Emily Miller needs some anger management therapy

Emily Miller, a "top aide" to Sec/State Colin Powell and ex-press sec. to House Maj. Leader Tom DeLay has received more attention than "she bargained for" after trying to forcibly end a 5/16 "Meet the Press" interview with Powell.

As Tim Russert and media critics "piled" on the criticism, Miller defended herself, saying Russert had already run over the allotted time with five interviews waiting to be conducted on a similar time schedule.

Little did we know though, that Miller caused another "press spat" while working for DeLay. Peter Perl was writing a DeLay profile for the Washington Post Magazine. After interviewing DeLay's sister about a "rift" within the extended DeLay family, Perl received a call from Miller.

Perl: "The next evening, I got a phone call 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 ... It was also the only time Miller neglected to specify that her comments were for my background information, not for publication"

She needs to take a chill pill. OK, maybe two.

In other news, Jon Stewart gave the commencement address at his alma mater, William & Mary, this year. Some highlights:

Stewart, on his college days: "What I lacked in looks I made up for with a repugnant personality. ... You could say that my one saving grace was academics where I excelled, but I did not. And yet now I live in the rarified air of celebrity, of mega stardom. My life a series of Hollywood orgies and Kabala center brunches with the cast of 'Friends.' At least that's what my handlers tell me. I'm actually too valuable to live my own life and spend most of my days in a vegetable crisper to remain fake-news-anchor fresh."

Stewart, on his graduating from college: "I know that the decisions that I made after college worked out. But at the time I didn't know they would. See college is not necessarily predictive of your future success. And it's the kind of thing where the path that I chose obviously wouldn't work for you. For one thing, you're not very funny."

Stewart: "Let's talk about the real world for a moment. ... I don't really know how to put this, so I'll be blunt. We broke it. ... I don't know if you've been following the news lately, but it just kinda got away from us. Somewhere between the gold rush of easy internet profits and an arrogant sense of endless empire, we heard kind of a pinging noise, and uh, then the damn thing just died on us. So I apologize."

Stewart continues: "You fix this thing, you're the next greatest generation, people. You do this -- and I believe you can -- you win this war on terror, and Tom Brokaw's kissing your ass from here to Tikrit, let me tell ya. And even if you don't, you're not gonna have much trouble surpassing my generation. If you end up getting your picture taken next to a naked guy pile of enemy prisoners and don't give the thumbs up, you've outdid us."

Stewart's "real advice": "College is something you complete. Life is something you experience. So don't worry about your grade, or the results or success. Success is defined in myriad ways, and you will find it, and people will no longer be grading you, but it will come from your won internal sense of decency" (release, 5/18).