I don't know whether the endorsement of Barack Obama by former Secretary of State Colin Powell will change any voters' minds, but I'd like to attempt to change some minds about Colin Powell.
Powell is perceived as a steady, moderating figure in American politics. But what he said in his pitch for Obama shows he is not very discerning.
For instance, he seems to believe Obama's words that Obama has maintained a very limited relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers despite the record.
Here's what Powell said on "Meet the Press": "And I've also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Sen. (John) McCain has taken recently - or his campaign ads - on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign. But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. But then why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robo calls going on around the country trying to suggest that because of this very, very limited relationship that Sen. Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow Mr. Obama is tainted? What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate."
Now, I am not here to defend John McCain's campaign and how it has played the Ayers card. In fact, I don't believe McCain has made enough of Obama's dangerously alarming relationships.
But let's stick to the facts: Let's pretend Barack Obama, rather than running for president, were applying for a job at the FBI. In the background check, it is learned that he received money from a leader of the Weather Underground, which bombed the Capitol, the Pentagon and dozens of other targets in the 1970s. A San Francisco policeman was killed in one of these attacks, which is believed to have been carried out personally by Ayers' wife, Bernardine Dohrn. Another officer was injured severely in that attack and left partially blind.
Let's also stipulate that in this FBI background check, it is learned that prospective FBI agent Barack Obama served on two foundation boards with Ayers, giving away millions of dollars to programs designed to radicalize American elementary-school, middle-school and high-school students. The two men served on these boards for years together. In addition, Michelle Obama worked with Dohrn at a law firm and invited Ayers to speak at a conference she organized.
For the moment, let's say that's all we know about the relationship between Obama and Ayers, who still, to this day, shows no remorse for his violent actions in the 1970s nor his commitment to worldwide communism.
My question is this: Do you think these associations would raise some questions about Obama's fitness to serve in the FBI? I certainly hope they would - or our law enforcement and national security apparatus is even shakier than I think.
Do you suppose the FBI leadership would want to know much more about these associations before placing Obama in a sensitive law enforcement position? I certainly hope so.
Despite what Powell says, we are measured by our associations and our beliefs. And Obama, early in his political career, chose to identify with Bill Ayers and Ayers' beliefs.
That's not to say Obama believes in violent revolution today. Why should he? He is on the verge of becoming president of the United States. But his core beliefs and lifelong associations are central to defining what kind of a president he would be.
And it's not just Ayers and his revolutionary agenda. Think about Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor of 20 years - the man who calls for God to damn America, the advocate of black liberation theology, not Christianity, as Obama claims.
Powell also has rationalized Obama's plea for using the tax code to redistribute wealth, saying taxes always redistribute wealth. With that statement, I agree. And that's why we need to eliminate the income tax, not use it as a way for the federal government to pick winners and losers in our society.
Powell also says America needs Obama now because Obama's a "transformational figure." In my opinion, America has been transformed too much from the self-governing constitutional republic it was founded as.
Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama doesn't make me view Obama any differently. But it sure makes me think much less of Colin Powell.
