The coffee pot has ears

Via Think Progress comes a Dana Milbank account of a rather clumsy attempt to control the press recently by the State Department. From Milbank's "Washington Sketch" column at The Washington Post:

Those wondering why the Bush administration has failed to spread democracy across the globe might find a clue in yesterday's meeting of the State Department's "Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion."

About a third of the way through the meeting, and not long after Undersecretary Paula Dobriansky boasted to the television cameras that "our entire session today is open to the public" and attended by the press, State Department officials ordered reporters to leave.

"This is the way they wanted it to happen, and this is the way it's going to be," explained department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos. "They seem to have wanted you all out."

The spokesman declined to say who "they" were. "You got a problem?" Gallegos challenged. "Write a letter."

If you read all of Milbank's column, it recounts a scene that would be comedic if it weren't so pathetic. You can almost imagine Colonel Klink trying to butter up the major, it's that bad...

"Yes, Madame Secretary Condi, we are making sure to implement the programs in a most efficient manner. (HO-GAN!)"