COLINOSCOPY

There was a time, not so many years ago, when I might have actually considered voting for Colin Powell to be President Powell. He was the one Republican, with the possible exception of John McCain, I could say that about - but not anymore. However, there is a way for Powell to rescue his legacy from the cancerous W Administration - resign and shine some light on it’s inner workings by giving the whole mess a thorough Colinoscopy.

Colin Powell knew then that we should not be distracted from prosecuting the terrorist threat by invading Iraq. When he went to the United Nations and presented the Administration’s case for war, I knew - so surely he knew - that the much touted and bullet proof evidence to justify war was simply not there. Powell pitched it anyway (shame on him). Since then, he reportedly warned W about bad decisions and policies every step of the way. First, he was left out of the loop on the final decision to invade Iraq, then Rumsfeld ditched the Powell Doctrine and opted for a strategy deploying too few troops to do the job. Most of his warnings were mostly ignored - pre and post war. During the Occupation, the Resistance and now on to the Victorious Retreat Powell seems to be given more of a role.
It’s just not good enough to be a good soldier and maintain
undeserved loyalty to an unbalanced and increasingly unhinged Executive.

It is both ironic and unfair that the only apparent voice of reason in the W Administration will likely be blamed by history for helping to facilitate the huge mistakes made and high crimes that have been committed. Powell tried to warn W about dissing the UN, alienating our traditional allies, voiding international treaties and listening to disinformation from unvetted sources. He advised W about the importance of human rights and warned about abuse of prisoners. W and crew did it all wrong anyway. To whatever extent the Powell moderating influence has been marginal, I can only imagine how much worse things would be now if he had not been there. Since Powell will NOT be there if W gains his reappointment, I can only imagine how much worse a second term will be - unbridled by any constraints of facing the Voters again (who pay for everything in every
way - of course).

Look at what America has come to during the W Administration’s watch. We got hit on 9/11 because they ignored multiple explicit warnings.
Based on lies and propaganda, we invaded Iraq for greed, power and politics (not safety, morality or democracy). The US Treasury was raided
and all the money was transfered to the super rich. We are trashing the environment permanently. Civil rights and Constitutional protections are
increasingly being curtailed and dissent is surpressed. Seperation of church and state is being blurred and diversity is repressed. Elections are
increasingly prone to corruption and compliant corporate media is further consolidated. Education, Healthcare and Homeland Security suffer while every possible benefit and advantage is given to supranational MegaCorporations - who help shape the policies that award them lucrative government contracts. Now we are funding private Corporate Mercenary Armies that have no clear legal accountability. Reportedly they are on the loose around the world - committing rape, kidnapping, blackmail, torture and murder in our name - with the collaboration of our military and intelligence services. We should not become terrorists to fight terrorism - America’s National Honor and moral standing are massively diminished
and corrupted by this cancerous condition. On top of it all, we are less
safe in every way.

We sure could use a Colinoscopy.

The W Administration exhibits a unique and dangerous mix of sinister incompetence. They are a willing coalition of ruthless politics, religious righteousness, arrogant eliteism, militant ideology, nonwise intellectualism, limitless greed and an unquenchable hunger for power. They pursue their agendas with powerful friends and associates in secrecy - as much as they can get away with. When W says he wants to Change the World, he really means Control the World. Due to an incredibly incompetent lack of executive ability and excess stubbornness, the W Crusade has stalled and appears to be self destructing. We have had our graphic “My-Lai moment” - and the pictures are worth a million words. For all intents of purposes, the war - as it was being portrayed on American TV - ended with the release of those prison torture pictures. We still have not seen the worst of the pictures or heard the worst of the story, but what we have already seen is disturbingly unforgettable. This is not the true image and spirit of America - this is not the American Dream.

We need to quell the hemmorrhaging of blood, soul and treasure by purging this spreading cancer from the body politic. Regime change at home will be a major procedure - made even more difficult by the fanatical desire they have to stay in power. Colin Powell could abort the W reselection operation by telling the whole honest truth and documenting what he has seen and heard in the last four years. Lately, Powell seems to be thinking about legacy protection and damage control for his reputation -
to keep it from falling forever into the W credibility gap. His recent appearance on Meet the Press, when he did not allow his Minder to cut the questions short, was a good sign. It was nice to see him show a little spunk, but now he should completely come clean.

Hey - he could even team up with the Kerry campaign! For the common good of our Republic and the health of real democracy, that would be a truly historic heroic patriotic act. W must go so 2005 can bring renewal - our nation needs balance and healing.
........curt

(originally posted 5/23/04 at Bopnotes.com)