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UPDATE:  And now it’s official…announcement just made.  MSNBC currently highlighting all the Snow comments about Bush incompetence.  Oh yeah.  This is gonna be fun for a few days.   Oh, and ThinkProgress found some more Tony Snow gems — this time criticizing specific policies of the Bush Administration.

And the DSCC adds some more research on Snow Job quotes to the mix.

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It’s all but official at this point, we’re getting Tony "Snow Job" as the next WH spokesperson.  And in an initial act of spin this morning, Snow and his WH cronies have thrown out an olive branch to the media:

Snow, 50, is particularly interested in economic and immigration issues. He intends to insist on greater access for White House reporters, said sources familiar with his plans. He has described the press corps as a beast that must be constantly fed. In a December 2000 column in the Washington Times, he referred to "Democrats and journalists (but I repeat myself)."

He has told associates he plans to function as an advocate for reporters, an approach that would run counter to the administration’s previous philosophy about the position.  (emphasis mine)

It’s buried in the middle of a Howie Kurtz extravaganza in the WaPo, but Snow is throwing out a tray of cocktail weenies to the ravenous media hordes in advance of his ascension to the post of chief punching bag in the hopes that they will not notice Snow’s prior comments like this:

– Bush has “lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc.” [3/17/06]

– “When it comes to federal spending, George W. Bush is the boy who can’t say no. In each of his three years at the helm, the president has warned Congress to restrain its spending appetites, but so far nobody has pushed away from the table mainly because the president doesn’t seem to mean what he says.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]

– “The president doesn’t seem to give a rip about spending restraint.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]

– “Bush, for all his personal appeal, ultimately bolstered his detractors’ claims that he didn’t have the drive and work ethic to succeed.” [11/16/00]

ThinkProgress has much, much more on this — it’s a greatest hits collection of how much Tony Snow thinks George Bush sucks at his job. (Hmmmm….maybe he will represent the views and interests of mainstream America after all.  Nah, I’m just kidding.)  Going to make an interesting few weeks to start when Snow has to justify supporting current Administration positions that he has previously bashed in his long, long paper trail for not being conservative.  Could be fun if all the journalists do their jobs on this one.  "Snow melted by scorching questions…news at 11."

Sean-Paul is running a caption contest — go take a peek and submit your fave.  Trust me, it’s worth the giggle this morning.

Oh, and don’t miss the part in Kurtz’s article where Brit Hume seems to suggest that Snow is motivated by his need to feed his ego.  Oh yeah, that’s some brotherly love right there.  You betcha.

There may be a honeymoon for Snow — especially given the fact that the WH press corps has really learned to despise McClellan’s whining and his smarmy stonewall tactics of late, so Snow will be given that fresh start leeway — but it will last only so long as reporters think that they can work Snow to their advantage.  Because he posed as "one of them" for a while at Faux News, his fall from media grace may be uglier than usual — pack animals don’t like a traitor in their midst, especially one that tries to play them for a bunch of patsies. 

Like I said, git out yer shovels.  Could be an interesting summer…