Blizzard of Criticism

Let me know when we can put a moratorium on weather jokes.

From the other side of the spectrum, Power Line's John Hinderaker blames the press, not Snow:

"Tony is one of the world's nice people. He is also a close student of the news, and I think he's been known to read our site from time to time. His congeniality and media background will buy him some popularity with the reporters who cover the White House. But essentially all of them are partisan Democrats, so that goodwill will last for about a week. What the White House really needs is someone who can push back aggressively against the liberal tilt of the media, and make the administration's case directly to the people. Tony Snow is equipped to do this, I think; the question is, will he?"

Philly's Dick Polman offers a brilliant analysis (because it agrees with mine):

"Democrats seem to be ecstatic about the transfer of Fox News host Tony Snow to the thankless job of White House press secretary. They have been busy circulating all the embarrassing things that Snow has said lately about President Bush, including his contention last November that Bush has become, well, 'something of an embarrassment.' . . .

"My contrarian instincts now tell me that the Democrats are actually doing Bush a big favor at the moment. Playing right into Bush's hands. Making Bush look good. Democrats are basically advertising today that Bush is not an insulated bubble boy, after all;

"That Bush is willing, in fact, to reach out and hire a guy who has repeatedly busted his chops on national radio and TV; that Bush is not terminally addicted to being surrounded by yes men. Those pithy Snow quotes . . . appear to be proof of that. Moreover, the Democrats, by openly advertising Snow's iconoclasm, have undercut their own longstanding contention that Fox News and all its hirelings are just lickspittles of the administration."

Snow's new job, meanwhile, was quickly overshadowed by a blast from the Valerie Plame past:

"White House political advisor Karl Rove today went to a courthouse where he testified for the fifth time before a federal grand jury investigating his role in the CIA leak case," says the Los Angeles Times

"A source said that Fitzgerald is interested in matters that have arisen since Rove last appeared before the grand jury in October."

Well, that clears that up.

Are you missing the Abramoff scandal? Josh Marshall has a neat little update: