Agree with you, Kevin... hoping for a best.

If it's metastasized to his liver, he's not going to recover.

Lost a mother-in-law and a grandmother to this. Horrible.

I hope for the best for both him and his family. The high stress of these positions do not help.

Here's hoping he recovers.

Thanks for the kind words Kevin. I think all good hearted people of the world, whether liberal or conservative, can agree in praying for his speedy recovery.

The average time from diagnosis of metastatic colon cancer in the liver until death is three months. There are, of course, wide variations from the average in both directions, depending on response to treatment. But it's not good.

Tony doesn't deserve a horrible death. However, he is a front man for a crime syndicate and a crew of xenophobic, genocidal war criminals. He does his best to justify and further the agenda of many people deserving of the gallows. Would we have been saddened or concerned if the spokesman for Hitler, Idi Amin or Stalin contracted a terrible malady? Snow wants Bush's policies affirmed and enacted. Karma is a bitch. You reap what you sow.

who's Cathy Seipp? Well, they say bad things come in threes, although thousands of people have these diagnoses every day. They're just not in politics or part of some journalistic clique.

Cancer is a horrible disease and, when it strikes, my personal feelings about its victim go right out the window. I know too many people who are either fighting cancer currently or who succumbed to the disease. Best wishes to Tony Snow.

from everything I've heard, both liver and pancreatic cancer are the worst--and the Edwards situation isn't much better.
But I'm all for carrying on with your life as best you can--it sure beats sitting around waiting to die in some miserable hospice or something like that.

Tony doesn't deserve a horrible death.

I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

...hoping for a best "case scenario," I meant to say.

I know a liver cancer survivor going into his ninth year after having received some breakthrough surgical technique at Sloan-Kettering. I didn't know the liver could regenerate after having part if it removed.

Kevin, glad you did this post. Gives us all a chance to put in writing our best wishes to Tony Snow and his family. I understand he has a wife and three young daughters. I said a prayer for him in the shower this morning. We need to find a cure for this disease.

"some miserable hospice"

Perhaps - But, having spent four months around the clock in the same room with my mother when she was dying of cancer of the bladder, I only have Kudos for the wonderful Hospice people in Kansas City - Never would have made it without them.

Bad news indeed. My thoughts are with him and his family.

When is Katie Couric going to interview him?

No, really that would truly be cruel and inhumane punishment for an individual coping with a terrible personal tragedy.

it suddenly seems as if everyone has cancer.

Right now it's the cool kids, just wait, tomorrow it will be the wannabes.

"Hoping for the best"? "Speedy recovery"?

Tony doesn't deserve a horrible death. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Posted by: wondering

Are you people kidding? He's a paid liar for the Bush administration. If he were doing his press briefings under oath he'd have perjured himself four out of five days a week since taking the job. If he were Pinocchio, his nose would be so long he wouldn't be able to hold his head (begging the obvious question how anyone can connected with Bush).

There's been very few days over the last six plus years that I haven't wished a long over due demise to the entire Bush administration and most of the Republican members of congress. These people are all, at a minimum, accessories to crimes against humanity. Fuck all this sanctimony. The sooner were rid of these people, whatever the circumstances, the better for the nation and the world.

My understanding is that it's a lifestyle choice. And soon the rich and trendy will be heading to the cancer clinics to obtain cancer.

It's just a cry for attention.

My father-in-law had the same thing. He found a surgeon that cut much of his liver out in an attempt to control it (apparently the liver regenerates) but he died of it anyway.

If Snow is still around at the end of this administration I'll be surprised.

My feelings are the same now as when, some time ago, I learned that Lee Atwater was dying of brain cancer.

Don't forget Jane Hamsher of Fire Dog Lake, who got out of her hospital bed after a second round of breast cancer surgery and flew to DC to cover the Libby trial.

I'm with thethirdpaul about hospice people. During my mother-in-law's very painful death from colon cancer, having the unbelievable care and commitment of hospice kept the whole family going. My MIL was able to die with dignity at home because of these people and the help and support they gave us. They were gifts.

It's pretty clear that Bush causes cancer.

Is JeffI the only one here to speak the truth? Tony Snow is Cancer. It seems ironic that he has a good case of it. Maybe there is a God..Impeach the Bushies and build a jail around 'em.

Karma is a bitch. You reap what you sow.

Tony Snow is not a good guy. He has measurably contributed to the untold misery inflicted on this country and the world by the Bush administration.

Having said that, your comments above read like Falwell blaming "the gays" for 911. They're just as ridiculous. And they're an insult to every decent person who has labored for good...and then died of cancer.

Wow, it's pretty clear that liberals are soulless ghouls wishing death and suffering on their political enemies.

"you reap what you sow"
steve duncan on March 27, 2007 at 11:38 AM

"Fuck all this sanctimony. The sooner were rid of these people, whatever the circumstances, the better for the nation and the world."
Posted by: JeffII on March 27, 2007 at 12:04 PM

Does anyone remember, growing up, so many of our folks' contemporaries getting cancer? I don't. I've lost a number of friends to cancer and quite a few who are (so far) OK and all.

Bin Laden is alive somewhere. Many believe for his crimes he deserves to perish. Tell me shortstop and Donkey, do you wish him a long, healthy life? You know, in the spirit of not wanting to see even you enemies suffer?

Wow, it's pretty clear that Donkey_Courage couldn't reason his/her way out of wet paper bag.

Sorry to hear of Tony Snow's misfortune. Donkey_Courage, I'm sorry about your disability as well.

