Reason Magazine Interviews Tony Snow

Reason magazine has fabulously given all lovers of Tony Snow an early Christmas present.

Published Sunday, this interview between the former White House Press Secretary and his former colleague on the editorial board of the Detroit News, Shikha Dalmia, is a pure delight.

Dalmia teased the question and answer segment with this marvelous introduction:

According to Karl Rove, ex-White House press secretary Tony Snow is to his former post what Mick Jagger is to rock stars (Rove meant it as a compliment). During his year-and-a-half-long tenure with the Bush administration, The New York Times congratulated Snow for "reinventing the job with his snappy sound bites and knack for deflecting tough questions with a smile." Snow even won plaudits from Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who told the one-time Fox News Channel host, "I really respect you as a person and I like what you bring."

How did Tony Snow-a 52-year-old movement conservative brought on board by a conservative administration to revive a conservative agenda-win over the liberal media? One answer is his deep-seated modesty, which made him serious even as it protected him from self-seriousness. He was able to put aside his own agenda and go to bat on behalf of an embattled president without appearing disingenuous, even though he had made mocking the president a daily sport in his previous job as a Fox News radio commentator and newspaper columnist.

In fact, Snow's daily briefings with the White House press corps-a crusty and confrontational bunch whom he called his "customers"-were so full of his patented brand of repartee that they were dubbed "The Tony Snow Show." During one such briefing last year, Helen Thomas, the curmudgeonly 86-year-old correspondent for the Kings Feature Syndicate, launched into a soliloquy chastising the administration for failing to stop Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Snow patiently waited until she finished, then smilingly thanked her for offering "the Hezbollah view" of the issue and moved on to the next question.

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

Afterwards, please join NewsBusters in wishing Tony and his family a very Merry Christmas, and a healthy and Happy New Year.