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Plain nonsense

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell dismissed a Washington Post report published yesterday that said Mr. Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, would leave their posts in 2005.

"It's nonsense. I don't know what they are talking about. I serve at the pleasure of the president," Mr. Powell said yesterday in an interview with Radio Sawa, a U.S.-funded broadcaster in the Middle East.

"The president and I have not discussed anything other than my continuing to do my job for him, and this is just one of those stories that emerge in Washington that reflects nothing more than gossip. And the gossip leads to a rash of speculation about who might fill a vacancy that does not exist," Mr. Powell said.

The White House concurred.

"The president thinks he is doing an outstanding job and appreciates the job that he is doing," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday. "The president looks forward to Secretary Powell continuing to work with him in our foreign-policy realm."

"There was no conversation between the deputy secretary and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice concerning any plans for 'stepping down,'" said State Department spokesman Philip Reeker in a statement released yesterday.

Blood-thirsty conservatives

Do "agenda-setting" liberal and conservative editorial pages differ?