As a soldier and a man of honor Powell should stand up and speak his truth.

I'm not going to put words in the man's mouth - I have no idea what his true feelings and opinions are.  Maybe he supports Webb, maybe he is and was against the Iraq war, maybe he truly supports everything Bush has done.

If he does truly believe the Bush side, let him say so and let history judge Powell on taking such a position.

If not, he should speak the truth.  And in that case, if choose not to speak the truth, he'll show that he values honor, integrity, and his country less than political party loyalty.  Something tells me he would rather be remembered as an honorable American soldier than as a political flunky.

I don't care who you endorse sir(powell) but our country and your commonwealth need you right now.

you were never the person to sideline when your country needed you, your country needs you now.

With Respect,
--DJM

at the Norfolk Forum.  I'll ask him.

I promised to ask him, and I did.  As the last question of the Q&A following Colin Powell’s speech at the Norfolk Forum last night, I asked him who he liked in the Virginia Senate race.

I didn’t really expect him to answer, and his reply was coy.  At first he feigned ignorance, asking who was running.  He went on to say that he had known Allen for four or five years, and had known “and served” with Jim Webb for 25 years.  He said that, like the rest of us, he would need to research the candidates and make the decision when he went into the voting booth.  Almost as an afterthought, he added “I’m a Republican.”

If I had been given the opportunity for a rejoinder, I would have said: yes, you are a Republican.  You are a member of a rare and endangered species that has almost become extinct among public figures: the moderate Republican.  Jim Webb was a Republican too, until the disastrous foreign policy of President Bush forced a change of conscience.  I suspect that a lot of Republicans will vote for Webb, in the privacy of the voting booth.

During his speech, Powell spoke passionately about his opposition to Bush’s violation of the Geneva Conventions.  He mentioned that the Supreme Court and Senators McCain and Warner agree with him.  Surely he knows that Webb also agrees with him too.

I can see why you might want Colin Powell to give our candidate an endorsement, but personally I consider him a huge disappointment and a major reason we are in Iraq today .... in the way we are today. Marginalized by Cheney and Rumsfeld, Colin could have resigned over bad policy (like a certain SecNav I know of) .... but he stuck it out with Dubya and still has lunch with him today.

Contrast this with Colin Powell's aide and "former friend ?" ... Army Colonel Larry Wilkerson who publicly criticized the Bush Adminestration's run up to and conduct of the war. I thought the campaign should have sought him out at the beginning ... he would have been a GREAT GRASSROOTS guy!!  As far as I'm concerned guys like Wilkerson and General Tony Zinni have far more "creds" than Powell .... even though they worked for the guy.

Let's get Webb out there with people who stood up to this adminestration and stood against these sycophantic rubber stamping Republican Senators.

If Powell came out for Webb and atoned for his Bush loyalist sins ....great ... maybe that would be a different story .... I just don't see that happening and we don't need a Bush loyalist.

Powell won't endorse a Democrat, and he won't endorse somebody like George Allen either.  This is hardcore wishful thinking, people.

read my update!

Well, a pre-emptive strike is ideal, since you seem to believe that Allen's scurvy crew is sucking up to Colin. So get Gen. Powell's endorsement if at all possible (but I, too, doubt he'll go for a Dem, even a former Repub-Dem) and, failing that, get him to stay neutral. Or, issue one of his interesting double entendre type statements clearly pro-Webb without naming names. I also think we should go after Wilkerson, who is able to provide strong, convincing evidence in Webb's favor. I long ago wanted the Fairfax City Dems to have him on an Iraq panel discussion as a public service, but nothing came of it. He can be dynamite.

You think Powell "refused to serve in a second term"? Bush cleaned house for the second term, to make sure everyone around him had absolute loyalty to him, and not the nation or the Constitution or any other silly principles. Powell had no choice in the matter.

While I think it would be *super* if Powell endorsed Webb (especially now, that he came out of his self-imposed shame-closet and added his own monkey wrench to those of John Warner et al), I really, really, don't think he ought to be pressured to make such an open, clear-cut admission of having been wrong. Why him and not anyone else? He's already got the short end of the stick from the sAdadministration and lost everyone's respect as a result of having caved in. Let him writhe in peace and work things out for himself, at his own time.

Any odds as to how fast the sAdministration will dump Rice and Gonzales, once we start the investigations in January?

that Powell's neutrality is the best we can hope for.  General Powell seems somewhat insecure and needing the "love" of the GOP.
At least John Warner has said some good things about Webb, and has said that he will not campaign against Webb--tho he will vote for Allen.

To Powell since he left the adminisration?

• After retiring from the role of Secretary of State, Powell returned to private life, but in April 2005 he telephoned Republican senators Lincoln Chafee and Chuck Hagel to express his opposition to the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations (Powell had clashed with him during Bush's first term). The decision was viewed as potentially dealing significant damage to Bolton's chances of confirmation. Bolton was put into the position via a recess appointment because of the strong opposition in the Senate.

  
  

• On 28 April The Guardian reported that Powell was in fact "conducting a campaign" against Bolton because of the acrimonious battles they had had while working together, which among other things had resulted in Powell cutting Bolton out of talks with Iran and Libya after complaints about Bolton's involvement from the British. It added that "The foreign relations committee has discovered that Bolton made a highly unusual request and gained access to 10 intercepts by the National Security Agency... Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was probably spying on Powell, his senior advisers and other officials reporting to him on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed."

  
  

• In August 2005, CNN Reported: In fact, Secretary Powell was not told that one of the sources he was given as a source of this information had indeed been flagged by the Defense Intelligence Agency as a liar, a fabricator," says David Kay, who served as the CIA's chief weapons inspector in Iraq after the fall of Saddam.

• In September 2005, Powell criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.

• In September 2006, Powell sided with more moderate Senate Republicans in supporting more rights for detainees and opposing President Bush's terrorism bill. He backed the senators John Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham in their statement that US military and intelligence personnel in future wars will suffer for abuses committed in 2006 by the US in the name of fighting terrorism. The fight over Bush’s treatment of terrorism suspects assumed so an even more of a military-versus-civilian tone, because he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He thinks the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of Americas fight against terrorism.

COLIN POWELL may have made some serious mistakes in recent times, but it does not mean he don't deserve a chance to redeem himself, and show his true charachter.