Retired General Colin Powell appeared on Meet the Press this morning and explained eloquently why he's endorsing Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.
As I listened to Powell speak, he said many things I agreed with, but one thing in particular struck me as it hasn't been said enough during this campaign. It was regarding the incorrect assertion that Obama is Muslim, and the inference that one must be Christian to be President. Here's the transcript.
I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America...
As remarkable as it is that we're mere days away from having a black man elected President of the USA, I suspect it will be even harder for a non-Christian man or woman to reach that pinnacle. And a Muslim man or woman as President? I doubt we'll ever see the day. To many an American, the labels "muslim" and "terrorist" are synonyms.
Religious affiliations shouldn't matter, but they most certainly do. Muslims need not apply.
Here's Colin Powell making a great deal of sense this morning.
