“Yes, Powell looked for competent, talented, patriotic people and he hated mediocrity.”
Isn’t Colin Powell a poster boy for mediocrity?
Consider this is from his autobiography - his childhood and undergraduate (non-ROTC) accomplishments are admittedly mediocre, but he was tops in everything military - top or 2nd in almost every class / evaluation, with consistently higher opportunities that he demonstrated superior results.
He seems like a very solid, honorable guy, which is really hard to square with his support for ObaMao, unlike Allan West who has a very different view of what's best for American politics.