Tony Snow - a Tribute from the Past

The loss of Tony Snow is a great sadness for his loving family and friends as well as a loss for all of America; indeed it is an American tragedy. While you and many others may have looked at Tony as only a masterful pundit and TV-radio show personality, many Americans, including me, saw him in a much more enduring and needed role.

Back in March of 2007, I finally put these thoughts by so many Americans into words ---words that people wanted to express but could not. At that time, I knew that Tony had cancer of the colon, but since I had also suffered a similar cancer in 1981 and had had a large section of my own colon removed, had even been told by my surgeon that it might be terminal, and yet I could still be writing 26 years later, I was sure that Tony would be with us for many more years and able to fulfill America's need for him.

And so my column about Tony was published across the nation by many important news sites and is still archived on the Internet

Let me remind you about some of our thoughts then as to why Tony Snow meant so much more to the future of the United States. The 2007 column was about America's need in 2012. Here it is in part:

"Friends, we will need in 2012 a candidate who has all the qualities of the original President Reagan. Yes, there is one!

• He has the same ability to look at the camera and talk sense to the people
• He is a great communicator, with a good voice
• He can talk without a script and look at you straight in the eye as he does so
• He has poise and a attractive appearance
• More importantly, he has the brains and the facts to back up everything he says
• He can outdo anyone in a TV debate

Who is this new Ronald Reagan?

Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow (born June 1, 1955) is the current White House Press Secretary for the George W. Bush administration. He succeeded Scott McClellan, becoming the third individual to serve in that position under President Bush. It is the second Presidential administration in which Snow has been employed, having worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and Deputy Assistant of Media Affairs. Between his two White House stints, Snow was a broadcaster and newspaper columnist. After years of regular guest-hosting for The Rush Limbaugh Show and providing news commentary for National Public Radio, he launched his own talk radio program, The Tony Snow Show, which went on to become nationally syndicated. He was also a regular personality on Fox News Channel since 1996, hosting Fox News Sunday, Weekend Live, and often substituting as host of The O'Reilly Factor.

The L.A. Times just reported the following:

"A survey, by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, found a "dramatic shift" in political party identification since 2002, when Republicans and Democrats were at rough parity. Now, 50% of those surveyed identified with or leaned toward Democrats, whereas 35% aligned with Republicans."

"What's more, the survey found, public attitudes are drifting toward Democrats' values: Support for government aid to the disadvantaged has grown since the mid-1990s, skepticism about the use of military force has increased and support for traditional family values has decreased."

Only a Tony Snow can reach out to all Americans to bring them back to our original values and stop the dramatic swing towards secular progressives. None of the current Republican candidates has this ability. Hillary (or Obama) clearly has the money, the PR, and agents necessary to sway the voters of today. She (or he) will also have complete mainstream media support to put one of them into the White House. Thus, it would appear that this country is going to start following Europe down the path of self-destruction come November of 2008.

If this happens, and the odds are that it will, do we just give up and let it happen over the next decade? Or do we start now to take the steps that will counteract this movement and start a reverse back to the America that has given us so much in the past?

With TV appearances now controlling who will be a future president, we must start grooming now our new "Ronald Reagan" to be sure that a leftist candidate and the Socialists will not have eight years instead of a mere four to convert this country into another France, England or some other European secular socialist nation.

Wise Americans need to put on their "ten year" eyeglasses and look towards the future for the sake of our own grandchildren. Businesses who fail to do this generally go bankrupt. We people are also taught to prepare in advance for a coming earthquake or other disasters if we want to live through such a calamity. America must do the same, politically, and do it now.

Current leftist plans, such as the "Gorebal" Warming Scare, are all designed to destroy our economy!

Don't let future generations inherit a European style America. Plan now to reverse this trend with a new Ronald Reagan. Tony Snow may just be the one who can fill his shoes. Just as Reagan was drafted to become Governor of a major state as the beginning of his trip to the White House, a group must start this process again with Tony Snow.

To do nothing now is to give up all hope. Do not let our future generation suffer because this generation did not plan for the future of this country! Plan now for 2012 or give up. What is your choice?"

That was the end of the original 2007 column. Now that we have lost our dear Tony, do any of you see someone worth grooming for perhaps 2012 or 2016? Please send me your suggestions at indiolee@dc.rr.com. I will include your names and ideas in my next column on this subject.

Tony's great heart and spirit must live on.