***IT'S A DONE DEAL, SEE THIS NEWER POST. I see a lot of people landing on this page from search engines, but this was just the original post when this was all speculation and rumor.***

(ORIGINAL POST BELOW)

***SCROLL FOR UPDATES***

The rumors of an impending White House shake-up continue to swirl, and the latest is sure to have all the liberals whining louder than usual.

Rumor has it that Fox News Channel's Tony Snow has been approached about being a replacement to Scott McClellan as White House Press Secretary. I first heard this on Fox News this morning, and the buzz is beginning to quickly spread. The New York Times, of all places, is actually reporting this rather fairly and in with proper context:

Also on Tuesday, speculation increased that the White House was focusing on changing its press secretary, Scott McClellan. Officials have spoken with Tony Snow, a commentator for Fox News and a former speechwriter for the president's father, to see if he would be interested in the job, said two people with knowledge of the discussion who were granted anonymity so they could speak freely about a matter the White House did not want to be publicly known.

They, surprisingly, point out that Snow is a "commentator" not a news anchor on FNC, and that he is also a former speechwriter for President Bush 41. A lot of lefties think they are smart by "digging up" that little tidbit about Snow, which has never been a secret and he mentions occasionally without hesitation anyway. Even though Snow isn't reporting the "hard news" and is a "commentator", the left thinks that this NON-secret about Snow's past is evidence of the Bush's running Fox News. You know, the usual stuff. Tie that in with White House interest in Snow for Press Secretary and they're all going to be crazy over this today!

Look what the liberal "The Nation" has to say about it:

Finally, total synchronicity. Fox News and the White House are merging into one entity. Well, not really.

CNN just reported that a few weeks ago new White House chief of staff Josh Bolten asked Fox News's Tony Snow if he would be interested in replacing Scott McClellan as White House press secretary. CNN did not report whether Snow responded affirmatively and Snow refused to comment publicly. Funny how his website boasts of "The Power of Fox. The Connections of Snow."

This causes us to think of other potential White House hires:

Lou Dobbs as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement?

Geraldo Rivera as Secretary of Defense?

Bill O'Reilly as director of Faith-Based Initiatives?

Why not call it a day and hire Roger Ailes as communications director?

So ridiculous... Although the Geraldo jab is semi-funny. But notice that they don't mention that Snow is a commentator and that he's got a open history of working in a Bush White House. They will probably dribble that bit out later to their audience as if it's a secret so that their audience will keep coming back for "breaking" developments and "findings".

Even Fox News Channel's web site has this in their Tony Snow bio:

In 1991, Snow took a sabbatical from journalism to work in the White House for President George H. Bush. He first served as the deputy assistant to the president for communications and director of speechwriting, and later as deputy assistant to the president for media affairs.

At least Cincinnati.com/The Enquirer is reporting the fact that Snow is a commentator, but like The Nation, they fail to mention that he's got a history of working in a Bush White House. So all of the liberal readers see these stories and say "Ah-ha! I knew Fox News was a bunch of righties! Even the White House goes to them for staff!", without noting that Snow has already been in a related position.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that Fox News commentator Tony Snow, a Princeton High School graduate, is being considered for the job of press secretary.

You know, I think that it would make sense to put a journalist, who can clearly articulate Bush's ideas, in such a position, rather than just some Washington insider without any communication experience.

Fox News is now reporting the story on their own site:

One of the people the White House has approached as a possible replacement for McClellan is FOX News Radio host Tony Snow. The White House discussed the possibility with Snow as recently as this week.

Snow, who hosts "The Tony Snow Show," once served as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush.

Other people have also been approached about the position, including former Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clark and Dan Senor, the former Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman in Iraq, who served the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer.

I'd actually like to see Dan Senor in the position. He always explains things in a very clear and understandable way, and in a way that you don't often hear anywhere else. The problem is, being the former CPA spokesman in Iraq might hurt him, but we'll have to wait and see.

***UPDATE***
Wow, just as I predicted, the lefties are all up in arms about this with a bunch of predictable comments. The Fox News "watchdog" site NewsHounds has a post up on this and all the libs are using all the obvious and predictable comments you can imagine:

Isn't he already their press secretary?

Posted by: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute at April 18, 2006 07:41 PM

I'm not the least bit suprised. Fox is the communications arm of the RNC and the Bush Administration, so why wouldn't the White House offer the job to Tony Snow? Makes perfect sense to me.

Can you imagine what Fox News would be saying if the Clinton Administration offered a job to Dan Rather back in the late 1990's? They would be going bonkers. But when it comes to a Republican, Fox to the rescue!

Posted by: Mary from Manhattan at April 18, 2006 07:45 PM

Isn't Tony Snow already Bush's press secretary?

Posted by: Jonathan at April 18, 2006 09:41 PM

You get the point. But this commenter (I'm assuming a conservative) nails it:

Oh please, Where was your outrage when George Stephanopolis became ABC's Sunday Morning host?? Or David Gergan's ins and outs??? And the list goes on, all though the media/govt axis.

Posted by: Kayak at April 18, 2006 10:18 PM

Of course that's just one example, but you get the point.

****UPDATE II***
Reports were just coming in that McClellan was set to resign, as I saw the video come in to Fox News of McClellan announcing his resignation. Scott has done a great job handling the vultures, but it seems like it might be time to take a break. He seems to not be leaving by his own choice, but I can't imagine wanting to deal with the hateful White House press corps. that seems to exist for no reason but to "get" the administration.

Michelle Malkin is blogging this as well.

***UPDATE III***
AP via Breitbart has the text of President Bush and Scott McClellan's comments this morning.

**UPDATE IV***
The Political Pit Bull has posted a humorous highlight video.

***UPDATE V***
Expose the Left has the video of McClellan and Bush's breif comments this morning.

Wuzzadem has appointed Mr. Stick Figure to replace McClellan.

***UPDATE VI***
A commenter at Expose the Left reminds us not to buy the media hype that this "shake-up" is the President hitting the panic button. I hope someone will be able to do a complete comparative analysis with the Clinton administration, but from what I've heard, Bush has stuck with people longer than normal, and has become known for his loyalty (right or wrong). Anyway, until we get that comparitive analysis, the Expose the Left commenter provides us this list of Clinton administration resignations:

Secretary of State: Warren Christopher

Secretary of the Treasury: Lloyd Bentsen, Robert Rubin

Secretary of Defense: Les Aspin, William Perry

Secretary of Agriculture: Mike Espy

Secretary of Commerce: Ronald H. Brown, Mickey Kantor, William M. Daley

Secretary of Labor: Robert Reich

Secretary of Housing and urban Development: Henry G. Cisneros

Secretary of Transportation: Federico F. Pena

Secretary of Energy: Hazel R. O’Leary, Frederico F. Pena

Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs: Jesse Brown

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