The Illogicality of Bele and Lokai

On NBC's Meet The Press this morning, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, a Republican, endorsed Barack Obama, D:IL, for President. I respect Powell, and his decision. Then I heard the reasoning behind his decision and drew a different conclusion. Take a listen to Powell:
The case Powell made for Obama, and against John McCain, I found extremely weak and even misguided. Although I can buy his rationale for a "transformational figure", I will take issue with several of his other points.

"This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign," Powell said. "But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him?"

We speak of Mr. Ayers not because he is an unrepentant terrorist, but because it displays the lack of judgement of Obama by alliances he has formed with folks who hate America and wish it ill will. Certainly, Reverend Wright would be yet another example.

Powell commented he sees the Republican party moving to far toward the right. I wish it were true, but it is not. John McCain is the Republican candidate Democrats could snuggle up to. He is the one who, much to my distaste, who has crossed the aisle and sponsored bills with Democratic leaders such as Russ Feingold, who is off the planet out there, and Ted Kennedy.

Sarah Palin is also concerning to Powell. "I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States". Fair enough, although she does have executive experience as a Governor and has an extensive record in dealing with a significant issue of the day in energy. While Powell questions Palin's readiness, count me among those who has the same questions about Obama, and he is pursuing the one slot. Powell feels McCains decision to pick her raises judgement questions. Cool to hang with Ayers and Rev. Wright but don't pick a Governor for VP?

Powell further commented "I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration." Given the rhetoric of the domestic policies Obama has indicated, this may be my top reason for supporting McCain. I think our whole judicial system is a mess and much too liberal, otherwise many of the criminals would remain locked up, even if they were not able to have cable television.

"In the case of Mr. McCain I found that he was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having," Powell said. Obama "displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this." If I didn't know, I would be curious as well. Obama sat the episode out, or voted present, making only generic commentary on the subject. In my view, Obama's lack of understanding how our financial markets function is frightening.

So, either Powell is a leftist Democrat masquerading as a Republican or something else is behind his decision. Since his reasoning does not stack up, I suspect there is, and that Powell is supporting Obama because he is black.

This is illogical decision making and one I think Dr. Martin Luther King would discard. Casting a vote is among the most important roles our citizens can play, and that vote should be cast for the best person you feel can represent you and our fellow citizens in performing the duties set forth. A decision should not be made based on color or creed or favorite football team, or as a nation we could end up in a most illogical battle for our souls, much like the one portrayed between Bele and Lokai in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. It was an eyebrow raiser indeed!

Spock Out!