Obituary: Colin Powell

 Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, 84, who later was strongly critical of Republicans and supported Obama, Clinton, and Biden for the presidency, as died from complications of COVID. He died early this morning.

Powell was fully vaccinated, but he was immunocompromised having suffered from multiple myeloma, which is a cancer that is ultimately fatal in patients though they can live for years with the disease.  

From the link:

His was a classic American success story. Born in Harlem of Jamaican parents, Mr. Powell grew up in the South Bronx and graduated from City College of New York, joining the Army through ROTC. Starting as a young second lieutenant commissioned in the dawn of a newly desegregated Army, Mr. Powell served two decorated combat tours in Vietnam. He later was national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan at the end of the Cold War, helping negotiate arms treaties and an era of cooperation with the Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev. 

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he was the architect of the invasion of Panama in 1989 and of the Persian Gulf war in 1991, which ousted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait but left him in power in Iraq. Along with then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, Mr. Powell reshaped the American Cold War military that stood ready at the Iron Curtain for half a century. In doing so, he stamped the Powell Doctrine on military operations — identifyh clear political objectives and public support, use decisive and overwhelming force to defeat enemy forces.

Gina Kolata wrote a piece about multiple myeloma and current treatments for the disease, which is not one of the more common forms of cancer.

The Education Wars: The Usual Suspects

Colin Powell's "foundation," among others, is in the forefront in destroying public education, and Obama is right in there with the privatizers.

It's becoming more and more obvious my initial opinion of Obama being a ringer is coming true:

Mr. Obama is seeking to use federal money as an incentive for local schools to improve their standards. The initiatives his administration is pursuing are similar to those of the Bush administration. At the event on Monday, Mr. Obama recognized Margaret Spellings, a secretary of education under President George W. Bush, who was seated in the front row.

Some fucking "Democrat" he is. He might as well change parties at this point.

Campaign Notes

It's no surprise Ret. Gen. Colin Powell has endorsed Obama. This was in the works for a long time.

Marc Rubin cuts through the bullshit with this great post. It shouldn't surprise ANYBODY someone like Obama would get the support of Powell:

To be endorsed by the Secretary of State who served, up till this point, the most unqualified and disastrous President in history, and the man who made the most dishonest, erroneous, and fact-less case for war in American history, a case that was rejected by every country except the UK, is an endorsement of nothing the country needs or wants. In fact as everything else that relates to Obama it represents the opposite of everything the country wants and why, when it comes to real change, there is the need to go forward without Obama, who, when it comes to incompetence and lack of qualification to be President, represents more of what we've had to endure the last 8 years with Bush.

So given Obama's embrace of Bush policies when it becomes politically convenient for him to do so, and now an endorsement by the man who made Bush's case for war in Iraq as to Obama's judgement and qualifications, this election is becoming, as Alice would say, curiouser and curiouser. Maybe Alice Palmer would say that too. Because in many cases Obama is the most Republican Democrat that has ever run. And certainly the most unqualified. Which is why Obama supporters would best be described as Obamacans.

Is it any wonder many Democrats like myself have doubts about the Messiah of Hyde Park's real political loyalties?
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So-called Democrat Obama continues to raise obscene amounts of cash, yet he is still basically statistically tied with McCain. There is something wrong with this picture.
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Colin Powell

should be praising John McCain instead of the Audacity of Hype(TM) if he wants another job with the federal government.

Presidential Notes II.

Can people trust Obama and his relationship to Colin Powell?

Can anybody trust Obama at all?

The answer is no, and voters should reject him in the primaries.
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Mitt's early push appears to be paying off.
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