Scott McClellan's Secret

Colin Powell's support of the Obama campaign was deservedly big news this week. And Rush Limbaugh's analysis thereof was predictably asinine.

Limbaugh clearly felt threatened because Powell, a duly respected military man and former member of the Bush administration, is changing teams. So Limbaugh shrugged off the news by asserting that Powell is supporting Obama because of race. His comments drew immediate and harsh criticism, but he didn't back down. Thinking himself slyly perspicacious, Limbaugh quipped, "[I'm] researching Powell's past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal white candidates that he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

The problem with his breezy, fatuous analysis is its ahistoricity. To look at Powell's past endorsements is to conveniently disregard the present circumstances, to wit, a litany of Republican failures and the poor choices of the McCain campaign. Powell himself cited these factors as reasons for his endorsement, but Limbaugh, as usual, prefers a fantasy world in which apostate conservatives can be motivated only by ulterior, irrational motives.

This poses a problem regarding Scott McClellan, who formally announced his support for Obama today. He's also a former member of the Bush administration who's almost certainly never endorsed a candidate like Obama before. So what's that all about?

I predict that tomorrow, Rush Limbaugh, cigar clamped between his fat jowls, will announce on his radio program that Scott McClellan is secretly black.