[Newsbot]

Filibuster Cartoons
Title: A Powell-ful endorsement (click to view)
Date: October 21, 2008

Former Secretary of State and perennial Washington insider-guy Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President this weekend, finally concluding much gossip and speculation about who he would support. 

Although he became a nominal Republican late in life, Powell does not have a history of being particularly ideological. In fact, if he has a history of anything it's opportunism. Many-a time has Powell hitched his cart to the popular political trend of the day, only to later emerge after things went sour and say "no no no, I was never really as on board as you thought..."

[Scape]

Or...

He was sick and tired of the calls of terrorist and Kill him on the McCain campaign that has gone off the rails with leadership that has no clue to how to reign it in.

[Zipperfish]

Sounds a little like sour grapes to me. It was a pretty damaging endorsement though. The timing was deadly, too. I have to admit, if I was John McCain right now, I'd be saying "Et tu, Brute?"

[tsmith]

Or Colin Powell was in the military for a large part of his adult life so public insubordination isn't something he's accustomed to doing. I'm sure what was said behind closed doors was a bit different than what he said in public. After all, he didn't stick on for another Bush term for a reason. I believe now that he isn't beholding to anyone but himself, he is speaking his mind.

[ManifestDestiny]

He says it has nothing to do about race....But you tell me if he would have endorsed Hillary Clinton or when was the last time he endorsed a white liberal?

[ridenrain]

I think you got it right with the cartoon. The left disliked Powell as some kind of turncoat to Bush.. but now because he agrees with them, his opinion means something. It's pretty transparent opportunism.

[Pseudonym]

Scape wrote:

Or...

He was sick and tired of the calls of terrorist and Kill him on the McCain campaign that has gone off the rails with leadership that has no clue to how to reign it in.

Or...

He was sick and tired of the rough treatment he got within the Bush administration and is lashing out against that. The calls of "Terrorist" and "Kill him" are not a part of the McCain campaign. To portray them as such is disingenuous.

[Scape]

Link

I call bullshit. Imagine if you will a candidate holding a rally and someone interrupts the speech saying kill all the Jews in responce to the banking crisis. If that candidate doesn't 1) call for security and 2) instantly call for calm and make clear that does not in any way represent the candidate then do you think that campaign will last to the next day? This campaign is directly linking Ayers to Obama and calling him a terrorist. With the raw read meat being flung these last few months things were going to get bloody. Do you see G Gordon Liddy being linked to McCain and the Democratic supporters calling for his imminent demise?

[tritium]

Look Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, both Republican and both BLACK support Obama.. gee go figure.

[Pseudonym]

Scape wrote:

Link

I call bullshit. Imagine if you will a candidate holding a rally and someone interrupts the speech saying kill all the Jews in responce to the banking crisis. If that candidate doesn't 1) call for security and 2) instantly call for calm and make clear that does not in any way represent the candidate then do you think that campaign will last to the next day? This campaign is directly linking Ayers to Obama and calling him a terrorist. With the raw read meat being flung these last few months things were going to get bloody. Do you see G Gordon Liddy being linked to McCain and the Democratic supporters calling for his imminent demise?

Or the candidate:
1) Ignores the asshole who is not representative of the campaign and lets the security who are already instructed to deal with the problem handle it.

The campaign is linking Obama to Ayers because the question of his radical contacts is a legitimate political topic. They are not calling Obama a terrorist, they are calling him a fool to pall around with terrorists.

[Pseudonym]

tritium wrote:

Look Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, both Republican and both BLACK support Obama.. gee go figure.

Stop being racist. You're undermining my arguments.

[Pseudonym]

Also, Scape, I still disagree with you on the linked thread. There have been death threats made against Bush all over the place. Radicals pull this crap all the time. It is not a legitimate criticism of McCain's campaign.

[Scape]

Pseudonym wrote:

Scape wrote:

Link

I call bullshit. Imagine if you will a candidate holding a rally and someone interrupts the speech saying kill all the Jews in responce to the banking crisis. If that candidate doesn't 1) call for security and 2) instantly call for calm and make clear that does not in any way represent the candidate then do you think that campaign will last to the next day? This campaign is directly linking Ayers to Obama and calling him a terrorist. With the raw read meat being flung these last few months things were going to get bloody. Do you see G Gordon Liddy being linked to McCain and the Democratic supporters calling for his imminent demise?

Or the candidate:
1) Ignores the asshole who is not representative of the campaign and lets the security who are already instructed to deal with the problem handle it.

The campaign is linking Obama to Ayers because the question of his radical contacts is a legitimate political topic. They are not calling Obama a terrorist, they are calling him a fool to pall around with terrorists.

They are playing with matches around a very combustible crowd. To plead ignorance to the fallout is utter claptrap. This was not some random holligan at the rally that got caught up in the moment. It is an orchestrated theme and a centrepeice of a smear campaign as this clearly is. For example do you know there are villages in American that do not qualify as being American? Now what the hell sort of BS is that but incitement? So the fact Powell felt the need to call him on it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with responsibilities to not just the crowds that they are pandering to but to all of the people who are eligible to vote.

[Zipperfish]

Although McCain and the Republicans keep insisting that Fear and Smear is a legitmate campaign approach, the good people of America aren't buying it this time. The Republicans have failed to adapt to this fact--they've seemed unfocussed, lashing out. Obama is putting forth a positive vision of hope and change and the best the the Republicans can manage is "Vote for us: at least we don't pal around with terrorists."

Colin Powell got screwed by the Bush administration big time. It's hardly surprising he likes Obamam, and he's right: Obama is a transformational figure. He just makes McCain look like a Negative Nelly in comparison.

[ridenrain]

lily wrote:

ridenrain wrote:

I think you got it right with the cartoon. The left disliked Powell as some kind of turncoat to Bush.. but now because he agrees with them, his opinion means something. It's pretty transparent opportunism.

I always thought the left liked and respected Powell.

I know I do.

Mr. Powell sir, you are a liar and an apologist for a crooked regime known as the George W. Bush administration.

political leaders such as Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell are viewed as "house negroes" by other African Americans, by going along with the President against their beliefs?"

referred to Powell as an "Uncle Tom" -- a contemptuous term for a black whose behavior toward whites is regarded as fawning or servile.

This have been quite well documented and these are just some quick examples.