Colin Powell Endorses Obama

[AUChizad]

Warning: This post may cause a few of you coronary failure.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/20/america/powell.php

Endorsement of Obama shows Powell's transformation in politics
By Elisabeth Bumiller
Published: October 20, 2008

WASHINGTON: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of Senator Barack Obama represented his own transformative moment in a lifelong journey through war and politics.

It was not only an embrace of a presidential candidate from the other party, but also an effort to reshape a legacy that he himself considers tainted by his service under President George W. Bush.

The endorsement, which came after months of conversations between Powell and Obama on a wide range of foreign and domestic policy issues, made clear Powell's dismay at the Republican Party. He said Sunday that he felt that the party had become too conservative under Bush, and that Senator John McCain's campaign was not good for the country or its reputation around the world.

In that sense, his remarks further stirred the brewing debate about the nature of the post-Bush Republican Party.

"I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years," Powell told Tom Brokaw on "Meet the Press" on NBC as he made his endorsement of Obama. "It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it." In recent weeks, Powell added, "the approach of the Republican Party and Mr. McCain has become narrower and narrower."

It will be up to the next president, Powell said, "to fix the reputation that we've left with the rest of the world."

People in both parties debated the impact of Powell's endorsement, but on a Sunday in Washington the conclusion was that the action revealed less about Obama and McCain than about Powell, who 13 years ago was himself thinking of trying to become the country's first black president.

In saying he would vote for Obama over McCain, Powell aligned himself squarely against Bush, who has been counting on a Republican victory next month to see through his strategy in Iraq, the issue, more than any other, on which the president's legacy will rest.

Powell's role in selling the Iraq war, despite his frequent clashes with other members of Bush's team about how to proceed, has also come to dominate his own place in history. In siding with Obama, who from the start has been an opponent of the war, he seemed to be making a clear break with the more hawkish elements of the Republican Party and signaling an attempt to reshape how he is judged on the war.

One major factor in Powell's decision appeared to be Obama's careful wooing of the former secretary of state. In recent months the two have had one face-to-face meeting and some half-dozen telephone conversations, all initiated by Obama.

A friend of Powell's said Obama sought the advice of Powell before Obama's trip in July to Europe and the Middle East, and has also had long discussions with him on Iraq, Iran and North Korea as well as education and health care policy. The two last spoke some two weeks ago about the worldwide economic crisis, the friend said.

In contrast, McCain met with Powell, a friend of two decades, in June, and has not spoken to him since, the friend said.

Like Obama, Powell has long represented to millions of people around the world the possibilities of the American dream. The son of immigrants from Jamaica who was born in Harlem and reared in the South Bronx, Powell earned a degree from the City University of New York and then embarked on a rapid rise through the military, perhaps the most integrated institution in American life.

He became a military assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in 1983, national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush during the 1991 Gulf War.

By 1995 he was flirting with the idea of running for president, and a friend said he briefly considered leaving the Republican Party to run as an independent. But his wife, Alma, said she would worry about his safety. Powell finally announced that he would not run in 1996 because it was "a calling that I do not yet hear." Powell had a tumultuous tenure as Bush's first-term secretary of state, when he was frequently undercut by Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense, in the period before the Iraq war.

Although Powell had major misgivings about the war and what he considered the inadequate number of troops, he not only agreed to the invasion but also made the administration's case for war in a presentation to the UN Security Council in February 2003.

Much of what he said is now known to be based on false information provided by the Central Intelligence Agency. Powell has been widely criticized for the appearance, including by Obama, a fact that Brokaw brought up on Sunday.

Brokaw read aloud a passage from Bob Woodward's most recent book, "The War Within," that quoted former Secretary of State James Baker 3rd, a Republican, as saying that Powell was "the one guy who could have perhaps prevented" the war from happening.

Powell, who friends say remains angry about his time in the Bush administration, briskly responded that "it was not a correct assessment by anybody that my statements or my leaving the administration would have stopped it."

The fissures within the Bush administration and the fractious Republican foreign policy establishment have in the meantime played out in the 2008 presidential campaign.

