Colin Powell, won't you run?

When earlier today I read Gen. Colin Powell's sensible, smart, reasoned words (from an interview in GQ), I could have wept that he decided some time ago against ever running for president. What I mean is words like these:

"Let’s show the world a face of openness and what a democratic system can do. That’s why I want to see Guantánamo closed. It’s so harmful to what we stand for. ...Yes, there are a few dangerous nuts in Brooklyn and New Jersey who want to blow up Kennedy Airport and Fort Dix ... and we must deal with them. But come on, this is not a threat to our survival! The only thing that can really destroy us is us. We shouldn’t ... use fear for political purposes.

"We should remember what [America's] image was, back after World War II. It was the image of a generous country that sought not to impose its will on other countries or even to impose its values. But it showed the way, and it helped other countries, and it opened its doors to people — visitors and refugees and immigrants.

"That’s the image we have to portray to the rest of the world: kind, generous, a nation of nations, touched by every nation, and we touch every nation in return...."


Anne sez: I want a person in the Oval Office who can think this way about complex issues, say these inspiring (but never empty) true things. I dare any hawk to accuse Colin Powell of being a wimp or a panderer. Bush and Cheney would be lucky to have a fraction of Powell's integrity and courage. And so would our nation.

This post dedicated in respectful memory to those who died in the attacks on 9/11/01.