Regarding the Vastly Vaunted Endorsement of Senator Obama by Colin Powell...

The media is rewriting history and I find that terrifying.

When I worked in intelligence, I became very familiar with the compelling insidiousness of propaganda, all the while I was clothed in the lofty knowledge that our country was largely above such devious and deceitful methods of dealing with its populace.

We've come a long way, Citizens.

Now I'm not so naïve as to think our media is free of proselytism, or ever has been, but we have now arrived at a place where the majority of facts are not just being parsed, or slanted, or omitted, or ignored—ALL of which describe what the Fourth Estate has done in this last shocking decade--but rather, invented. Our national media is taking it upon themselves to rewrite history.

As Blue Lyon cogently says on her blog, the Colin Powell of yesterday's endorsement bears little resemblance to the Colin Powell we all know and love. She also discusses the hypocrisy of the left in their embrace of a sometimes-reviled Republican, but as the left barrels remorselessly down its path of no-return, I'm learning to step out of the way rather than be mown down.

I've no such compunction with our national media. It continues to be an outrage of the highest order that our sources of information—FACTS—can be wholly controlled by an increasingly powerful corporatocracy with everything but Americans' interests at heart.

For reasons that I still cannot thoroughly refine in my mind, it serves our media best to elect Senator Obama to the presidency. For this, it will pervert and scorn any and every 'fact' that comes its way. The latest incarnation of this is the glow that surrounds Colin Powell. To listen to the media, he is the most respected voice in America, the voice of reason, the final say.

So let's go back a lot of years. I liked him. He seemed fine, upstanding, honest, honorable. That was until he joined the Bush team and then Colin 'Macbeth' Powell went over to the dark side. And in the worst way possible. He used the esteem of the military and his laudatory service in it to dupe the countries of the world. If smarmy Cheney had made that same presentation at a plenary session of the UN, postulating the lethality of Iraq's intentions, there might have been some hesitancy to sign on. But Powell is a soldier, endowed with all the dignity, honor, and respect of his military career and years. When C.L. Powell speaks, people listen.

And with his help, the Iraq slaughter was born. He betrayed the troops who would die for years to come by using the honor of his uniform and all that entails. I find that insupportable.

Disgraceful too, is the betrayal of his oath. It is incumbent on every officer to desist from obeying an unlawful order. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) says,

'An order which is unlawful not only does not need to be obeyed, but obeying such an order can result in criminal prosecution of the one who obeys it. Military courts have long held that military members are accountable for their actions even while following orders -- if the order was illegal.'

The last I heard, the order to lie is illegal. He knew what he was doing when he lied straight into the eyes and ears of the world, watching and trusting what he would say.

And this is the man who has now endorsed Obama, the man whose endorsement is the final jewel in the crowning of the media candidate, the man who holds all sway over our voting choice because he and his honorable career are unimpeachable.

Nice invention, media. I marvel that you think you may rewrite a history that is still ongoing.

Our kids are still dying in Iraq and Powell's words helped put them there.

Rewriting history only works if we let it.

As We Bid Farewell, Let's Not Forget the Facts

I note the stunned reactions of those who watched Senator Clinton's stunning speech last night, and I'm not at all stunned.

Not by the depth and breadth of Hillary Clinton's intelligence, competence, and magic; nor by the media's bewilderment at those qualities. She's never been given her due and we can all argue about the reasons why, but chief among them, in my book, is her gender.

But that's not the focus of this blog. Before the one candidate for president who could have truly pulled us back from the brink slips out of our grasp, I'd like, one last time, to remind everyone of the principal reason why she's not being nominated tonight.

The caucuses. And the mangling of them.

By their nature, they're unrepresentative but a smart tactician (or campaign) could game the system with knowledge, numbers and strategies set in place at each location. And that's exactly what Senator Clinton's opponent did. With the eager aid of the Fourth Estate, Senator Obama gloriously gamed the flawed system.

His campaign knew that those who could spend the rigorous hours of daylight at the caucuses could largely be targeted as the young, male, college-educated. Hmmm. Those aren't the segments of population that are likely to favor Senator Clinton...

So his campaign expounded on that fact and then pulled out the dirty deeds. They bussed people in to the caucuses. They locked others out. They bullied the Clinton delegates and told them to go to the wrong rooms. They ran out of ballots...too many standing for Clinton? Imagine that!

Then, a funny thing happened on the way to state...Clinton delegates were often intimidated and sent letters with reasons why they shouldn't attend. So lots didn't. But the Obama delegates did, so numbers out of counties that looked like this—13 for Obama, 12 for Clinton—became this at the state level—14 for Obama, 11 for Clinton.

Another funny thing happened on the way to national...out of Iowa, there were 15 Clinton delegates, 16 Obama delegates, and 14 Edwards delegates. When the counts went national, magically, Obama had 25, having been given 10 of Edwards, while Clinton lost one.

Finally, two interesting facts: Senator Obama won 13 of 14 caucuses. He lost 21 of 28 primaries. Fascinating thing that when people could step up to the voting machine and cast private, safe ballots...they chose Senator Clinton.

Senator Clinton, you are stunning. Your courage and determination are surpassed only by the strength and grace with which you've gifted us at the close. I'm not surprised, but I'm proud.

Live to fight another day.

A Link to a Worthy Article

This is a phenomenal article. Do go to this site and read it.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/hillarys_growing_shadow.html

Contrary to the hopes of the ruling democratic echelon, Senator Clinton's shadow truly is lengthening.

Baffled by the Purge, But More Baffled by the Purged

Regarding the 'purging' of Florida delegates...I'm baffled any candidate would reach down into duly chosen pools of individuals--selected through a long and careful process (from precinct to county to state) to honorably represent their neighbors—and arbitrarily replace them.

I'm baffled by the response of the replacements, complicit in the affair by their acceptance of the slots.

But I'm most baffled by the reaction of the replaced. I have to ask myself, would I still support a candidate that had so misused me? One who took my patient climb through the precinct and county and state conventions, faithful to the candidate I'd chosen—and summarily disposed of it?

I think I'd be knocking on the doors of 18 Million Voices, Just Say No Deal, PUMA, the Denver Group, Blue Lyon, Fiery Side....