Predictions: Colin Powell will write a book.

Shortly thereafter, the White House will launch a program of character assassination against Mr. Powell. They will object to certain passages in his book. What those passages might contain, no man can say.

My mystic psychic prognosis: the objectionable passages will raise doubts about George W. Bush’s honesty, his competence, and/or his intelligence.

Okay, I confess. I’m not really psychic. I’m just imagining a repeat of the White House response to books from former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill and former anti-terrorism chief Richard Clarke. This White House has a limited playbook, and they always go back to the classics.