Tony Snow's horribly bad last day on CNN (must read transcript)

:wow: was this bad-it gets downright surreal at the end.


MALVEAUX: CNN's Mary Snow, thank you so much, Mary.

And on to another Snow, White House press secretary Tony Snow leaving his post tomorrow. But he is going out, obviously, with a bang. His boss will deliver a key speech on his Iraq plan tonight and Tony Snow joining us to talk about all of that.

Tony, thank you very much for joining us in THE SITUATION ROOM. I want to start off first, you've mentioned many times about Anbar province being a success story. U.S. soldiers working with local Sunni sheikh against al Qaeda. Clearly, you had a Sunni sheikh, a leader, a key figure in this move, assassinated today. And obviously, it is dangerous business to be doing business with the United States. If the U.S. could not protect this key figure, how do you expect that they're going to protect the other Iraqis who might want to join in the effort?

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Suzanne, you might want to ask the other Iraqis because they spoke out today, too. Look, the fact is that al Qaeda has been trying to get the sheikh for a long time and they got him. But what happened immediately -- because this is very instructive, what has happened in Anbar is the local sheikhs have gotten sick of al Qaeda trying to use murder as an attempt to try to intimidate them into failing to pursue the way of freedom.

So what happened? Immediately sheikhs stood up and said, you think this is going to deter us? Absolutely wrong. We're coming after you, al Qaeda. What it does it creates a further cause of inspiration. You can't argue, Suzanne, that it is the United States' responsibility to protect each and every person. But I'll tell you what is happening in Anbar is that people are sick of these kinds of tactics by al Qaeda and they're going backfire.

MALVEAUX: But, Tony, this wasn't just in every person, this was somebody who was critical, who was important, and inspiring other people. He really wasn't a household name, some months ago, but he really led this charge. How much of this is a blow to what is taking place in Anbar province?

T. SNOW: It's not a blow at all in the following sense. Again, I don't think you listened to my answer before oooh nice condescention there Tony , which was that often what happens when somebody tries to take out a leader like this it inspires people. And that is exactly what has happened. Other sheikhs have already stood up and said, we're not going to take this.

You've got to understand, Suzanne, that what happened in Anbar is precisely what al Qaeda wants huh? I thought you just said it was a good thing? "a further cause of inspiration" in your last paragraph :shrug:, which is to have American media say a- ha, al Qaeda killed somebody, it must be a failure of American policy, when in fact the real failure in Anbar has been al Qaeda, which owned the place a year ago and has all but been neutralized there.

Anbaris understands that they will have to continue fighting al Qaeda, but does this mean that the streets of Ramadi suddenly are not free? No. Does it mean that the marketplace shut down in cities within Anbar? No. Does it mean that the Anbaris suddenly are going to retreat from the gains that they've made in recent months? Absolutely not. holds own press conference there :eyes:

It is likely to redouble their determination. That's what they have said, don't take my word for it, that's what they have said. I think you ought to take them at face value.

MALVEAUX: And, Tony, the Anbar model here that you point out, it's in some ways very unique in Iraq because obviously you have Sunni against Sunni, that is Sunni sheikhs against Sunni al Qaeda. They don't like to see insurgents or outsiders in their country. In many other places in Iraq, however, the Sunni, Shia and Kurds, you don't have this kind of sectarian violence that you do in Anbar because it's Sunni against Sunni.

How you replicate that model, if it can be replicated, when you have so many different groups?
:wow: an informed and insightful question on "The Situation Room"... Wolf has the day off

T. SNOW: OK. Several things. First, I'm glad that you've acknowledged that there was success in Anbar. YES! more condescending attitude! And the reason that there's an uprising against the invading al Qaeda force, if you will. The second thing is, Suzanne, if you take a look at what has been going on in Iraq in recent weeks, you have the Ayatollah Sistani Hey! remember him?, the chief Shia leader, sitting down with chief Sunni leaders just about a week ago, talking about the importance of reconciliation. What you're started to see is, as a result of the kind of successes we have had in Anbar, and also, as a result of Shia, for instance, standing up against terrorists in their midst, all of a sudden, people in Iraq realize that the real enemy are those who are trying to destroy democracy by committing acts of terror.

So all of sudden the Jaish al-Mahdi, the Mahdi Army, they don't have the kind of freedom of movement, they don't have the prestige that they used to. And their own leader has gone into hiding. You have the possibility in Iraq now of the kind of reconciliation happening at the grass roots level that we want to see nationwide.

