Tony Snow (at least partially) tames the press

The White House, like any castle, has its own peculiar rituals, and in the five months that Tony Snow has been President George W. Bush’s press secretary, he has begun to learn them. . . . . And a man named Lester Kinsolving, a radio host and reporter for a Baltimore station with a big grin and game-show-host wavy hair, will interrupt a back-and-forth on, say, the operational capacities of Al Qaeda to read confounding questions he has written out, word for word, before the press briefing began.

“Tony,” Kinsolving began one morning in September, “The Washington Times noted on Page 1 that the Congressional Black Caucus will remain exclusively black. Does the president support or oppose this racial segregation, which excluded California Congressman Pete Stark — who risked his life for civil rights in Mississippi — because Stark was born white?”

Snow grinned and shook his head and began to point to some other reporter, any other reporter.

“No, wait a minute,” Kinsolving said, “are you just going to evade that question?”

“No,” Snow said, beginning to laugh, enjoying the exchange, his deep voice booming, “I’m going to laugh at it.” He did. So did the rest of the room. . . . .