Colin Powell's Voice of Wisdom

Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama for president was important in many ways, mostly because it was based on wise and thoughtful arguments for Obama as a “transformational” leader. It was also important because, finally, a respected politician spoke up against the bigoted equation of “muslim” with “terrorist” that McCain and Palin have been propagating.

Here are a few quotes from Washington Post's article about Powell’s endorsement:

“Powell also said he was troubled by Republicans who "said such things as 'Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is 'He is not a Muslim; he is a Christian. He's always been a Christian.' But the really right answer is 'What if he is?' "

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" he added. ". . . Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could become president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He's a Muslim, and he might be associated with terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America.""

It was about time someone pointed this out. How is it that “muslim” has become a derogatory term? And the same apparently goes for “Arab.” I was appalled when McCain sought to defend Obama against the racist bigotry of the Republican base. A woman at a town hall meeting tells McCain that she is scared of Obama because “he is an Arab”. McCain’s answer: “No, no, ma’am, he’s not; he’s a decent family man.” As if “Arab” and “decent family man” are mutually exclusive. Most media reported this as an example of McCain trying to do the honorable thing and renouncing his own campaign’s nasty scare tactics. And yes, his motive might have been to seem honorable and salvage a bit of his reputation, but couldn’t he do that without implying that “Arab” is a pejorative?

I realize that if Obama really were a muslim, or an Arab, he wouldn’t stand a chance in this presidential election. Electing an African-American is enough of a stretch for mainstream America at this point. But that does not permit us to accept blatant xenophobia. The United States is and should continue to be a multi-cultural society with room for people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and religions. Thank you, General Powell, for bringing a voice of wisdom and reason into the public discourse.

Sarah Barracuda is turning up the heat

Well, Sarah Palin didn’t get booted off the ticket. Instead, she’s back in full force. And she’s in attack mode. I guess you could say Palin did “well” in last week’s debate, in terms of looking self-confident and strong. She was sure to appeal to the right-wing Republican base, but most other people were turned off by her performance. She didn’t stumble the way she did in her Couric interview, but that was only because she set her own rules and chose to ignore the moderator. She bluntly stated that she wasn’t going to answer the questions; she was just going to talk about whatever she wanted. And she did. She talked about “mavericks” coming to Washington to “shake things up” (as if McCain hasn’t already been there for 26 years), and she talked about “energy policy,” as if she actually has something to contribute to this discussion.

Joe Biden tried to catch her on her evasive responses on several occasions, but moderator Gwen Ifill hardly ever followed up. Perhaps she was subdued by the pre-debate discussion of her possible bias, or perhaps it was simply the debate format, which only allotted a short time for each answer.

Biden may have looked old and tired compared to Super Sarah, but his answers were substantial and meaningful. He did a very good job of presenting the Obama/Biden ticket and what they stood for. When Palin ventured away from uttering catch phrases (“maverick”, “energy”), she managed to get herself into trouble. As, for example when she talked about climate change. First she states that it’s not manmade. Then she says that we need to take action by reducing emissions. Why would that help if man-made emissions haven’t contributed to the problem in the first place?

She’s also stunningly unprofessional. As when she gave a shout-out to her brother’s third grade class, telling them they would get extra credit if they watched the debate. That’s about as mature as saying “Hi Mom” and waving at the camera. Does she realize that she’s running for the second-most important office in the nation, not for VP of the local PTA?

What is really appalling about her performance is her over-confident attitude combined with her complete lack of knowledge. I cringe when she says, in that scornful voice she has mastered to perfection, that Obama is “beyond naïve” in wanting to meet with leaders of hostile nations. She has absolutely no credibility in anything relating to foreign affairs, and she can only get away with such statements because she is taking no questions from anyone who might challenge her statements.

True ignorance is not knowing how much you don’t know. And that is truly dangerous.