First, Colin Powell, now Ken Adelman - Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under President Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican since the 1970s, also a strong supporter of the Iraq war - has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Adelman's reasoning for his decision?
Primarily for two reasons, those of temperament and of judgment.When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I've concluded that that's no way a president can act under pressure.
Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.
That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office-I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain's main two, and best two, themes for his campaign-Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.
Ouch! The truth really hurts, and this time it's not coming from a "liberal," "socialist," "communist" or whatever, but by a hard-right conservative. In fairness, this isn't exactly rocket science; anyone with an IQ above 60 or so can see that Sarah Palin is completely out of her league, not even ready to be Governor of Alaska (at least a half-decent, not-corrupt one), let alone President of the United States! I mean, seriously, would anyone out there have recommended Sarah Palin to be a "heartbeat away" from the Presidency? Would anyone have recommended her for Secretary of Defense, State, or Treasury? How about an Assistant Secretary of Defense, State, or Treasury? Right, I didn't think so.
By the way, Eric and I were talking yesterday and trying to come up with a governor less qualified, less serious, less of a lightweight than Sarah Palin. Here is the list of current governors; I challenge you to find one - Republican or Democrat - less prepared/less qualified to be VP than Sarah Palin. Good luck! :)
I worked with him for a time during the Reagan Administration. Adelman was of course a Reagan era conservative, but he knew his arms control portfolio exceptionally well; he understood the intricacies of his subject down to a very granular level.
Adelman was bright and and energetic, an intellectual with boundless curiosity. He was a boss who was demanding but who treated his staff with genuine consideration and kindness. Working under him I learned that conservatives need not be demons. Remember that even the Reagan Administration was able to carry on a productive dialogue with Gorbachev's "Evil Empire."
It was sad to see Adelman fall into lock step with the neocon delusions which led to the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq. It was painful to watch him play the role of the war-drum-beating shill on the talk shows back in 2002 and 2003. It is clear evidence of his core integrity that he eventually came to his senses and distanced himself from the war and from the Bush Administration's overall foreign policy.
I am happy to see that Adelman's recovery from his bout with neocon psychosis may now be nearly complete. His decision to support Obama, as well as his public criticisms of McCain's worrisome performance and choice of Palin, should help encourage a few more conservative intellectuals to abandon today's Neo-republican Party, now a mere motley hodgepodge of racists, bigots, xenophobes, jingoists, and science-denying ignoramuses--all manipulated by millionaire and billionaire members of the Looting Class.
Welcome back to the mainstream, Ken. Your intellect and insights may have a useful role to play in the public square even in an Obama Administration.