Colin Powell is still an American Statesman

Listening to Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama for president reminded me of why I felt so badly about how the Bush administration abused this national hero, and how I hope there will be a chance for him to redeem his record on the world stage.

In my opinion the most important part of what he said was about the suggestions that Obama is a Muslim:

"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," Powell said. "Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"

How did our country, founded on the idea of religious freedom, come so far down this path of hatred and xenophobia? I had never thought the word Islamophobia before this weekend, but that's a symptom of our current sickness. Our country has big, serious problems, and we have allowed ourselves to be distracted from them with fear and selfishness. I could write about it for hours, but really I just wanted to express some small joy about what Colin Powell said, and hope that it doesn't slip past our collective attention as just another part of this far too long election process.

For a much better written essay on the same point, Abed Z. Bhuyan wrote one.