The ugly face of power

Every once in a while, ordinary voters get a chance to peek behind the curtain that hides the real face of power. Such a moment happened last weekend, during an interview with the secretary of state, Colin Powell, on America's most watched Sunday political talk show, Meet the Press.

The veteran interviewer Tim Russert was asking his last question of Powell, who was joining him via satellite from Jordan, when the camera suddenly swung away and viewers heard the voice of a State Department media minder off camera declare: "You're off."

The argument that ensued between Powell, the press aide and Russert was rebroadcast in its entirety and was more revealing of this administration's can-do-no-wrong attitude than any public campaign exchange.

Powell, who could still hear NBC's Russert in his ear, responded, "I am not off. He's still asking the questions." "He was going to go on for another five minutes," retorted the unrelenting staffer.

At this point Russert chimed in: "I would hope they would put you back on camera... I think that was one of your staff... I don't think that's appropriate." Powell finally shut down his aide, Emily Miller: "Emily, get out of the way. Bring back the camera please."

Russert got the chance to ask his last question of Powell, on how he felt now about all the bogus intelligence he was given to present as fact to the UN in the month before the war. But a much larger point had already been made: with the possible exception of Colin Powell, this administration believes itself to be beyond criticism.

The Soviet-style manner in which Republican operative Miller, who used to work for the majority leader, Tom "the Hammer" DeLay, tried to muzzle an interviewer once the questioning no longer pleased her betrayed an arrogance that goes to the core of this White House.

Only if Colin Powell could have taken more assertive role in the Bush administration that many Americans and even many men and women around the world had expected from the man of Colin Powerll's stature, both Iraq and America would not gone to the path of war, incurring hundreds of thousands of casulaties on both sides for a senseless war. He could have said, "Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, get out of the way. Bring back American democracy please."