Colin Powell endorses Obama (and rips Romney in the process)

[Engineer]

Colin Powell is just a prick who lied to the UN to get the US and the neoconservative movement into a war with Iraq. What a fucking waste.

 

[jhu]

Except for his lukewarm support for minority rights, Mr Obama reminds of what was moderate wing of the Republican party. I would put him somewhere between George Romney and John Lindsay. Of course neither of these two individuals would be welcomed in the current GOP.

Reagan would also not be welcome. And yet the current GOPers still look upon Reagan's era as some golden age of conservatism while somehow forgetting that the guy increased deficit spending and the debt, increased taxes, and legalized nearly 3 million illegal aliens. What a fucking liberal.

 

[werepossum]

Does Powell even claim to be a republican? I don't think he is even a RINO, he is a flat-out democrat. So news story is black democrat endorses Obama. Big whoop.

Powell was a Republican right up until Republicans could no longer benefit him. If he calls himself a Republican today, it's only to lend a shallow veneer of gravitas to his attacks on Republicans.

Powell also endorsed Obama in 2008. At that point it might have actually mattered to someone. But at this point it would only be news if he endorsed a Republican. THAT would be man bites dog; this is barely even dog bites dog.

 

[piasabird]

I like how mr powell does not have one intelligent reason to vote for O'Bamma?

"I voted for him last time because he was black, so I will vote for him again!"

He has O'Bama-Fever!

 

[Emos]

I remember reading about the Clinton administration being terrified in '96 that Powell might be the Republican nominee they would have to run against. It's interesting that he's gone from nearly being a Republican presidential nominee to an outcast - you have to ask yourself, has Powell changed, or has his party?

Exactly...the Republican Party of the 80s and 90s would be thrown out on their ear today.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

I like how mr powell does not have one intelligent reason to vote for O'Bamma?

"I voted for him last time because he was black, so I will vote for him again!"

He has O'Bama-Fever!

Yeah, it would have been good if he had justified his choice to support Obama with specific reasons like these:

"When he took over, the country was in very very difficult straits. We were in the one of the worst recessions we had seen in recent times, close to a depression. The fiscal system was collapsing. Wall Street was in chaos, we had 800,000 jobs lost in that first month of the Obama administration and unemployment peaked a few months later at 10 percent. So we were in real trouble. The auto industry was collapsing, the housing was start[ing] to collapse and we were in very difficult straits. And I saw over the next several years, stabilization come back in the financial community, housing is now starting to pick up after four years, it's starting to pick up. Consumer confidence is rising."
...
"[T]he president [got] us [out] of one war, start to get us out of a second war and did not get us into any new wars. And finally I think that the actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very very solid. And so, I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on."
...
"The governor who was saying things at the debate on Monday night ... was saying things that were quite different from what he said earlier. I'm not quite sure which Gov. Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy. One day he has a certain strong view about staying in Afghanistan but then on Monday night he agrees with the withdrawal, same thing in Iraq. On almost every issue that was discussed on Monday night, Governor Romney agreed with the President with some nuances. But this is quite a different set of foreign policy views than he had earlier in the campaign. And my concern ... is that sometimes I don't sense that he has thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have."
...
"As I listen to what [Romney's] proposals are especially with respect to dealing with respect to our most significant issue, the economy, it's essentially let's cut taxes and compensate for that with other things but that compensation does not cover all of the cuts intended or the new expenses associated with defense."

Oh wait -- he already did that. But by all means, ignore it and say he's endorsing Obama because they're both black.

 

[Steeplerot]

Baloney. A real republican could never endorse a big government, big tax,

And thre is the root cause of your disconnect from the real world situation, all these things listed are not a "liberal" thing.

Just more bullshit from talk radio to smear the other side.

There is no liberal that wants "big government/big taxes"

The notion is stupid, as are fellow Americans who would believe such nonsense.

Did you ever think before you swallowed this partisan nonsense?

It doesn't even make sense.


Hey Poker,
Are you still beating your wife daily?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Warmonger? The man stood right in front of the President of the United States and said it was a bad fucking idea. He held his ground LONG after that choice was already made by Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz and others. So much so that it was either unwillingly help or get crushed by the machine.

