Have State, Won't Travel

According to MSNBC www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5433036/ Colin Powell is the least-travelled Secretary of State in 30 years. Admittedly, this is just one of those silly "curiosity" stories but I think MSNBC missed a major angle.

The man's probably not visiting other countries because they don't want him. It's not that he'd be barred from entering anyplace but I gather that European leaders who have to be elected by populations who are skeptical, to say to least, of Bush and his foreign policies, don't really want to be photographed getting cozy with a liaison from the world's self-appointed emperor.

Many of Europe's elected officials are already in hot water with voters and having a Bushie like Powell stopping by for visits won't help much around election time. Believe it or not, a lot of European voters and voters in other democracies including our friendly neighbors to the North, have this weird notion that our current President is an arrogant war-monger. I know, I know, those crazy foreigners!

Another angle: Powell, probably the smartest member of the Bush administration, is maybe afraid that if he leaves D.C. for any stretch of time, the President will do something stupid.