General Colin Powell today endorsed Barack Obama for President. It’s a powerful endorsement, not only because Powell is a Republican, but more because even though John McCain is a longtime friend, Powell did not feel that he was up to the job.
There are a number of things Powell said that need mentioning here. Powell’s reasons were threefold. Firstly, he respected McCain, but felt that the United States needed generational change. Secondly, McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his VP was a disappointment, and Powell does not believe she is even vaguely ready for the job. Lastly, Powell has been disappointed at the way the McCain campaign has dipped sharply down into slanderous and negative waters. It has made him believe more than ever that Barack Obama is ready for the challenges that the United States faces.
Colin Powell has always been a man of integrity, and this merely confirms that. I am sure many people were surprised when he became George W Bush’s Secretary of State. We all thought he had more intelligence than that. But it was said at the time that if Al Gore had asked Powell to be his Secretary of State, Powell would have accepted. Powell is first and foremost a military man who wants nothing more than to serve his country. He has always been above politics, and not into partisanship. I personally believe that he is more a moderate democrat than a republican, and the reason he left the Bush administration was because he couldn’t listen to ’stupid boy’ at the top of the tree anymore.
As I continue to watch snippets of FOX News and physically watch the veins in every part of my body almost burst, Powell’s announcements has restored in me a sense that decency, fairness, honesty and integrity still exist in this world, and, God forbid, in politics. Sean Hannity, that unfortunate right wing thug from FOX News has just hosted not one, but two documentaries on Obama titled: Obama & Friends: The History of Radicalism . For those of you who have not seen this slanderous piece of right wing garbage, let me fill you in on what it tries to instill in all of us. Hannity spends the entire show, basically building a case that Barack Obama is a terrorist, and a subversive, who has been groomed by radicals from a very young age. He is basically saying that if Barack Obama becomes President, America is in danger. I was not only horrified at the level that this man, and the thug journalists of his ilk will go to, but that they can get away with what they say. It was the most appalling piece of television I have watched in a very long time. What I wouldn’t do to find some dirt on Sean Hannity. Don’t worry folks, I’m looking, and as he is a right wing conservative, I am sure I will find plenty.
How does this relate to Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama? It’s Powell’s belief that the McCain campaign has gone ‘too low.’ As I have said before, we can pull apart an opponent’s policies, but when we get to slandering their name and resorting to downright defamation, then I think Powell, like the majority of us, draw the line.
Adm. Henry Ulrich, the former commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe, said he thought Powell’s decision was not easy.
“Colin Powell is a very, very, very bright, thoughtful person, and I can assure you that he did not enter into this endorsement without giving it lots and lots of thought and give it all the due process it deserved,” Ulrich said. “I think it is remarkable that he has endorsed a Democrat, and so I am sure he didn’t do it lightly.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-powell20-2008oct20,0,4586523.story
To wait this long into the campaign before you endorse someone means that you have sat back and given your party the best chance to succeed. But this endorsement has proven that McCain is running out of time and options. That’s why Hannity is bending over backwards to dust off the ‘politics of fear’ that got George W Bush re-elected four years ago. It’s all the right wing have. It’s all they know.
Barack Obama, accepting Powell’s endorsement, said this:
“I am beyond honoured and deeply humbled to have the support of General Colin Powell. He knows, as we do, that this is a moment where we all need to come together as one nation – young and old, rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrat.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/race-for-whitehouse/colin-powell-endorses-obama-966599.html
The right wing just love the politics of hate, fear, prejudice and bigotry, because that is where their power is. Sean Hannity does not want his followers smarter than him. He needs them to look up to him and say, “You’re wonderful Sean!” However, Obama has been constant thoughout this campaign. No matter who has tried to detour him off his message, whether it be Palin’s remarks about, “palling around with terrorists”, or McCain allowing his supporters to call out things like ‘terrorist’ and ‘kill him’ when he refers to Obama, Barack Obama continues to spread the message of hope and a better America. And when you see crowds of 75,000 and 100,000 people still attending his rallies, you can tell that people prefer his message of hope than the right wing message of hate.
Let me make a prediction now. If Barack Obama becomes President, do not be scared that he will be assassinated. Yes, that’s a risk. However, I believe that his election will lift the American spirit so high, that assassination will be the last thing from people’s minds.
I am sure Colin Powell believes the same.
Enjoy your day.
