I attended a talk this evening by Colin Powell, and while he certainly didn't, even diplomatically, suggest that American foreign policy has been hijacked by a neo-con cabal (as his former aide did last week), he did make one politically sensitive declaration . . .
I was ushering the event, and couldn't take notes standing on the side of the auditorium, but in the Q&A which followed his (basically unprovocative) talk, he did strongly encourage the audience to write senators and congress members to get them to support the McCain amendment against torture. Agreeing that Abu Graib has given the US a huge black eye all around the world, it is imperative, he claimed, to stake out the moral high ground as soon as possible. He went on to say that President Bush should come out strongly in favor of the amendment as well. The unstated subtext of course, is that what Bush is doing now is saying nothing and allowing Darth Cheney to lobby against it.
I wonder how Scotty in the Press Room would handle a request for comment on General Powell's remarks . . .