Despite “Tar Baby” Reference, NYT Gives Snow Rave Review
17th May 2006
by gordo
Except for one small error, it was a great performance
New White House Spokesman Tony Snow committed a major gaffe in his latest press conference, responding to a question about domestic spying by saying that he didn’t want to “hug the tar baby.”
Oops.
Nevertheless, the New York Times gave his overall performance a rave review.
I found the Times piece mind-boggling. First of all, there’s such a thing as screwing up so badly that the rest of your performance is irrelevant.
You might look like Denzel Washington and talk like Sean Connery, but if your date shows you a photo of her 12-year-old daughter and you say, “she’s really sexy,” then your date is not going to give the evening a mixed review. She won’t say to her friends, “the roses were beautiful, and he’s the best salsa dancer I’ve ever seen. He did say that my daughter was sexy, but overall we had a great time.”
What bothered me most about the Times’ review of the press conference, though, was that Snow’s performance was rated entirely on the basis of style:
It was a minor snag in an otherwise smooth, polished performance … Mr. Snow handled pointed questions about the immigration bill and the government’s phone surveillance program with assurance, even when he had uninformative answers.
So Snow dodged the questions. But damn, he sure looked good up there! I wonder what he was wearing?
Mr. Snow, who wore a gray pinstriped suit, red tie and American flag lapel pin, has an anchorman’s good looks and poise.
Check out the video of Snow’s “tar baby” remark.
Liberal Avenger has more.
May 17th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Snow did a FANTASTIC job!!! He talked about many Important Things!!! And he is much better looking than his predecessor!!!!!! Just look at his eyes- dreamy…
(submitting a writing sample so I can get hired at the NYT…think I’ll get hired?)
May 17th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Cassandra–
You’ll never get hired with writing samples like that. 1/4 of your points focus on what Snow said. You’ve really got to emphasize looks and poise if you’re going to write for America’s Newspaper of Record.
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:44 am
Oh no! Tony Snow said “tar baby”! Let’s tar him!
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:16 am
Likwidshoe–
In his role as White House spokesman, Snow represents the president. It’s simply not appropriate for him to be casually throwing out offensive phrases like “tar baby.”
And if you read this post more carefully, you’d see that my criticism is mainly directed at the media, who gave Snow rave reviews despite the fact that:
1) He committed the sort of gaffe that makes it impossible for a reasonable person to describe his performance as “polished.”
2) The New York Times reporter acknowledged that during the rest of the press conference, Snow ducked reporters’ questions.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:36 am
Hey- ducking questions gives you *extra* points in that job. Obviously more than enough to overcome some lil’ ol’ Aunt Jemima-type references. (And I mean Aunt Jemima purely in the waffling sense of the term- the folklore of breakfast as it were.)
July 5th, 2006 at 5:27 am
Anybody who is offended by “tar baby” is just making a mountain out of a molehill.
July 5th, 2006 at 8:24 am
likwidshoe -
yes yes, I’m sure that’s what you all say at your Klan meetings…
~
July 20th, 2006 at 5:07 am
Projecting Sgo? Why else would you say something like that?
July 21st, 2006 at 11:47 pm
Because you sounded like a racist with your comment? It didn’t sound like he was projecting to me.
July 22nd, 2006 at 12:37 am
Cassandra:
Egh. I’ll pass. I’m 26 years old soon to be 27. To be quite honest I’m sick and tired of even hearing about skin color. I just don’t care! There are so many more divisive issues we could hate each other for. I’m going to go ahead and focus on those issues while you continue to see non-existent “racism” in blog comments!
And yes - that was projection that Sgo was engaging in.