Colin Powell has come a long way from the days when he gave authoritative presentations of Desert Storm. Back then Powell was a no nonsense, facts and figures, black conservative general. He was the type of black conservative that liberals would have had a very hard time smearing. He could have easily grabbed the GOP nomination and perhaps became the first Black president almost 20 years before Obama. He could have inspired a generation of young black conservatives. My how things have changed.
Today Colin Powell is parroting empty leftwing talking points to the GOP on how to make themselves into the Democrat Lite Party. He hits on all the standard "problems" that the Democrats keep telling the GOP they have to change; Rush and Coulter are mean and nasty, McCain and Palin are too polarizing, people want big government, and of course the GOP needs to move to the center. Never mind that the GOP really did move to the left with the nomination of John McCain and Powell still voted for Obama!
I don't really fault Powell for voting for Obama. I imagine that any black man at Powell's age (conservative or not) must have had a real and understandable yearning to see the first black president of the United States in their lifetime. What I do fault Powell for is not having the balls to be up front about it. Back in 2003 Powell said he remained "a strong proponent of affirmative action." Yet, we are to believe that a strong proponent of affirmative action, would pass up voting for the first black president if all things were equal. Methinks not!
I think Powell's move to the left has more to do with his own personal desire to be included, than the GOP needing to be more inclusive. Being a black conservative is not an easy thing to do. I know all too well how the party of "tolerance & inclusiveness" morphs into hyper bigots when dealing with black conservatives. I also know how fellow blacks are even more vitriolic to brothers or sisters who dares to wonder off the liberal plantation. As bad as that is for someone like me, it is exponentially worse for those black conservatives living in the public eye. For black conservatives who are public figures, they need skin like tank armor. Perhaps, after all these years, Powell's armor has just gotten a little too heavy to carry.
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