Had Falwell zeroed in and heaped criticism and scorn on plausible domestic parties responsible in some way for 9/11 we wouldn't have lambasted him. Blaming it on gays was incoherent and hateful for they in no way could be linked to the attack. Tony Snow can be directly linked and held partly responsible for the death and destruction caused by George Bush. Falwell and those not especially saddened by Snow's plight are not analogous.

nolo:

So do you stand by Jeff? I'm waiting....

Donkey, I'm waiting for you to notice the fact that the comments you highlighted make up a distinct minority on this thread. Or do you only have two fingers to count on?

As for what I stand by, I stand by my own comment. I'm very sad for Tony Snow and his family.

You've missed my point entirely, steve duncan. I did not comment on "wishing someone a long and healthy life" or "wanting to see [or not to see] my enemies suffer." I think Snow ought to pay for his heinous acts the way I think every Bushco bad actor should pay--in a way that directly relates to the deed: impeachment, prison, resigning in disgrace, losing one's credibility and career.

What I complained about--and what you've failed to address--is your calling Snow's cancer direct payback for his miserable work. You subscribe to a notion of life-and-death karma I don't share, and in this you are behaving identically to Falwell by assuming that people are or should be dealt forms of retribution that have fuck-all to do with their crimes (in Snow's case) or perceived sins (in Falwell's confused estimation). You might as well be sticking pins into dolls or praying for some god to smite people.

I'm waiting for Kevin to ban all posters who wished death and destruction upon Tony Snow. Anything less will be reported.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I hope for his sake he resigns - the stress of that job has got to be detrimental to one's health, and this regime isn't worth it.

Keith G: "My feelings are the same now as when, some time ago, I learned that Lee Atwater was dying of brain cancer."

Precisely my take. I wonder if Snow will also have an attack of conscience and repent before dying. If you remember, Atwater apologized for orchestrating the dirty campaign that was largely responsible for sinking Dukakis and electing Bush the First.

BTW, talk show hosts like Randi Roades who wish death and destruction upon their enemies will reap what they sow karmw-wise, may she get terminal cancer soon.

Never listen to what terminal cancer patients have to say about past deeds - it's just so much baloney. What matters is what a man does when he's at his peak.

From a Bloomberg article: "According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with and treated for colon cancer at early stages is 90 percent. Once the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the liver, the survival rate drops to about 10 percent, according to figures posted on the society's Web site."

That's a very bad long-term prognosis. Politics aside, we have to wish him and his family well.

As far as the comments regarding the occurence of cancers, I think we have to consider two issues: (1) Cancers are more readily diagnosed these days. A lot of people in the past died with cancer--not from cancer--and/or their cancer did not kill them till later in life. (2) We've had an additional thirty years since our parents generation (I'm 45) to consume carcinogens that are circulating in the environment. Rates could be going up.

My wife had breast cancer, caught very early because of mammograms. Thirty years ago, she may never have been diagnosed and the type she had--in vitro (in the ducts) may never ever have been a problem. Doctors don't know. They treat it because it could spread. But many women probably die with in vitro breast cancer. Just as many men die with prostrate cancer--not from it. We over-treat it because we don't know if/when it will spread.

Regarding the incidence these days: I know of many in my parents' generation--and my grandparents'--generation who died of cancer. Many second marriages were the result of the first spouse dying from some form of cancer.

I see Donkey in his youth, standing guard in a school crosswalk. He has a little tin badge and a cheesy flag stapled to a stick. He bosses around his peers, threatening to report them for getting out of line or littering. I suppose now I have to deal with Principal KDrum. Hope he lets me out of detention in time for the Flintstones.

Well said, shortstop.

DC said:

"Never listen to what terminal cancer patients have to say about past deeds - it's just so much baloney. What matters is what a man does when he's at his peak."

Like Newt filing divorce papers with his wife when she was diagnosed with cancer? Or him having an affair while bloviating about Clinton's indiscretions?

Tony Snow is a paid shill for the Bush administration, prone to spectacular displays of dishonesty.

Having said that...He and his family have some of tough times ahead, and I hope that he recovers. Good luck, Tony.

Thanks for the class that MOST posters have shown here. For the rest, you are really not worth a comment....

And a handful of "nuts" show up on cue in the comments section, ripe for the picking, just waiting to be held up as shining examples of the dreaded "Angry Left."

Liver cancer, to paraphrase Amy Carter, is awful. Very few people in the world deserve it and Tony Snow is not one of them. His family certainly does not deserve this. Call it sanctimonious bullshit if you wish, but I think I speak for most readers of this blog when I say that I do not wish a painful death on political figures I dislike.

Granted, there are thousands of soldiers dead and seriously wounded who didn't deserve it either, and the people responsible deserve to be held accountable. But justice does not take the form of cancer. It's a cliche, but what you give is what you get. Don't spend your life wishing suffering on others.

Kevin:

What nasty little people are attracted to your blog. It must pain you greatly that these vile, shameless individuals associate themselves with your causes.

MaxGowan says: "Does anyone remember, growing up, so many of our folks' contemporaries getting cancer?"

We live a lot longer now. Also, when I was a little shaver (too long ago)no one really mentioned the c word out loud. It was spoken of in hushed tones.

That said, I wish Tony Snow the best possible outcome. He's a decent (if misguided) human being.

And if I want to cut spending for cancer science research I can see...

Just remember, my fellow partisans, how gracious Tony was when commenting on Elizabeth Edwards the day before he announced his own surgery. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to keep their fingers crossed and or saying a prayer for Tony's miracle.

