POW Vs Powell

Between a big financial September and the endorsement of Colin Powell, Barack Obama and his supporters should be riding high (for the record, Obama has advised otherwise).

Most liberals and Democrats will say, "Powell betrayed us with his crappy argument for attacking Iraq. He's lost all credibility." Not entirely accurate. Sure, Powell used his reputation to convince many uninformed Americans that Iraq was the Legion of Doom. But back then we had no idea that behind the scenes Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were manipulating Powell via false intelligence information. More than any other prominent member of the First Bush 43 Term, Colin Powell was a loyal soldier, and that aspect of his personality was not going to make him revolt unless there was no doubt that people in the Administration were outright lying. I suspect that despite the alleged infighting (which happens in every administration), Powell simply didn't believe that there was enough evidence for him to question the information he was asked to present.

Also, we need to remember how people saw Colin Powell before he joined Team W. From Michael Moore's book, Downside This! (Page 12):

It is even more surprising that in 1996 a majority of Americans said that if they had a chance, they would elect Colin Powell as president. That these downsized Americans would be able to push through their own personal racism just so they could send a message about how angry they were over their plight was a powerful signal that all is not well in the U.S. of A. Did you ever think things would get this bad in America that you would live to see the day when a majority of white voters pleaded for a black guy to run for president? They would never want him to move next door or marry their daughter - but they would put him in the highest office in the land! Wow.

Personally, I think Colin Powell's quest to regain credibility may be complete, and not because he endorsed Barack Obama. Moreso, it was how. I'll let TheRoot.com's David Swerdlick explain:

Although most of Powell's remarks were fairly clinical—a clear-eyed and balanced assessment of the relative qualities of the two presidential candidates—perhaps the most moving portion of the interview was Powell expressing his dismay at the Republican campaign's willingness to impugn Muslims in this country with a broad brush. He challenged the repeated and incorrect labeling of Obama as a Muslim by his opponents as a way of portraying him as un-American, and asked, "Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" stating, "The answer is, no," before going on to describe his feelings about seeing a photo of the mother of Cpl. Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan at his grave in Arlington National Cemetery, refuting the destructive notion that being a Muslim is some kind of disqualifier to being a genuine, patriotic American.

Only someone of Powell's statue, experience and background could have used the story of Cpl. Khan as an example of American patriotism. In one fell swoop, he linked politics, current events, religion and the military and wove it together like an expert seamstress. Quite frankly, this story trumps anything by Joe the Plumber because (1) it's true, (2) it relates to the current tone this election has taken and (3) it links the two candidates (one a solider, the other a minority) in a way that hasn't been done before.

Here's Powell elaborating on his MTP remarks:

As for John McCain: his greatest political asset -his military story- has been cast to the wayside. McCain has abandoned the media he once had cookouts for. And stories like this can't help his "ACORN if stealing your votes!" meme:

The head of a voter registration group hired by the California Republican Party was arrested over the weekend for allegedly lying about his address in the state in order to vote illegally, the office of California's secretary of state announced Sunday.

Mark Anthony Jacoby, the owner of a signature-gathering firm called Young Political Majors, was taken into custody by Ontario police just after midnight Saturday and booked with a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.

Jacoby allegedly registered himself at his childhood home in Los Angeles, even though he no longer lives there. It is voter fraud to register if ineligible and perjury to provide false information on a voter registration card. Jacoby was charged with two counts of each relating to his 2006 and 2007 registration.

"Voter registration fraud is a serious issue, which is why I vigorously investigate all allegations of elections fraud," said Bowen, California's chief elections officer. "Where there's a case to be made, I will forward it to law enforcement for criminal prosecution."

An arraignment date has not been scheduled yet. Bail was set at $50,000.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Jacoby's firm was paid $7 to $12 by the CRP for each GOP voter registration signature, but dozens of voters who signed on said they were duped into registering as Republicans and thought they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters.

So while McCain is shutting out reporters, allowing his rallies to become increasingly racist, and having to deal with the hypocrisy of Republicans decrying ACORN while tricking people into registering for them, Colin Powell lends his military weight to Barack Obama and makes the case for why every American, regardless of their race or religion, has significance.