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Possibly, if you were trying not to watch the Nets-Pistons game last night, for fear of the 'fro, you might have channel surfed over to CNBC, which rebroadcasts Meet the Press on Sunday nights, where you might have seen that insane part of the Colin Powell interview, where Powell's press aide Emily Miller seemingly pushed the camera off Powell. Powell and Miller argued about the move, Powell saying that the interview wasn't done and Miller saying something about "they're editing it," with host Tim Russert waiting and saying, " I'm right here, Mr. Secretary. I would hope they would put you back on camera. I don't know who did that...I think that was one of your staff, Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate." White House communications people claim that Meet the Press had run over its allotted time, but come on, the American people are stupid, but we're not naive about our TVs. Meet the Press is the highest rated network political program. It's an influencer. Silly Bush administration, your strong-armed media tactics ain't gonna fly. Especially not when at least part of the U.S. has watched The West Wing at some point.
Russert told the Times that it was a case of "press management gone berserk":
"I've been doing this program for 13 years and nothing like that has ever happened," he said in a telephone interview. "I remember sometimes in countries around the world this happens, but not in America. This is a free press, and political figures can always say `I don't want to answer.' " He said he did not know if it was the content of the question that caused Ms. Miller's reaction or simply that the interview had gone over its allotted time.
From what Gothamist saw, it seemed that the camera had been pushed away before Russert got to the meat of his question. To his credit, Secretary Powell seemed supremely pissed off. We just find the whole incident kind of crazy, in this sensitive time when, as it were, image is everything for the Bush White House. And this move just makes them look scared or stupid or both. Read the transcript. And if anyone can point the way to a video clip of the interview, let us know.
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Link to the video here.
http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002135.php#002135
i was watching when it first aired, and i've never seen anything so weird in my entire life. at first, i thought someone had tripped and hit the camera or something- but a press aid moving the camera? that's just insane. it makes the bush administration look even worse than it is. and of course, that girl should be fired.
How exactly does this make the Bush administration look worse? It makes an overzealous press aid look ridiculous. But Powell came back and answered the questions. In fact, he never tried to stop the interview. Let's be fair - this can hardly be considered "strong-arm media tactics."
I think it makes the Bush administration look worse because it shows that the employees are not interested in giving their bosses time to speak to the public. Yes, Powell did come back to answer the question, but the fact that the press aide thought that pushing the camera out of the way (versus communicating with a producer), during an interview with Meet the Press, shows a lot of arrogance in my opinion. Also, the "strong-arm media tactics" bit was supposed to be a little sarcastic, while a reference to the way the press secretary manages the press corps.
I'd like to hear the news camera operator's account of what happened. Can you imagine if some asshole publicist shoved you and your camera off your subject during a taping? It's suddenly Celebrities Uncensored tactics on the major news networks thanks to the State Department!
If Powell doesn't fire Ms. Miller he'll look like a pushover in the eyes of the news media. His diplomacy and attempts at coalition building are already maligned as indecisive by the blood-thirsty hawks he works with.
Now his press flack is unplugging NBC and calling the shots on camera? Embarrassing!
Apparently you can see the video clip here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/
(Though I can't verify this because MSNBC doesn't support streaming video for Macs)
Before her State Dept. gig, Emily Miller was a spokesperson for Tom Delay. That explains a lot.
What's just as interesting is how Powell is becoming more and more talkative -- and distancing himself more and more from this administration.
First his part in the Woodward book (he's the unnamed source for most of the juicy details); then his GQ interview (in which he allowed his aides and associates to badmouth the administration); then his on-the-record quotes in the Baltimore Sun, stating that he, Rumsfeld, and Rice kept Bush well-informed about the Red Cross human rights abuse allegations from the get-go (directly contradicting Rumsfeld's recent testimony that Bush knew nothing until those Abu Ghraib photos surfaced). And now Meet the Press.
since when does a press person interfere with an interview between the NBC Washington Correspondent and the Secretary of State? Emily has power issues:
http://ronmwangaguhunga.blogspot.com/2004/05/meet-press-cue-to-dead-sea-dead-air-or.html
A press person does not interfere with the Secretary of State, which is why Powell promptly stepped in and finished the interview. But I'm sure "Emily" was acting under the direct orders of W. Rumsfeld was actually going to go over to Iraq a week earlier, but his shoeshine guy wouldn't let him out of the house.
What was hilarious was later on when Russert asked McCain about him running as Kerry's VP he said something like "Uh, can we cut the camera away to a palm tree please?" It was hilarious.
What this illustrates to me is that the White House has Powell on such a short leash, and that he has no real power in the administration (as was expected).
This morning on WNYC, Brian (host) played a clip of Russert being interviewed on Friday. Tim was apparently slightly late for it and during the first few minutes a distinct beep was sounding frequently until Lerher commented on it and refused to proceed until it stopped. Russert seemed nonplussed by it. It stopped immediately. At the end, Russert's P.R. interrupted the interview to let Lerher know he had 8 seconds left of his allotted 10 minutes!
Of course, Brian then played the clip of Russert chastising Powell's interruption. :)
Hi-larious.
Watch the video of Powell's off-camera moments here:
http://www.cnnexposed.com/mtp.php
Incredibly, this segment has now been edited out of MSNBC.com's Internet videos.
From cnnEXPOSED.com:
Slant Index: 4 (vote)
Video of Powell's Meet the Press Blunder
MSNBC.com's copy of the AP's story on a stunning moment during the May 16, 2004 "Meet the Press" (MTP) broadcast receives a slant rating of 4 because, the moment, upon which the story was based, was edited out of MSNBC's own Internet video segments. The strange segment did air, however, during the May 16, 2004 television broadcast.
Find video here: http://www.cnnexposed.com/mtp.php
I remember Emily Miller from when I used to work on Capitol Hill and she worked for DeLay. This is totally in line with her behavior.
If you don't believe it, read this excerpt from the Washington Post's May 13, 2001 story, "Absolute Truth" by Peter Perl in the Sunday Magazine. Perl had just asked DeLay's relatives about a long-ago decision to cut off contact with them.
"The next evening, I got a phone call at home from DeLay's press secretary, Emily Miller, who burst into a scathing tirade. 'You lied! . . . You betrayed him! You twisted his words! . . . We don't know you. You don't exist . . . You are dead to us . . .' I grabbed for a pencil to take notes, but she was speaking faster than I could transcribe. I was being shunned and cut off, with a sort of biblical finality. It was also the only time that Miller neglected to specify that her comments were for my background information, not for publication."
Secretary Powell, fire that ho!!!
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