Colin Powell appeared on Fareed Zakaria's CNN how, the "Global Public Square." During a wide-ranging interview, Zakaria brought up the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" towards gays in the military. Zakaria wondered if fifteen years after that policy had been implemented it was time to re-evaluate it. Powell said yes, "we definitely should re-evaluate it."
As I was working out on an elliptical trainer at the gym yesterday morning, CNN's Fareed Zakaria had me as a captive audience...which beat the Hell out of Fox News Channel, which is what the televisions always seem to be tuned to. His guest was retired Gen. Colin Powell, and while I've always been impressed with Powell, I (and many others on the Left), have never forgotten his sorry performance at the UN Security Council, attempting to sell the world on the manufactured premise that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction. Of course, America is a country built on second chances, and I think Powell has long since recognized and owned up to his role in helping to propel the propaganda and the drumbeat for a war we never should have been fighting in the first place.
Listening to Powell yesterday, though, I was struck by how...well...reasonable the man sounded. I had to keep reminding myself that Powell is a Republican (though he did endorse Barack Obama), but he seems as if he just "gets it". While most Republican insist on living in various degrees and forms of denial, Powell actually seems engaged in the reality that is our world after the 2008 election. In discussing various issues, most related to foreign policy, Powell was erudite, reasonable, and- most impressively- non-dogmatic. I found myself thinking that if Powell was the face of the GOP, I must just...nah....
If the powers the be in the GOP were willing to listen to Powell, they'd understand where they've gone so wrong and what they need to do in order to be relevant again. It's not exactly a state secret that the GOP is the party of well-off White Folks and the less-well-to-do White Folks they can scare and propagandize into continually voting against their own interests. Not exactly a recipe for long-term success, but if you look at why John McCain lost...well, that might not be Reason #1, but it's definitely on the list.
Republicans need to understand the significance of the continuing shift in American demographics. Whites are continuing to see their majority status dwindle (Whites will be a minority in Texas in our lifetimes, for instance), and yet the GOP continues to act as if they're the unquestioned party of the majority. Until and unless they learn to listen to the concerns of minority groups and truly become the "Big Tent Party" they claim to be, they're condemning themselves to rapidly increasing irrelevance.
If Colin Powell was the face of the Republican Party, they might actually be a force to reckon with. Thankfully for America, he's not...and until GOP leaders figure this out, they will continue to wander in the political wilderness as they ponder their ever-growing irrelevance. Count me among those not expecting enlightenment to settle upon the shoulders of Republicans any time soon. As long as the GOP's tone continues to be set by people like Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, and Jim DeMint...well, clueless is as clueless does, no?