Lord, have we descended to "survival of the fittest" behavior again? Take a deep breath and remember the pain for his family and friends right now. Let the right show their inhumanity by nit-picking John and Elizabeth Edwards. We should be examples of better people than that. If not, we are no better than they are. Now that's a scary thought!

Tony Snow's wife should quit her job so she can spend her husband's last days with him. Think of the children!

Best wished for Mr. Snow. It should be noted Rudy (prostate cancer) and John McCain (skin cancer) are also cancer survivors.

Just remember, my fellow partisans, how gracious Tony was when commenting on Elizabeth Edwards the day before he announced his own surgery.

Bending over backwards here.

Since when do we lavish accolades for normal decent behavior?

twwren: "What nasty little people are attracted to your blog. It must pain you greatly that these vile, shameless individuals associate themselves with your causes."

As much as I detest Bush and his ilk and consider them traitorous sociopaths who are responsible for untold deaths, destruction and chaos, I can't feel anything but empathy for Snow. In fact, I'd feel the same for Bush or anyone else from his criminals gang.

That's really one of the principal traits that makes people like me liberals, and so very different from conservatives: we never deny someone's humanity, even when they're guilty of unspeakable crimes. We feel bad when anyone suffers.

Now, some of us can get so angry as to lash out at those we consider beneath contempt, and react by declaring them beneath empathy. But it's rare that this will happen, and even when it does, liberals, even at their angriest, are not particularly bloodthirsty. So go ahead, and compare the very few comments here that argue that Snow got what he deserved with comments in wingnut blogs when someone they hate suffers or is killed (see Corrie, Rachel aka "Pancake Corrie" for a typical example). At their worse liberals refer to justice delivered, while the conservatives weave elaborate fantasies of degradation and sadism.

I am assuming, of course, that the comments in question are indeed by liberals; they could easily be by trolls who want to create the impression that liberals wish for Snow to get his comeuppance. No matter: From Kevin's initial post to the reactions by most regular commenters of this blog, it's obvious that the vast majority of liberals are invariably ethical, empathic people -- which explains why we are liberals, to begin with. That's why we support policies that celebrate life, and not death and pain -- we support universal health care, we don't go to war unless it's necessary, we are viscerally and intellectually against torture, etc.

Everything we stand for is motivated by the conviction that all human beings deserve a chance at leading a satisfying life, in freedom, in fairness and in health, and that even those who are despicable should be treated and considered as humanely as possible. Snow included.

I wish the best for Tony Snow and his family and hope and pray that he beats the odds and recovers from his cancer so that he may spend the rest of a long life in prison along with the rest of the Bush crime syndicate.

Talk about animals! Anyone who politicizes someone's misfortune of a spreading cancer in their body is subhuman, cold and heartless.

To some, "ignorance is bliss." In this case, to anyone who takes any amount of partisan joy is Mr. Snow's illness (or for that matter, Mrs. Edwards'), their ignorance is painful...excruciatingly painful.

twwren:

What nasty little people are attracted to your blog. It must pain you greatly that these vile, shameless individuals associate themselves with your causes.

I missed it. What did American Hawk say this time?

Anything less will be reported. Donkey_Courage at 12:53 PM

"Take a deep breath and remember the pain for his family and friends right now."
Posted by: Rain39 on March 27, 2007 at 1:40 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of his family maybe Mom can remarry and the kids will be guided in their adolesence by someone not a shill for genocide, war, thievery, torture and fraud. Tony may be an OK guy but I can't imagine his children are best served by having him pass on his morals to them.

Addendum to my comment above: Notice all the liberals taking to task those very few that had anything negative to say about Snow. Show me a wingnut blog, radio show, book, etc. where conservatives chastise any of their fellow travelers for not being humane enough toward a suffering human they don't like.

Let's see now- Kevin puts up a post in which he expresses his hope that Tony Snow recovers from his cancer. Most of the commenters to Kevin's post concur with those sentiments. A handful of commenters dissent, asserting that Tony has disqualified himself from any hopeful sentiments because of his job in fronting for the imbecilic George W. Bush.

And so the 60-watt bulb known as Ann Althouse will point out how this shows that she was right about the nastiness of the left, and our portion of the blogosphere will be characterized once again by the Howard Kurtzes of the world as hateful and intolerant. Great work guys.

I have no love for Tony Snow or the administration he represents; the Bush presidency is a disaster on a global scale, and he and his supporters should be held to account. But I still hope that Tony Snow recovers from cancer.

Lest you all get the wrong impression I do hope Tony goes to Heaven. :-)

We feel bad when anyone suffers. Posted by: Aris

What fucking nonsense.

If we are to take this statement at face value, you believe that self-proclaimed liberals are all supposed to think happy thoughts if any piece of human garbage (which characterizes pretty much anyone who would work for Bush) like, say, Putin, Kim Il Sung, most of the Saudi "Royal" family, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and to bring in the historical perspective, Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc., etc., contracted some life threatening illness because we all feel bad when "anyone" suffers? I don't think so.

Anne Coulter quote about using public moneys to fund Cancer research:

“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war.�

Hey Aris! Perchance, are you referring to my comment? If you are, then you've got me mispegged...I don't care who is what (conservative or liberal or Democrat or Republican), anyone who is crass enough to wish Tony Snow ill is subhuman.

"....anyone who is crass enough to wish Tony Snow ill is subhuman."

Posted by: Stormwarning on March 27, 2007 at 2:45 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He's ALREADY ill. No one here wished that he GET ill.

