The following is strictly my personal opinion, based on following Powell’s career for more than 20 years.

Back when Powell was playing at considering a run for the White House, he was on a book tour at the same time. I’d rather suspected that he was using the election controversy surrounding his possible running, intentionally to fan the book sales, and it turned out I was right.

But I bought the book anyway because I, too, thought that Powell might be our first Black President, and I wanted to learn more about this man who had charmed so many Washingtonians, Liberals, and the MSM as well.

What I found, to my huge disappointment, was that he had been “groomed” for years with just that in mind, to be the first “Black” president. In the military his rise was nothing short of phenomenal, with high responsibility assignments and promotions befitting the assignments, usually lasting but a year or two, before the next appropriate step up was set in place before he’d even accomplished anything significant from the prior one.

As Reagan’s National Security Advisor he was being set up to make a run for the Presidency after Reagan’s terms were up, but the Presidency itself was such a high profile job with 24/7 demands and responsibilities that he’d never faced in the past, that it seemed too much, especially for his poor wife Alma. She was a rather delicate sort, and had emotional problems, apparently, and was hugely reluctant to have her entire personal life on center stage as a First Lady. It was largely due to her reservations that Colin eventually bowed out of the election scene. But not before he made a fortune on book sales, naturally.

As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff he had his longest running real assignment, resigning as Clinton was gearing up as the President who downsized the military. His tenure as Secretary of State ran about the same amount of time, which said to me that he’d found his niche time: Time to get in, get a handle on things, and try to change things for the better. And when he couldn’t get his way with how things should be changed, resigned and went back into the background to await the next assignment awaiting him by his “handlers”. Except after Secretary of State, there was nothing waiting for him in a next assignment, finally. Surprise surprise!

In all of his career, Colin Powell has accumulated an impressive list of “titles”. But his list of accomplishments amounts to practically zilch. Not even as Secretary of State did he accomplish anything other than to act as Stand-In for the President to smooth ruffled feathers and massage the egos of Heads of State of other countries. The one job which would have truly tested his mettle, The Presidency, he ran from for “family” reasons. A rather thin excuse.

Truth is, the man never accomplished anything other than to climb the ladder of success on top of bodies that willingly threw themselves down on the growing pile hoping to help mold and shape the first Black President of the USA. Except he had his heels dug in during the whole process. And someone else now has that historical distinction, thanks in part to his perpetual reticence.

Colin Powell has seen a lot of history. But he’s been on the periphery of it the whole way. He can retire on his laurels, such as they are, after a fairly free ride. But don’t expect me to even begin to consider his advice in matters of national importance or politics. He’s an empty suit decked out in fancy ribbons. Nothing more. And that’s the sad ending to the part he played in recent USA and World history. Like I said, just my personal opinion.

KendraWilder on December 12, 2008 at 12:30 AM