By Renee L. Giachino, General Counsel for the Center for Individual Freedom

Last week, Augusta National Golf Club detractor and chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, Martha Burk, demonstrated her real face on national television.� Apparently angry that a debate with me airing on CNNfn's "The Flip Side" had been cut short, Burk ripped out her earpiece, made an inappropriate comment and scrambled to exit the studio in a fit of rage.

I have come to my own conclusions about why Burk wilted under the media spotlight.� But here I will leave it up to the readers to determine whether Burk's malevolent behavior resulted from her not being prepared, failing to practice a Public Relations 101 basic by not taking the time to discuss the program format before arriving at the studio, failure to remember names and faces, or a combination of the above.

On Thursday, April 10^th, CNNfn called to schedule the debate for the following day.� On Friday, I arrived at the studio 25 minutes prior to the scheduled airtime.� I was escorted into the studio about 15 minutes later.� On the set with my earpiece and microphone in place, the camera crew began to appear nervous as airtime approached and Burk had not yet arrived.� I tried to allay their concerns by remarking that, based on past experience, Burk would eventually show up (it was a media event after all), but that she would -- in Burkesque fashion -- arrive late and without apology.� I told them that last fall when I debated Burk on Fox's The Best Damn Sports Show Period she arrived 30 minutes late providing neither explanation nor apology.

Less than five minutes before airtime, Burk finally arrived ... with an entourage — two photographers, a tall gentleman with a notepad and two younger women.� After she settled into her seat remarkably close to me, I turned and introduced myself, saying "I am Renee Giachino from the Center for Individual Freedom outside of Washington, D.C."� "Washington, D.C.," she replied.� "I am surprised we have not met before."

Not met before?� That's strange, I thought.� After all, we had debated, albeit not in person, just a few months earlier on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.� And that was just the first of two head-to-head matchups with Burk.� Around the same time, we had debated on CNNfn -- the very same network for which we were in the studio.� I began to wonder if my name and face were really that forgettable.

Apparently because Burk arrived late, our segment was pushed back so that studio staff could get her settled.� During the delay, several technical difficulties further postponed the live segment.� I sat patiently and did not speak with Burk other than when I assisted her with the microphone cord that was peering out from behind her collar.

But silence wasn't golden for Burk.� While we were waiting, she curtly informed the cameramen that she did not want the live feedback to play above the camera.� When asked "why" by the notebook-bearing gentleman she brought, she indicated that the replay delay distracted her.� The man asked me if it was okay for me if there was no live feedback, and I responded that "was fine, I am very accommodating."

The debate started with CNNfn's Kathleen Hays introducing the topic from the network in New York.� She then asked Burk the first question, to which Burk responded with an uncharacteristically short soundbite.� Hays then turned to question me.� I don't recall the exact question, but I do remember my response began with "I am here because Martha Burk does not represent me."

A deer caught in the headlights is probably the best way to describe Burk's reaction.� When I finished my answer, Hays apologized because she was going to have to cut the interview short.

That's when it got interesting.� Burk, under her breath, but with cameras rolling, said "Oh, Damn!" and then yanked out her earpiece.� The producer then announced that CNN would like to continue the debate on its larger audience news channel.� Burk responded "NO!"� "I can stay," I said.� In the ever-popular realm of reality TV, live programming does not get any better!

Burk, chased by her entourage, hastily left the studio, her screams following her down the hall.� I remained in the studio and was joined by Johanne Lochard, an anchorwoman of the local CBS affiliate, who remarked that she could hear Burk's ranting from the women's restroom.� She asked me to stay for an interview.

Several minutes later, a gentleman who had followed Burk down the hall and out to her car reported that Burk was extremely agitated, accusing the studio of deceiving her.� He indicated that she was shouting about how the CNNfn anchorwoman, Hays, had given me more airtime and then cut the interview short.� Remember, Burk arrived late and spoke first.

By the time I left the studio, Burk's little tantrum was already the talk of the street.� In fact, my cab driver, a woman who criticized Burk for taking money from her pocket because the demand for cab services was down, asked me for my autograph.� Embarrassed, I agreed, noting that it "probably is not worth anything."� She disagreed, saying, "to us Augustans, it's worth a lot."

The local CBS affiliate, whose studios we used for the debate, reported Burk's behavior on its evening news report.

The following day, the Washington Post also reported about the debate debacle.� Numerous other news reports that day and the following reported Burk's failed protest event in Augusta.� With only a handful of Burk supporters, arriving hours late, Burk attended her own protest for only an hour, long enough to be booed by counter-protestors and further hurt her cause and organization with shameful attempts to link the War in Iraq with a private golf club's membership policies.

Rainbow/PUSH coalition leader Jesse Jackson was a no show, claiming through a spokesperson that he did not want to draw media attention away from the "women."� Insiders reported to me that they suspected that Jackson did not make the trip because while on a conference call the previous Wednesday, with ministers from in and around Augusta who he expected to "urge their congregations to attend his protest," half of those on the telephone hung up on him.

Apparently, Jackson understood the protest would be a media flop, with more than twenty five million viewers for Sunday's Masters Tournament, not much more than twenty-five Burk supporters on Saturday.� America can do the math.

For the last ten months, Martha Burk has marginalized and trivialized the legitimate aspirations of women as she pursued her quixotic attacks on Augusta National, producing a sound and fury, overhyped by The New York Times, which ended in humiliation.� It is well beyond the time for women's groups to turn their focus to significant issues important to women.� They would do well to choose a spokesperson who is not Martha Burk.