Sunday, October 19, 2008

STRANGE BEDFELOWS, POWELL AND OBAMA


Having worked with the military for over 20 years, we have a great respect for our service members. Whatever one may think about the morality of war, it is a fact that a US four star general or admiral is the peer of any major CEO. A former Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the US, is in the company of the heads of General Motors, Exxon, and US Steel, the crème de la crème. Colin Powell is not only a former Head of the Joint Chiefs, he is a former Secretary of State and probably the most distinguished African American ever to serve in public office, rivaled only by Thurgood Marshall. We are, therefore, gravely disturbed and more than a little confused by Gen. Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama today.

Gen. Powell gave three major reasons for eschewing his fellow military officer, John McCain, in favor of the much less experienced junior Senator Obama:
  • Obama’s ability to inspire not only the US citizenry, but the world at large,
  • McCain’s perceived lapse of judgment in choosing Governor Sarah Palin, and
  • The extreme conservative focus of the Republican Party.
We don’t see it quite that way.
  • We don’t find Obama inspiring, but frightening in the same way we were frightened by Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Reverend Sun Jung Moon.
  • We don’t consider Governor Palin’s choice as running mate to be poor judgment, but evidence of political genius and amazing perception. Her critics fail to recognize that she is a Governor, one of 50 chief executives, one of eight female Governors, and the most popular Governor in the US. The pundits and late night stand ups would have us believe that their judgment trumps that of the Alaskan people who know Governor Palin’s ability better than any of us. While we wish Palin was more moderate, we do not question her experience or potential.
  • We believe the Republican Party to be far more centrist than the Democratic Party. Senator’s McCain’s nomination is evidence of the GOP’s retreat from the dark days of the Moral Majority and Newt Gingrich. Obama’s purge of Clintonians and the hijacking of the party’s credentials committee heralds the leftist extremism to come.
Because we don’t believe General Powell lacks judgment, experience, or intelligence, we are left with some ugly alternative conclusions.
  • Gen. Powell is more embittered by his treatment at the hands of the Bush administration that previously believed. Without question, his unwitting involvement in the scam that was the selling of the Irag invasion severely damaged his legacy and his ego. With this endorsement he does a one finger wave good-bye to the Republican Party.
  • Age and circumstances have robbed Gen. Powell, and all of us, of the preferred first African American President of the United States. Through this endorsement Gen. Powell, hopes to share in making history. We have no doubt that Obama will show him the same gratitude that he has shown Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and the other elders of the civil rights movement.
  • As a retired Army General, Powell, sees retired Navy Captain, McCain, as less than a top level candidate. Had McCain followed in the footsteps of his Admiral father and grandfather, no doubt Powell would hold him in higher regard.
Whatever, Gen. Powell’s real reasons for endorsing Barack Obama, we are certain that it relegates Powell to being a footnote in history.

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