Is There Snow In Heaven?

Tony Snow is dead. May he rest in peace.

The Gun Toting Liberal is not sentimental when it comes to death, I'll have you know. I am not among those who develop critical amnesia when a public figure passes this vale of tears. Death is the purchase of us all and no one is entitled to a free pass for his actions while on Earth.

So while I am not happy about Mr. Snow's passing, I won't lie and tell you that I loved this man.

When charming, good-looking men with great hair and gleaming, straight teeth stand up and lie, when they parse terms for torture and defend a fundamentally dishonest and corrupt administration, they damage our nation, our people, and our credibility in the eyes of the world.

Today our nation - and the world - is suffering because of people like Mr. Snow and their willingness to play handmaiden to the great benighted scoundrels of our time.

Watching Mr. Snow on television, I was occasionally struck by the idea that this man might be likable, even charming, had his words to the cameras not represented poverty, death, and despair for all but a few of the wealthiest and most cynical Caesars of our time.

But suppose, like Lee Atwater a generation ago, Snow had plumbed his soul as he prepared to launch it toward the starry dynamo. Would he have found the choices of his life wanting? Would his soul be ready for eternity? Would he be able to meet his creator knowing that he had done his best to protect the least among His children, that he had used his great power to bring love and protection to the powerless?

Would he have about-faced, and mea culpa'ed, and played every last desperate ace he had, like Lee did?

Would Snow melt into (At)water? We can go to the videotape, as they say, to answer this for ourselves. Speculation is not necessary.

And now it's too late for the tall man with the great teeth and hair to take any of it back. May he get his deserved portion in the afterlife, whatever that may be. Nothing more and nothing less.

And may we get ours, America.

You are, as ever, my great love, my beloved country, my brothers, my sisters, my children and elders. We are all God's children and I am doing what I can. I shout to you across the windy playground of our sorrow. Can you hear me?

Peace.