Remember back when Colin-mania gripped the Republican Party in the mid-1990s? Every white Republican you know bragged about how qualified Powell was to be president. The GOP was begging him to run.
GOP operatives and higher ups were all talking about Powell's sound judgment, record as a soldier, and statesmanlike manner. Some of the highest Republicans in the land made him a four-star general, a chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, and then Secretary of State, after all. The idea anyone would look at Powell as a token pick was folly; Powell's judgment was above reproach, the GOP said.
UNTIL...
...the General endorsed Barack Obama yesterday.
Now, General Powell is getting clobbered by the conservatorati. According to Rush Limbaugh, George Will, and Pat Buchanan, General Powell made this endorsement primarily because he and Obama are both black.
How loathsomely insulting. NOTHING has changed about General Powell, except who he supports. And now the GOP's top mouthpieces paint Powell as one who will throw America into a ditch for "the black man." (Funny, but I don't remember anybody saying we shouldn't have Powell engage in diplomatic talks with any African countries or the U.N. because their presidents were black, as was Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the U.N.). Did Powell "sell us out" to black world leaders?!? (Pun intended).
The Powell backlish lays bare the GOP's race problem for all to see.
When the most prominent Republican African-American appointment in American history doesn't follow the GOP white masters' orders, he gets stripped of his entire history of professional achievements and lifetime of good judgments and is reduced to nothing BUT a black man.
When Limbaugh et al. have the audacity to repeatedly complain that Democrats won't let America "move beyond race," we can only respond: "Sorry, but not until you let it."
No comments:
Post a Comment