The other thing is, what you have seen are dramatic reductions in sectarian violence. What you've talked about is the fact that there are mixed neighborhoods. Well, guess what, there is less of that kind of killing and dramatically less than there was before the surge began. You don't see sectarian violence in a major way in Kurdistan. Uh yeah Tony um there never has been any and you just confirmed her insightful question above about dealing with more than one group

What you have right now, Suzanne, are attempts by al Qaeda, once again, to try to set Iraqis against each other. But Iraqis have been through this. They saw it last year. Just in 2006 mind you :silly:

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: I know we're going to hear President Bush talk about some of that. So let's talk about his speech a little bit. For better or for worse, no matter what President Bush says today, the latest polls, and I want you to take a listen to this CBS News/New York Times poll, really showing that the problem the president faces here is whether or not anybody is going to believe him or listen to him.

It says, in terms of whether or not they approve or disapprove of the way he's handling the situation in Iraq, 71 percent disapprove of the execution of the war and what he is doing here. So, why should the American people listen to him in the first place tonight?

T. SNOW: Well, first, Suzanne, you might want to read the poll a little more fully because it also says that most Americans think the surge is working.
:rofl:

MALVEAUX: It says 26 percent of approve of the way he's handling it, 71 percent disapprove and 3 percent unsure.

T. SNOW: I know, I know. But you know what, they also have even higher disapproval rates for Congress. People here are tired of the atmosphere in Washington. Um where is the part about how we think the surge is working that you just cited?

MALVEAUX: We want to talk about the president. Let's talk about the president.

T. SNOW: OK. But, Suzanne, I'm talking to you about the facts on the ground. The president is going to talk about the surge and I've told you, what you've done is you've selected a popularity number. What I've done is taken something a lot more precise which is, is the surge working? by selecting the popularity of Congress (due in NO PART to your noise machine I am sure) you are avoiding the question in the most petty schoolyard way :+ Good thing he doesn’t do anything really dumb like calling other people’s POPULARITY into question

MALVEAUX: How does the president...

(CROSSTALK)

T. SNOW: Read your own -- wait, wait, wait.

MALVEAUX: ... regain the credibility that he needs to convince the American people that that's true, Tony?

T. SNOW: Well, you know what, Suzanne, your credibility ratings -- journalist credibility ratings are lower than the president.
Okay I set that up :spank: but seriously Tony :wow:

MALVEAUX: We're not talking about journalists, Tony. We're talking about the president here. How does he turn it around in his 16 months?

T. SNOW: Well, first thing you do is you get journalists to read their own polls. Because the issue here is, is the surge working? Americans believe it is working. The president is going to say the surge is working, we need to pursue success. See it must be working You know what, Americans hate the war. The president understands that. :crazy:

*-- Okay I am going to stop with the running commentary and just let you read what is basically Tony’s sign off moment on CNN truly amazing --*

And the president wishes we didn't have to have a war. But what's go on right now is on the key issue, does the issue of the day, the surge, your own poll indicates that Americans do have faith, that it's working. And therefore what the president is going to lay out is a way to have continued success so we can bring Americans home, but we can bring Americans home under conditions where we celebrate their achievements where we say these people did the right thing, they adjusted in tough times, they succeeded on the battlefield, but more importantly, they succeeded in the battle of hearts and minds.

They did what Americans have always done. If you go back and you talk to victims of World War II, what do they celebrate? The Americans who came over and fought for liberty, they're having the same sort of recollections now in Anbar where people who were killing us a year ago, are now saying, our blood is co-mingled with yours, you are our brothers.

Those are the kinds of changes Americans want to hear about. And they've already begun to come to the conclusion that the courageous decision the president made to change course and embrace the surge is working.

MALVEAUX: Tony, we've got to go. I'm sorry, I know tomorrow is your last day. You know, perhaps fighting and spinning until the very end, we really appreciate you being here on THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for that.

T. SNOW: It's great to be here. I'll see you around.

MALVEAUX: OK.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007219&docId=l:669284946&start=5

it's just as you say. Snow wouldn't let Malveaux get a sentence out he was spinning so fast. I give her credit for trying. You'd think someone as sick as he is would have some humility...but that's asking too much of the lying, spinning Bush Bots. Wind 'em up and they just spin, spin, spin.

Thanks for posting this.

the reason I even noticed it was Malveaux raising her voice and Tony raising his back. It was about as nasty as you see before the evening screamfests.

I knew I had to look it up. WOW

MALVEAUX: Tony, we've got to go. I'm sorry, I know tomorrow is your last day. You know, perhaps fighting and spinning until the very end,