I wonder if Snow will have a Lee Atwater-type deathbed redemption and realize the error of his ways? The prospect of death has a way of clarifying one's worldview. I will pray for him.

>it suddenly seems as if everyone has cancer.

I feel left out...

Whew....On this I like being left out.

Good luck to them.

"Ill" as in "ill will" or is English your second language?

This couldn't have happened to Ari Fleischer when he was the White House spokesperson? Seriously, the atrocities and injustices he helped sell and spin were far worse than anything Snow is guilty of. Best wishes to Snow in his battle against cancer. Again seriously, cancer is so evil, killed so many people, that anyone battling it always deserves our sympathy. I'd even root for Cheney to beat it.

That said, I wish Tony Snow the best possible outcome. He's a decent (if misguided) human being.

Besides he could be replaced by Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, or some other Fox jackass.

I'd even root for Cheney to beat it.
Posted by: Pocket Rocket

Now that might be stretching things. I'm generally for peace and the brotherhood of man and all but there are limits.

JeffII: What fucking nonsense...If we are to take this statement at face value, you believe that self-proclaimed liberals are all supposed to think happy thoughts if any piece of human garbage...

You seem confused, so I'll be happy to explain further:

Empathy means being able to see yourself in someone else's place and feel their pain. Empathy for those we love and for those we accept as similar to us, is easy; empathy for those we do not approve off is difficult; and empathy for those we despise, hate, etc. is very difficult.

Conservatives, as well as other criminals, do feel empathy for their kids, their tribal group, etc. But they can't feel it for anyone they deem as beneath them or as different than they are. That makes it easier for them to support sexism, racism, homophobia, torture, etc. and to wish all sorts of disasters on liberals and other "others." Generally, I find liberals to be ethically superior to conservatives because of their capacity to feel empathy even for those who may not deserve it.

Hence, I expect real liberals to feel empathy when anyone suffers, even people who are so despicable as to be considered a burden on the planet itself. The fact that I think we're better off without Hitler and Mao and Stalin, and we'd be better off without Bush, Cheney, Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, etc. doesn't mean that I don't think of them as human beings. To do otherwise would be rather uncivilized, it would be so very right-wing.

You seem confused, so I'll be happy to explain further:

Empathy means being able to see yourself in someone else's place and feel their pain. Posted by: Aris

Not confused in the least. I just limit my empathy to those deserving of it, and that does not include criminals or people aid and abet them.

On April 1 of 2002, my two best friends were both diagnosed with cancer. One survived, one died three months later (of a situation similar to Tony Snow's).

Here's hoping for the best, for all sufferers of cancer, and here's hoping for a cure, in our lifetimes.

Nothing but sympathy here. Breaks my heart to think of his three little girls...

Besides he could be replaced by ... Ann Coulter

Forget praying for Tony Snow -- I'm praying that GWB appoints Coulter replace Snow.

She is the perfect front person, and her appointment would be the perfect finale, for the most circus-like administration in US history.

ExBrit - I'm talking about people as young or younger than Elizabeth Edwards or Tony Snow. It has nothing to do with people living longer. Maybe I just live in/near a cancer cluster, I don't know. Maybe. When I was young (born in '53), people talked about cancer. Not in '38, but certainly in the 50s, 60s and 70s. I do not recall so many young(ish) people getting cancer when I was a pup.

And my prayers go out to Tony Snow and his family. May he beat the odds. My prayers go out to Elizabeth Edwards and her family. May she beat the odds.

Thank you for all your prayers.

Especially since part of the package I sell to the American people is the power of prayer over the misguidedness of science.

JeffII: "Not confused in the least. I just limit my empathy to those deserving of it, and that does not include criminals or people aid and abet them."

Limiting empathy to those you deem as deserving empathy, renders you indistinguishable from a conservative. They do it all the time by separating humans into the deserving "us" and the undeserving "not us." Liberals have a different mindset. Now, if you don't understand why, I don't think I can explain further. I think you're confused about what liberalism really is, thinking of it merely as particular positions on issues, not appreciating the fact that it must be accompanied by a liberal sensibility.

My experience of empathy includes the ability to empathize with liberals who are so thoroughly disgusted by the machinations of wingnuts, that their empathy for them is in lockdown.

I am far more concerned about the proliferation of brain rot in this sliding nation. I blame Doritos and cable television.

Much of my sympathy has been expressed for the poor people of Fallujah. I wish they had been able to die from natural causes.

Liberals have a different mindset. Now, if you don't understand why, I don't think I can explain further.

You can't explain further because you haven't done so yet other than to say that "liberals think differently." Well, I'm a liberal, and I apparently have a different "mindset" from you on this issue. And if you are suggesting some degree of lock-step agreement on this issue is necessary for appropriate liberal credentials, you missed your true political calling. The Republican party is looking for more folks just like you just rarin' to toe the party line.

I think you're confused about what liberalism really is, thinking of it merely as particular positions on issues, not appreciating the fact that it must be accompanied by a liberal sensibility. Posted by: Aris

And just who put you in charge of deciding how millions of people feel and think? Who put you in charge of "liberal sensibilities"? That tent's a lot bigger than you can pitch, sweetie, and it does include a fair number of us who have little or no compassion for conservatives.

While I think Snow is just a more silver-tongued liar and propagandist than his predecessor, I certainly feel for him and hope for the best for him.

I am waiting with interest to see what mocking, cynical, sneering comments a certain fat-assed, multiple-times divorced, drug-addicted radio talk show host will have now that the "victim" isn't named Edwards.

