Re: R.I.P. Colin Powell
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:55 pm
I was always ambivalent about Colin Powell. Yes, as Republicans in this era go, he's massively preferable to any of the rest (including McCain, whose affable manner concealed some pretty far-right world views). But the ludicrously obeisant tone the DC press corps took in discussing him always made me think he saw his lane -- The Negro Who Politely Stays with the Status Quo -- and cultivated it by being a good source for reporters. I think his position as Man Who Could Have Been President But Never Went For It is a bit deceptive, too. It always struck me he was viewed that way specifically because he never asked voters to consider him; he's like the nice guy the pretty girl cherishes because he's the only one not hitting on her.
And, as Sabin says -- delicately at first, more forcefully in the edit -- he holds massive responsibility for the disastrous Iraq war. It was going to be hard enough to hold the hell-bent Bush folk from pressing forward. But once Powell did his presentation at the UN, it was beyond impossible. The DC press corps was happy to take direction from the man they wished were their president. Mary McGrory's infamous "I'm Persuaded" column might as well have been reduced to "I'm for it because Colin told me so". Anyone who opposed it after that was a dirty hippie (a position they hold to this day; Iraq war supporters are still treated as experts, opponents as dreamy-eyed leftists). And we'll suffer the repercussions for years to come.
There was the rehabilitation tour and, sure, I'm glad he endorsed Obama and Biden. But, even during that stretch, he fell short. When it was revealed he'd used an email set-up similar to the one Hillary was being lambasted for, he could have used the opportunity to emphasize how trivial an issue it was compared to the menace of Trump. But he was so determined to maintain his own reputation in journalist circles that he emphasized tiny differences...all of which helped the DC press stick to what they'd always believed: that Colin was pristine, totally different from those nasty Clintons.
It's kind of fitting that his death, though apparently largely due to multiple melanoma (a disease, I'm finding out today, singularly resistant to COVID vaccine help), is producing headlines that anti-vaxxers will be using for as long as your bigoted uncle can forward emails. Colin Powell was the guy who, from all appearances, was on the good guy team, but too often seemed to abet the other side.
And, as Sabin says -- delicately at first, more forcefully in the edit -- he holds massive responsibility for the disastrous Iraq war. It was going to be hard enough to hold the hell-bent Bush folk from pressing forward. But once Powell did his presentation at the UN, it was beyond impossible. The DC press corps was happy to take direction from the man they wished were their president. Mary McGrory's infamous "I'm Persuaded" column might as well have been reduced to "I'm for it because Colin told me so". Anyone who opposed it after that was a dirty hippie (a position they hold to this day; Iraq war supporters are still treated as experts, opponents as dreamy-eyed leftists). And we'll suffer the repercussions for years to come.
There was the rehabilitation tour and, sure, I'm glad he endorsed Obama and Biden. But, even during that stretch, he fell short. When it was revealed he'd used an email set-up similar to the one Hillary was being lambasted for, he could have used the opportunity to emphasize how trivial an issue it was compared to the menace of Trump. But he was so determined to maintain his own reputation in journalist circles that he emphasized tiny differences...all of which helped the DC press stick to what they'd always believed: that Colin was pristine, totally different from those nasty Clintons.
It's kind of fitting that his death, though apparently largely due to multiple melanoma (a disease, I'm finding out today, singularly resistant to COVID vaccine help), is producing headlines that anti-vaxxers will be using for as long as your bigoted uncle can forward emails. Colin Powell was the guy who, from all appearances, was on the good guy team, but too often seemed to abet the other side.