The Colin Powell Option

It never fails.

The New York Times and the Washington Post love to cite Colin Powell as splintering off from the Bush Administration. They gleefully report on his supposed behind the scenes disagreement and quiet opposition. They never fail to whip out Colin Powell as their trump card.

Today, the Post reports:

Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell is emerging as a behind-the-scenes player in the battle over John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, privately telling at least two key Republican lawmakers that Bolton is a smart but very problematic government official, according to Republican sources.

Powell spoke in recent days with Sens. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.), two of three GOP senators on the Foreign Relations Committee who have raised concerns about Bolton's confirmation, the sources said. Powell did not advise the senators to oppose Bolton, but offered a frank assessment of the nominee as a man who was challenging to work with on personnel and policy matters, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

Similarly, the New York Times has this to say:

President Bush on Thursday issued a strong new defense of John R. Bolton, his nominee as ambassador to the United Nations. But associates of Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, said he had expressed reservations about Mr. Bolton in conversations with at least two wavering Republican senators.

The associates said Mr. Powell, in private telephone conversations, had made clear his concerns about Mr. Bolton on several fronts, including his harsh treatment of subordinates.

...The accounts of Mr. Powell's private messages about Mr. Bolton suggested a new gulf between the former secretary of state and Mr. Bush. In a speech in Washington on Thursday, Mr. Bush portrayed Democratic opposition to Mr. Bolton as politically driven, and urged the Senate to confirm the nomination.

Both sources go on to cite a spokeswoman for Powell:

Told of the accounts provided by Mr. Powell's associates, Peggy Cifrino, a spokeswoman for Mr. Powell, said in an e-mail message: "To be precise, General Powell has returned calls from senators who wanted to discuss specific questions that have been raised. He has not reached out to senators. The general considers the discussions private."
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As usual, the Times and the Post resort to the "Colin Powell Option" when they are anxious to sound the death knell for a Bush position or initiative.

I have a problem with this pattern, not so much on the part of these leftist publications, but on Powell's part.

True, his spokeswoman points out that the former secretary has not "reached out to senators." In other words, he was not seeking to get involved in the Bolton matter. Nonetheless, he is involved now.

Are we to trust these liberal newspapers with presenting the "facts"? I don't.

However, that does not mean I assume the story is fabricated.

Powell talked with Chafee and Hagel. He wishes those conversations to remain confidential.

My question is: What on God's green earth makes Powell think any such discussions could possibly be private?

After four years in the Bush administration, you'd think he'd understand it doesn't work out that way.

I suspect he does understand that what he says privately will eventually become public.

If the Times and the Post are going to report Powell's private conversations, it would be appropriate for him to be forthcoming at this point and make a statement regarding John Bolton's nomination.

This whispered speculation stuff has become very tiresome. I thought now that Powell no longer is serving in the Bush administration, we'd be spared this sort of thing.

Gossip is fodder for the Enquirer and apparently, for the Times and the Post as well.

Powell should put an end to the gossip.