JeffII: "Well, I'm a liberal, and I apparently have a different "mindset" from you on this issue."

Liberalism is a particular thing and I'm giving you an explanation of how it differs at a very fundamental emotional and intellectual level from conservatism. While not all liberals will agree on particular policy questions, there must be something that makes them all liberals. My position is that it is their capacity to feel empathy even for those who are not capable of showing empathy to others. That's why we're civilized and conservatives are not.

I suggest you spare me the idiocy of trying to prove that I'm harboring authoritarian tendencies and engage with the substance of what I'm saying. You could try, for instance, to explain what supposedly makes you a liberal. You seem to think that by declaring yourself a liberal, you're a liberal. That can't be true about anything. Being a liberal is not a tribal identity or a certain adherence to a particular economic theory. It's an outlook and a set of ethical principles.

JeffII,
Tony Snow is certainly a paid apologist, at best, and Jon Stewart recently did a long riff on his damaged soul that waqs probably more prescient than he realized. But "piece of human garbage" just doesn't come into the equation. And that, my friend, is the difference between us and them.

I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of well-wishers. Just because we do not like these people's policies does not make them any less human; and we Democrats and liberals despise human suffering.

Get well soon Tony.

I am amazed at the range of comments both on the Right and on the Left where some people wish the best to the victims while others go to all extremes to curse the opposition. Karma, my ass!

Let's face it--most of us who dislike Snow and what he represents don't really rejoice at the prospect of him dying from cancer. Even those who would dance on his grave rejoice more at the prospect of getting rid of the symbol and not so much of the way that he is erased.

But, on the most realistic angle, what are people wishing Snow a speedy recovery thinking? He's got four months! He has metastatic liver cancer. It might have been there for some time--liver is one of the organs where early diagnosis is difficult. And treatment is not particularly effective for some forms of cancer, especially if it cannot be removed.

That also goes for Elizabeth Edwards. Sure, everyone is putting a positive spin on the diagnosis, but, face it--cancer is not diabetes. Why is everyone afraid of reality? Face it people--all this reminds you of your own mortality! You know that no one is exempt.

By all means, go wish them a long life, a speedy recovery. Go pray in the shower--or whatever else you do in the shower. But please don't pretend that you care about THEM. The reason that you care is YOU, not THEM. That's why the loony ideologues don't care and dance on the graves--they think that YOU are NOT THEM, that this is some cosmic or divine providence that gets rid of THEM, the OTHERS, the OUTSIDERS. But when it hits home, they are just as devastated as everyone else.

Oh, crap! I don't really care if all of you, people, consider me tactless. Tact has nothing to do with it. This is one reason why we changed medical ethics over the last 50 years--lying to oneself about his survival prospects does no one any good. The Edwardses did the right thing. They know what the prognosis is even if they don't share the full details. Under the circumstances, the only way to handle it that is rational is to go on with life as long as life allows it. It makes no sense to pretend that nothing has changed and, I don't think, this is what they have done. But what are the options? Go home and shut down? That's death BEFORE death! EE will stay in the campaign as long as she is physically able. I am sure Snow will do the same, but I don't expect Snow to survive the year or EE to vote in the 2008 elections. That's how I feel. I don't think any less of them. But I don't think any more of them either.

Life goes on even when we don't. Live it and live with it.

It's a sad thing when anyone contracts a cancer of any type. Hopefully, he'll recover enough to continue as Press Secretary, he is at least an entertaining and exasperating spinner for this incompetent pResident. As opposed to Smurky Fleischer and Sweatty McCllellan.

Kevin wrote: "Between Cathy Seipp, Elizabeth Edwards, and now Tony Snow, it suddenly seems as if everyone has cancer."

The National Cancer Institute estimates that in the USA in 2007 there will be 19,160 new cases of liver cancer or intrahepatic bile duct cancer, and 16,780 deaths from those diseases.

Do those thousands of people getting cancer and dying from it every year make it "suddenly seem as if everyone has cancer"?

Or do they pass unnoticed and unremarked by everyone except their families and friends? they certainly don't get headline stories in the newspaper, or get their photo on CNN's website.

How many of those thousands of people have access to the kind of medical care that Tony Snow can afford? How many of them are low to middle income people who are uninsured and cannot afford medical care at all, and whose families may be ruined and impoverished by their illness?

Of course we are all most empathetic when illness affects people who are close to us, who we care about. But except for his own family and friends, what's the big deal about Tony Snow, compared to those thousands of others? The fact that he's a talking head on TV?

I lost two pet hamsters to liver cancer. I loved them a lot. They were beautiful, intelligent, resourceful and courageous beings. I still think of them every day. Their lives, and their deaths, were much more important to me than Tony Snow is.

Ouch!

Imagine if this was some kind karmic payback.
Imagine what's in store for Dick Cheney.
Imagine what's in store for the Commandering Chimp.
Imagine what's in store for Tom DeLay.
I imagine them all soiling themselves at the thought.
I imagine a new angry roommate for Bugman.
Payback's a bitch.

buck: But please don't pretend that you care about THEM. The reason that you care is YOU, not THEM.

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Buck,

You're diagnosis of Snow is worse than Frist's diagnosis of Terri Schiavo. Wishing someone a quick recovery even from a deadly disease is a courtesy and sign of humanity from the well-wisher. Wish him well and see if recovers. That should be all we do with Tony Snow.

