He said what?

Ten days ago we first learned that George W. Bush broke the law by ordering spying on American citizens. He hasn't denied it, in fact he's admitted that he knows he's breaking the law and plans to continue doing it.

But instead of the fact that the President of the United States of America is breaking the law, the focus remains on whether or not he has a good reason to break the law.

Colin Powell said that the day that he went before the United Nations with a cartoon fantasy story about mobile biological labs was the low point in his career. His failure that day was a major factor in America marching off to war in search of a mirage. Yesterday he proved that he hasn't learned from the experience--and neither has the media.

Both of the following lead sentences are accurate:

"Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said on Sunday that it would not have been "that hard" for President Bush to obtain warrants for eavesdropping on domestic telephone and Internet activity, but that he saw "nothing wrong" with the decision not to do so."

"Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says President Bush was right in authorizing a domestic spying program."

But the headlines all across the world are less subtle: "Powell Sees Nothing Wrong ... Backs Domestic Spying ... Eavesdropping Is Okay"

What he really said is:

1) the Bush administration obviously chose to break the law,

2) it was pretty stupid to break the law because it's so easy to get a warrant to what they wanted to do,

3) the Bush Administration didn't consult him as Secretary of State, but if they had he'd have supported domestic spying and told them to follow the law.

Powell Backs Bush on Domestic Spying - Voice of America, 12/26/05

Powell Speaks Out on Domestic Spy Program - New York Times