The Conservative Blogosphere Vs. Colin Powell

Almost as expected as the endorsement of Barack Obama by Colin Powell was the reaction conservative blogosphere to the endorsement. The snarky condescension was lead by Michelle Malkin.

The media’s in a tizzy over Colin Powell’s Meet the Press endorsement of Barack Obama this morning.

It’s not a surprise to anyone who’s paid attention to his pro-Obama murmurings over the last four months.

How will people outside the Beltway bubble respond?

Yawn.

...

Powell’s embrace of Barack Obama is a triumph of hope over reality. He told Tom Brokaw that Obama’s “steadiness” and “not jumping in and changing every day”
convinced him that The One was ready to lead.

Hello?

...

Guess Powell relied on Obama’s website after he purged his surge criticism from it.
Powell then goes on to pooh-pooh Obama’s longtime “limited relationship” with Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers as an “issue that is not central” to the campaign — just as evidence of the closeness of these two very chummy “neighbors”
mounts.

Judgment, schmudgment, eh, Secretary Powell?

Of course, it only started there.

I doubt Powell’s endorsement will have much effect one way or the other. What I did find interesting was that although Colin Powell said he’s still a
Republican, he would have “difficulty with two more conservative appointments to
the Supreme Court, but that’s what we’d be looking at in a McCain
administration.” Read full story.

That quote makes me seriously question Powell’s sincerity. Of all the criticism of McCain/Palin coming from the right, the appointment of the next one or two Supreme Court Justices is certainly not one of them. As it is, the Democrats are going to have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, so any extreme right wing nominees will never make it past the confirmation hearings.

I think a consensus is forming.

Big deal? Nah, its just a PR stunt to get himself back in the good graces of the Beltway/Manhattan elite cocktail party circuit besides its been rumored for months. Will it help Obama? I doubt it since the only ones that care, the ObaMSM, are already in the tank for Obama in fact it might hurt him some with his far left anti-war base since it was Powell that gave the infamous WMD speech that set up the war in Iraq. It also take some of the sting out of Obama's attempts to hang the Bush administration around McCain's neck.

There may have also been a bit of payback revenge motive involved as well after he was removed as Sec. of State. He also has worked to undermine President Bush for a few years now most notably when he knew his man Richard Armitage had outed Valerie Plame to Bob Novak but allowed Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove to take the heat for it. So I say good riddance Obama can have him since he was a pretty lousy and ineffective SoS to begin with.

Now, Ms. Malkin, and the rest of the blogosphere is spending an awful lot of time on an event that none of them think has any significance. Furthermore, there is an awful cynical pyschoanalysis of his motives. The same group that celebrated when Democrat big whig Lynn Forester De Rothschild endorsed John McCain and never once questioned the sincerity of her motives is now looking for any nefarious reason to explain this particular one.

For my money, as far as endorsements go, this one is very important, however endorsements have long stopped being at all relevant. It isn't as though John McCain doesn't have the endorsements of significant Democrats like Ms. Forrester, and so this isn't going to change the dynamic of the race. General Powell has served this nation with nothing but honor and I am not about to question his motives on something as important as this. Nor, will I minimize its importance...at least as far as endorsements go.