Having just had my husband die of lung cancer, after a ghastly eighteen months since it was discovered that an earlier cancer had metastasized, I can't imagine how the Edwards can carry on. The treatment was all-consuming for us both, and the grief I now feel is awful. And they have two young children, who surely need all the time she can give them. I just cannot imagine how one could give one's full atention to being President with this happening in the family.

Kenji: "...piece of human garbage" just doesn't come into the equation. And that, my friend, is the difference between us and them."

Exactly.

"Tony doesn't deserve a horrible death"

It depends. Unless we believe on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we not only deserve a horrible death, we deserve a horrible eternity. Those who reject the Christ will be cast into the outer darkness where there is wailing and nashing of teeth. Unless Snow has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, he deserves eternity in Hell.

I lost my older brother to colon cancer that metastasized to the liver. I have had two colonoscopies since then, both clear.
Don't be afraid to get checked-remember it doesn't have to be on national tv!

A word on colonoscopy...DO IT!!!! This is a very slow disease to metastasize but devastating when it does. A scope once every 5 years or so will almost guarantee that this high incidence killer does not get you.
Tony, I kind of like him. He is not an outrageously dishonest Ari or a smarmy geeky McClellan, more a crafty pro. Has anybody noticed that the guy always leaves the truth out there? He rarely tells it but his style does not bury it. Pray for him and wish him well.

To miss Althouse and Mistah Kurtz....the nasty posts in here are in no way guaranteed to be of liberal origin. My guess: a few low life GOP'ers have figured you clowns out and post outrageous crap on Liberal blogs just to have that crap attributed to Liberals. And you wise sages will jump all over it.

I just limit my empathy to those deserving of it, and that does not include criminals or people aid and abet them.

Jeff: Dehumanizing your opponents and hoping for their quick and painful demise puts you in the company of fascists, totalitarians, and other mass murderers - and yes, Ann Coulter and Michael Savage. Most of us are able to separate our disgust at the reprehensible actions of individuals from our empathic response to their sufferings. Or, in simpler terms, we "love the sinner, hate the sin." Which is why some of us can oppose the death penalty even for murderers, support free treatment programs for substance abusers, and pity the ignorant mindset of the Middle East without thinking that carpet-bombing the place is a good idea. We don't like seeing people hurt, period.

Hating Bush, or opposing the Iraq war, or voting Democratic does not make you a good liberal, since you clearly don't give a shit about anyone except yourself. Subtract the irrelevant political viewpoint, and the tone of you've written would fit right in on any of the most repulsive far-right blogs. You're a vindictive, sadistic sociopath who thrives off of human suffering and antagonism, and you're exactly the kind of person that makes this country look like a bunch of selfish dicks. Go fuck yourself.

As a liberal, justice has always been a major value in my beliefs; revenge and enjoyment of suffering has not. Conservatives, at least what passes for them now, seem pretty emotionally immature. Aris post at 2:02 PM was well put together. I hope Snow recovers - I also hope he changes his shameful politics.
DK2

Nat wrote: "Or, in simpler terms we "love the sinner, hate the sin."
Nat also wrote: : "You're a vindictive, sadistic sociopath who thrives off of human suffering and antagonism...Go fuck yourself."

Uh...Nat, I'm not feeling a lot of love for sinner Jeff in your post. :)....Apart from the creepiness of using "love the sinner, hate the sin" meme (Evangelical polite-speak for their homophobia) I agree with the general tenor of your comments & those of Aris about the humanitarian/humanist basis for liberalism. I think however, like most of us at times, including possibly even Jeff, you're letting your righteous anger hijack your essential humanity. Tony Snow is wrong about lots of stuff, but most of us agree he doesn't deserve liver cancer anymore than anyone does. Similarly Jeff might be uselessly spiteful in his anger towards the Right, but that doesn't make your spitefulness towards him ("vindictive, sadistic, sociopath who thrives off human suffering" ! ) a whole helluva lot better.

Regards

Paul,

Thanks for telling me. I guess I will try to bring a lot books to accompany me in my eternity in hell. Wow, you christians are a really caring bunch. Can't wait to see what you say next.

Apart from the creepiness of using "love the sinner, hate the sin" meme (Evangelical polite-speak for their homophobia)

I found this ironic as well. Also was appalled by the sweeping generalization contained in: pity the ignorant mindset of the Middle East.

Whew. Good thing Althouse is in no position to call anyone else out of control.

I find most of your comments, and most of the comments from the press and the punditocracy, dopily sentimental. At the Fox Propaganda Channel and now the White House this creep devotes his life to spreading lies for a republican party devoted to only the most despicable policies (harming the environment, poisoning drinking water, blaming the poor for their plight, enriching the poor, making sure that democrats and "libruls" can't get jobs or get fired from their jobs in Washington, using government as a corrupt racketeering project to line republican pockets, etc., etc., etc.), so that the miniscule folderol in Iraq is just the thinnest, barest icing on an enormous cake of filth and garbage.

And then he sneers at anyone who dares to ask legitimate questions and tells them that when they are doing their jobs they are aiding the terrorists?

LET THIS PIG DIE IN HIDEOUS AGONY!!! I HOPE HIS CANCER METASTASIZES TO HIS BONES AND NO AMOUNT OF OPIATES WILL ALLEVIATE HIS PAIN!!!

If only the rest of the Bush administration could "catch" cancer from this disgusting, vile pig. All of the rest of you creampuffs with your namby-pamby "wishes," etc.... Yuck.

