Colin Powell: The America We Remember Is Back Again

Complete Inaugural Coverage

Colin Powell, the former Bush administration Secretary of State and now head of America's Promise, called Barack Obama's election to the nation's highest office a "reaffirmation of American principles values that will help us overcome some of the difficulties of recent years with respect to the attitude of the world toward us."

Speaking with CBS News Managing Editor Katie Couric, Powell said America's prestige abroad has improved since Mr. Obama won a decisive victory over Senator John McCain.

"I think it has really, really been an remarkable event in terms of getting everybody to stand back and say, look at what we have seen here in America," Powell said. "The America we remember is back again."

Powell, who was the highest ranking African-American in the U.S. chain of command while in office and a retired four-star general, was surprised by Mr. Obama's quick rise to the job of Commander in Chief and the efficiency of his campaign.

"I am surprised," Powell said. "I am deeply pleased it happened in my lifetime. He did sort of come out of nowhere. But he came out of nowhere with a sense of optimism, self-confidence, but not overconfidence, and a belief in the basic ideals of this country. What he did was ran a campaign that was almost a military operation in terms of its efficiency, and it's dogged determination to achieve a goal, and he said to all Americans, let's come together, as he says so often. It is not a red state or a blue state, but we're all in one country. And he touched the American people at a time when the American people wanted to be touched, and they needed to be touched. They needed to be reminded of what this country stands for."

As an African-American who was once touted as a presidential candidate, Powell offered his perspective on the Mr. Obama's historic election.

"We have a man who happens to be an African-American, but beyond that, he is a qualified, capable, transformational figure – that's why we elected him," Powell said. "The fact he is African-American says so much about who we are as a people, as a country. It has energized the country and energized the world. Parades the night of the election, not only in Chicago and New York, but in Rio, in Berlin, in Obama, Japan -- there is such a place. They're building a statue in it for him already. The world wondered, can America really do this? Aren't they too divided? Can they really pull something like this off? And we said to the world, yes, we can, and we did."

Regarding the ongoing wars that President Obama will inherit, Powell offered his view on how to proceed, "...in terms of Iraq, we can continue the draw-down a pretty steady pace, and the Iraqis get our help, but Afghanistan, a still more difficult task. Still a tribal society, still a very poor country. The government is not functioning as well as we want it to, and you have the drug problem, which I think can destroy any country if it is not brought under control. So additional troops will help, but we need more than just additional troops. We need to do something about the Pakistan side and the government needs to start functioning. It is a political and economic challenge."

It's not unlikely that President Obama will call upon Colin Powell for service in the new era of responsibility.

[bobnjersey]

[I also note that you are aware that deregulation of oil was done by one party (Clinton) and continued under antoher (Bush).]
[Posted by machineguy at 08:13 PM : Jan 20, 2009]

clinton is now a party unto himself? it''s a bit more complex than this ... since there are multiple branches of government involved in the passing of legislation ... which may or may not involve both parties. the republicans had control of congress from 1994 thru 2006?

the legislation that allowed for the deregulated speculation of oil is a republican led initiative ... with a touch of legislative shenanigans ... also controlled by republicans ... to hide it from those that would have prevented it.

even after the enron debacle ... which was allowed to happen for the same deregulatory reasons ... the ''enron loophole'' was not plugged.

what do you think all the enron traders ... the same ones scamming the system w/ electricity futures ... are doing today for a living? what do you think they''re trading now?

[thebob-bob]

His reputation is forever sullied because he ''went along'' with the Bush Crime Family and the NeoCons. He knew they were full of it, that they were extreme rightwing nuts. He knew, or should have known, how evil Cheney and Rumsfeld are. If he had stood up and said, "No. I will not be a party to this deception", he would have changed history. Too bad, when the moment of truth came, he wasn''t up to the challenge.

[pjbrown6]

Too bad he hadn''t the courage to stand up to Rummy and Cheney when it really counted. Too little, too late. He will be remembered as a mere footnote in the history of this disastrous Bush administration.

