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What can I say about Tony Snow that hasn't been said! Although here on the Dose, every day there's something new to learn, appreciate or consider about our beloved President, so I guess I'll try.

My first exposure to Tony was when he would sub for Rush occasionally. I've said this before, but Tony's voice could calm and center me regardless of what kind of day I was having. I used to wish he had his own show, and a few years later, he did... and since last year I had 6 full months between jobs, I had the chance to not only listen to his show, but to make wonderful cyber-FRiends in the process. And Tony would actually join in our conversations! The SNOW-Flake thread was the most fun on the forum... next to the Dose of course and now the Levin thread.

I've prayed for Tony during his cancer and never stopped... just as I pray each day for President Bush. For our President, it seems each day he needs our prayers more than the last.

Tony and W are alike in many ways... their devotion to family and appreciation for doing what's right, for example.

Kipling's poem fits both of them to a tee.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

While the rest of the world is falling down around us, the words of these two precious men calm and center us, just as Tony's voice did for me several years ago.

God bless you, George W. Bush
God bless you, Tony Snow

from an American who appreciates you both beyond measure.

Auld Lang Syne

By Robert Burns

Auld Lang Syne
Original Version

The Days of Yore
Modern Translation

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne?

Chorus
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak' a cup o'kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stoup
And surely I'll be mine;
And we'll tak' a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,
For auld lang syne, my jo, etc.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
Sin' auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my jo, etc.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roared',
Sin' auld lang syne,
For auld lang syne, my jo, etc.

And there's a hand, my trusty frier!
And gie's a hand o'thine!
And we'll tak' a right guide-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my jo, etc.

Should we forget our former friends
By whom we set great store?
Should we forget the friends we've met
And the brave days of yore?

Chorus
The days of yore, my dear,
The days of yore,
We'll tilt the jug and drain the mug
to the brave days of yore.

I fancy you could sink a pint
And I'll take rather more
And we'll both get tight with all our might
For the brave days of yore.
The days of yore, my dear, etc.

We two have wandered on the hills
And daisies pulled galore
But we've tired our feet on many a street
Since the brave days of yore.
The days of yore, my dear, etc.

We two have paddled in the brook
From noon to half-past four
But seas have lain betwixt us twain
Since the brave days of yore.
The days of yore, my dear, etc.

So let us grasp each other's hand
And, as I said before
Our hearts we'll cheer with honest beer
For the brave days of yore.
The days of yore, my dear, etc.

Glossary: aboot, about; braes, hillsides; braid, broad; burn, stream; fit, foot; frier, friend; gie's, give me; gowans, red berries; gude, good; ha'e (hay), have; mony (moany), many; paidl'd, paddled; pint-stoup, tankard; pou'd, pulled; sin', since; tak' (tack), take; twa, two; willie-waught, draft of beer.