Sure, I could get cancer. Sure, I could have a hideous, painful death. So could anyone. BUT I HAVEN'T HURT MY COUNTRY AND MY FELLOW CITIZENS LIKE TONY SNOW AND THE FOX PROPAGANDA CHANNEL AND THE BUSH WHITE HOUSE, traitors to everything American used to stand for.

I find most of your comments, and most of the comments from the press and the punditocracy, dopily sentimental. At the Fox Propaganda Channel and now the White House this creep devotes his life to spreading lies for a republican party devoted to only the most despicable policies (harming the environment, poisoning drinking water, blaming the poor for their plight, enriching the rich, making sure that democrats and "libruls" can't get jobs or get fired from their jobs in Washington, using government as a corrupt racketeering project to line republican pockets, etc., etc., etc.), so that the miniscule folderol in Iraq is just the thinnest, barest icing on an enormous cake of filth and garbage.

And then he sneers at anyone who dares to ask legitimate questions and tells them that when they are doing their jobs they are aiding the terrorists?

LET THIS PIG DIE IN HIDEOUS AGONY!!! I HOPE HIS CANCER METASTASIZES TO HIS BONES AND NO AMOUNT OF OPIATES WILL ALLEVIATE HIS PAIN!!!

If only the rest of the Bush administration could "catch" cancer from this disgusting, vile pig. All of the rest of you creampuffs with your namby-pamby "wishes," etc.... Yuck.

Sure, I could get cancer. Sure, I could have a hideous, painful death. So could anyone. BUT I HAVEN'T HURT MY COUNTRY AND MY FELLOW CITIZENS LIKE TONY SNOW AND THE FOX PROPAGANDA CHANNEL AND THE BUSH WHITE HOUSE, traitors to everything America used to stand for.

Paul:

How could anyone believe something as stupid as what you said? If someone doesn't believe in Jesus they'll go to hell? People don't usually choose their religious attitudes--they either believe in something or they don't. How can someone be punished for thinking a certain way when it's just the way they think? And even if they "chose" not to believe in Jesus, what's morally wrong about that? They're not hurting anyone, they just don't accept a certain religious doctrine. If this is morally wrong, I don't see how the term "moral" has any meaning.

Furthermore, by your logic, if Hitler had accepted Jesus in the last hour of his life, he would go to heaven. But a 2 year old Jewish child gassed at Treblinka on Hitler's orders would go to hell--even though 2 year olds aren't even mature enough to think about religion at all! Utter nonsense!

Fear not Kevin, everyone IS getting cancer. Literally. It is just a question of dying of something else before cancer can do it.

The inescapable fact is, if you live long enough you WILL get cancer. It is a sure thing. All you can do, if you are particularly afeared of cancer is hope that heart disease or car accident kills you before cancer takes hold.

So, "Anon", how's all that faux ANGER working out for you?

I notice in your first SHOUT you hilariously accused conservatives of "enriching the poor".

God forbid!

Freudian slip, perhaps, as to your true allegiances & agenda? I'm guessing you're a clumsy conservative troll pretending to be a hate-filled liberal, but who you REALLY despise isn't Tony Snow - it's all us yucky, "namby-pamby" "cream puffs". (Your own unintentionally revealing words.)

So, tell us "Anon"...what do you understand to be the key ideological underpinnings of liberalism? Apart, of course from your strikingly illiberal contribution of wishing cancer upon ideological opponents...

Mr. "Anon" sounds like one of those false flag bearers who is intended to come here, say something reprehensible, and then the folks who are opposed to the ideological bent of this blog can point to those remarks and say "See! they're horrible! Horrible!"

[This is easy to recognize for me--I do it all of the time on liberal blogs.]

Apart from the creepiness of using "love the sinner, hate the sin" meme (Evangelical polite-speak for their homophobia)

It's a good rule to follow, even if it's been perverted by the fundies (note: I'm an atheist, and I don't think homosexuality is a sin). I was trying to phrase it in terms Jeff would understand. But if it makes you feel better, "do unto others as you would have others do unto you" would probably be more appropriate and non-judgemental.

Also was appalled by the sweeping generalization contained in: pity the ignorant mindset of the Middle East.

You have a better way to describe majority views on women's rights over there? I don't apologize for thinking that liberal western values are superior. I don't think that gives us an implicit right to kill people, though. Would you prefer "the ignorant mindset of the Bible Belt"? 'cause I see people here making that generalization all the time.

Similarly Jeff might be uselessly spiteful in his anger towards the Right, but that doesn't make your spitefulness towards him ("vindictive, sadistic, sociopath who thrives off human suffering" ! ) a whole helluva lot better.

Yeah, but I don't want him to die from cancer, or anything else for that matter. I really just want him to shut the fuck up.

Or, in simpler terms, we "love the sinner, hate the sin." Posted by: Nat

Fucking nonsense. Just as there is no such thing as an ad hominem argument, Tony Snow is the sin. It's not something that snuck-up on him Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers-like, took control of him, made him a paid liar for the perhaps the most reprehensible person to ever hold the office of president in American history, and then will move on to a new host once his cancer kills him.
"The devil made him do it" excuse is pathetic.

Tony Snow is an adult responsible for his own conduct, not a mentally retarded child who killed a kitten. Again, his job has been to be the very well-paid liar for an administration whose disastrous and destructive policies will plague our nation for decades to come. As essentially the minister of propaganda for the administration, he is not worthy of pity or sympathy, regardless of the circumstances. If you want to get all old-timey homilistic about it, "He who lies down with dogs . . ."

