Tony Snow, who we sadly learned passed away Saturday morning after a battle with cancer, accepted the second annual "William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence" at the MRC's 2008 Gala and DisHonors awards held in Washington, DC on April 10 this year. In one of his last public appearances, Snow praised the MRC and chastised journalists for not appreciating
"I love your determination, I love your creativity, your terrier-like refusal to let the press get away with things that violate the canons of journalism. But while I'm at it, I want to take a moment to talk about what is the most indefensible lapse of all. And we've seen several examples of it tonight. That is, the failure of the press to shake off maybe the greatest bit of laziness that you see often in journalism, it's what I call 'facile cynicism.'
"It's the attitude that, when you look at American life, you look at it with a sense of boredom; you're surrounded by people who are mediocre; the politicians are boring; oh, you look at it with a yawn. There's a kind of an Olympian look down at the people that fails to acknowledge that even now, in a time when we are riven by disagreements about a war and when we are anxious about our economy, this is still the world's dream machine."
Media Research Center President
"The news of Tony Snow's death wasn't wholly unexpected, but it's still devastating. Tony was a man brimming with optimism and you just felt that if anyone could beat this cancer, he could do it. He was an absolute professional in his craft and always, always a gentleman. The conservative movement is diminished today and anyone who knew him is heartbroken for his wife, Jill, and his three children Kendall, Robbie, and Kristi.
"Rest in peace, gentle warrior."
For a full transcript of Snow's acceptance speech, click here:
http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2008/cyb20080714.asp#5 [1]