Today’s installment of “Quick Links” consists entirely out of links to blogposts about Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama. 

Carol Platt Liebau responded for the conservative TownHall.com in a fashion repeated by many other right-wing bloggers whenever a moderate conservative dared break party lines: “His rationale for his endorsement is what gives the game away. They’re two of the tropes most beloved by the elites and the  media. Coincidence? I think not. Colin Powell has long been known as someone who cares enormously about the opinion of the elite media – and, frankly, elites of all kinds.  Clearly, his reputation has taken a beating in those rarified circles ever since he (along with Joe Biden, incidentally) supported the Iraq war.  He’s desperate to regain his supposed ’stature,’ and this is a quick and easy way to do it.”

Nate Silver for the liberal “The Plank” of TNR wrote: ”With that said, Powell has approval ratings as high as just about any public figure in America. His endorsement was eloquent, unequivocal, and because of his role in the Bush Administration, genuinely newsworthy. Powell’s endorsement might play especially well among the defense and military communities in Northern Virginia, which just so happens to be perhaps the most important swing region in the election.”

Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake expressed the viewpoint perfectly of radical liberal bloggers, who have declared war on all those who dared disagree with them during the last eight years: “As predicted, Colin Powell endorsed Obama today.  After Obama raised a hundred million dollars last month, every meaningful newspaper is behind him, he’s soaring in the polls and McCain’s campaign has devolved into a complete clown car. Way out there on a limb, Colin. As Atrios says, Powell can still go Cheney himself for the role he played in Anthrax, Iraq and a host of other Republican fiascos,” this enlightened being of the liberal blogosphere penned.

Tony Campbell, meanwhile, opined for The Moderate Voice: “History has a way of repeating itself. In 1969, a new U.S. President had the audacity to deal strongly with civil unrest, strengthening a struggling economy, ending an unpopular war in Vietnam while attempting to wage diplomacy through detente with both the Soviet Union and China, all at the same time. Powell stated that he believed Obama has “the intellectual curiosity and vigor” to handle any issues that may come up during his administration. I believe Colin Powell is correct in his assessment.” Which does not surprise anyone who actually read his posts for TMV of course.

“The Powell endorsement shouldn’t be all good for Obama. Powell’s tenure at State was, in retrospect, a disaster. Obama’s rise began when he gave an anti-Iraq War speech. Powell’s career started spiralling when he made the case for war at the United Nations. But Powell is still a folk hero because of the narrative that’s been spun since them. You get a good example of it in Oliver Stone’s W., which I saw last night, and which portrays Powell as a fallen saint who literally pounds a table (”LET ME FINISH!”) making an argument against invading Iraq. The country sees Powell not as a patsy, but as a guy who would, after all, have made a better president than Bush,” David Weigel opined for the libertarian website Reason, in a post which does not make clear where Weigel stands. “On the one hand, and on the other,” perfected.

Outside the Beltway’s Alex Knapp responded in the point-of-fact manner many moderate conservative Republicans chose today, not disagreeing fully with Powell (especially not on his criticism of the Republican Party), but also not agreeing: “Powell’s been telegraphing this for months, so it’s not a 100% surprise. However, as Marc Ambinderpoints out, this hurts McCain and helps Obama–in that order–in the sense that this endorsement will likely dominate the next 36 hours of news coverage. This close to the election, every day counts for McCain.”

Writing for Pajamas Media conservative Roger L. Simon criticizes Powell for not saying anything about Obama’s connection to black radicals such as Rev. Jeremiah Wright: “Again, as I said, Powell ignored this, although Obama’s initial reluctance to separate himself from Wright was evident to the entire world - not to mention the candidate’s bizarre assertion that he had not until then realized the reverend’s extreme views.  It was at that point many of us knew that Obama was not, to use Powell’s words, ‘a transformational figure,’ unless by transformational you meant dishonest.”

Right-wing blogger Tigerhawk also weighed in, like Liebau questioning Powell’s courage to resist the pressure of the media, writing: “Colin Powell endorses the candidate who claims he always opposed the war that Powell did not oppose when it might have made a difference. The only question that remains is when will Bob Woodward get the “background” story that divulges all the ways in which Colin Powell struggled for months with this difficult decision. Why? Because Colin Powell never makes a move without Woodward there to ventriloquize his inner anguish.”

Liberal blogger “skippy” (who coined the world “Blogtopia” which he says we should use instead of “blogosphere”) responded as follows: “perhaps trying to salvage a bit of his integrity, finally goes on the endorsement record. he’s backing the ‘transformational’ candidate, obama… good for you general.”

Reasonable (neo)conservative blogger Donald Douglas also weighed in: “If there’s someone who personifies mainstream values, it’s Colin Powell. He’s the non-threatening black that Americans long for. It’s not unlikely that we would have had similar race-baiting smear campaigns in the event of a Powell presidential run, but the former secretary of state’s history as a soldier and public servant in previous presidential administrations would have made any attempt to ‘otherize’ him positively ludicrous. That’s not the case with Barack Obama. At this point in the campaign, the opportunity for the Illinois Senator to roll the Powell endorsement off his lips is the most important mainstreaming push he could possibly have gotten. With the huge round of newspaper endorsements now lining up behind the Democratic nominee, it’s going to be very difficult for John McCain to consolidate his recent improvements in the polls over the next few days.”

And the last blogger we’ll link to, Michelle Malkin responded agitated yet not overly insulted (in a post accompanied by a ridiculous photo of Powell ‘hip-hopping’: ”The orgy of Obamedia attention Powell will receive the next 24 hours is disproportionate to its importance. The press only loves maverick Republicans when they jump in bed with Democrats.”