In many ways, Powell's endorsement reflected the rift between the so-called pragmatists, many of whom have come to view the Iraq war or its execution as a mistake, and the neoconservatives, a competing camp whose thinking played a pivotal role in building the case for war.

[Kaos]

Warning: This post may cause a few of you coronary failure.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/20/america/powell.php

Help a brother out....

If you listen to this douchebag all he says is that he feels Obama represents "transitional" and "generational" change.  Nice way to characterize his own bigotry.  I piss on him and his "legacy."  Perhaps the most overrated soldier in American history.  A blowhard do-nothing just like Obama.

[AUChizad]

Help a brother out....

If you listen to this douchebag all he says is that he feels Obama represents "transitional" and "generational" change.  Nice way to characterize his own bigotry.  I piss on him and his "legacy."  Perhaps the most overrated soldier in American history.  A blowhard do-nothing just like Obama.

Harsh commentary on the guy most Republicans say they would have voted for president to prove they're not racist. This is you playing the race card, not Powell.

MR. BROKAW: And you are fully aware that there will be some--how many, no one can say for sure--but there will be some who will say this is an African-American, distinguished American, supporting another African-American because of race.

GEN. POWELL: If I had only had that in mind, I could have done this six, eight, 10 months ago. I really have been going back and forth between somebody I have the highest respect and regard for, John McCain, and somebody I was getting to know, Barack Obama. And it was only in the last couple of months that I settled on this.

...I've watched him over the past two years, frankly, and I've had this conversation with him. I have especially watched over the last six of seven weeks as both of them have really taken a final exam with respect to this economic crisis that we are in and coming out of the conventions. And I must say that I've gotten a good measure of both. In the case of Mr. McCain, I found that he was a little unsure as to deal with the economic problems that we were having and almost every day there was a different approach to the problem. And that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had. And I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired; but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.

On the Obama side, I watched Mr. Obama and I watched him during this seven-week period. And he displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this and picking a vice president that, I think, is ready to be president on day one. And also, in not just jumping in and changing every day, but showing intellectual vigor. I think that he has a, a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well. I also believe that on the Republican side over the last seven weeks, the approach of the Republican Party and Mr. McCain has become narrower and narrower. Mr. Obama, at the same time, has given us a more inclusive, broader reach into the needs and aspirations of our people. He's crossing lines--ethnic lines, racial lines, generational lines. He's thinking about all villages have values, all towns have values, not just small towns have values.

[Kaos]

Harsh commentary on the guy most Republicans say they would have voted for president to prove they're not racist. This is you playing the race card, not Powell.

I don't HAVE to say I'm not racist.  Colin Powell just proved he is.  I wouldn't have voted for Powell if he'd run for mayor. 

That garbage you posted below just CONFIRMS his racism as does Obama's "give a brother a post" concession today.  Powell wouldn't have had a place in McCain's administration.  That's a GOOD thing.  He has one if The Obama is carried by magic carpet to the White House. That's a BAD thing, and clearly indicates pandering by both Obama and by Powell.
Dis-fucking-GUSTING.  His rationale was nothing but dribble-drabble. Poli-speak with no concrete or specific reasons.  What a douchebag.  I only had about four ounces of respect for Powell to begin with, but now he owes me an ounce or two refund.  Fuck him. 

[JohnDeere]

Wait a second. The Dems are wetting theirselves this morning because the Uncle Tom War Monger that the Bush clan created is voting for The Lord Most Merciful Obama?

[Tarheel]

Wait a second. The Dems are wetting theirselves this morning because the Uncle Tom War Monger that the Bush clan created is voting for The Lord Most Merciful Obama?

This is also the same man who made the case in the UN for the continued war against Iraq; the man who might have run for president as a Republican in 1995 against Clinton; the man who the Democrats socialists and the main stream media vilified for making the case for disarming Iraq; the man who Harry Belafonte referred to as Bush's "house-n[egro]" (I self-moderated that quote); they all now love and praise the guy for his blessing of The Obama.

I don't know about the rest of yall but it appears that JohnDeere and I both find this particular CHANGE in attitude to be the definition of irony.

