That's what we need

Last night I said I would provide some more details on the talk I sat in with General Colin Powell. Okay here are some details...



- He comes across as brilliant

- He grew up in Harlem and rose to the Office of Secretary of State of the United States of America. Great American success story. Don't tell me it can't be done.

- He was quite funny at times

- He tried to talk G.W. Bush into not going to war with Iraq. His words were "You break it. You own it. We broke it and expected it to just come together. No way this would work. I'm convinced that the whole Iraq thing left a really bad taste in his mouth and he was happy to depart the Bush administration.

- He recounted his initial meeting with Gorbachov when President Reagan asked him to go to Moscow for the first time. This was the beginning of the end of the cold war and not only was it interesting, he made it funny. I think the humor would be lost if I tried to write it out, so I will spare you the pain.

- He believes that while America has it's challenges, we are still in a good place. He did say that some of our worldly relationships need some TLC...which I believe was a little shot at GWB and his gang of neocons.

- He believes that partisan politics is a good thing when it works. He said he knows the American public is sick of the system right now because it's not working. The art of compromise has been lost. He said only the voters can get this changed. Seems like a tall order to me.

- His optimism is contagious. That's one of the virtues that contribute to his leadership skills.

- Someone asked him if he would ever run for president. He politely said he has no hunger for politics. I took it to mean that he is a man of integrity and does not like the compromises that must be made to get your butt elected. He's too good a man to run. That's one of the problems with the office of President. If you are smart enough to do the job, you're smart enough to know that you don't want the damn job.

I told you he was brilliant.