[lexalexander]

I''d be more likely to consider Colin Powell''s views worthwhile if he had, at any point, lifted a finger to try to stop any policies of the administration in which he served that he now finds so objectionable.

[hologram5]

We shall see if this is the change that America needs to bring us back to where we were. Only time shall tell. One thing that Barack has to worry about, if he lets the black population down he will have much more to answer for.

[bobnjersey]

[Talking about distorting facts...correction...that bill was sponsored by both Republicans and some democrats. An please don''''t forget the selective part you left out that 157 democrats and 131 republicans voted for it. You kind of forgot to mention that.]
[Posted by laurieleemoo at 08:54 PM : Jan 20, 2009]

list the democratic sponsors for the modernization act ... there were none.

once again you neglect to clearly state that this was a huge spending bill ... the the republican controlled house and senate delayed the vote on it for months ... actually bringing the government to a near shutdown ... with only essential services.

the very provisions that have ''opened the door'' to the securitization of risky mortgages, and the deregulation of the energy commodities business ... often referred to as the ''enron loophole'' was sponsored by republicans w/ phil gramm and his wife involved in a big way. his wife was also a board member of enron. enron was run by ken lay ... good friends of gwb.

the house and senate attempts to push this bill failed miserably ... until it was snuck into the critical spending bill in a late night session.

thanks for the history lesson.

[ron111946]

Colin Powell is correct, to a point. Rawstory.com carries a headline today "Markets tumble, in spite of Obama". America is already trying to forget that the investment houses of Wall Street and the big banks, at the management top and middle, are Republican bulwarks. If Rawstory is trying to say the market and banks are trying to spite Obama, then Rawstory is correct. But I feel Rawstory is trying to carry the message that the banks and investment houses "do not think Obama can change things". Of course the banks and investment houses don''t want change. They want more and more and more bailout money. They want everything to stay the same--that way they get more bailout money and they don''t have to do anything but count the money on their balance sheet. So, no, the financial power houses, like oil, are not about to change until they are forced to change. So the America we know, where banks, investment houses, and oil RULE everything, is still around, but the America we once knew, where even banks, investment houses and oil were basically honest businesses because they were regulated toward honesty, is not back yet. The bills have to written, passed and signed. And the regulatory agencies need to be staffed and funded. Until this all happens, the America we once "knew" has not returned, not just yet. Hope is great. Hype is simply gerrymandered hope.

[kansas1946]

"I think it has really, really been an remarkable event in terms of getting everybody to stand back and say, look at what we have seen here in America," Powell said. "The America we remember is back again."
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Amen. The America we remember is back indeed.

[McHineguy]

...

All I know is that its not all the oil companies as everyone would like to believe...and that there truly need to be some major investigations into this matter.


Prices of everything go up when oil does...and even the Saudis stated when the price was at 150.00 per barrel that the price should have only been 70.00 per barrel based upon supply and demand. Anything over that (80.00 per barrel was from mere speculation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




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Posted by laurieleemoo at 07:00 PM : Jan 20, 2009

Right again. Wish I could stay and chat. Maybe another time.

[McHineguy]

...

Basic commodities that we rely on to live.....should all have caps on them....all the other basic commodities do....and oil did....until at the end of the year in 2000 just before Bush came into office.


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Posted by laurieleemoo at 06:50 PM : Jan 20, 2009

Sorry I was away and wont be here long now. But I do want to comment that I agree with this part of your statement. Basic commodities are like utilities, we dont have proper methods for competition so regulation has to prevail. But regulation is very difficult and needs to be non-partisan. Otherwise we end up with the ********* situation where one group controls food/shelter/energy/medicine for another. And I am skeptical that we are ready for non-partisan control of anything in america today.

I also note that you are aware that deregulation of oil was done by one party (Clinton) and continued under antoher (Bush).