Colin Powell On The GOP and Rush Limbaugh

Years ago the Republican party embraced anger, hatred, and divisiveness, which is why I stopped supporting them. They turned to leaders like Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay. They hired men like Lee Atwater and Karl Rove who ran on scare tactics, and dividing the electorate. The Conservatives built a message machine with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck; people who preach anger, hatred, and divisiveness, which became the overall tone of conservative talk radio, and Faux News.

Now finally a prominent Republican is speaking out against this. Read about Powell's interview here.

The Republican party must stop "shouting at the world" and start listening to
minority groups if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary
of State Colin Powell said Thursday.

In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for Sunday's "GPS" program, President Bush's former secretary of state said his party's attempt "to use polarization for political advantage" backfired last month....

"I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country,"Powell said.

"I think that the party has to take a hard look at itself, and I've talked to a number of leaders in recent weeks and they understand that." Powell, who says he still considers himself a Republican, said his party should also stop listening to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" Powell asked. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?"

Colin Powell's Reaction to Barack Obama's Victory

Colin Powell became visibly choked up this morning while talking about Obama's victory on CNN.
I think General Powell's endorsement was a big boost for Obama, and I think we saw real emotion from General Powell.

Watch it here:

Jed Report comes through again

Jed of the Jed Report and Daily Kos has put together a response to the newest RNC/McCain attack ad ("Storm"), turning the orginal ad around on itself, and applying its line of attack to Sarah Palin.

Jed has quickly become a real video force in the liberal blogosphere.

Watch his latest video here:

LibertyAir Blog

Rush Limbaugh Reacts to Collin Powell

Rush Limbaugh, has of course come out to denounce Collin Powell for his endorsement of Barack Obama. He of course thinks the whole thing has to do with Obama being black.

The fat racist came out and said, "Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race... 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."

Uhh, Fatman, I'll help you out, go back to 2000 and you will see that General Powell endorsed an inexperienced, white candidate, it's just that he was a "compassionate conservative."

Barack Obama's Speech About Colin Powell

Barack Obama spoke about General Colin Powell's endorsement today, and the vision for a united America in Fayetteville NC.

This is why I support Barak Obama.

LibertyAir Blog

More from Collin Powell

After his "Meet the Press" appearance, during which he endorsed Barack Obama, Colin Powell stopped to answer the questions of reporters who were waiting outside the studio.

Powell was asked about relentless negativity of the McCain campaign, and Powell made no effort to hide his disappointment. Perhaps most importantly, General Powell noted that the constant right-wing conservatve efforts to a) falsely label Barak Obama as a Muslim; and b) make "Muslim" some kind of slur, not only undermines national unity, but also damages America's standing in the world.

"Those types of images going out on Al Jazeera are killing us around the world," said General Powell.

General Powell went on to express his disgust for Representative Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) neo-McCarthyism.

"We have got to stop this kind of nonsense," Powell said, "pull ourselves together, and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity."

"We can't judge our people and hold our elections on that kind of basis. Yes, that kind of negativity troubled me. And the constant shifting of the argument, I was troubled a couple of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis the campaign said, 'We're going to go negative,' and they announced it. 'We're going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayers.' And now I guess the message this week is we're going to call him a socialist."

"Mr. Obama is now a socialist, because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have. Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay them, 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 or who should be paying more or who should be paying less, and for us to say that makes you a socialist is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate."

It was a great sound bite and terrible news for John McCain.

Watch the video here:

LibertyAir Blog

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."

"I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage." Powell said he was concerned about what he characterized as a recent negative turn of Republican candidate Sen. John McCain's campaign, such as the campaign's attempts to tie Obama to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

"I think that's inappropriate. I understand what politics is about -- I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for," he said.

General Powell also stated that he was concerned about John McCain's response to the economic crisis. And that he did not believe that Sarah Palin was ready for the job of Vice President, and that the choice of her as VP raised many questions about John McCain's judgment.

He was still very complimentary of John McCain, and said he believes John McCain would be a good President, but that now the country needed more, a transformational figure and with that General Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States.

Watch the video here:

LibertyAir Blog