Powell Redeemed

At the dawn of this disgusting administration, those of us who were paying attention breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this wasn't going to be the disaster we predicted it would be after all. The appointment of Colin Powell as Secretary of State seemed just right. He was a smart guy and not the type of hard-line extremist one would have expected the First Fool to put in that position.

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Even the curious choice of Condoleeza Rice (an expert on the Soviet Union, a country that doesn't even exist anymore) as National Security advisor seemed to be okay. Although I knew next-to-nothing about her, she had always seemed to be such an intelligent, reasonable woman whenever I saw her interviewed in the media. Also, I thought she was kind of cute. Sorry 'bout that.

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Who could have possibly foreseen the coming foreign policy catastrophe with two such people navigating the ship of state?

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The tragedies of General Powell and Dr. Rice is that their names will forever be tied in history to the most corrupt, criminally incompetent presidency in the annals of human stupidity. Condi has a long road ahead of her to salvage her reputation. The General, on the other hand, has already saved his. And it all happened yesterday at the studios of NBC News on Nebraska Avenue in Washington DC. When Colin Powell, in an interview with Tom Brokaw on Meet The Press, endorsed the candidacy of Barack Obama, that was all I needed to hear, baby! As soon as the words came out of his mouth, I picked up the small, black and white TV that's in my office and kissed the guy's televised image. Seriously! I was even videotaped doing it! (see photo to the left of column) You got a problem with that?

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Said Powell during that interview:

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"I think he's a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama....

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"I think what the [next] president has to do is to start using the power of the Oval Office and the power of his personality to convince the American people and convince the world that America is solid, America is going to move forward - restoring a sense of purpose....

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"We need a President that will not just continue....the policies we have been following in recent years."

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It was an historical example - one they'll still be talking about a century from now - of a man putting his country before his party. That type of behavior is unimaginable for a politician. But it's just what you would expect from a soldier patriot. His involvement in the first term of this nightmare of an administration is now troubled water under the proverbial bridge. And let's not forget the fact that at least Powell was smart enough to get the hell out of there while the getting was good. He will be one of the microscopic, handful people associated with George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney who will stand in history relatively (although not totally) unscathed.

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Let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans; born in the second half of the twentieth century....

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So! This election is over, right? Right? Wrong. At this very moment, the Republicans are in the process of stealing this election by taking millions of people, most of them African American - damned near all of them Democrats - off the list of eligible voters. Their focus is on a group known by the acronym, ACORN. Apparently, some people working for the group (who were paid for every voter they registered) signed up people who didn't even exist. In their speeches, John McCain and Sarah Palin are referring to it as the most massive voter fraud in the history of American electoral politics. What they are forgetting is the fact that although one may be able to register Laurel and Hardy to vote, It's a fairly safe bet that Stan and Ollie will probably not show up at the polls on Election Day to cast their ballots. Call it a hunch on my part.

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The GOP has ruined this country. The American people will not stand for another electoral coup d'tat. I slept soundly when I went to bed on Election Night 2004. Every poll had Kerry beating Bush by a slim but comfortable margin in the key, swing state of Ohio. When I was awaken by my nephew Chris Pennings with the words, "He won", I could tell by the look of disgust on his face just who "he" was.

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Four years earlier, They stole the election by denying the vote to fifty-seven thousand black people in Governor Jeb Bush's state of Florida. I don't know about you, but for almost eight years I have been living under a dictatorship. As I wrote on this site a week or so ago, if Wednesday morning's headline proclaims, "PRESIDENT-ELECT McCAIN", in spite of every exit poll to the contrary, there will be a Revolution - Count on it.

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This is the end of the game. The grand old party is over. They're not going to go down without a fight, however. If you thought the post-election nightmare of 2000 was nasty, you're in for the ride of your life. The Bush Mob are like rats trapped in a corner. They know that when the Department of Justice is finally in the hands of responsible prosecutors, a whole hell of a lot of them - including the president and vice-president - will be going to federal prison for a very, very long time. An Obama administration is within sight. They will do everything humanly possible, legalities be damned, to see to it that that does not happen.

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The shit is about to hit the fan.

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Three months from today we will have a new president. That's assuming the commander-in-disguise doesn't declare a national emergency and suspend the constitution. On that day, we will know whether or not the United States of America is still a true democracy. The people are tired of the Republican, plutocratic mismanagement of our economy and our infrastructure. The right wing spin machine has already gone into overdrive. Colin Powell's endorsement of Senator Obama is simply a case of one Black dude standing up for another. All they see is black and white - ignoring the subtle shades of grey.

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General Powell is the old fashioned kind of Republican that has almost become extinct in recent years: a moderate. In the next two weeks, the Rush Limbaughs and the Sean Hannitys will attempt to portray him as a bomb-throwing Marxist; they'll call him a racist who never really loved his country; they'll accuse him of making a secret deal with Obama to be appointed Ambassador to Monaco - Don't buy any of it. Colin Powell's only motivation is his love of country, his patriotism. He sees what anyone paying attention can see quite clearly: that four more years of Republican rule will destroy this country; that a John McCain/Gidget von Braun administration will be the final nail in the coffin of America's economic suicide.

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It's also a fairly safe bet that Powell understands that a potential Palin presidency would be a disaster. This is a woman who was, at best, marginally competent to be the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. As has been said by even prominent conservatives (George Will, Peggy Noonan, Christopher Buckley and Kathleen Parker come immediately to mind) her choice as a running mate shows a cynical recklessness on the part of John McCain. That he could irrationally place someone so woefully inadequate a "seventy-two-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency" defies comprehension and common sense.

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Here's something else that I'll wager you was on Colin Powell's mind when he endorsed Barack Obama yesterday morning: The Supreme Court. The good General has been able to reach the heights he has risen to partially due to the decisions of progressive Justices and Politicians. He knows full well that the next president will make at least two - possibly three appointments to the Supreme Court. He realizes that one more extreme right leaning activist on that court will set this country back decades.

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The decision of Harry Truman to desegregate the Armed Forces when Powell was just a little boy made his career possible. At the time, southern politicians screamed bloody murder that it would mean certain disaster for the military. The president knew better. But not for that courageous decision made by President Truman over six decades ago, Colin Powell would never have risen above the rank of Buck Private.

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Here's what you can depend upon: President Obama will surround himself with the best and the brightest. President McCain will surround himself with ideological party hacks. You don't believe me? I've got six words for you:

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Secretary of the Treasury, Phil Gramm.

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'Nuff said? I can't emphasize this enough: 2008 is the most important presidential election in our lifetime. Not since 1932 have the stakes been higher. We're one half of one step away from the point of no return. Think I'm kidding? Then go right ahead. Vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. You'll deserve everything that happens to you.

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Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

tomdegan@frontiernet.net

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AFTERTHOUGHT:

All due respect to Tom Brokaw, watching his interview with General Powell yesterday, I couldn't help but think how much I miss Tim Russert.

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There are ninety-one days (exactly three months) until this awful administration out of power. Hang in there, folks!