Powell endorses Obama for president as a “transformational figure”, but won’t campaign for him:
“I truly believe that at this point in America’s history we need a president who will not just continue … basically the policies we have followed in recent years,” he said. “We need a president with transformational qualities.”
I have a couple of questions:
1. Is anyone surprised about the Powell endorsement?
2. What the hey are “transformational qualities”?
3. Aside from the identity politics aspect, how valuable is this endorsement to those who’ve spent the last seven years screaming “Bush lied”, considering how Colin Powell was the guy who went to the UN and could not be belived or trusted? Or does an endorsement of The One make one instantly believeable and trustworthy – a “transformational quality” indeed?
4. As a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, does Powell sincerely believe that an Obama presidency with the Democrats in control of a liberal supermajority and a media that’s hostile to the military will actually be good for the men and women in the Service, particularly in a declining economy?
UPDATE
Roger answers question #2:
Is Obama a “transformational figure”? You don’t know the half of it!
I agree with Gen. Powell that Obama would be a “transformational figure.” But what sort of transformation are we talking about? The United States is the richest, freest, most powerful nation in history. What would it look like after Obama, abetted by a Pelosi-Reid Congress, got done with their transformation?
Yes, that’s right, Virginia, it would be poorer, markedly less free, and less powerful.
How exactly?
In a recent editorial, The Wall Street Journal toted up some of the ways the country would be likely to change were Obama elected with the expected left-wing filibuster-proof super-majority. Caveat emptor: this election is no ordinary choice-among-basically-similar political moderates. It is a choice between a liberal, idiosyncratic Republican and an activist left-wing crusader.
Go read the whole thing.
Not too terribly surprising in that Gen. Powell has chosen an endorsement as his Coriolanus moment. Getting back at those who ignored the Powell Doctrine and then didn’t show the proper deference to his status. Though I would like to be in the same room when he has to share pleasantries with Sec. Albright who wondered aloud just what was the military’s purpose if it only acted when it had no chance of losing. Powell did not want any of the military involved in the Balkans nor in all honesty probably not in the invasion of Iraq either. Gen. Powell was our generation’s Gen. McClellan, constantly preparing and yet never finding the propitious time to actually act in the name of the United States.
Why is it hard to believe and accept that Colin Powell made his decisions based on what he believes and what he thinks is best for the country. There are a lot of inside factors that the general public does not know, but the General himself does and he based his decisions on those facts.
Well, probably because the same groups that see him as a man of vision and patriotism now saw him as a liar, a fool and a house n***** in 2003.
The last should have been in quotation marks attributed to the one and only Day-O man, Harry Belafonte.