No Thanks.

Or, Uncle Tom Drifts from the Tattered Big Red Tent and Tries to Skulk Into the Funner Big Blue Tent.

If Barack Obama had an ounce of self-respect, he would've thanked former Secretary of State Colin Powell for his endorsement this morning on Meet the Press then would've followed it up with, "...but you can kiss my well-toned black ass."

Of course, Obama didn't do that when he spoke with Powell for about ten minutes today because Obama is almost as shameless a panderer as McCain and is collecting endorsements from the unlikeliest of people and places like the local crazy who mindlessly collects completely random items in his shopping cart with the wobbly wheel that turns it to the right. Don't forget, we're talking about a guy who took Hillary Clinton by the arm so she could introduce him to her old playmates at the Bilderberg Group's meeting last June in Virginia.

He should've swiftly and forcefully rejected Powell's endorsement not because he's a Republican but because Powell is simply an Uncle Tom of the Bush administration who was willingly used to help start the most illegal and costly war in world history and is only recently muttering about buyer's remorse.

Because now Obama's campaign has been officially and indelibly linked with the same Colin Powell whose legacy won't be becoming our first African American Secretary of State or one of the two war heroes of Operation Desert Storm. Obama's campaign, regardless of the outcome of the election, will be linked with the Colin Powell who sat before the United Nations Security Council on February 5, 2003 armed with nothing but lies, a guilty George Tenet sitting behind him, cartoons of mobile weapons labs, a vial of white powder purporting to be raw anthrax and an intercepted transmission between two Iraqi officers that was taken completely out of context.

His address making the case to go to war with Iraq was, by Powell's own admission, the most embarrassing day of his life. When troubling reports began filtering in of nonexistent WMD, it became clearer and clearer that Powell, who was even at that early juncture of the Bush administration the only completely trusted official, was used as a human counter measure by the neocons whom he'd served so well, neocons who had no problem destroying Powell's credibility and reputation.

He called Obama "transformational." Which is the height of irony because this country needs a transformation from the nightmare our democracy has become largely through Powell's own efforts. The only real value that Powell's endorsement of Obama has is of one former military man repudiating the campaign (but only after sending McCain the maximum $2300) of a fellow veteran and Republican. And what led Secretary Powell to see the light? Sarah Palin.

"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired. But at the same, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."

Sarah Palin? The tipping point? Like John McCain wasn't scaring the shit out of thinking people before nominating Sarah Palin?

Well, Powell's guilt, embarrassment and buyer's remorse won't bring back the more than 4200 brave men and women who gave their lives because of Powell's lies. Not a single Goddamned one of them. And if Obama had any guts, he'd see that and call attention to Powell's shameless skulking from the Big Red Tent before kicking his ass out of the Big Blue Tent.