Colin Powell

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell will be the honorary grand marshal for the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix on Sept. 4, race organizers announced late Tuesday night. Powell will give the command to "start your engines" to the field of IndyCar drivers at the start of the 80-lap event. He also will be given the opportunity to take a 180-mph tour of the 2.0-mile temporary street circuit in downtown Baltimore from the passenger seat of an IndyCar two-seater. "The opportunity to be grand marshal for the inaugural Grand Prix is an honor, as it will showcase the city of Baltimore and the beautiful Inner Harbor to a worldwide audience, and I'm very happy to be a part of that," he said.

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell will be the honorary grand marshal for the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix on Sept. 4, race organizers announced late Tuesday night. Powell will give the command to "start your engines" to the field of IndyCar drivers at the start of the 80-lap event. He also will be given the opportunity to take a 180-mph tour of the 2.0-mile temporary street circuit in downtown Baltimore from the passenger seat of an IndyCar two-seater. "The opportunity to be grand marshal for the inaugural Grand Prix is an honor, as it will showcase the city of Baltimore and the beautiful Inner Harbor to a worldwide audience, and I'm very happy to be a part of that," he said.

LONDON -- The day was pure Jamaica -- radiant, ethereal sunshine and soft, sea-blown air. Gen. Colin Powell, fresh from victory in the Gulf War, was guest of honor in the Caribbean island of his parents' birth. ''Get some rest, dear boy,'' Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley had ordered down the phone. ''Come home, if only for a few days.''Americans will do well to give some attention to Mr. Powell's roots. Harlem-born he was, but it is abundantly clear from his autobiography that his music is calypso and reggae, not Motown and soul; his favorite drink is Appleton's rum, not beer or whiskey, and comfort food for him is not chitlins and greens, but roast goat, plantains, peas and rice.

The business section article about the "Get Motivated" seminar is worthy of a high-school newspaper but not a paper with the long and proud history of The Baltimore Sun ("'Losers make excuses. Get out there and take action,'" May 5). While it does, indeed, report superficially on the events of the day, it fails to ask the important questions: With only 10,000 people (at most) in attendance and a published ticket price of $5, how are they able to bring Zig Ziglar, Colin Powell, Sara Palin (via satellite)

Within the next two weeks Time magazine will publish lengthy excerpts from Colin Powell's memoirs, Barbara Walters will interview him for a prime time television show, and the general will begin a nationwide promotional tour at a book store in Virginia.That tour is going to be treated by most who follow it closely -- journalists, voters, candidates for president -- as the equivalent of the presidential campaign trail. Technically and legally it won't be. He may not have made up his mind yet if he wants to run. Even if he has, his publisher wouldn't let him admit it, thus limiting his ability to get free broadcast appearances (since other candidates might then demand the same thing)

WashingtonWHEN PRESIDENT Bush was asked about the disclosure in a new book that Gen. Colin Powell, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had favored a policy of containment rather than a military attack against Iraq, Bush responded by pounding the table and insisting, "They are not going to divide us on this."The president's reaction was characteristic. He always seems to view the disclosure of any disagreements within the administration as a plot to undermine his presidency. But what was most interesting is that he didn't deny the essential point of the story -- that Powell had believed the goals of the United States could have been met with further use of sanctions although it might have taken a year or two.This information is significant because it makes clear that the decision to launch an offensive rather than wait out the sanctions was a close question indeed.

WASHINGTON -- With the retirement this week of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, speculation will rise again about a future for him in national politics. He told the National Press Club yesterday only that he hopes "to do something that is in service to the nation in some capacity. Whether that's political or not remains to be seen. I have nothing inside me at the moment that says it has to be political." Hereabouts, that will be taken as a definite maybe.Powell's great popularity and positive image after 35 years in the military, and in the highest reaches of Washington power circles, make him appear -- on paper, at least -- a potential political star, as either a presidential or vice-presidential candidate in 1996, especially on the Republican ticket.

FOR Bill Clinton it was a guerrilla raid deep into hostile territory studded with snipers and minefields.No, his advance team didn't book Mr. Clinton for a tour of Sarajevo under mortar fire.But the way things have gone his first 11 weeks, this trip was almost as dicey.Mr. Clinton ventured across the Potomac on Thursday and strolled the halls of the Pentagon for the first time as president.Sure, for his predecessors from Truman to Bush, a Pentagon trip was a ho-hum deal. Respect was guaranteed.

WASHINGTON -- The political universe, having now survived Ross Perot's command performance for 1996 presidential hopefuls in Dallas, is likely to move next to an intensification of the game of will-he-or-won't-he regarding retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell.Powell's long awaited biography is due out next month and with it the usual extensive book tour and round of high-profile television interviews that mark such august occasions. What makes the game particularly enticing is the parallel guessing game of what-is-he, as in Republican, Democrat or neither.

