Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Great Tony Snow, RIP

Yesterday was a bittersweet day for me, personally. We had just finished a seven hour round trip drive to a breeder in Warsaw, IN to bring our second Lab home, an 8 week old Chocolate girl we're naming Emma. As I've said before, my wife and I have decided against having children, so this is as close as it gets for us.

I was home alone for a little while in the evening and decided to take a break from all the puppy mayhem to peruse the headlines. That's when I saw that my only Man Crush (think Seinfeld) had finally succumbed to cancer. Tony Snow, dead at the young age of 53.

I think everyone who is passionate about his or her world view - both on the Left and on the Right - can have a tendency to get very emotional. Talk radio hosts especially have this tendency, when some lunatic calls in to the show, spouting something that sets the host off, you can almost her the *ziiiiiiick* of the match strike and the fuse start to burn before the host erupts. Its one of the reasons I avoid debating in real time - because I'm so horrible at it. Someone will say something that is just pure idiotic drivel to me and my mind melts down like a cheap laptop.

Tony, on the other hand, was the coolest customer I had ever listened to. No matter how crazy a caller would be when calling his Fox Radio show, he'd chuckle, admonish the person to take off the tin foil hat, lay out an incredibly calm, well-reasoned case with a smile on his face as he spoke. He'd then thank the kook - sincerely, mind you - for calling. The guy was just pure class from the word go. When he left the position as GWB's press secretary due to his recurring cancer, I had hoped - selfishly, yes - that he'd return to Fox Radio and resume his show at least in some capacity. I missed him that much. I'd always dreamed of playing with him in a golf foursome with a round table, cigar laden discussion at the 19th hole immediately after. Maybe in another place, at another time.

Rest in peace, Tony, thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us. You will be missed more than you know.