White House press secretary Tony Snow, from today’s press briefing:

Q The Republican, Arlen Specter, not James Comey, reacted to this by comparing it to the Saturday night massacre during Watergate. Are you concerned about Republicans now comparing this White House to the Nixon White House?
MR. SNOW: What I’m concerned about is — I’m not even going to get there. That’s too tempting and probably not responsible on my part. I think what you really want to do is –
Q Oh, go ahead. (Laughter.)
MR. SNOW: That’s my way of counting to 10. (Laughter.) The fact is, you’ve got somebody who has splashy testimony on Capitol Hill. Good for him.

From today’s White House press briefing with Tony Show:

MR. SNOW: Helen, and then to Mark.
Q The President emphasized September and he emphasized General Petraeus’ report — all week you moved away from September. Is it a real important date for us to decide things?
MR. SNOW: I think what the President is saying is –
Q Does he know that we have civilian rule in this country?
MR. SNOW: Yes. Do you?
Q I do.

Thus putting to rest, perhaps, thoughts that the media run this country?

White House press briefings with Tony Snow are typically dominated by Iraq.  Today’s featured something new: YouTube.

Q Tony, what are we to read into the Pentagon opting for “YouTube” as part of its communication?
MR. SNOW: I don’t know. You’ll just have to ask — that was something they announced last week. I don’t know.
Q We’re you part of that –
MR. SNOW: No, but I think it’s a good idea.
Q Why?
MR. SNOW: Because it’s important sometimes to be able to get — it’s important to get images out that are going to portray a fuller picture of what’s going on, on the battlefield.
Q What kind of images would you like to see on “YouTube”?
MR. SNOW: I’d like to see a little bit of everything, wouldn’t you?
Q Is the White House going to use it, too, or are you satisfied with your own web –
MR. SNOW: I don’t know. I don’t — we have no immediate plans for using “YouTube.”

Will tomorrow’s news briefing feature, say, Twitter?

Will any Republican presidential candidate be bold enough io implement this idea, as presented in today’s White House briefing?

QUESTION: At tonight’s Republican candidates debate, the pre-debate and post-debate coverage I read will be Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman of MSNBC, of whom there is a report that last October 23rd, Mr. Olberman said, “The leading terrorist group in this country is the Republican Party.” And my question: Does the President know why this Republican debate is tolerating such a reported maligner, and does he believe they should?

TONY SNOW: I believe that the President will say, Republicans, you can have whoever moderates your debate that you want to.

Today the White House press corps officiallly ran out of questions to ask Tony Snow:

Q When President Bush made an announcement on mangoes from India, I was with him in India in Hyderabad. And yesterday his dream came true. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and Susan Schwab, the U.S. Rep, and also Ambassador Ronen Sen, they had a celebration yesterday at the Commerce Department by the U.S.-India Business Council. Mangoes from India arrived, and here is a basket for President Bush, and also for the First Lady mangoes from India. My question is that, what message does mangoes bring, as far as India-U.S. relations are concerned — trade and other issues?

MR. SNOW: I don’t know, it is my first mango-related inquiry. (Laughter.) Goyal, I think what you do see is constantly — India is a very important partner for the United States. You saw the civil nuclear agreement, also agricultural cooperation. India is going to be vital part also in pursuing the Doha Round. So I think it, once again, reflects what we see, which is not only increasing closeness between the two governments, but also increasing interdependency.

And a follow-up question also involving a fruit.  Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just enjoying a pocket veto?

Over the weekend, we here at Extreme Mortman thought we were being clever by using faux “West-Wing”-esque-like language to make fun of actress Melissa Fitzgerald thinking of running for a House seat in Pennsylvania, pending her epiphany of where she actually lives.

Alas, we made the rookie mistake of not including an actual picture of the assistant to C.J. Cregg (Clegg? Craig? Czegg? Sorry, we never really watched the show), which one of our commenters noted.

So without further adieu — or any other fancy faux Aaron Sorkin-esque-like word — please welcome wannabe Congresswoman Melissa Fitzgerald.

From today’s White House press gaggle with press secretary Tony Snow:

Q Two questions, Tony. Do you, as presidential press secretary, believe that The Washington Post, in its two extensive stories, gave too much coverage to Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias or not?
Q Dana, do you want to take this one? (Laughter.)
MR. SNOW: Les, I am here to speak for the President, and I guarantee you he is not going to have an opinion, either. The Washington Post can — has its own editorial judgment, and we will let it stand.
Q Follow up on that. Ambassador Tobias –
MR. SNOW: You’re going to follow up on the question I didn’t answer. (Laughter.)
Q Yes. Ambassador Tobias –
Q Good to have you back. (Laughter.)
Q — told ABC News that he used Deborah Palfrey’s escort service for massages, not sex. Do you believe that many, or any American citizens believe that?
MR. SNOW: I don’t know. Look, the guy — I’ve told you what I’m going to say. We’re saddened, and he resigned, and it was the proper thing to do.

The White House website posts this Tony Snow box on the top front-page:

President Bush on Tuesday said, “Obviously, a lot of folks here in the White House worry a lot about their friend, as do Laura and I. And so my message to Tony is, stay strong; a lot of people love you and care for you and will pray for you. And we’re hoping for all the best. I’m looking forward to the day that he comes back to the White House and briefs the press corps on the decisions that I’m making and why I’m making them.”

The item also includes a link for sending get well wishes.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino at today’s news briefing:

I do know that Tony Snow loves this job. He says it is the best job he’s ever had in his life. He, in fact, has called it “communications Disneyland.”

Floss up on philosophy … put down your Playdough and grab your Plato … for today’s White House news briefing:

Q But, Tony, the idea of minutes goes back to the beginning of Western thought. Plato kept minutes on Socrates. What does Karl Rove have on Socrates? (Laughter.)
TONY SNOW: Plato kept — was that the case, or was it Aristotle who kept notes on Plato?
Q Well, Plato also – 
TONY SNOW: Inquiring minds want to know. This is Maimonides. Let’s just start dropping philosophers’ names.

Now we know why Maimonides wrote a Guide for the Perplexed.  He meant the White House press corps!