Powell's Flawed Exit Strategy (washingtonpost.com) Cohen

"Colin Powell came into office with enormous public support and popularity. The tragedy is that he left pretty much the same way. He should have used his immense standing to oppose a war he knew was unwise and was being fought in ways he knew were wrong. He was, paradoxically, in violation of his own doctrine: caught in a quagmire and with no exit strategy."
It seems that popularity, not meritocracy, rules the day. WTF, he was an nice guy. Not at al different from the way the corporations get run. Oilgarchy, nepotism, or just plain incest.