I’m not going to blow smoke about Colin Powell. His speech to the UN backing the BS rationalizations for invading Iraq had a huge influence on the public because of his reputation for honesty and rectitude and it was cynical and wrong. In fact his whole stint in the Bush administration was a was a low point. It wasn’t the first time behaved politically in his storied career — among other things, obstructing President Clinton’s promise to allow gays to openly serve in the military (for which he later expressed regret) was equally a stain on his legacy
But I do give him some credit for later using his influence to back the candidacy of Barack Obama in an early break from GOP lunacy and then speaking out against Trump and the extremism of the GOP. It matters when people like him at least try to do the right thing.
And he did make this point which I didn’t hear even many Democrats make at the time. The right wing did not like it and the Democratic establishment was embarrassed by it:
*Also, I so wish the media would use this as a teachable moment by pointing out that the reason we all should get vaccinated is to protect 84 year olds and people with comorbidities (Powell had multiple myeloma) from dying of COVID. They are vulnerable even when they have been vaccinated as Powell was. I know most of the wingnut unvaxxed think of someone like that as “practically dead already” as Trump once said of COVID victims at the VA, but there might be a few vaccine hesitant’s out there who could be influenced if the media made this point repeatedly.