Zap! Biff! Pow-ell!

So it was written, and so it has come to pass.

Okay, Okay, so Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama has been a long time coming. No need then for the self-congratulations, right? I mean, duh, they're both black - and Powell ain't no Uncle Tom. How hard was it to figure out, really? Just one brother supporting another. Oh those "boys," always rollin' together, so predictable...

That, at least, has been the explanation of today's events from the lunatic fringe. Comedian Rush Limbaugh, the self-appointed mouthpiece of the cesspool class, mocked Powell's decision in a message to Politico, which read:

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race. OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

Ha, ha, ha. What a great guy. In between the tee-offs and the painkiller gorging, he still has time for some Sunday snark. Even George Will, a conservative who manages to maintain some integrity, echoed this nonsense. I can only assume the whiter-than-Wonder bread nuts at the National Review Online are saying the same thing, only with more sillyness and scorn.

Just for the hell of it, let's play along with these clowns. So, based on the aforementioned malarkey, conservative supporters of Barack Obama are, naturally, blacks adhering to race loyalty. That means that these conservative men and publications which have openly endorsed Obama are really black syndicates.

Andrew Sullivan
Matthew Yglesias
Michael Smerconish
Wick Allison
Wayne Gilchrest
William Buckley Junior
Christopher Hitchens
The Los Angeles Times
The Huston Chronicle
The Chicago Sun-Times

The Black Attack! It's overtaking America, one clueless Republican at a time. I wonder which unsuspecting conservative will go black (and never come back) next? Peggy Noonan, David Brooks, Chuck Hagel? Thankfully, El Rusho has been saved from this dark menace...for now.

Aside from the patently absurd right-wing spin, General Powell proved what it means to put "Country First." And, as a result, exposed John McCain for the conniving salesmen he has become. Poor Johnny Mac, getting upstaged and slapped down by a person with more integrity and prudence than he has ever known. Congrats, Mr. Powell, may you be redeemed, in part, for some rather poor decisions.

Regardless, this excerpt from Micahel Tomasky's political blog on the Guardian website demonstrates the profound importance of the endorsement and, no doubt, the sincerity behind Powell's decision:

He cited Obama's "steadiness" and "intellectual curiosity". When asked about the race issue, he said: "If I had only had that in mind, I could have done this six or eight or 10 months ago," instead of taking the time to watch the two contenders on the trail and judge their performance under pressure.

But he really shone when discussing some of the smear tactics being used against Obama. No, the correct answer is that Obama is not a Muslim, Powell said. "But the really right answer," he continued, "is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"

Stay Cool. Know Hope.

Postscript: If anyone remains convinced that McCain's story is a sad one, do yourself a favor and read "Make-Believe Maverick" from last month's Rolling Stone. Barack Obama's thrashing of this life-long asshole is indeed the feel-good story of the year.

Postscript II: It's rather trivial now, but for the sake of continuity, the last debate grades are as follows: Obama B+/McCain B. Clean sweep Obama.