Collin Powel

[Doofy]

I was listening to a discusion about Powel backing Obama.

The consensus was that at this time it no longer means much.

Whether you believe that or not, what I thought was the interesting part of the discusion is that most felt that 12 years ago Powel would have beaten Clinton.

The other thing they mentioned was that Powel being black would never have been a part of his campaign.

You know I think that would have been true.

The man just had such an incredible presence, it was like he screamed integrity.

I really did see him as the eventual US leader.

You can say he was following orders, but for me that all changed when he made that pure BS UN speech.

After that I just saw him as a political hack the same as all the others.

In his prime I would have luved to see him run as a man, and not a black man.

[rossshow]

Obama: Powell will have a role in administration (http://news.yahoo.com/story/ap/20081020/ap_on_el_pr/obama)

The Hill (http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/dems-predict-powell-will-help-obama-battlegrounds-2008-10-19.html), The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-powell-endorsement_b_136166.html), Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/story/politico/20081020/pl_politico/14742), Firedoglake (http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/10/20/mccain-be-afraid-be-very-afraid-of-obamas-campaign-contributors/), Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/19/AR2008101900598.html), unbossed.com (http://www.unbossed.com/index.php?itemid=2357) and CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/19/powell.transcript/)

[krisinluck]

Powell did his job at the time. He said later that he wouldn't have made the statements he made had he not been assured that he was telling the truth. Once he learned it was all bullshit, he was pissed and he spoke out publicly about that.

He's the only Republican I would have switched parties to vote for. He chose not to run because of the impact on his family; his wife in particular, if I recall correctly, was not real wild about the idea. That is a whole different kind of integrity than we are used to seeing in American politics.

I still say he's a Rock Star. I hope the buzz about him having a place in Obama's cabinet comes to pass.

[VocalVixen]

It's funny, but I've never even thought about Colin Powell being an African-American. I have always admired his intelligence, his knowledge of world affairs and his abilities to be a peacekeeper.

I respected his decision NOT to run (although I secretly hoped that he would change his mind) but I am so glad that it looks as if he would be a vital part of the Obama administration, should he be elected.

[zeldas]

Here is a good blog on him. I personally think he is a good man and I am glad to see him as a foreign affair advisor. I do not see this as racial. I respect him for trying to redeem himself.


Powell's endorsement: Redemption, race, or revenge?
2008 Elections | Barack Obama | Colin Powell
by Mary Shaw | October 20, 2008 - 6:18am

article tools: email | print | read more Mary Shaw
On October 19th, retired U.S. Army general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president.

I saw it as another step toward Powell's personal and political redemption.

I see Powell as a reluctant pawn in the neocon run-up to the Iraq war. His United Nations testimony, in which he asserted that Iraq unquestionably possessed weapons of mass destruction, despite evidence to the contrary, prompted me to immediately lose the huge amount of respect I once had for General Powell. It was clear that he was lying for his boss, George W. Bush. He sold his soul for a cabinet seat. And that probably destroyed his credibility to run for president or vice president as many of us had hoped for back in the day.

But, since then, Powell seems to be trying to redeem himself. While some may call it too little, too late, I don't set a statute of limitations on one's conscience.

Powell resigned from the Bush administration in late 2004, allegedly in response to pressure from the Powers That Be who apparently felt that Condi Rice would be a more pliable surrogate.

Sadly for all of us, they were right.

Since then, Powell has admitted that he was pressured into misleading the U.N. on Iraq. Furthermore, he has opposed the mistreatment of prisoners at Gitmo and has in additional ways stood up to the Bush administration's cowboy-style foreign policy. When he said these things in the White House, he was ignored and worked around. But now hopefully he's being heard by the rest of us.

And now he endorses Barack Obama, and the kind of change that he didn't dare to hope for when he was serving the Bush administration.

These things suggest to me that Colin Powell is basically a decent person who was led astray by the neocons. While his playing along is not admirable, it's understandable. We're all human. We rely on the stability of our jobs. And so we are (subconsciously or otherwise) sometimes too quick to give our employers the benefit of the doubt.

So I stick by my theory of redemption. It's another step towards allowing General Powell to atone for his sins and start to sleep well at night.

After all, at least Powell now has the strength to stand up for a healthier agenda -- the change that the Obama campaign promises us. With his endorsement, Powell symbolizes that, for starters, a vote for Obama is a vote against the neocon agenda that led to the end of the unwitting Powell's political career as well as the end of American credibility in the world.

And that seems to confirm my theory that Powell is marching down the path of redemption.

But others, apparently, see it differently, in a couple of ways.

I discovered this in a supermarket checkout line here in suburban Philadelphia. Behind me were two white middle-aged men who apparently knew each other. And they had apparently just heard the news about Powell's endorsement.

The first, a short, graying man in a flannel shirt and faded jeans, alleged that it was a "Negro thing". Powell supported Obama, he believed, because both were African-American.

Just as I was contemplating how shallow and narrow-minded that view seemed to be, the other guy opened his mouth. This was the taller man, in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. He disagreed with his friend regarding Powell's motive. This guy saw Powell's endorsement as an act of revenge. "He didn't have the guts to stick with Bush," he said. "Now he's taking it out on the whole Republican party." This, the man said, gives him even more reason to vote for McCain.

While I shudder at these misguided perspectives, I maintain hope that many in this country will see Powell's endorsement as I do -- a non-racial, no-agenda attempt to now do the right thing for this nation.

And I sincerely hope that Powell will find peace with himself.

_______

[krisinluck]

Very well put! :1clap3:

Thanks for sharing that, Z.

VV, good points. Every one of them. I also hoped very much he'd change his mind, but his devotion to his wife and her wishes not to live in the fishbowl that would create made me respect him more than ever.