And, further, like Rush Limbaugh and Juan Williams (NPR and FoxNews), who both pointed out this decision by Colin Powell was all about race; I think that it was about race.  (Rush is still looking for all of the inexperienced, white, liberal, politicians that Colin Powell has ever endorsed...he'll be looking for a long time...here's what he wrote about this on Sunday):

Limbaugh: Where are the inexperienced, white liberals Powell has endorsed?

Rush Limbaugh said Colin Powell's decision to get behind Barack Obama appeared to be very much tied to Obama's status as the first African-American with a chance to become president.

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race," Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail. "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."

As for Powell's statement of concern this morning about the sort of Supreme Court justices a President McCain might appoint, Limbaugh wrote: "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 four-star [general] and secretary of state and appointing his son to head the FCC. Yes, let's hear it for transformational figures."

The link (and you'll have to scroll to page 2, Sunday's comments):

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/#

[AUChizad]

This is also the same man who made the case in the UN for the continued war against Iraq; the man who might have run for president as a Republican in 1995 against Clinton; the man who the Democrats socialists and the main stream media vilified for making the case for disarming Iraq; the man who Harry Belafonte referred to as Bush's "house-n[egro]" (I self-moderated that quote); they all now love and praise the guy for his blessing of The Obama.

I don't know about the rest of yall but it appears that JohnDeere and I both find this particular CHANGE in attitude to be the definition of irony.

And, further, like Rush Limbaugh and Juan Williams (NPR and FoxNews), who both pointed out this decision by Colin Powell was all about race; I think that it was about race.  (Rush is still looking for all of the inexperienced, white, liberal, politicians that Colin Powell has ever endorsed...he'll be looking for a long time...here's what he wrote about this on Sunday):

The link (and you'll have to scroll to page 2, Sunday's comments):

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/#

He probably hasn't. He is a conservative through and through. I think all of those conservative credentials you posted in this thread just further prove that this was not an easy decision for him, but he couldn't approve of Bush's policies with the war being continued through McCain. This coming from the Secretary of State who had to resign because of his disapproval of the handling of the war to begin with.

Yeah, the left wingers weren't a fan of Powell's when he was in the administration. But many of you were, and now he's an idiotic racist?

[Kaos]

Yeah, the left wingers weren't a fan of Powell's when he was in the administration. But many of you were, and now he's an idiotic racist?

When I was a kid, I knew a wise old man.  He was a farmer, worked with his hands, made a good living for himself and his wife. On summer afternoons we'd sit under the big shade tree in his back yard and talk about anything and everything. I'd eat whatever snack his wife had made that day -- homemade cookies,  teacakes, lemonsquares, muffins, pie, whatever -- and the old man would get out his pocket knife and carve up a small piece of wood. Whittling, as it were. Granted, he was a fan of George Corley Wallace as was (and am) I. But this old gent, one of the wordliest men I ever knew, had a saying that now applies to Mr. Powell.  In the interest of maintaining the peace, I won't repeat it, but suffice it to say that Powell finally showed his true self.

[CCTAU]

When I was a kid, I knew a wise old man.  He was a farmer, worked with his hands, made a good living for himself and his wife. On summer afternoons we'd sit under the big shade tree in his back yard and talk about anything and everything. I'd eat whatever snack his wife had made that day -- homemade cookies,  teacakes, lemonsquares, muffins, pie, whatever -- and the old man would get out his pocket knife and carve up a small piece of wood. Whittling, as it were. Granted, he was a fan of George Corley Wallace as was (and am) I. But this old gent, one of the wordliest men I ever knew, had a saying that now applies to Mr. Powell.  In the interest of maintaining the peace, I won't repeat it, but suffice it to say that Powell finally showed his true self.

I think most of us growing up in the south knew one of those wise old men. We were the first generation to try and see things in an equal manner. We listened to these wise old men thinking, "No way. My friend s are my friends no matter what." As we grew older, we learned that much of what was said came to be in many subtle instances. To mention it today is being "racist". Those wise old men would just say it's "typical". But in today's world, only white people can be "typical".

[Tarheel]

...
Yeah, the left wingers weren't a fan of Powell's when he was in the administration. But many of you were, and now he's an idiotic racist?

I didn't say that he was idiotic but his decision was clearly based on race.