Just Call Him Tony 'I Don't Know' Snow
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, December 13, 2006; Page A02
....When Snow took over as White House press secretary earlier this year, reporters found it refreshing that he was willing to admit when he didn't know something. This has become rather less refreshing as Snow, while claiming access to Bush's sanctum sanctorum, continues to use the phrase -- more than 400 times so far in televised briefings and interviews. Sometimes, it seems more of a tic than a response; usually, it's a brushoff.
Why so many 'dunnos'? "Because I don't know all," Snow explained, knowingly.
On Monday, reporters wanted to know whether newly confirmed Defense Secretary Robert Gates would attend White House meetings on Iraq policy. "I don't know," said Snow. Would the Iraq experts visiting the White House talk about the Iraq Study Group's particulars with Bush? "I don't know." Was there anything in the report that the administration hadn't already considered? "I don't know. Again, good question. I don't know. I mean, there are some -- again, I don't know."
In recent days, the "I don't know" reply has greeted queries about whether the administration would talk to Iran and Syria, Pakistan's plans for Kashmir, benchmarks for reducing violence in Iraq, the process of preparing the federal budget, when Bush might name a new U.N. ambassador, and whether the president would address the nation about Iraq. Even the seemingly obvious -- whether Bush would be outlining "a different course in Iraq" -- stumped Snow. "I just -- I don't know," he said....
Occasionally, Snow employs a variant on the refrain: I'm not going to tell you. Asked recently whether Bush would say that the United States is winning in Iraq, Snow answered: "I'm not going to tell you what the president would say."
Unsurprisingly, this method has done some damage to briefer-questioner relations. It doesn't help that Snow, though admired for his quick wit, has been lobbing names at his inquisitors. After labeling as "partisan" a question from NBC's David Gregory last week, Snow accused CBS's Jim Axelrod yesterday of asking a "loaded" question; the two men exchanged unpleasant looks. Snow further branded a question by Fox's Bret Baier as "cynical" and one from Quijano as "facile."...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121201270.html
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