When I read yesterday's news that Colin Powell's aide, Dick Armitage, had been Robert Novak's source for Valerie Plame's name I was not greatly surprised. For one thing, America's diplomats have a long record of confusing their personal interests with those of the nation itself. Our first Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, put a journalist on his payroll with the understanding the man's real job was to dig up dirt on Jefferson's political rivals such as Alexander Hamilton.  Second, I haven't been a big fan of Colin Powell since I read his autobiography, My American Journey.  To listen to the press, Powell has always been something of a military and diplomatic genius.  I thought Powell came across as the consummate risk adverse ticket—punching careerist not a doer, an inside the beltway game player rather than a warrior, and far too interested in maintaining his media reputation to be truly objective about the nation's best interests.   ...(Read Full Post)