Posted by
CW on Sunday, July 05, 2009 4:18:54 PM
Many years ago when my father decided to run for tax assessor of our small town I was shocked when he told me that he would be running as a democrat. My father had always been a staunch conservative with a passionate interest in politics. Anyone who knew him for more than five minutes understood that he was a conservative. When I asked why on earth he would run as a democrat he explained that he would not be able to win the primary against the incumbent republican, a life-long resident, but thought he could win the democrat slot. Sure enough he went on to win the democratic primary and then beat the republican incumbent with the support of democrats and just enough republican crossovers. Did I mention that he’s also a very pragmatic man?
The point of that story is to show that people can label themselves however they like, but it is their actions and their viewpoints that define who they really are. That is why it is ludicrous when people point to Colin Powell as a ‘republican’ supporter of Barack Obama, or as a ‘republican’ who rails against Rush Limbaugh or defends the biased judicial decisions of Sonia Sotomayor. Gee, can I just start calling myself the Queen of Texas?
What troubles me most is the belief by Powell and the press that they can sell this notion of Powell as just a disaffected ‘republican’ to the rest of us. Have we really become such a nation of non-thinkers that we would believe a supporter of the far-left Barack Obama is truly a republican?
Like everything else these days, it makes no sense at all.