"I was in a hotel room in Portugal this weekend when I happened upon my first ever Steven Segal movie, and what a revelation it proved to be. Titled "Above the Law" and dating back to 1988 (as I managed to identify by cars, hairdos and ultimately content) it is a violent tale of one cop's battle against corruption. This raging battle for truth goes all the way up to "the highest levels" and in the end, despite obstacles too numerous to repeat here, the hero saves the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from assassination and exposes savage corruption in the CIA. In his closing words the hero, one Nico Toscani, speaks passionately about what can go wrong when officials are allowed to act "above the law" and, among other sins, control the media. Who knew that Steven Segal (credited as writer and producer) had created a work that not only reflected prevailing views of the CIA after the Iran Contra scandal, but was also prophetic and would have meaning down the ages.

As this administration battles its internal and external demons what is different is that there has been no house cleaning as there was in Reagan's administration. The same movie today would not have such a euphoric ending, it couldn't, because nothing in the world of politics and corruption at the highest levels is being so simply resolved. As the Kenneth Tomlinson investigation unfolds we can only hope that if there was indeed control of the media at the highest levels in truth as well as in fiction, some fearless cop with a 21st century haircut will emerge to rid this country of such an evil.

Here's looking for a real Nico Toscani! "