If you haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend taking the time to listen to Colin Powell's actual words.



Let me first say that I hold Colin Powell partially to blame for getting the US into Iraq. A statement such as this deserves an entire post to itself, but I need to make this point clear before I move on. I specifically remember thinking to myself, "I know Bush and Cheney are crazy, but if Colin Powell is on board, then maybe there really is an imminent threat."  Powell claimed he tried to avoid the war for years, but ultimately he became the rubber stamp. The dreadful WMD speech Powell gave to the UN Security Council should go down as one of the low points in American History.

That all being said, I still believe Colin Powell is a powerful, important, moderate voice in America. He is a voice of reason in a party that has seemed to lose all reason over the past 8 years.  He is a voice of realism and pragmatism in a party that is getting more ideological and extreme every year. This is important to me because I actually agree with the Republican party sometimes. The problem is that many of the extreme positions they hold are deplorable - causing me to avoid voting for them altogether in recent years. As you may already know, I think it's very bad for our country to move significantly Right or Left.  Colin Powell is one of the few people who can strongly hold the middle.

I recommend watching the whole video, but I was profoundly struck by what he said around 4:25: 

"I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: "Well, you know that Mr.Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He's 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? The answer is: No, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be 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."

This is one of the most important statements I have heard a prominent government figure make in a very long time. Colin Powell isn't running for anything, so maybe he has a little more freedom to say what he pleases, but it still doesn't diminish the power of this statement. 

I will take this one step further. Is there something wrong with a Buddhist, Jewish, Atheist, or Agnostic person wanting to be president? Is there something wrong with a gay or lesbian person wanting to be president?  The answer, in my opinion, is unequivocally no.  As long as someone can effectively govern - their religion, gender, and/or sexual orientation should not matter. We are not a male, Christian, straight nation - we are a pluralistic nation with all kinds of people. In the short-term, there isn't much we can do to change millions of American minds, but I must say - it's nice to hear someone of Powell's stature finally stand up to this nonsense.