General Candyass to the rescue

Powell Speaks Out on Domestic Spy Program - New York Times

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said on Sunday that it would not have been "that hard" for President Bush to obtain warrants for eavesdropping on domestic telephone and Internet activity, but that he saw "nothing wrong" with the decision not to do so.

"My own judgment is that it didn't seem to me, anyway, that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants," Mr. Powell said. "And even in the case of an emergency, you go and do it. The law provides for that."

But Mr. Powell added that "for reasons that the president has discussed and the attorney general has spoken to, they chose not to do it that way."

"I see absolutely nothing wrong with the president authorizing these kinds of actions," he said.

Asked if such eavesdropping should continue, Mr. Powell said, "Yes, of course it should continue."

Mr. Powell said he had not been told about the eavesdropping activity when he served as secretary of state.

I just don't get it. Powell does this time and time again -- says enough to make himself very unpopular with his former masters, but not enough to accomplish anything positive. If you reverse engineer from the results, it is hard to escape the conclusion that he is either mind-bogglingly stupid or just as mind-bogglingly self-destructive. It is like he is auditioning to be a 21st century Sergeant Schultz, intoning a mantra of "I know NOTH-INK!" ad nauseum.

What a wanker.