For that reason alone I value his opinion more than any other conservative POS who continues a sorry ass excuse for foreign policy.

I'm with you and Don on this one. My opinion is that Powell was the only honorable man in the administration placed in an unenviable position.

Wolfowitz with the blessing of the others engaged in an extraordinary campaign of disinformation that kept Powell marginalized. When he sat and gave the mobile weapons factory talk at the UN I believe I had better access to facts than he did. When did he find out we were at war? When he saw it on TV.

So those without his character will most likely say he should have quit. Fine. He quits, the feel good approach. Unfortunately while his influence was minimal, his voice was the only one who served to counter Cheney/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz. If the President (a hopelessly clueless fellow) was going to hear anything than what the Unholy Trio as I'll call them said it would come from him. They had gutted the intel agencies of "unpatriotic" types, leaving it with an inherent bias. Powell leaving in mid term would have meant that there was no voice however small against schemes of bad men. That would have taken a toll on him and his family, but being an honorable man he made the best choice as he saw it. I'm familiar with Powell's career, and he earned his position on merit. He's a rational human who has the interest in the nation, a rare quality for those in power these days.

Before anyone starts, a number of people who are critical of Powell were either children at the time, or were for the war although they may deny it now. People who were here during those days who opposed the war before were few, and I was one of them. Perhaps ten people on the forums spoke against it. The rest? They were afraid of being condemned or were for it before they were against it. In other words don't try to make my post about approval of the Bush Administration.

For those who say Powell was a willing facilitator, where is your ire for your President and Congress who passed on investigating what happened? Moral cowards all. When you hold them accountable for their inaction, when you demonstrate you were an adult at the time who opposed the war, when you have spent time with honorable, dedicated people and know what they are like then throw the stone.

 

[LegendKiller]

Colin Powell is just a prick who lied to the UN to get the US and the neoconservative movement into a war with Iraq. What a fucking waste.

Yeah, everybody has pretty much accepted the fact that the CIA, at the direction of the White House, kept contradictory intel and other info from Powell. Well, everybody but clueless people like you.

 

[Engineer]

For those who say Powell was a willing facilitator, where is your ire for your President and Congress who passed on investigating what happened? Moral cowards all. When you hold them accountable for their inaction, when you demonstrate you were an adult at the time who opposed the war, when you have spent time with honorable, dedicated people and know what they are like then throw the stone.

As Powell's own chief of staff once said of Powell after he gave his speech to the UN to go to war....

Powell walked in after the speech and said (paraphrased), I wonder how the world is going to feel when we drop half a million troops into Iraq, march from one end of the country to the other and find absolutely nothing?

He knew there was nothing and not only did he not talk then, he openly pulled for the war, regardless if it were from Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc. pulling the background strings.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Before anyone starts, a number of people who are critical of Powell were either children at the time, or were for the war although they may deny it now. People who were here during those days who opposed the war before were few, and I was one of them. Perhaps ten people on the forums spoke against it. The rest? They were afraid of being condemned or were for it before they were against it. In other words don't try to make my post about approval of the Bush Administration.

For those who say Powell was a willing facilitator, where is your ire for your President and Congress who passed on investigating what happened? Moral cowards all. When you hold them accountable for their inaction, when you demonstrate you were an adult at the time who opposed the war, when you have spent time with honorable, dedicated people and know what they are like then throw the stone.

Amen. Very nicely said.

 

[Engineer]

Yeah, everybody has pretty much accepted the fact that the CIA, at the direction of the White House, kept contradictory intel and other info from Powell. Well, everybody but clueless people like you.

I don't know what the fuck you're rambling about but Powell knew goddamn well that Iraq didn't have a fucking stockpile of chemical weapons yet he went right before the UN and preached it.

WILKERSON: [Powell] had walked into my office musing and he said words to the effect of, I wonder how we'll all feel if we put half a million troops in Iraq and march from one end of the country to the other and find nothing.

is all that needs to be said.

 

[Doppel]

romney is a liar's liar

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I don't know what the fuck you're rambling about but Powell knew goddamn well that Iraq didn't have a fucking stockpile of chemical weapons yet he went right before the UN and preached it.



is all that needs to be said.

