Newt Gringrich once again says what everybody thinks but wont say, and gets the crap kicked out of him for his troubles. I've felt for the last few years that Newt got a hell of a raw deal. He a made a serious tactical error in impeaching Clinton, but he deserves better then an ignoble retirement. He's too value an asset to the Conservative movement to be wasted giving lectures.
He's also absolutely right about the State Department. There's a reason they call it Foggy Bottom, its one of the most impenetrable and aggressively insubordinate beaurocracies in the Federal government. Since the Vietnam War they've waged a completely defensive foreign policy, essentially serving as an advocacy group for the various countries they deal with. The Defense Department has been left with the perogative of actually advocating and defending American interests. Powell has the prestige and political weight to change this but so far hasn't shown any inclination to do so. He seems very much a prisoner of the beaurocracy, which doesn't bode well for effective American diplomacy in the near future.