It has often been said that Colin Powell is politically popular because he is a blank slate.We do know some things about where he stands on some issues, but we do not know what solutions he offers to America's problems.And, the popular wisdom goes, if and when he does run for president or vice president he will be forced to talk about those solutions and reveal his stands and, therefore, his popularity must plummet as various interest groups desert him. (He is pro-choice, for instance.)But there is another trouble spot ahead for Powell that has nothing to do with his political platform:There are real questions about how Powell conducted the Persian Gulf war, how much he knew about atrocities in Vietnam, how much he is to blame for that disastrous raid in Somalia, and whether his military stance was helpful or harmful in Bosnia.

Fireworks exploded. The Olympics theme song blared, and audience members rose to their feet. The tall athlete strode to the center of the arena. Before taking the stage, Michael Phelps stopped to kiss his mother seated in the first row. No, he wasn't accepting another gold medal. The swimmer from Baltimore, dressed in a gray suit and lavender tie, was one of the celebrities headlining a touring motivational business seminar that came to the city Tuesday. Phelps told his now-familiar story of setting a goal as a child and sticking to it, allowing him to surpass his wildest dreams.

T he PBS documentary "For Love of Liberty" has a great and vital American story to tell. I just wish it had told it more effectively in TV terms. It needed to be less like a classroom presentation, and more like the all-engaging, sweeping historical saga that it has the makings to be. But even with its flaws, the film still offers a revealing look at the potential of Black History Month programming and the role that mainstream TV plays in shared memory and a group's sense of identity.

Mitchell B. Reiss, an expert in international affairs and former presidential envoy to the peace process in Northern Ireland, will be Washington College's 27th president. Reiss, 52, will succeed Baird Tipson on July 1, the liberal arts college in Chestertown announced Friday. Reiss is a diplomat-in-residence at the College of William & Mary, where he has also worked as a law and government professor and as dean and vice chancellor for international relations. Reiss said he will use his contacts to strengthen ties between the college and Beltway experts in politics, international relations and other fields.

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was awarded the highest honor from the AARP last night as the organization held its national leadership forum at Baltimore's Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Powell urged an audience of about 800 to find activities that will give back to society, using his involvement with youth since his retirement as an example. "Look for new and exciting things to do," Powell said. Powell, 69, who recently said he had urged President Bush before the invasion of Iraq to send more troops to the region, avoided any talk of politics or the war other than to say Americans "owe the people of Iraq the democracy we promised them."

Dan RodricksDOUG BALOG'S story - and he's sticking to it - is that he was fired because his dad did a doodle, and his brother scanned the doodle and e-mailed the doodle, and the doodle ended up on Balog's computer at work. A computer technician discovered the doodle and reported the doodle to Balog's boss - and perhaps even a higher authority - and Balog's boss fired him. The doodle wasn't pornographic. It wasn't racist. It wasn't sexist. It was, if anything, an attempt at geopolitical humor.

ON THE front page of this section, there is a story about the note that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote anticipating the possibility of defeat and disaster for the Allied invasion of Normandy 60 years ago today. The note is eloquent in its simplicity, courageous in its grasp of responsibility. It stands as an example of American dignity and nobility. It contrasts disturbingly with the language and conduct of the political leadership of the American war today in Iraq. One sentence has the ring of what the Bush administration has been saying about its war: "My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available."

WASHINGTON -- Whether he is embarking on a campaign tryout or merely a campaign to sell a lot of books, Colin L. Powell is about to become the man of the moment.Four years after the Persian Gulf war turned the charismatic, rock-ribbed army general into a four-star celebrity, General Powell this week launches his autobiography, "My American Journey," with extraordinary, what some have called unparalleled, fanfare. A parade of magazine covers, interviews with everyone from Barbara Walters to Jay Leno and a 25-city book tour will take him through Wal-Marts and Sam's Clubs as well as bookstores all across the country.

A government conspiracy slowly unfolds on a new "X-Files," while a cable documentary looks back more than 35 years at the conspiracy confrontation between Bobby Kennedy and labor leader Jimmy Hoffa. Oh, and Colin Powell's back -- again -- on yet another interview show.* "Family Matters" (8 p.m.-8:30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- The old I-see-you-in-the-shower ploy, subject of recent plots in both "Friends" and "Beverly Hills, 90210," gets another outing as Urkel (Jalell) inadvertently spies a bathing Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams)

WASHINGTON - Who will be John Kerry's running mate? Speculation runs rampant these days. I have a suggestion: Colin L. Powell. Yes, I know Mr. Powell is a Republican. But judging by Mr. Kerry's buddy-buddy relationship with Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican, Mr. Kerry seems like an equal-opportunity employer. Mr. McCain fed speculation that he might get Mr. Kerry's vice presidential nod back on March 10 by saying, "Obviously, I would entertain it." Mr. McCain said this with a twinkle in his eye, as if he enjoyed giving paroxysms to Team Bush after the hard time they gave him in the 2000 presidential primaries.

For about 90 minutes last night, it was possible to imagine that the United States and Iraq were old friends and allies, untroubled by memories of threats and sanctions, battles and suicide bombings. And, as members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra and Washington's National Symphony Orchestra played side by side on the stage of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall before a packed house that included President and Laura Bush, the familiar adage about music being the universal language sounded unusually fresh and hopeful.