Mr. Powell is smart enough to know what and what not to say.
I like Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice immensely, but maybe for different reasons than most who post here do. I like them because they are a dying breed. What breed you ask? African-Americans who carry themselves with a class and dignity that is beyond reproach. Even when Barbara Boxer grilled Condoleeza, Condoleeza let her intellect do the talking. She didnt go into a "sista-girl" routine; she didnt swirl her neck; she didnt lose her cool. As for Colin Powell, he butted heads with some pretty headstrong individuals in the form of Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, and anyone who knows just a little about these three personalities know that at times the discussion/debate got a little heated; however, Powell didnt run to the media whether mainstream or African-American and lament that his line of thought was not followed because of the hawks in the administration. He remained cool and measured. Why more African-Americans dont gravitate to the models setforth by Rice and Powell, I'll never know--maybe because they are Republicans, but many African-Americans are missing out on two potent paradigms of American class and dignity by not doing so.