Colin Powell reality check

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Colin Powell, former Sec. of State for George W. Bush, is scheduled to be the guest on Meet the Press this Sunday, and buzz is that he will announce his endorsement of Obama for president.

While this prospect is supposedly a good thing for us Obama supporters, in that it will sway a few people who still hold out some reservations about Obama in terms of the much over-hyped “foreign policy experience” thing, because they view Powell as an fine American warrior, and really, isn’t foreign policy all about war after all?

But for me, it just brings up a lot of anger and bad memories, and I was going to blog about how disappointing I find the idea that the media pundits and other lobotomized groups in American society will give Powell’s imprimatur any kind of validity.

But David Sirota has already made the case at Open Left:

Let’s just remember: Colin Powell is one of the major reasons we went to war in Iraq. In his 2003 United Nations speech, he perpetrated one of the biggest frauds in the history of international diplomacy – a fraud that, in terms of its blood-and-guts ramifications, dwarfs major scandals like Watergate.

The idea that being endorsed by someone like that is a good thing – well, that logic may fly in the television studios of New York and D.C., but it shouldn’t fly anywhere else. A person whose most important legacy is destroying America’s international credibility shouldn’t be seen as a Serious or Respectable person, nor an asset to any campaign, no matter how many apologists – liberal or conservative – claim that “behind the scenes” Powell was really a good guy. He wasn’t a good guy – he was one of the handful of people who quite literally lied us into a war. That the elite media imparts even an ounce of credibility to this dishonest yes-man is not a commentary on Powell’s alleged positive attributes. It is a reflection of the elite media’s deep disdain for the facts and truth it purports to respect.

Of course, Tom Brokow, or whoever the MTP host is this weekend, will treat Powell and his (expected) pronouncement with great reverence and respect. A member of a true oppositional press would instead ask: “Well you squandered your reputation being a good soldier for George Bush; why should anyone follow your advice now?”

So, welcome to the reality-based community, Gen. Powell, and if an 11th hour nod to Obama gets him closer to landslide territory, and Sarah Palin sent to permanent exile in Wasilla, thanks a lot. But please don’t think this in any way cleanses your soul. You’re still a war criminal.

4 thoughts on “Colin Powell reality check”

  2. Rena Post author

    Jon Soltz at VetVoice points out why a Powell endorsement should be welcomed and even applauded:

    I’m not excusing Colin Powell for doing what he did. But, at the same time, him being one of the few who was in the White House during that time puts him in a unique position – to say he’s been there and seen what happens when intelligence is no good and twisted, when we go into a war for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way, and that he’s confident that Barack Obama is the guy to not only fix those mistakes, but to not repeat them.

    […]

    In short, while we may criticize Powell for not resigning from the administration if he had strong objections to the war, it’s clear that he did fight a lot behind the scenes, and he can imply (if not explicitly say) that he would have rather had Barack Obama as President during those months, so we never would have gone to war with Iraq to begin with.

  3. Rena Post author

    Jon Soltz at VetVoice points out why a Powell endorsement should be welcomed and even applauded:

    I’m not excusing Colin Powell for doing what he did. But, at the same time, him being one of the few who was in the White House during that time puts him in a unique position – to say he’s been there and seen what happens when intelligence is no good and twisted, when we go into a war for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way, and that he’s confident that Barack Obama is the guy to not only fix those mistakes, but to not repeat them.

    […]

    In short, while we may criticize Powell for not resigning from the administration if he had strong objections to the war, it’s clear that he did fight a lot behind the scenes, and he can imply (if not explicitly say) that he would have rather had Barack Obama as President during those months, so we never would have gone to war with Iraq to begin with.

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