Colin Powell -- American Badass

[Deckard]

As widely anticipated, Colin Powell endorses Obama on NBC's Meet The Press.

And what a fine endorsement that was - worth watching - there's a clip on that link above.

Honestly, he's made his mistakes, but I've long thought Powell was too good for the Republicans. He "get's it" in a way that so many of them don't seem to.

[Deckard]

On McCain's decision to call Obama a socialist because he wants to raise taxes on individuals and businesses making more than $250,000 a year:

"Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay it -- in roads and airports and hospitals and schools -- and taxes are necessary for the common good, and there's nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is and who should be paying more, who should be paying less. And for us to say that makes you a socialist I think is an unfortunate characterization and is inaccurate"

On McCain's tactic of linking Obama to Bill Ayers:

It troubled me. We have two wars. We have economic problems, we have health problems. ... Those are the problems the American people want to hear about, not about Mr. Ayers, not about who's a Muslim and not a Muslim. Those kind of images going out on Al Jazeera are killing us around the world.

Also, from that video clip in the previous post, I thought his remark about the Muslim grave was spot on. Why the hell is this lost on so many Americans at the moment? And is it a coincidence that it benefits the neoconservative political establishment to have a population that sees Muslim == enemy?

What a contrast. Can you even imagine Sarah Palin using the phrase "intellectual vigor" without using it disparagingly?

Now sit back and wait for all the McCain/Palin supporters to dismiss this as just one black man supporting another.

[Deckard]

OK, so here comes the morons, already. From the comments to the stort on ABC news...

Does this endorsement surprise any Americans?--this is another example of racism. A black voting for a black!!!
They are the true racists.

Posted by: virginia | Oct 19, 2008 9:38:46 AM

exactly what I was thinking too, Virginia.

Posted by: ted | Oct 19, 2008 9:43:13 AM

virginia well said.
Black voting Black. I thought Powell was mart, not any more. BY the way Meet the press is watched by just 100K people, NBC is cutting 500 million

Posted by: adam | Oct 19, 2008 9:43:56 AM

So Powell endorses a black man and it HAS to be down to race? There's no possibility that a black man could have used other criteria besides standing behind his bro'?

Ted's little "are-you-thinking-what-i'm-thinking" remark in comment 2 didn't go unnoticed with me. That bigoted sentiment formed - literally as it happens - the very basis of a recent UK conservative party campaign - as their slogan. Easy to see why - there's great power in that anguished whispering between bigots trying to pass themselves off as the real victims.

Pathetic pathetic pathetic.

Powell has already made the point that had it just been about race, then he would have endorsed months ago. But I guess there's no way he'll be able to convince some people who don't WANT to be convinced.

Seriously, with this and all the idiots at the Palin rallies - can't all these hate-filled and simplistic bottom-feeders just be rounded up and shipped off to their own separate country, far from the US?

There must be a spare island somewhere?

(or a planet)

[cacophony]

Originally Posted by Deckard

So Powell endorses a black man and it HAS to be down to race?

yes, just like women dislike sarah palin because of gender-based jealousy. or so my father-in-law told me this weekend.

haven't you heard? unless you're a white man, you can't criticize someone with a similar characteristic to you without it being all about that characteristic.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by cacophony

yes, just like women dislike sarah palin because of gender-based jealousy. or so my father-in-law told me this weekend.

haven't you heard? unless you're a white man, you can't criticize someone with a similar characteristic to you without it being all about that characteristic.

Yes. Criticize - or praise/endorse.

It's a classic way of keeping 'minorities' in their place. (Women included: they're still effectively a minority despite not being a statistical minority)

In this instance - yes it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that it could have been about race, and yes that would be kind of racist (though not as bad as never voting for a white candidate because of that candidate's race), but given that there's no way we can possibly know for sure and given that there's some lengthy sound reasoning to suggest the contrary, then the real racism is in the assumptions of all these cretins so quick to dismiss it like this.

And as you say, ditto any other characteristic as long as it's not white, male, Christian...

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Deckard

Also, from that video clip in the previous post, I thought his remark about the Muslim grave was spot on. Why the hell is this lost on so many Americans at the moment? And is it a coincidence that it benefits the neoconservative political establishment to have a population that sees Muslim == enemy?

I was particularly pleased he made this point too. I've been desperately waiting for someone to. Good for him.

Originally Posted by Deckard

What a contrast. Can you even imagine Sarah Palin using the phrase "intellectual vigor" without using it disparagingly?

I hope we can stop having to imagine or see Palin ever saying anything after November 4...

Originally Posted by Deckard

Now sit back and wait for all the McCain/Palin supporters to dismiss this as just one black man supporting another.

Which, luckily, will only represent the portion of the population that has never been the deciding group in this election.

[gambit]

I lost my admiration and respect for Colin Powell over Iraq, but this just brought it back. I heard that he endorsed Obama, and it was "okay, cool," but then I watched him talk about his endorsement, and I literally pumped my fist in excitement. This should hopefully resonate with many people.

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by gambit

I lost my admiration and respect for Colin Powell over Iraq, but this just brought it back. I heard that he endorsed Obama, and it was "okay, cool," but then I watched him talk about his endorsement, and I literally pumped my fist in excitement. This should hopefully resonate with many people.

I gather he's since regretted that UN moment quite deeply. Today, for me, more than the endorsement itself, it was the substance of what he was saying that lifted my spirits - that a senior Republican could demonstrate that kind of understanding, and repudiate the cheap negativity of the McCain campaign's tactics.

You don't hear it often enough from them.

His line "But the really right answer is..... " had me cheering at my screen, seriously!

The Dems could have said the same things of course, but it would have just sounded like namby pamby political correctness.

A Republican and a soldier saying it... well that immediately carries more weight.

The loons will of course still dismiss him as a liberal, leftist, do-gooder, not a real American conservative, etc etc... but for the independents - and for members of the military with doubts about Obama's credentials as Commander in Chief - this should hopefully carry a lot of weight with them.

[cacophony]

it will also hopefully hammer home the idea that the negativity of mccain's campaign is not what we need right now.

also, i was disappointed in powell for the UN moment but my gut tells me he didn't know he was being handed falsified information to present to the world. i don't feel like he was complicit in the deception.

what's interesting here is that mccain and powell are the two republicans (and only two i can think of) who i would have ever been willing to vote for.

[dubman]

Originally Posted by Sean

Which, luckily, will only represent the portion of the population that has never been the deciding group in this election.

uh...