Who Knew Kenneth Adelman Is African-American?

Ken Adelman-- Is that a tan? Or something else?

Like clockwork, the minute General Colin Powell announced that, although still a Republican, he is voting for Barack Obama, a whole slew of GOP media hacks, from drug addled walking freak show Rush Limbaugh to the marginally more respectable Pat Buchanan and almost respectable enough to invite over George Will all chirped in that Powell only endorsed him because they're both black. None of them were even so much as given a time out for broadcasting this kind of disgraceful and blatant racism.

I wonder what they'll say today when they find out that a far more conservative, doctrinaire Republican than Powell, Ken Adelman, has also endorsed Obama over McCain-- and for many of the same (actual) reasons. George Packer in the New Yorker:

In recent years, Adelman and his friends Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz fell out over his criticisms of the botching of the Iraq War. Still, he remains a bona-fide hawk (“not really a neo-con but a con-con”) who has never supported a Democrat for President in his life. Two weeks from now that’s going to change: Ken Adelman intends to vote for Barack Obama. He can hardly believe it himself.

Adelman and I exchanged e-mails today about his decision. He asked rhetorically,

Why so, since my views align a lot more with McCain’s than with Obama’s? And since I truly dread the notion of a Democratic president, Democratic House, and hugely Democratic Senate?

Primarily for two reasons, those of temperament and of judgment.

When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I’ve concluded that that’s no way a president can act under pressure.

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office-- I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain’s main two, and best two, themes for his campaign-- Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.

Even if they don't claim he's African-American, I'm sure they'll find some excuse to denounce him. Stay tuned.


UPDATE: FRINGY RIGHT-WING WEBSITES CHIME IN

"Condescending, arrogant, and dare I say out of touch" was what one of the loons said, not just about Adelman but about any Republican who deserts the sinking ship. Adelman and Powell, she claims, also have backscratching involved. Other conservatives, more mainstream ones, are just being... more realistic.