Colin Powell Slams 'Idiot' Partisanship

[wgbgator]

Loyalty is the only decent explanation for his speech in front of the UN in the lead up to Iraq. I don't think that's what is lacking.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Blind loyalty is a dangerous thing.

[gator996]

Originally Posted by RayGator

I don't have the high regard for Gen. Powell that I once did. The years he served under Pres. Reagan and Pres. Ford. Him saying he is a Republican is like me saying I'm a Democrat but yet I didn't vote for Pres. Obama in the last 2 elections or support the agenda of the Democrat party in the Congress or locally. And I would go on national TV and attack the Democrat Party instead of saying anything positive about them. Democrats would then look at me and say, "Yeah, right, your are a Democrat".

Interesting you would say that...

Powell is an insider...once considered a leading presidential candidate for the party

Can you detail all of the negative things he's said about the party?

My impression is that it hasn't been very often.


You take a man like that, with his record of service to this country, and cast him aside for making critical comment about the party in an effort to try and have the party reform itself instead of sucumbing to the extremist element within....

Republicans don't believe in racial intolerance when claimed by anyone...even one of their own.

[gator996]

Originally Posted by gatorman_07732

I suspect you know nothing of loyalty. Along the way somebody has to be willing to give you a shot. In Powell's case, who would that be? It wasn't Dem's that got him to the highest level of service was it? After all, they where highly political position of which you get by who you know.

So he's supposed to lie now?


He's calling out to the party to be aware of the problems occuring within the party right now...the threat of the extreme right "conservative" movement.

Its a warning.

And all the members of the party can think about is how to ex-communicate him from the party...

[DeanMeadGator]

By Michael Falcone | ABC OTUS News

In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos during ABC's special inauguration day coverage this morning, former Secretary of State Colin Powell lashed out at people in the Republican Party who spent the last four years spreading "birther nonsense" and other "things that demonize the president," calling on GOP leaders to denounce such talk - publicly.

"Republicans have to stop buying into things that demonize the president. I mean, why aren't Republican leaders shouting out about all this birther nonsense and all these other things? They should speak out. This is the kind of intolerance that I've been talking about where these idiot presentations continue to be made and you don't see the senior leadership of the party say, 'No, that's wrong.' In fact, sometimes by not speaking out, they're encouraging it. And the base keeps buying the stuff.

"And it's killing the base of the party. I mean, 26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something. So, instead of attacking me or whoever speaks like I do, look in the mirror and realize, 'How are we going to win the next election?"


But Powell, who served as National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H.W. Bush and as the nation's top diplomat under President George W. Bush, didn't stop there.[/quote]

Could it any more clear that both sides are acting like idiots? They are too immature and short-sighted to accomplish anything. It reminds me of 7th graders and their inability to see beyond their own perception of reality.

Fight and accomplish nothing. Do not worry about anything other than blindly toeing the party line. Do not make decisions that require independent analysis and thought. Do what someone else tells you to do.

If you don't like Fox, use your time and energy constantly complaining about it. Watch it and make your own decision or assume that all is bad. Waste more time and energy.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Blind loyalty is a dangerous thing.

Who said anything about blind loyalty, but rather loyalty itself is a good thing. I suppose you don't value loyal employees.

[wargunfan]

Powell is a black man supporting a black president. I think that explains Powell's motivations better than anything else. At his core Powell identifies more with race than with party. I have not seen Powell defend any of his former presidents with such passion and Obama is not related to Powell by party nor employment nor political philosophy. Powell is related to Obama by one primary and overreaching factor. Race.
I think the attacks on Obama became more than another black man could tolerate and he was driven to defend him. I can understand Powell's motivation to defend one of his own. What I cannot understand is his unthinking defense of a big spending liberal. It seems that with Powell race trumps all other considerations.

[wgbgator]

Maybe loyalty is why he still identifies as a Republican, even if he is critical of elements of it.

[wygator]

Powell is bringing up isolated incidents to suggest that the Republican party is racist, when he himself won primaries as a Republican presidential candidate.

You don't judge a whole party, Democrat or Republican, by the handful of jerks that populate either.

Powell was appointed to high office by two different Republican presidents. There's the racism for you.

I have a hard time accepting that the Republican Powell voted for the very liberal Obama just based on political policy alone. Does anyone believe that there was NO calculation of race in Powell's decision to vote for Obama?

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by wargunfan

Powell is a black man supporting a black president. I think that explains Powell's motivations better than anything else. At his core Powell identifies more with race than with party. I have not seen Powell defend any of his former presidents with such passion and Obama is not related to Powell by party nor employment nor political philosophy. Powell is related to Obama by one primary and overreaching factor. Race.

Sadly I think you're right

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by wygator

Powell is bringing up isolated incidents to suggest that the Republican party is racist, when he himself won primaries as a Republican presidential candidate.

You don't judge a whole party, Democrat or Republican, by the handful of jerks that populate either.

Powell was appointed to high office by two different Republican presidents. There's the racism for you.

I have a hard time accepting that the Republican Powell voted for the very liberal Obama just based on political policy alone. Does anyone believe that there was NO calculation of race in Powell's decision to vote for Obama?

More than two republican presidents

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Originally Posted by gatorman_07732

Who said anything about blind loyalty, but rather loyalty itself is a good thing. I suppose you don't value loyal employees.

Like I said, loyalty to people, not institutions. The moral compass of an institution is a volatile thing.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Like I said, loyalty to people, not institutions. The moral compass of an institution is a volatile thing.

And who makes up a party, penguins?

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Originally Posted by gatorman_07732

And who makes up a party, penguins?

Which people - who helped Powell to the top - is he turning his back on, exactly?

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Which people - who helped Powell to the top - is he turning his back on, exactly?

The very people that helped more than anyone in terms of his career and suddenly side with the most liberal president to come around in a long time. He got one thing from a democratic president, and that was sent to war.

[DaveFla]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Loyalty to people, not a party.

Indeed. And in Powell's case, black people...

There is simply no way that any republican could have chosen Obama. There had to be something else.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Originally Posted by gatorman_07732

The very people that helped more than anyone in terms of his career and suddenly side with the most liberal president to come around in a long time. He got one thing from a democratic president, and that was sent to war.

Which people, exactly?

[DaveFla]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Blind loyalty is a dangerous thing.

Wow. Your'e two for two today, OBOB. Powell's blind loyalty to his race is more powerful than his loyalty to the Republican Party. How else could one explain any republican, no matter how moderate, voting for such a left-leaning candidate like Obama?

[orangeblueorangeblue]

You know that is, simultaneously, what I am in fact saying.

[Matthanuf06]

I agree that both sides shouldn't resort to personal attacks. Lets not amend history and forget that both parties use personal attacks for political gain.

However none of that changes the fact Obama is an extreme proponent of redistribution and massive government. If one is opposed to bankrupting (or destroying the dollar) that does not make some biased partisan