The ugly face of power

One of Colin Powell's aides has shown TV viewers what the Bush administration is really like, says Philip James

Friday May 21, 2004

…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.

This isn't the first time the Bush White House has unknowingly revealed itself on tape. At an Illinois rally during the 2000 campaign, the then candidate George Bush called a New York Times reporter an asshole. His comments were picked up and relayed to the world by an unnoticed camera mike. Bush refused to apologise.

Back then, the gaffe was laughed off as part of the machismo of campaigning. In fact, the denigration of an NYT journalist was thought to have actually boosted Bush's numbers with the stock-car racing crowd.

That early example of self-ordained impunity was the beginning of a consistent pattern of behaviour. Four years on, the seeds of this administration's hubris are springing up all over.