Since Tom Brokaw was tongue-tied on Meet The Press on Sunday and Andrea Mitchell was unable to think clearly about a man she covered for 4 years, I thought I should suggest some questions for any other reporters who get a chance to interview former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
1. First and foremost, if you are so concerned about the direction of your so -alled party, why didn't you get involved or even speak out during the Republican primary?
2. Why did you wait for the last 16 days of the GENERAL ELECTION to speak out if you were truly troubled about "your party's direction"?
3. As the man who presented the facts to the UN Security Council on the U.S. intelligence in Iraq, does your endorsement of Obama mean that you agree with Obama that it was the biggest misstake we ever made by going into Iraq?
4. And if you don't agree with Obama on Iraq then how do you square endorsing a man that thinks you are the leader of the stupidist foreign policy blunder the U.S. has ever made?
5. Does your desire "for a fresh set of eyes" leading America mean that you will commit to not taking a job in the next administration?
6. While we appreciate your economic assessment that McCain doesn't seem to know how to respond to the economic crisis facing America, should we take financial advice from a Secretary of State that was billions of dollars over budget on his spending in Iraq and Afghanistan?
7. And while we are at it, did you or did you not tell the president we should liberate Iraq?
8. Since Obama has made an issue of the sleazy tactics used to out former CIA agent Valerie Plame, did you tell him before you endorsed him that it was your long term deputy that was the leak?
9. Obama has said that he would sit down with Ahmadinejad without conditions and you have said that it is foolish to do so, is Obama foolish or have you changed your mind?
10. You authored, recommended and still advocate for the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Does your endorsement of Obama (who doesn't agree with it) mean that Obama has agreed to break his promise to change the policy?
Richard Grenell spent 8 years working at the department of state (4 of which were under Powell).