Colin Powell on Meet The Press

[rpm]

From
The Washington Post

Anyone who saw "Meet the Press" yesterday witnessed quite a moment:

A State Department staffer tried to pull the plug on Tim Russert yesterday.

Toward the end of a "Meet the Press" interview with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jordan, the camera suddenly moved off Powell to a shot of trees in front of the water.

"You're off," State Department press aide Emily Miller was heard saying.

"I am not off," Powell insisted.

"No, they can't use it, they're editing it," Miller said.

"He's still asking the questions," Powell said.

Miller, a onetime NBC staffer who recently worked for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, also told Powell: "He was going to go for another five minutes."

Undeterred, Russert complained from Washington: "I would hope they would put you back on camera. I don't know who did that." He later said, "I think that was one of your staff Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate."

As the delay dragged on, Powell ordered: "Emily, get out of the way. Bring the camera back please." Powell's image returned to the screen, and Russert asked his last question.

What happened was that both NBC and Fox News were using Jordanian television facilities for back-to-back Powell interviews. Russert was allotted 10 minutes, and was asked to wrap when he went over by about two minutes. He said "Finally, Mr. Secretary," but abruptly lost his guest.

Russert was still puzzled afterward. "A taxpayer-paid employee interrupted an interview," he said. "Not in the United States of America, that's not supposed to go on. This is attempted news management gone berserk. Secretary Powell was really stand-up. He was a general and took charge." Powell later called the NBC anchor from his plane to apologize for the glitch.

State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside disputed Russert's characterization, saying that NBC "went considerably beyond the agreed end time. Other networks were waiting for their interviews and had satellite time booked and we didn't want to keep them waiting."

Who does this woman think she is? Colin Powell is the last person I would try to censor, face to face. Saying they were running long is a pretty weak excuse for shoving the camera out of the way and attempting to stop a nationwide broadcast. To his credit Powell basicly told the woman to "Sit Down and Shut Up!".

[ravells]

God! I wish that man would run for President.

Talk about the easiest election choice in history.

ravs

[mosgood]

O well....

sounds like she should be working for rumsfeld anyways....

[WilldCrd]

he'd get my vote

[mosgood]

Originally posted by ravells
God! I wish that man would run for President.

Talk about the easiest election choice in history.

ravs

agreed.  He's the man!

I had looked up some Powell history and there was some incident in Nam that could come up and bite him in the arse though.  

I guess he had investigated some issues about U.S. soldiers massacring villagers and he down played it.  It eventually exploded into a huge story of it actually happening.  I'm going off of memory here but I think that is how it went down.

[ravells]

He's probably too sensible to run for President, because any last little skeleton would be dredged up by the press.

There's a good Arthur C. Clarke novel about a planet which has a computer programme which chooses the president. The criteria is the person has to be excellent for the job and the person who least wants it.

But tell me this (serious question) do you think he would have problems on account of his colour?

Ravs

[Sandman]

Originally posted by ravells
But tell me this (serious question) do you think he would have problems on account of his colour?

Ravs

He probably wouldn't survive his term. That's a bit of a problem.

[ravells]

That's a pity...it's a real 'cometh the time, cometh the man' moment.

Ravs

[mosgood]

Honestly, I think ... yes.  It would matter to too many for him to make it.


A story about yesterday....
Just yesterday, I was talking to my neighbor who's gonna be 70 this year.  He's a nice old guy and never said a bad word about anyone to me....  

We were talking about the vet I was using and having problems with...  then out of the blue he says "Which vet?  Wasn't a ni**er was it?  They don't care what they kill!"  I was shocked....  This is an old guy in a nice area... guess it doesn't matter.

I think there are a lot more racists out there than meets the eye still.

[ravells]

But he already occupies a high position. Do you think he gets death threats from white supremicist organisations?

Ravs

[Ripsnort]

Actually, the KKK is all but dead sans a few micro-orgs in the U.S. The FBI pretty much shut em all down financially speaking.  The Neo-Nazi movements in Germany are much larger than the KKK is in the US.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
Actually, the KKK is all but dead sans a few micro-orgs in the U.S. The FBI pretty much shut em all down financially speaking.  The Neo-Nazi movements in Germany are much larger than the KKK is in the US.

Sure... the organization has obviously lost a lot of ground, but the mentality still exists.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Sandman
Sure... the organization has obviously lost a lot of ground, but the mentality still exists.

I won't argue that point. Agreed.  However, I may be mistaken but isn't he Jamacan?

[mosgood]

Originally posted by ravells
But he already occupies a high position. Do you think he gets death threats from white supremicist organisations?

Ravs

Don't know.

Also, that high position was an appointment.  Not an elected position.

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
I won't argue that point. Agreed.  However, I may be mistaken but isn't he Jamacan?

I don't think the people that would kill him worry about such distinctions.