Published by
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — And so, the comic Jackie Mason was saying, in that unforgettably distinctive pure Lower East Side New York accent (thick, nasal) of his, “And so, I may be thinking why Colin Powell is such a sensation. How does a guy become the hottest guy in America when no one knows what he does for a living? He puts on a uniform and a pair of glasses, and everybody says, ‘In this uniform, he’s a genius.’ “An idiot could have put on these same glasses, and he could have been the genius. Nobody knows what he did or what he thinks. They found a person who has a combination of qualities. He’s black an…