affected so many others. In my world, Tony Snow would have had that long-running Sunday political show on network television. This picture below seems to capture the man for me. He is smiling as he is introduced by President Bush as his new press secretary in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 26, 2006. Barely two short years later and he is gone:
Farewell, old friend. I wish I could have known you. It appears that Juan Williams did, in fact, know him well and his piece seems to be a worthy tribute to a great American (thank you, Terrye, for the notice over at Strata-Sphere:
We became friends when Tony came to Washington to work for The Washington Times and I was at The Washington Post. We met in a small studio at Howard University discussing local Washington politics with national politics as filler. The show had a heavy dose of black issues because most people who live in the city are black. What initially fascinated me about Tony was his total lack of fear in getting down and dirty on black politics. He never had a problem being the one conservative on a panel of pundits. To the contrary he loved the intellectual fight and usually was on the offensive even as a white guy talking about local corruption and political shenanigans among black Washingtonians. By contrast, most white journalists did not even accept invitations to come on the show.
I suggest you read his entire piece and I hope that you, the reader (whoever the heck you are), will understand my meaning when I say this but . . . his total lack of fear in getting down and dirty on black politics . . . I love to see that in white people. It tells me something about their backbone and unwillingness to patronize me. It says to me they recognize there are many things worse than someone calling you a racist. And that recognition, especially these days, is a very good thing.
May you rest in peace, Tony Snow, and may our Master deem your job well done.
Tony's passing leaves me sorrowful. Thanks for the link to the Juan Williams article. He and Tony always had a rapport that came through the camera.
Posted by: Mokey | July 14, 2008 at 05:35 PM
RG, I agree whole-heartedly with your comments about Tony Snow and the character, or the lack thereof, in many non-Blacks who are afraid to critique or criticize blacks when they should be rightly criticized. The tone of your pigmentation does not exempt you from being criticized by someone who does not share your skin color. I heard Whoopi Goldberg on The View explain that blacks and whites live in different worlds, and I would have loved to have given her the business- I would criticize her just like any other corrupt, stupid, or ignorant person. If we truly want to strive for true brotherhood and authentic equality instead of the faux "diversity" that liberals preach but do not practice, we need to do so without pandering or fear- even if that offends certain people.
RIP, Tony Snow- your optimism and grace was truly infectious.
Posted by: Vince | July 18, 2008 at 11:58 PM