Powell's Finest Hour?

I'll share a little secret with everyone: I admire Colin Powell. No, he's not the most reliable supporter of President Bush's foreign policy. Frankly, I disagree with his seeming desire to defer to the UN when his marching orders haven't been made clear enough. I still admire the man.

He has served his country well in many capacities, and I would much sooner listen to him on foreign policy than any of the candidates that the Democrats had to offer up.

Between Rumsfeld and Powell, one of the things that I like about President Bush's staff is their honesty and demand for respect. They say things that, perhaps, you aren't supposed to say in polite society (scandalous, I tell you!). You know where they stand, though, and if you want to play little games, you'd better be ready to play rough.

We've missed this kind of muscular leadership.

Jay Nordlinger says that the story that follows is one of Powell's finest hours. Certainly, it's one of his finest verbal moments.

I wanted to be sure you caught Colin Powell's remarks at a recent congressional hearing. You've likely heard about his defense of Bush on the National Guard business. But did you get this?

Powell noticed a staffer, sitting behind the congressmen, shaking his head, while the secretary was commenting on Iraqi WMD. "Are you shaking your head for something, young man, back there? Are you part of these hearings?"

A Democratic congressman, Sherrod Brown, then appealed to the committee chairman: "Mr. Chairman, I've never heard a witness reprimand a staff person in the middle of [answering] a question."

But Powell rejoined, "I seldom come to a meeting where I am talking to a congressman and I have people aligned behind you giving editorial comment by head shakes."

Beautiful.

Read the rest of Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus.

Posted by zombyboy at February 19, 2004 11:40 AM | TrackBack