Sad day, as thousands of people said good-bye to Tony. The ceremony was magnificent, held in the Basilica at Catholic University.
President Bush gave a terrific talk. He didn't stumble once. He spoke from the heart and basically told everybody that Tony Snow brought a unique perspective to the White House, a reasoned, optimistic view of the world.
Tony's brother Steven also spoke. That was the most emotional moment. He described his older brother as a guy who always looked out for him and everybody else around him, a loyal guy, a kind person.
The hardship on Tony's family, of course, is the main point going forward, but they had to be uplifted by such a tremendous tribute to Tony this morning. His three children seeing the most powerful people in the country gathered, all struggling for words to describe what a courageous and generous American Tony Snow was.
During the ceremony, I was thinking about how Tony would have processed all this. As a convert to Catholicism, he believed that God has a plan for everyone, and we are rewarded in heaven if we execute God's wishes faithfully if we are good people.
I think Tony would have liked the ceremony. It was almost magical in its presentation. You felt like you were in a movie with all of these people and all of the centuries-old ritual.
There's not much more left to say. I think you all know what kind of a man Tony Snow was. We'll continue to honor his legacy and his memory here.
Thousands of you have written to me about Tony Snow. I've passed those letters on to his wife Jill so his children can have them forever. And if more of you want to write, just send them on in and I'll continue to do that.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Dom DiAngi is a trooper. The 7-year-old Chicago Cubs fan was hit by a foul ball last week, and he had to be hospitalized. He's OK and showing his game face to the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIC DIANGI, HIT BY FOUL BALL AT CUBS GAME: This is the one that hit me on the head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you remember any of it?
DIANGI: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the first thing you want to do when you get home?
DIANGI: Play baseball.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Dom is a patriot.
On the pinhead front, hello New York Times TV writer Jacques Steinberg. You may remember FOX News made fun of him recently for painting a distorted ratings picture — that's why they distorted his picture — and propping up MSNBC.
Well, today another wet kiss for that failing cable operation. In fact, in the past two years Steinberg has written 32 favorable mentions about NBC News. Thirty-two. He may be a pinhead, but Steinberg is NBC's pinhead.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com