On Sunday 19 October, former Secretary of State Colin Powell officially announced his endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States. Although Powell had left the Republican Party quite some time ago—after he had tried to run away from and attempted to hide his very large contribution towards selling the Iraq war to the American people and the world—the mainstream Obama-supporting media is reporting gleefully “Colin Powell endorses Obama, breaks ranks with the GOP”—Los Angeles Time headline.
The Obama endorsement had been expected by most of us in the new media. However, some of the things that were unexpected were the reasons Powell gave for doing so. Many of these reasons gave credence to what some of us have seen and heard for several years from Mr. Powell—he appears to have become increasingly indifferent and uninterested (hence incurious) about facts and the truth. Powell told the Sunday morning liberal pundit Meet the Press: “I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Note: First of all, Powell cited no one in McCain’s campaign as having made the statement. Oh, I know they’re out there and I also know—after actually having done research—that Mr. Obama was raised a Muslim for a number of years. Suffice it to say, that in itself most certainly does not disqualify one from aspiring to political office in the USA. But, Obama’s past and current affiliation with unrepentant domestic terrorists William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn are very important to many of us and most certainly should disqualify Obama in voters’ eyes. Ones affiliations connote ones character. But, Obama’s lack of character and radical relationships do not seem to bother Colin Powell. Instead, Mr. Powell said that he is more interested in “diversity.” Sad.
In fact, despite extensive documentation tying Barack Obama to both Ayers and Dohrn on both a professional and personal basis, Powell has either chosen to ignore it or doesn’t really care. From a former high-ranking military man, this is particularly troubling. Taking another large gulp of the Obama Kool-Aid, Powell also ripped into Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin with “and I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift” (although McCain has been a “moderate Republican” for years) and “I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin” followed by “I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president.” However, Powell apparently believes that being a radical community organizer and a few months activity in the US Senate constitutes “readiness.” And, Obama’s direct affiliation with the voter fraud group ACORN doesn’t seem to faze Mr. Powell. This is the same organization that said “Obama needs us. We need Obama.” Perhaps he hasn’t taken the time or is disinclined to—or disinterested in—investigate Obama’s close ties to this group, either. Tragic.
For years Mr. Powell had been a “moderate” (AKA “liberal”) Republican—arguably a shift towards the left that many view as what has been wrong with that political party. One can only surmise that Powell—due to his popularity in some circles—may have been tapped or offered a position in the Obama regime. Heading up Obama’s increasingly militaristic “Truth Squads”, perhaps?
Sher Zieve is an author and political commentator. Zieve’s op-ed columns are widely carried by multiple internet journals and sites, and she also writes hard news. Her columns have also appeared in The Oregon Herald, Dallas Times, Sacramento Sun, in international news publications, and on multiple university websites. Sher is also a guest on multiple national radio shows.
