Colin Powell gave the strongest endorsement I've ever heard. I especially like his comments about the Muslim soldier. He presented the whole thing with a very clear, brilliant clarity and balance, and the perspective of a very wise man.

He likes to back a winner. If McCain was 1% ahead we would never see this.

I was hoping there would be one.

you seem to be on your way to rehabilitation, Joan.

The bandwagon has enough room for everybody, I guess.

I'm one of those who believes that Powell's leaving the Bush administration in 2002-2003 might have stopped the Iraq invasion, or at least discredited the whole thing early enough to put some scrutiny and oversight onto the thing in time to prevent the debacle that it became. I admit that Powell has information about what was going on INSIDE the administration that I don't have, which may have informed his decision in ways I can't understand. If Powell couldn't have stopped it, I don't know who could have. Powell and all of us should have tried harder.

Nevertheless, he's done the right thing now, and has shown the courage to say what few are saying (except in blogs, which doesn't count because it's too easy) about the Republicans and the McCain campaign. Thank you, sir.

in the other thread on this i wrote that powell will forever be tainted for his role in not just not leaving the administration, but actively aiding the spread of lies ramping up the war effort. however, that does not mean he's totally beyond redemption. if what joan claims is true -- that this endorsement, combined with the record fundraising by obama this month, are the final nails in securing the election -- i could easily see a place for powell in an obama cabinet, especially after his moving and eloquent endorsement. there are 2nd -- even 3rd and 4th -- acts in american political lives.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/09/29/slideshow_080929_platon?slide=16#showHeader

As I wrote in the other thread about Powell, I am a bit concerned that Obama's lead among people likely to vote is not as big as among registered votes, as this site points out:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/todays-polls-1018.html

Do you people think this difference is important? And is Powell likely to change it?

Two of the battlegrounds are Virginia and NC. If Obama wins either, McCain is cooked. Both states have a LOT of military/ex-military/will be military. The anti-war folks may hate Powell for the UN show and hanging in there with the Bushies so long, but in the military, he is still a rather revered figure. This endorsement may not carry much weight with Eastern liberal elites, but it is going to have a serious impact in a few very significant places.

And if not for conscience purposes, but for electoral impact, the timing simply could not have been better-- long enough to sink all the way in, short enough that it won't be forgotten.

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

A month ago, I couldn’t intellectually accept the possibility of a President Barack Hussein Obama seated behind that big desk in the Oval Office but it seems a virtual fait accompli today.

I hate even writing that. It’s not that I’ve given up, either, although Senator McCain seems to. That is, he seems to have given up assuming he ever really wanted the job in the first place.

Sure, he went through the motions–and they were strenuous, time and soul-consuming motions of a hard fought primary campaign followed by a more taxing seven weeks, three nationally televised debates, countless stump speeches and political ads, and an abject apology to Dave Letterman. But, why?

It’s equally difficult to imagine that McCain didn’t want the office of the presidency. After all, he wanted it eight years ago though he was defeated then by the slings and arrows of Bush sniping and innuendo.

I’ve heard suggestions that, at least lately, he’s really been running for Senate Minority Leader rather than for the presidency, a theory I find almost unfathomable mainly since it’s hardly worth the effort to be minority leader in an institution which, prospects are, will be so dominated by Democrats that a Republican leader would have the clout of a Czarist in the Politburo.

Nevertheless, whatever John McCain is running for, based on most recent reports, is an exercise in futility. The handwriting is all over the walls and the floors, on the interiors and exteriors of America’s institutions, and that handwriting, more akin to graffiti than to rational reflection, is predicting one outcome, the election of Obama on November 4th.

What his election will mean to America is predictable by that graffiti.

I won’t bore the reader with elaboration on truisms, that this “unknown” quantity from Illinois is better known than our mass media will publicize, that he is a radical socialist with clear and irrefutable ties to Black nationalists, Black and White terrorists past and present, and that his currently-muted bride, Michelle Robinson Obama, would easily be the most disturbed woman to inhabit the White House since Mary Lincoln.

A personal case in point which I believe gives an indication on what life under Obama would be like.

I returned today from a brief, my first, visit to Florida’s Key West. Aside from the givens, that it’s a destination which should be on the itinerary of every travelling American tourist for its historical significance and that it’s a perfect example of near-perfect natural beauty, it’s also a depressing place, even if Harry Truman and Ernest Hemingway felt it’s God’s gift to the planet.

The palm trees, man-made beaches, and take-your-breath-away tropical vegetation were impressive to this New Yorker but its natives were not nearly as impressive.

For one thing, if a tourist wanted to indulge in the full flavor of the Keys, a close acquaintance with Espanol is a requisite. For another, said tourist had better not venture into the ghetto of Key West without an adequate supply of pepper spray or, preferably, a machete and a (licensed) revolver.

What struck me most was our visit to Truman’s Little (4300 square foot) White House, not because I was walking in the footsteps of Harry but because of an incident in the ubiquitous gift shop.

After our party had purchased some trinkets, I noticed a political section which featured such items as bumper stickers and buttons. Obama/Biden stickers and buttons were in full display, McCain/Palin stickers and 2 inch buttons were all but hidden away.

Being politically obnoxious, I surreptitiously switched them and purchased two McCain/Palin buttons and pinned one on my T-shirt. The nice lady behind the counter raised her eyebrows and sotto voce whispered, “Umm, you do know this is Key West?”

I responded that I did know where I was. She just nodded and said, “Okay, I was just giving you fair warning.”

I smiled and added, “Well, this is still the United States, right?”

She didn’t respond to that. I have to believe that the nice lady was looking out for my welfare.

We suffered no untoward incidents, except maybe for a local putting his pet parrot on our shoulders and heads for the purpose of making a few bucks taking our pictures, which was more fun than intimidation.

But that whole gift shop exchange made me think that an Obama administration could mandate parrots on heads and shoulders as well as declare that T-shirt dissent would be deemed unacceptable: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail;jsessionid=42DC2F03298955FDD7534DD207C872CB?contentId=7664724&version=11&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.14.1&sflg=1

More on Obama, dissent, McCain, and our future tomorrow.

Check back.

(http://genelalor.com/)