The General crosses over
...and puts country first.
I'm still a little miffed at former Secretary of State Colin Powell for his phony presentation at the UN in 2003, for his part in foisting the unnecessary Iraq war off on us...but his endorsement of Barack Obama for president on "Meet the Press" Sunday was a nice step toward redemption.
Republican Powell talked about Obama's "steadiness and an intellectual curiosity" and also mentioned his selection of Sen. Joe Biden as a running mate.
He questioned McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as a VP candidate, saying he did not think she was ready to be president. "That raised some questions in my mind as to the judgment Sen. McCain made."
John McCain once viewed Powell as a possible running mate, they go back as friends a long way. So Powell was respectful when he said "either one of them would be a good president," but McCain has been "a little unsure" with how to deal with the nation's financial crisis.
Powell didn't like that the Republican Party has moved "even further to the right"...or the prospect of additional conservative Supreme Court justices.
He criticized the party and the McCain campaign for continuing to talk about 60's radical William Ayers...and for fueling hatred toward Muslims.
Powell spoke of a picture he'd seen in a magazine, of a mother grieving over her son’s headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, saying you could see the name of the dead soldier on the headstone -- Kareem Rashad Sultan Kahn -- a Muslim-American, who came to the aid of our country.
I kept thinking of that woman at the McCain rally who claimed Barack Obama was an Arab. I wish I could've seen her face when she heard Powell’s narrative of how this young soldier gave his life in defense of her country.
Powell said about Obama, "He has both style and substance. He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming onto the world stage, on the American stage, for that reason, I will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama."
Get ready for personal attacks on Powell by the righties...he might be called anti-American, and for sure they will say he only endorsed Obama because he is black. They'll forget that they once praised him, many saying he could be the first African-American to have a real chance at the presidency.
I especially liked Powell's comments during a quick news conference outside, which were as interesting as what he said on the program.
Reporters asked him about the negativity of the McCain campaign, and he didn't try to hide his disappointment. He said that the constant right-wing efforts to falsely label Obama as a Muslim, and to make "Muslim" some kind of slur, not only weakens national unity, but also damages America's standing in the world.
He went on to express his disgust for Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) neo-McCarthyism..."This business of, for example, a congressman (sic) from Minnesota who's going around saying, 'Let's examine all congressmen to see who's pro-America and who's not pro-America'...
Here's what he's talking about--From startribune.com: "Defending the McCain campaign's automated phone calls attacking Barack Obama's judgment and character, Rep. Michele Bachmann on Friday said Obama "may have anti-American views" and called for a news media "exposé" of the views of members of Congress.[..]"
"We have got to stop this kind of nonsense," Powell said, "pull ourselves together, and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity."
He added, "We can't judge our people and hold our elections on that kind of basis. Yes, that kind of negativity troubled me. And the constant shifting of the argument, I was troubled a couple of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis the campaign said, 'We're going to go negative,' and they announced it. 'We're going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayers.'
"And now I guess the message this week is we're going to call him a socialist. Mr. Obama is now a socialist, because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have.
"Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay them, in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good.
"And there's nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more or who should be paying less, and for us to say that makes you a socialist is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate."
Wow, the best explanation I have ever heard of why taxation is necessary was delivered by a Republican as an afterthought.
Obama's on a roll... last week conservative radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish endorsed him, as did conservative columnist Christopher Buckley, the son of National Review founder William F. Buckley. Then he was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, the first time the paper has endorsed a Democrat in its 161-year history.
Still...hard work ahead...don't pop the corks yet...
