In a year of unconventional presidential candidates and unconventional requests, such as holding back filling the spot until a new president is elected, why not Republican Gen. Colin Powell as President Obama's US Supreme Court pick? Nevada Gov. Sandoval's name is being bantered around in the press this morning, but what about Powell?
After all, there was a groundswell of support for Powell to be Commander-in-Chief in the mid-90's. Many wanted Powell to become our nation's first African-American president.
Of late, Powell has been giving speeches around the nation under the auspices of the Salvation Army. I attended one of them in Rockford, Illinois, near Chicago, last October. He was electrifying. He also seemed itching to get back into public service.
What many may not realize is you don't need to be a judge or even a lawyer to be appointed to our nation's highest court. Maybe Powell is exactly what this Court needs to break the many logjams on controversial issues before the Court. Right now, the swing vote is Justice Anthony Kennedy. Too much power for too long has been concentrated in just one man, Justice Kennedy, as the sole swing vote on the court. It's uncomfortable, to say the least, knowing that so many rights hang in the balance based upon the proverbial which side of the bed Kennedy gets up on any given morning.
President Obama, in the final year of his eight-year presidency, has yet to appoint an African-American to the U.S. Supreme Court. What is he waiting for? Is that what our first African-American president wants his legacy to be? Never having appointed an African-American to the bench in three picks. Republican President Bush appointed the sole African-American sitting on the bench at present, Justice Clarence Thomas, who is not representative of the views of the majority of African-Americans.
Gen. Colin Powell is the perfect pick. Do it, Mr. President. Please!
Lonna Saunders is an attorney and may be reached at lonna2@msn.com.