You Need To Go Home Now

Because we don't have enough people who have an appropriate response to shame, today brings word that Colin Powell would like us to hear his opinion on the next President Of The United States.

We still haven't found all the pieces of our jaw from when we dropped it over his activities with the current one. It's going to be a long, long time before we consider Gen. Powell to be a reliable advisor in the voting booth. In an attempt to be tantalizing and seem relevant, years after his cellular-level integrity meltdown on the floor of the United Nations, The Guy Who Knew Saddam Back When says he isn't entirely sure he'd support a Republican for president.

That puts him in the shocking company of about 65% of the country. This man has not only lost his moral compass, he's lost all sense of irony, any remnant of history, and the inborn instinct we all have that tells us to just shut up and go home.

Gen. Powell lied to the world, either by his own will or by his own failure to verify the words coming out of his mouth. He didn't do it in the bathroom under his breath with the water running. He did it into a microphone on the floor of the United Nations. He did it in furtherance of a perverted plan to bring open-ended war to a country about which George Bush was willing to say anything to get the key to the Bomb Box. Many of us have misspoken in our day. Many of us have realized down life's winding road that something we decided previously was erroneous. Hardly any of us have blood on our hands to this degree as a direct result of our dereliction of duty. From those to whom much is given, much is required. Somebody important said that once. Want a big job? Take the big consequences.

The consequences of being colossally wrong - if not a degenerate liar - when your star is on the rise and you are in all likelihood the heir-apparent to the throne of all 50 states - is that we no longer take your word on anything. Colin Powell could tell us that oil and water don't mix and we would doubt his intentions, let alone his facts. The truly grating part of this media assault today, however, is Powell's overtures to my party - the one that sat on its hands while Bush, Inc. wreaked havoc on the planet.

We have paid dearly on the Left for not speaking up in the months prior to war. We were afraid of being right again - like during the Vietnam years. Being right, however, did not work to our political gain during Vietnam. Being wrong this time hasn't gone so hot, either. We don't learn lessons quickly on the Left. We get bogged down in seeing all sides of issues and would require a 12-point diversified caucus to decide to leave a sinking lifeboat - with appropriate membership weighting in favor of those least able to represent themselves and who, by virtue of history's cruelty, may no longer be around to be in the lifeboat. It's our Big Flaw. It comes with Grand Intentions, like most big flaws do. What we need is a spine, not a General.

So thanks, Gen. Powell. We hear you loud and clear. The dance is coming and you have no date. May we suggest that you vacation in Albania this year? We understand they're huge Bush fans over there - and we don't even care enough to ask why. They can have him. You're sure to be a huge hit there yourself. Take Alma. She's probably ready to get away.

Remember... she told you not to get involved in this stuff in the first place. Sometimes Mama knows best.