Today on "Meet the Press" (haven't forgotten about you Timmy), Retired General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State for the Bush Administration, endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain for president.
He states his decision has nothing to do with race, and instead sites Obama's style and substance, Obama's "inclusive" rather than narrow-minded policies, McCain's poor choice of Gov. Sarah Palin (as she is "unqualified" to be president), and McCain's potential to place 2 more conservatives judges in the Supreme Court court as major reasons why he is endorsing Obama. He also called Obama a transformational figure and stated that the Republican Party has moved too far to the right.
Of course, he was openly criticized by Rush Limbaugh, who feels his decision is based purely on race. Limbaugh also thinks he is not showing loyalty to Bush and the Republicans, as they are the ones who anointed him a 4-star general.
"'Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race,' Limbaugh wrote in an email. 'OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with.'" "'I was also unaware of his dislike for John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia. I guess he also regrets Reagan and Bush making HIM a 4-star and Secretary of State AND appointing his son to head the FCC. Yes, let's hear it for transformational figures.'"
I say good for Colin Powell for making what seems to be a well-informed and non-hasty decision and for doing what he feels is right in his heart, and not what is "right" for his former cronies. The culture of cronyism is a phenomenon that helped turn the Bush administration into a disaster. And for anyone who thinks his decision is based on race, PLEASE watch the video of his explanation on Meet the Press. I found his explanation to be completely reasonable, very well thought out with supporting evidence behind each one of his points, and finally, it was very heart-felt.
16 comments:
I hear as much from Powell saying he's put off by the GOP direction than how much he likes Obama.
Limbaugh needs to stay relevant somehow but this rant just sounds goofy compared to how impassioned Powell is.
Will,
Limbaugh is only relevent in his own fantasy-land brain of his.
Huge blows to the GOP this week with endorsements for Obama from both Chris Buckley and Powell.
Where has Don been? Did he threaten to leave the country if McCain/Palin don't win???
I agree with you. I think it was a well thought-out and well informed decision and I found his explanation to be real while still showing respect for McCain.
Don't even get me started on Limbaugh.
Smart move...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081020/ap_on_el_pr/obama
Definitely smart.
No taunting Don...especially after that Cowboys game.
McCain is barely a right winger, and Powell never has been. His comments about the "steadiness" of Obama the last few weeks is laughable. he has turned his back on the Republicans who appointed him to power in favor of the most extreme leftist ever to be president. I think race certainly could be a factor as well, but I think Powell is more worried about protecting his legacy. He knows the press and NPR listeners around the country will stop reviling him and now praise him as a maverick.
As they used to praise McCain.
I would comment more, but I grow tired of commenting in these echo chambers. Plus, I need to start stockpiling handguns, finding ways to broadcast dissenting views on secure lines, and organizing the resistance before the fascists take over in January.
don, you are commended for being of sound mind and reason on a blog dominated by the starbucks peeps. mccain was a watse for us.
I love the anonymous fan club that is growing on here. I know it can be dangerous to dissent in this day and age, but please feel free to argue (use a pseudonym like Che or Ronnie) alongside me. The people I know who post here are not bad people. They just won't believe the shackles of government are real, until they are welded on. The simple allure of "Hope, "Change," "Yes We Can," "Share the Wealth," etc. are difficult to fight -- but we can't stop dissenting.
Are you kidding me?! Dissenting to raise awareness of the shackles of government? Who has been running the show for the past 8 yrs? Haven't we seen the results of free market reign?! On the flip side, we have lost more and more personal freedoms under the very same traditionally-"small-government"-party administration! DIDN'T YOU NOTICE YOU WON FOR ALL THESE YEARS? And what is the result? Wire tapping, Git-mo, seemingly endless war in the Middle East, loss of credibility internationally, likely expansion of nuclear plans in N Korea and Iraq...and oh, yes, lets not forget about the bang-up job at home! Uninsured rates increasing, unstable markets, unemployment rates increasing...but you folks are the voice of reason in the liberal-minded blogosphere that has been driving the country into ruin?
And can't you given supporters of Obama more credit than being "allured" by these ideals?
McCain could have made a big difference for himself in the middle but he was too much a pansy and had to pander to the right. There was a time when I respected him but it's gotten pretty hard to maintain during his presidential bid.
kath, you sound like an angry liberal. the world is ending. too funny.
To say our current financial problems are the result of a free market is laughable. If we had a free market in this country, interest rates never would have been low enough to cause this mess.
I also am no fan of some of President Bush's policies, but he hasn't even come close to the abuses of past war-time presidents (President Wilson arrested over 100,000 people just for speaking out against WWI). Still, Bush is no small government conservative. You are correct.
We are now winning (I know the thought of America winning something is anathema to most on the left, but please try not to gouge out your eyes when reading this) in Iraq. Hopefully, we can do the same in Afghanistan. 8 years of Clinton led us to a blind intelligence community and 9-11. Luckily, we have had no attacks on our soil since 9-11.
I will confess that seeing our unemployment rate creep to more than half of Europe's unemployment rate (yay socialism!) is troubling, I would not go so far as to say our country is in ruin.
The fact is that I cannot support any party whose sole purpose is to take liberties and property from the successful to give to the less successful. I have to pick my poison these days. Fascists always come to power promising hope, change, taking from the rich, etc. I can't sit idly by and just watch it happen without dissent I am sorry if that angers you. Okay, not really.
neon don needs to do this bloggy
Don, I appreciate your comments. That our efforts in Iraq have been more successful is reassuring but does not make up for the waste of lives and money the war has been all along. I will never believe the war was the right thing to do and anything more than unfinished business to W et al.
Your dissenting voice does not anger me and, it's true, we do need to hear thoughtful counter-arguments to our opinions on the left. We just have very opposite ideologies and will probably never see eye-to-eye on most things. I am just surprised to hear the tones of an underdog when the Republicans have dominated the political landscape for most of this decade.
Kath, I am disappointed that you refuse to open your mind to other opinions on Iraq. Someday millions of free Iraqis might soften that hardened heart 9and mind) of yours. I can understand your opinion now, but I certainly hope a free and prosperous Iraq could at least potentially open the mind you are intentionally closing.
As for the underdog.... we live in a world in which the leftist candidate for President is inexperienced, unvetted, and unknown. Criticism of him anywhere is rare (SNL can't even make fun of him), and those of us who dissent are called racists, bigots, hatemongers, and worse.
I know it can be costly to dissent to the Obamessiah.
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