Freak Flag Fly

Convention has it that Powell's departure removes the only bulwark against the more radical foreign policymakers in the administration, but can anyone point to a real example of moderation or multilateralism in statecraft in the last 4 years? Should we feel glad that Powell convinced Bush to send him to the U.N., lied to them about Iraq WMD, and then ignored them? (Perhaps Powell lied a little less than John Bolton would have). Is the fact that we are not invading Iran and Syria as we speak evidence of moderation? Ah, the soft bigotry of lowered expectations.