Tony Snow on the job

Digby points to Tony Snow as the reason why the press has so willingly swallowed the story that Porter Goss's resignation is all about some behind-the-scenes conflict with John Negroponte, and has nothing to do with the his possible involvement in the hooker-and-poker-and-bribery parties at the Watergate revealed earlier in the week by the Wall Street Journal.

They are giving him "the benefit of the doubt." He's a nice guy. They are establishing a new relationship --- it wouldn't be nice to be skeptical of him before he's even had a chance to prove them wrong.

Snow knows exactly how to feed the cocktail weenies to the little baby birds waiting to be fed pre-masticated explanations that they can say are "insider" scoops.

As if on cue, I found Mark Mazzetti writing this crap above the fold in my Sunday Times today:

Porter J. Goss, who was forced to resign Friday, was seen as an obstacle to an effort by John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, to focus the agency on its core mission of combating terrorism and stealing secrets abroad.

Ok, sure, whatever.

For something that sounds a little closer to the truth, let's try today's Daily News:

A little-known White House advisory board convinced a reluctant President Bush to launch yet another high-profile shakeup of the nation's intelligence community and can CIA Director Porter Goss, sources said yesterday.

Bush had already gotten an earful from Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte on the shortcomings of Goss, but the final push came from the "very alarmed" President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, intelligence and Congressional sources said.

Alarms were set off at the advisory board by a widening FBI sex and cronyism investigation that's targeted Kyle (Dusty) Foggo, the No.3 official at the CIA, and also touched on Goss himself.

As an addendum, Digby commenter RandyH points to this Buffalo Beast takedown of the man the Times now trusts with its front page.

[T]here’s one fact above all that makes Snow the perfect hire: He’s an idiot.

I don’t mean just that I disagree with Snow on most issues. What I’m saying is, he’s just really stupid. This is a huge plus for him in his new job, just as it was at Fox.

Think about it. One of McClellan’s major drawbacks was his rapid, unemotional delivery of denials and obfuscations, which sent a clear message to reporters and the public: “We both know this is bullshit, but I get paid serious money to say it.”

Snow, on the other hand, will probably even believe himself when he delivers the standard “ongoing investigation” or “national security” non-comments. His voice will pitch and swoop with the inflections of a man emotionally invested in his position. This obviously raises his credibility factor. He’s also much taller.

...

Last year on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Snow defended America’s accomplishments in Iraq by pointing out that there were now women in the government, adding that, “you didn’t have girls in school when Saddam was there.”

Of course, this is incorrect. For decades, Iraq has been one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East regarding gender. Women go to school, they go to college, they become doctors and engineers, and it’s not even controversial. Saddam is evil enough that we don’t need to invent an oppressive gender policy to vilify him.

But that’s the thing: Snow wasn’t lying; he’s just stupid. Like any other soft-headed heartland cracker, he ignorantly assumes that, since Iraq is a nation of Muslims, they must be keeping their women illiterate. No matter that Snow has been talking about Iraq for years, as a Fox News anchor, a talk show host on Fox News Radio, subbing for Rush Limbaugh, and writing for the Washington Times, USA Today, and the Detroit News among other papers; he still doesn’t know the first damn thing about it. And that is just the kind of irredeemable moron that can convincingly put forth the Bush message.

Mission accomplished, sir.

Tags: Tony Snow, New York Times, politics, Porter Goss, New York Daily News