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I remember back in 1989 when I was 23 (dang, that's half a lifetime ago for me, I'm 46), I was down at my aunt's place in Round Rock, TX (near Austin). I was watching the news and it was when President Bush, the father, appointed him to head the Joint Chiefs. Being the cynical guy I am, even then I was, I turned to my mother and aunt, "most likely an affirmative action pick." Mom and Aunt Jean chuckled in agreement. Maybe he did well in Gulf War I, but his actions from 1996 to now, seem to reinforce my original 1989 suspicions. I don't like to think that way, but I know things work that way a lot. Also, I know it makes me uncomfortable to say this but it seems so true that Powell is basing his vote on race over the issues.

Heck, a co-worker of mine, who is Black, did admit voting for Obama because of that reason. I wasn't mad at all, although I don't like that logic or hear of it, at least the person was truthful. I admire one that tells the truth, even though I don't want to hear it nor even if I don't agree with the logical thought process in his decision making since it is his right to do so.

When it comes to stereotypes, I admit that there are some truths to them, some only a little, some a lot, some in between. I do see the need to overcome them. There is a stereotype where many Blacks did vote on the basis of race and all this does it make it harder to prove the stereotype wrong. Seeing things like this make it harder to overcome such stereotypes.

Obama healing the divisions between us, I thin, as my former boss put it, he set race relations back to 1970 in many cases.

Did Powell do such a great job in Gulf War I? First, I believe Stormin’ Norman was the general who ran that operation.

Second, I always was struck by Powell’s behavior at the end of that war. According to Powell, when Shwarzkopf (sp) had destroyed the Republican Guard on the Highway of Death, Colin Powell picked up a phone, handed it to G HW Bush and said “ Your objectives have been met, stop the killing”.

I always wondered, was Powell a wise statesman, a general who loved his troops? Or was he a bleeding heart who wanted to be known for ending the war? I’m not sure but I thought it was odd behavior.