Howard Kurtz, on the Tony Snow appointment:

Once, in a less partisan time, it was considered a normal career move for a respected journalist to do a tour of duty as a White House spokesman. Steve Early did it for FDR. Jim Hagerty did it for Ike. Pierre Salinger did it for JFK. Ron Nessen did it for Gerald Ford.

But modern presidents have opted for political publicists who, by and large, have protected the boss, stuck to the talking points and felt comfortable stiffing the press. Some were helpful away from the microphones, of course, but they had spent their careers promoting, deflecting and denying rather than digging out facts.

All of which makes the Snow appointment a fascinating one, especially for an administration that has often seemed to give the media the back of its collective hand.