Colin Powell, Go Away

Colin Powell served as an advisor and division chief of staff in Vietnam and for that, he deserves our thanks.


His later career was almost entirely self-serving. Despite his well documented liberal tendencies, he's always called himself a republican. Early on, I suspect he believed that a black conservative, with a distinguished military resume, would have wide crossover appeal. 




For a while, he was right. Eventually, however, he pegged one too many b.s. meters. He supports discrimination against whites, or for those who know the program by its euphemism, affirmative action. He voted for Obama over his good friend John McCain. 


In this Larry King interview, he gets almost everything wrong. Allowing that the president should focus on the economy, Powell leaves unsaid the damage to the balance sheet done by the bailouts, the stimulus and the nation destroying health care monstrosity rammed through congress. All of these are Obama "accomplishments." Powell not only has no regrets about endorsing Obama, he believes that the American people have lost focus on what the president is trying to communicate. (Note that Obama, the great communicator, needs a teleprompter to make a 10 minute speech.) Watch the video if you dare. I found it disgusting.  


Many Americans, especially in the military, still have great respect for Powell. But as with the president, there is a vast gap between the public perception and true capabilities. Powell never commanded a division, an imperative for a combat arms officer in achieving senior rank. As reported in The Commanders, by Bob Woodward, Powell also received a bad efficiency report as deputy division commander at Fort Carson. Inexplicably, he then moved up to be Caspar Weinberger's senior military assistant. As Secretary of State he offered Bush the inane "Pottery Barn" analogy that if you invade Iraq you own it. In Powell's version of statecraft for dummies he equates 25 million people with busted store merchandise. By the way, Pottery Barn just writes it off as a loss. 


Colin Powell should just come out as a democrat and let it be over. We'd have a lot more respect for him.