Colin Powell Joins The Parade-- Eloquently

Powell thinks we need the right man to clean up the mess

If you missed Meet the Press this morning, you can watch Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama below. I'm no fan of Colin Powell but his analysis of the political situation that led him to decide to vote for Obama was spot on. Afterwards he did an impromptu press conference in front of NBC and he went even deeper into his thoughts on how the Republican Party has degenerated and how that degeneration is undermining the essence of our country (again). Powell, who reminded the public that Obama, not his old friend McCain, is the "transformative figure" than America needs now, was a far more inspiring advocate for Obama than the plodding cardboard cutout that Joe Biden has been turned into, that's for sure. McCain doesn't agree with Powell's vision and pointed out that he's been endorsed by wanted war criminal Henry Kissinger, by dangerous and delusional Al Haig, and by Republican Party hack James Baker.

Powell, when asked, said he's still a Republican. His thoughts on the party-- particularly on Michele Bachmann, who he singled out, and other far right divisive elected officials-- makes one wonder why.

This comes in the midst of nearly every important newspaper in America endorsing Obama, many also slamming McCain-- as Powell did-- for his bad judgment, if not cynicism, in picking Palin as VP. Until today, the Houston Chronicle hasn't endorsed a Democrat since LBJ in 1964. "While Arizona Sen. John McCain and his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have struck an increasingly personal and negative tone in their speeches, Obama has continued to talk about issues of substance." It's what nearly every editorial in America is saying and it's similar to what Powell said. It is also borne out by pollsters and focus groups. This morning's Lexington Herald:

Even if this country were not in dire need of a new direction, Sen. Barack Obama would make a better president than Sen. John McCain.

McCain's one advantage, experience, is of little use without judgment and temperament. On both counts, Obama has shown himself to be better qualified.

Obama has been composed, consistent and honorable through a long and tricky campaign, which he has led almost flawlessly.

McCain, meanwhile, has abandoned stands that once earned him respect as a principled maverick within the Republican Party. He has done about-faces on immigration and the Bush tax cuts, the first ever during wartime, which he once opposed but now wants to expand. He drowned out his own enlightened voice on global warming with chants of "Drill, baby, drill." After fighting influence-peddling in Congress, he handed his campaign over to corporate lobbyists to manage.

With McCain, voters have no idea what they'd be getting, other than a president who promises to hold out for victory in a war in which no surrender papers can ever be signed because the enemy will always change shapes.

UPDATE: SO HOW ARE REPUBLICANS REACTING TO ANOTHER OF THEIR OWN ENDORSING OBAMA?

Not well. Actually it's stunning to read the perspective of Fox viewers-- stunning and instructive. This is why we have people like Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin running around talking like that in public and still being accorded some degree of societal respect, as though they are normal people and not seriously mentally unbalanced. One particularly deranged GOP propagandist minimizes the impact of Powell's endorsement because, he claims, voters are "more interested in economic issues, and I think Joe the Plumber has more resonance than Colin Powell at this point in the election." Yep; McCain realizes Palin, who he openly referred to as a cold political calculation, can't win the presidency for him, so now he's counting on his old pal Charles Keating's relative, Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher. Oh, and Republican Party hacks like this kook in Maine, who's now calling Colin Powell a racist.