I've been reading Colin Powell's "My American Journey" book and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I've always been a fan of Powell's ever since watching him in action when I was 10 during Desert Shield, and on my Desert Storm trading cards that I collected a full set to.
Mr. Powell, to me, is one of the greatest men walking this Earth. I have never seen someone behave with such class and with such a drive to do the right thing by all.
My favorite instance of class is when a reporter informed Colin that Harry Belafonte had called him an Uncle Tom, to which Powell just said calmly "That's unfortunate," and moved on to the next question. He gave Belafonte and his remarks to creedence and did not take the reporter's bait to create further drama on the issue.
Similarly, while everyone is ripping on Sotomayor for her pro-Affirmative Action decision recently, even though he disagrees with her, Powell declares that she should not be labeled a racist or have people derail her just because of a difference in a certain stance. He chooses to look at the rest of her track record and her application of the law instead.
Even better is his deflection and non-creedence given to Limbaugh, as read on FoxNews:
Once Powell had endorsed Obama during the election, that clinched it for me. People who say he did it just because Obama was black say so simply out of convenience and assumption, as they clearly know little about the man. I urge you to watch his speech when he announced his endorsement on Meet the Press.Quote:
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has called Powell "just another liberal," said he should become a Democrat and charged that Powell endorsed Obama based on race. Powell said Sunday that Limbaugh "doesn't decide who I am or what I am no more than I decide who he is or what he is." http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...est=latestnews
Powell is one of very few true role models for American society these days. I hope to shake his hand one day.
