I'm still peeved at Tony Snow for his undignified treatment of a truly distinguished journalist, Les Kinsolving – a man who began covering the White House when Snow was writing editorials for his junior high school newspaper.

Earlier this week I announced Kinsolving, WND's White House correspondent, would no longer attend White House briefings because of the cold and callous disrespect he has received from the smug Mr. Snow.

It seems Snow is more interested in currying favor with the Big Media White House press clique (a favor he will never win, by the way) than in addressing questions, admittedly sometimes offbeat, from the real Americans who help Kinsolving and WND do their jobs.

For nearly 10 years, WND has provided a forum in which ordinary, hard-working, taxpaying Americans were given a shot at asking questions of the president. We did this before YouTube took over presidential debates. We did this before the term "blog" was invented. We did this during another presidential administration, one that used all of its power to shut us down because of our relentless and independent investigative reporting into its many scandals.

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We will continue that forum. However, we will no longer ask Kinsolving to suffer the indignities of Snow's humiliating and condescending public scoldings. And we will not be lectured about the craft of journalism by a partisan pundit who never worked as a legitimate newsman in his life.

If Tony Snow wants to have a public debate about journalistic ethics, standards and practices, I'm sure either Les Kinsolving or I would be more than up to the challenge, given our many decades of experience each as reporters, editors, newsmen. Tony Snow's sole experience in the media is as a pundit – an editorial writer, professional Bush I and Bush II defender and TV talking head.

I'll tell you what a disservice to the craft of journalism is – when partisan political hacks are allowed to crisscross at will over the boundary between government and independent watchdog.

I'll admit it. Kinsolving is a character. He sometimes asks tough questions. He sometimes asks perplexing questions. He occasionally even asks ridiculous questions. But he's not just "a character." He has character. He is a living institution – the kind of man who should be honored with dinners and testimonials, not treated like somebody's crazy aunt.

Kinsolving asked a perfectly legitimate question earlier this week of Snow. It had to do with emergency preparedness – a critical issue few in the Bush administration have had the guts or the foresight to deal with.

Snow suggested the question had no bearing on the president's responsibilities. You would think a president who was accused of losing the city of New Orleans because of lack of preparedness would have learned some political lessons from that bad rap.

How is it possible Tony Snow thinks the issue of civil preparedness has nothing to do with the president's responsibilities? Is it possible this president reads the Constitution and concludes he has some responsibility to educate your children and none to protecting the lives of Americans from attack?

I'm certain Snow didn't even listen to the question. I'm certain Snow called on Kinsolving for what turned out to be the last time just to chew him out because he didn't like the way stories were reported and edited in WND. I'm certain Snow did it to show the jealous, spiteful, non-collegial, backbiting malcontents who comprise most of the White House press corps just how "sophisticated" and "mainstream" he is.

Snow just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand the credibility gap he and his politically tone-deaf Bush administration colleagues have created.

Terrence Hunt of the Associated Press and Helen Thomas (currently of limited professional portfolio) are never going to like him or his boss. Get over it. Snow is not going to win them over by attacking Les Kinsolving. Neither should a White House press secretary yield to the political Zeitgeist of the whiny spoiled brats in the White House press corps.

If it sounds like I'm angry with Tony Snow, I am.

And I am because I don’t like the way he has abused a good and decent man named Les Kinsolving.

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