Meet The Press: Cue to Dead Sea (Dead Air); Or, Emily Get Out of The Way

On yesterday's Meet The Press, Secretary of State Colin Powell's assistant, a woman named "Emily", got a little bit frisky with the cameras on the show of NBC's Chief Washington Correspondent, Tim Russert. Bad move. Tim Russert hasn't been snubbed since before he worked for Senator Moynihan, Russert owns DC.

Courtney C. Radsch of The Old Gray Lady characterizes the Sopranoesque dream sequence-like appearance of Colin Powell on Tim Russert's Meet the Press thusly:

"Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was abruptly cut off during an interview on Sunday on the NBC News program 'Meet the Press' when one of his aides decided the interview had gone on long enough.

"As Tim Russert, the program's host, began to ask his final question, the camera unexpectedly panned away from Mr. Powell, who was being interviewed in Jordan via a satellite link from Washington. In the confusion, Mr. Powell could be heard saying, 'He's still asking me questions,' to which a woman's voice answered, 'No, he's not.'"

The article concludes:

"Betsy Fischer, the show's executive producer, identified the staff member as Emily Miller, deputy press secretary to Mr. Powell, and said Ms. Miller 'pulled the plug' without warning. Although the interview was taped in advance, she said such interviews were usually run without being edited. Mr. Russert called it 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.

"Julie Reside, a State Department spokeswoman, said the interview had gone on considerably longer than scheduled, and that the personnel there 'made every attempt to get NBC to finish up.'"

Clearly, Emily was a bossy child, and, as in the case of Secretary Powell, her universe just sort of ignores choleric outbursts and odd decisions. One wonders how Emily reacted to lifes little vagaries as they came up, in the fullness of time, during the course of her life:

Doctor: Alright, you're having the baby -- push!
Emily Miller: No, she's not.
Mrs. Miller: (with averted gaze, pushes)

**

Teacher: Class: repeat after me: Two plus two equals four.
Emily Miller: No, It does not.
Class: (averted gazes) Two plus two equals four.

And so on.