You are ill informed. I have no interest in defending anyone who willfully participated in the deception, and I'd hang Powell soon as look at him as the saying goes if I thought he was complicit. You have a hard row to hoe if you think you can demonstrate otherwise, and likewise if you peg me as a supporter of Iraq.

 

[Engineer]

and likewise if you peg me as a supporter of Iraq.

Never said that nor did I think it. Regardless, I think Powell lied his ass off. War was a big sham and Powell helped pull it off.

Just hope that if Romney gets in that he's not so stupid to jump into Iran or some other war.

 

[Ketchup]

Powell endorsed Obama last time. He is endorsing Obama this time.

So what? I could only see this as surprising if he supported Romney.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Never said that nor did I think it. Regardless, I think Powell lied his ass off. War was a big sham and Powell helped pull it off.

Just hope that if Romney gets in that he's not so stupid to jump into Iran or some other war.

You are entitled to your opinion, but thoughts following tangible facts are generally superior. At some point you might step back and spend some time sifting through events and timelines. That of course is up to you, and I understand that what happened is an outrage. The thing is to make sure those who are guilty are in fact, not automatically by association.

FWIW.

 

[michal1980]

This. It's really sad that what the far right is trying to instrument a "real Republican" to essentially amount to this stupidity

whats sad is that you lefty wackos have to resort to this kind of crap name calling/labeling of the opposition.

Then when you hear things that dont fit your screwed up narrative you are shocked.

 

[nextJin]

Never said that nor did I think it. Regardless, I think Powell lied his ass off. War was a big sham and Powell helped pull it off.

Just hope that if Romney gets in that he's not so stupid to jump into Iran or some other war.

After reading over 10 books on Iraq (really the details on the lead up), "Decision Points" by President Bush, and a few key other titles I am not following the timeline.

Powell was the one who actively engaged in a few key issues namely getting UN support, he would not go along with anything until this happened. Second (and more importantly) his "brief" was not drawn up by him. All of the shit he said was prepared by people other than him, and practically all of it was complete bullshit. Powell sold it to the UN because he was really the only American that could sell that bullshit to the world with his status. Cheney and Rumsfield knew that going in. It had to be Powell.

 

[Doppel]

After reading over 10 books on Iraq (really the details on the lead up), "Decision Points" by President Bush, and a few key other titles I am not following the timeline.

Powell was the one who actively engaged in a few key issues namely getting UN support, he would not go along with anything until this happened. Second (and more importantly) his "brief" was not drawn up by him. All of the shit he said was prepared by people other than him, and practically all of it was complete bullshit. Powell sold it to the UN because he was really the only American that could sell that bullshit to the world with his status. Cheney and Rumsfield knew that going in. It had to be Powell.

nonetheless if you sign it you're accountable. Powell is juse one of many who through ineptitude or deceit committee the US to the worst blunder in decades, though. He is ultimately a likable guy nt including that escapade.

 

[They Live]

Yeah, it would have been good if he had justified his choice to support Obama with specific reasons like these:



Oh wait -- he already did that. But by all means, ignore it and say he's endorsing Obama because they're both black.

Conservatives tend to play the race card just as often if not more then they claim Liberals do.

 

[Agent11]

I disagree. You only think it is damning because Powell worked for the Bush administration, but he was always a liberal. Think of it this way: when Juan Williams criticisms Romney, that is not more damning to Romney just because Juan works for Fox News. It just shows that republicans are more willing to reach across the isle, even when they get stabbed in the back repeatedly.

Retired four-star general in the United States Army, the 65th United States Secretary of State and the first African American to serve in that position, National Security Advisor (1987–1989), Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command (1989) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), holding the latter position during the Gulf War. He was the first, and so far the only, African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Vs.

A talking head on FOX NEWS.

 

[Juddog]

Retired four-star general in the United States Army, the 65th United States Secretary of State and the first African American to serve in that position, National Security Advisor (1987–1989), Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command (1989) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), holding the latter position during the Gulf War. He was the first, and so far the only, African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Vs.

A talking head on FOX NEWS.

Just goes to show how ridiculously ignorant Faux news viewers can be. The station has a lockdown on spreading misinformation and making money from it. This country is in pretty sad shape right now.