If you want a worthy object for your oh so perfect "liberal" empathy, find a way to send your love and concern to the friends and family of the 3,000+ American dead and the 25,000 American wounded, and the some 50,000 to 100,000 Iraqi dead.

Thinking good thoughts about an enemy of the people doesn't make you a better person, and it certainly has nothing to do with what defines a person as a liberal.

I'm waiting for Kevin to ban all posters who wished death and destruction upon Tony Snow. Anything less will be reported.

Reported to whom? Fuck you, man - if you don't approve of the way certain people react to news, then go find another website to troll.

Just because we do not like these people's policies does not make them any less human

Where does having empathy for an individual end and hostility for their agency begin?

Osama bin Laden is said to have kidney disease, do the vociferous emphatics have the same wishes for him that they have for Tony Snow?

When I see the video of Ayman al-Zawahiri in an Egyptian prison railing against the torture he received there, I have empathy for why he has chosen violence as a political expression, but I do not have any empathy for the violence he commits.

Do the 'liberal' emphatics have the same compassion for Private Green and Timothy McVeigh?

Tony Snow is America's Joseph Goebbels du jour. I have no sympathy for Goebbels fate, or empathy for his career. War is about killing. Tony Snow expresses gratification and pleasure when US forces kill Iraqis, much like his Nazi counterpart did when reporting the German invasion of Poland or France. Tony Snow deserves to die from natural causes, despite my base desire for him to learn the true meaning of war when he visited Iraq, and so did the men, women and children of Fallujah. Tony Snow had no empathy for their unnatural deaths. He justified their murder as righteous and just. Although I think most individuals are worthy of my attention and affection, I choose to withhold it for those I think are, or give aid and comfort to, mass murderers. I think Tony Snow is one of those kind of people.

Noah replied to me,
You're diagnosis of Snow is worse than Frist's diagnosis of Terri Schiavo.

Let me point out that I made no diagnosis. The diagnosis was given in the press. I simply drew a statistical conclusion based on the particular kind of cancer and the fact that it is a metastasized growth.

Wishing someone a quick recovery even from a deadly disease is a courtesy and sign of humanity from the well-wisher. Wish him well and see if recovers.

Yes, I know. I have a different term for "courtesy"--sentimental bullshit. Or, in other words, a well-meaning lie. I do not wish well. I do not wish him dead or dying. Like I said earlier--I may be tactless, but I am honest.

So ponder your own mortality and the fact that diseases don't discriminate based on political affiliation or the degree of scumbaggery of the victim.

Brojo - You ask some great questions. Specifically:
"Where does having empathy for an individual end and hostility for their agency begin?"

Personally, I don't think they are mutually exclusive. I think empathy is best extended as indiscriminately as possible towards humankind, whereas hostility should be ruthlessly discriminating & is best focused upon the particular ideologies & actions of individuals or parties. To stoop to declaring anyone's cancer a just dessert for me veers dangerously close to the rabid, froth-flecked Coulteresque hate-speech that really has no place in, or contribution to, meaningful discourse. It might feel good, but it just isn't necessary. It's also counterproductive & serves to undermine the arguments of those who go there, Tony Snow's health or illness is completely beside the point. His recent words, ideas & actions are loathsome & they offer plenty of scope for scathing hostility & aggressive deconstruction. IMO that's where our antipathy is far better focused.

Regards

I think empathy is best extended as indiscriminately as possible towards humankind, whereas hostility should be ruthlessly discriminating & is best focused upon the particular ideologies & actions of individuals or parties.

Well said. Thanks.

two tablespoons of flax oil a day { Barleans and 200mgs magnesium ,500mgs calcium 4 times a day to cure cancer.Look up Dr.Otto Warburg on the web.Also eat according to your blood type.(Body redesigning.com)cancer will not grow in alkaline tissue.New vision .com item 1610 May GOD Bless Tony Snow

Tony, all politics aside, as a devout Christian who has learned the power of prayer and the mercy of our God to respond to our Faith in His Miracle Working Power (since Jesus Christ is "the same, yesterday, and forever") I am praying for your complete recovery. Remember, Tony, our Lord is greater than the Big C. And nothing is impossible with Him. So, Stay strong, keep the Faith, and continue believing in the healing power of our Great Physician! I send Christian Love along with others who are praying for you and relying on the Mercy and Compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sarah Sawyer

Tony, all politics aside, as a devout Christian who has learned the power of prayer and the mercy of our God to respond to our Faith in His Miracle Working Power (since Jesus Christ is "the same, yesterday, and forever") I am praying for your complete recovery.

I pray the suffering of the Iraqis caused by Americans ends. I am thankful Tony Snow is able to die from natural causes, unlike the men, women and children of Fallujah, who were killed by American white phosphorus bombs.

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To Tony Snow:
Please know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Wish I could give you a hug to make it better. I admire you for the nice looking, kind and compassionate family man that you are.
Heartfelt wishes for your recovery.

Martha in Columbia, SC

I am amazed as I read some of these comments. We are talking about a fellow human being here who has been dealt a real "sucker punch" - for the second time. This person has a wife and three children to worry about. What is the matter with all you people who are posting such horrible comments? Are we still considered civilized human race? People what is happening here? I hear actual hate in some of the comments I've read.

I personally wish Tony Snow all the best. I pray for strength for him and his family. I'd like to think I would offer the same to any of you who would need it. Just think this could be one of your family members - would you want others wishing them a horrible death.

I know this nation is in decline - morally and every other way. I ask that we wake up as Americans and feel some compassion for each other. No matter what political party we are members of.