Jefblog

Well, Colin Powell is now rehabilitating himself after allowing himself to be humiliated by the madmen of the Bush Administration.

Powell has always been the "good soldier", albeit a bit expedient. I'm not sure what he was thinking when he got involved with the Bushies. It probably looked like an excellent career move at the time. As it was, it pretty much damaged his credibility to the point of removing him from further consideration as a presidential candidate.

He was one of the thoughful few within the cabal of thugs and madmen surrounding Bush, and the moronic wing of the Bush Administration did their best to sideline and undermine him.

He finally left in embarrassment and disgust, knowing his reputation had been tarnished. There are actions he could have taken, and things he could have said, but he's no Smedley Butler.

Ah, well. Revenge is sweet, especially when you don't even have to justify it. Especially when it is handed to you on a silver platter.

And it's finally been handed to Colin in this election. McCain, who is clearly failing mentally, has run an incompetent and disastrous campaign that's all but shot itself in the head. This gives Colin the opportunity to endorse the only establishment candidate worth the effort.

Remarkably, Powell has finally stood up for what's right. He's done it using typical millitary pragmatism, for which I have much respect and admiration.

I foresee an opportunity for Powell to finally serve his country in a good way again. While I doubt he'd be offered (nor would he accept) a cabinet position in Obama's administration, I am sure he will be involved as a senior statesmen, and his generally excellent judgment will be highly valued and listened to.

Perhaps he can make amends for going along with the lies and the lying madmen who took us into the most disastrous American policy decision in 60 years.

Can you imagine how Obama's cabinet and advisers will look? I can't help but feel hopeful.

Anyway, Powell is sounding positively Eisenhowerian in his words lately, like a good general should.
Here's what he had to say about his endorsement of Obama:

"I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, fresh set of ideas to the table. I think that Senator McCain, as gifted as he is, is essentially going to execute the Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and a maverick approach to it, and he'd be quite good at it, but i think we need more than that. I think we need a generational change. I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society."

Powell said that the Republican focus on William Ayers and Obama's religious affiliations were damaging America's image abroad.

"Those kinds of images going out on al Jazeera are killing us around the world," he said. "And we have got to say to the world, it doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are, if you're an American you're an American. And this business of, for example a congresswoman from Minnesota going around saying let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro America or not pro America, we have got to stop this kind of non-sense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and diversity. That really was driving me."

Powell continued, defending Obama against McCain's latest charge that the Democrat's policies are quasi-socialist:

"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.'
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."

"Because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have."

Priceless! He subtly hits the nail on the head. The conservative movement and it's low information, proud of ignorance, knee-jerk, shouting, unthinking lackeys generally shout and bully their way through problems because it's the only thing they can do halfway competently.

Even McCain has done it in this campaign. I'll bet he rues the day he decided to campaign the Karl Rove way. Rove's done him in again!

Under Obama, I expect vigorous discussion and debate before a policy is decided upon, unlike the Neanderthal Bush II admin. Sorry Neanderthals, figure of speech.

Powell again:

"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 I don't think is accurate."

Exactly! A thoughtful view on taxes, not some mindless, mouth-breathing knee-jerk reaction based on selfishness and a false sense of entitlement. It's about responsibility my friends. If you want government services (like many red-state conservatives do) you gotta pay for 'em. They don't "trickle down".

As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization."

Yes, taxes. Appropriate taxes, which includes the wealthy taking responsibility for their wealth. (The Kennedys actually do this, as far as taxes and societal responsibility go, unlike the Bush Crime Family.)

Finally, another quote from Our Friend the General:

Powell distanced himself from McCain's staunchly pro-Georgian line. "The fact of the matter is that you have to be very careful in a situation like this not just to leap to one side or the other until you take a good analysis of the whole situation," Powell said, tamping down the rush to herald the rise of a new Soviet threat.

Oh, if only the Great General had said this in the case of Iraq! Perhaps he said it privately but was sidelined by the insane Cheney and Rumsfeld. If only he'd said it publicly, rather than waving around trumped up photos. If only....

Well, the Fates, the Norns, call them what you will, have their own agenda for humanity and the "great" among us. I guess America needed to go down the rabbit hole in order to get better. So in an indirect way, maybe CP helped us live our collective fate....

The worm has turned, and it looks like a new era is being birthed. There is the potential for greatness and progress in the face of the shit storm that we are now feeling the first wave of.

Powell has recognized we are all up the creek, and that McCain and the GOP do not have the proverbial paddle at hand.

Obama does.

Let's hope the General is willing to help and good with an oar. His greatest days could be ahead of him....