The State Department needed to take a long shower after HalfBright left it but it failed to do so. And while I admire and honor Colin Powell, I just don't think he had it in him to clean this particular snake pit out.
I was at an awards banquet this weekend where a former Ambassador was honored. He had worked under both Carter and Reagan - in other words, he was a State Dept careerist. The last line of introduction for him was this: "... and he still believes that ANY antagonistic situation can ALWAYS be worked out by talking." Can you believe that someone could say that after September 11th?
Also, about two years ago, I met with a mid-level State Dept guy in the Near East division. As we walked the halls of State to his office, I said to him, "So, I guess it is hard to change policy direction when a new administration takes over" and he said, "Oh, no, we do our best NOT to change policy just because an administration changes." I just kinda looked at him with a mixture of scorn and utter shock.
It's amazing how infested State is with Leftists who are just plain damned clueless.
That would be an enema, not a shower.