Can't really blame him

Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell says he's washing his hands of politics -- for now, anyway.

Powell, as you probably know, was one of the few voices in the Bush administration who urged caution in the Iraq invasion and who suggested the post-war situation might not be as hunky-dory as other officials believed. He was also largely ignored by the neoconservatives who ended up calling U.S. foreign-policy shots.

After four frustrating years of running the diplomatic arm of an administration that doesn't put much stock in negotiation, Powell seems ready to put the whole experience behind him and distance himself from world affairs for a while. He's earned the time off.