Collin Powell - POW!

The NYT, "Powell Backs Obama and Criticizes McCain Tactics"

"WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president on Sunday morning, calling him a “transformational figure” who has reached out to all Americans with an inclusive campaign and displayed “a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity” and “a depth of knowledge” in his approach to the nation’s problems."

What if the tickets were reversed?

My sister sent me the following email which was sent to her etc. The point isn't new but it is interesting to see it written down.

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?.....think about it. Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit? Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes? Correction - It was five planes.
The first crash was a training accident, the second crash was the result of "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral,"
the third crash was due to a flameout, the fourth happened when a rocket from an F-4 Phantom accidently hit his plane while he was waiting for takeoff on the USS Forrestal, and the fifth crash happened during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam in 1967 when his A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. McCain ejected from the plane and parachuted down into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi breaking both arms and a leg in the process. I'm just trying to get the facts right. Some of the crashes may have been his fault and maybe he was reckless at times but you can't fault the guy for being shot down while he's flying a mission.

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

Educational Backgrounds:

Barack Obama: Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science. Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester. North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study. University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism. Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester. University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

Obama on Letterman

Obama looked good on Letterman last night. Although he said one small thing that I don't think he should have. He used the word "hamlets" to refer to small towns in the midwest. Americans seem to want a man of the people who speaks like they do, not a professor. George Will in his Newsweek column this week talked about this subject. I agree with him (a rare occurrence) that we should expect our presidents to be extraordinary people and not one of the common people. After all America is a republic and not a true democracy. We are supposed to elect the best and the brightest to represent us in Washington. Once there they make the decisions for us. I think Obama fits this mold.

Earlier this year when Obama was running against Hilary I thought how having either an African American or a woman in office would be good for the country. But last night while watching Obama it occurred to me, now within the context of Palin in the mix, that just any woman or African American would not have the same meaning. I see now that I didn't give Hilary enough credit and after watching Obama last night, again within the context of Palin, I appreciate him even more.

Barry O’bama

While I was watching coverage of the DNC one of the many Democratic politicians was asked if he thought Obama's name would be a problem for him and wouldn't the Dems be happier if Obama had kept his childhood name of Barry and taken his mother's maiden name of Dunham. The politician replied, "I like Barry O'bama. Obama with an apostrophe, as if he were Irish."

Just thought it was humorous.