I would have voted for Colin Powell if he had selected to run for President.
He didn’t do so, some say for very personal reasons. That is very understandable.
What is not understandable is how he could defect from those Republicans that supported an admirable career that took him from a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) student at City College of New York to a four star General in the Army to the first black American to become Secretary of State, the highest rank ever held by a black American.
You will note here that I call Powell a black American not an African American. This is because his parents were Jamaican immigrants, I don’t know if his family tree traces him to Africa.
Powell has had a distinguished career, one to be admired. When you serve your country in the military there is a code called duty, honor country. He served the code well until his defection to support Obama for President.
I say this because I equate honor with loyalty, something that Powell didn’t show when he defected his Party to support Obama.
What you might not know is that in his years of military service, General Powell never disclosed his political sympathies; he was registered to vote as an independent. Although it was known that he supported the 1964 campaign of President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat.
But in the 1990′s, the General’s great popularity led many people to urge him to run for President.
In 1995 he announced that he had registered as a Republican, and he received a thunderous ovation when he spoke at the Republican convention the following year.
Thereafter he declined to seek elective office.
It is clear that his opportunities in the military and the government were fostered primarily by Republican administrations.
I respect General Powell’s right to his decision to defect from loyalty, although I disagree with it, and I will always respect his honor and duty to country.
You see, once you become a part of DC politics you become part of the old boy network and the system, and it is no different for a General or Secretary of State than it is for a politician, albeit they might be outside of the elective office.
PS: Following Powell’s endorsement of Obama — which doesn’t do much to sway votes — Obama promised Powell a post in his administration.
2 users commented in " Powell’s Defection "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackA few points: You strangely refer to Colin Powell as a black American not an African American because his roots are questionable due to his parents coming from Jamaica. You have no problem referring to Barack Obama as an African American even though he is half black and half white and has equal roots in Europe and even has a distant relationship to VP Cheney. Granted Obama identifies with his African American heritage and can rightfully be described as African American. The fact that Powells’ parents were Jamaican presents some mystery to you about his family tree
is surprising. Slaves that populated Jamaica greatly outnumbered whites and Jamaica at one time was one of the worlds slave -dependent nations. The origin of slaves in Jamaica were from the same continent as those in the U.S. That is Africa. Where else?
I have additional issues with your misguided sense of military code and its relationship to loyalty. If you care to have my thoughts on these please respond and I will forward them.
Your points are well taken!
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