His comments left me thinking he is a simpleton. Putting aside the politics.
Right. His comments are stunning on two levels. As you said his comments are stupid and something a simpleton would say. But the politics of Powell has gotten worse. People like Powell are emboldened to “come out of the closet” and directly call for socialism or marxism these days. If they cheer Mandela for confiscating private property than why would they not what to do that over here?