Colin spoke truth to power on Monday…
Addicting Info
Yikes. I wonder what’s going through GOP minds as they continue to be slammed by the overall well respected former Secretary of State Colin Powell? Last week, Powell, who served in high-profile roles during the Reagan administration and both Bush administrations, told Meet the Press:
“There is also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party….They look down on minorities…When I see a former governor say that the president is shucking and jiving. That is a racial era slave term. When I see another former governor – says that the president was lazy. It may not mean anything to most Americans. But to those of us who are African-Americans, the second word is shiftless and then there is a third word that goes along with it.” (Source)
He then proceeded to defend Hillary Clinton against right-wing smears:
“Well, you can’t keep everything from happening. Benghazi was a very, very difficult one and a difficult situation and maybe they shouldn’t have been there in the first place. And I think that we have had a good review of that by Ambassador Pickering and Admiral Mullen and I don’t know whether the Congress in their examination of Mrs. Clinton will find something that they find distasteful. But I don’t think it’s a blot on her record.” (Source)
Powell even went as far as to imply that Clinton would make a good president:
”I think she’d be good at whatever she does, whether she is interested in it or not, I will let her opine on that.”
And well, of course, he endorsed President Obama in 2008 and 2012, and the GOP is still (and will always be) sore about that.
So what is he up to this week? He’s chastising the GOP for not speaking out about the lunatics in their party and he’s advising them to loudly denounce the “birther nonsense” and “other things that demonize the president.” In an ABC News interview with Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, the four star general said:
“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?”
Oh and one more thing. He accused them of voter suppression. Yes, he did.
“The Republican Party ought to be out there not restricting voting by voter ID, but saying we want everybody to vote,” he said. “It’s a party that has to stop saying, ‘We are going to appeal to you with new messages.’ You need policies — the country is becoming more minority.”
And he said the same thing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show:
“Should we really have gone after reducing the turnout of voters in those places where we thought it would make a difference?” he asked. “The Republican Party should be a party that says, ‘We want everybody to vote,’ and make it easier for people to vote and give them a reason to vote for the party, and not to find ways to keep them from voting at all.” (Source)
Many conservatives are calling Powell a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only), but he maintains that he’s still a Republican. Why?
“I grew up under Ronald Reagan and Cap Weinberger and George Schultz and George Herbert Walker Bush — that’s the Republican party I know — the Howard Bakers of the world, and I think we’ve drifted from that. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying to drift a little bit back. Not because it’s just good to be moderate, but because that’s where the American people are. They lost an election — two.”
Will someone please tell the GOP that this man is trying to send them a message? He’s doing everything but parachuting into their little retreats and pulling them up by their shirt collars and saying “LISTEN”.
No, he’s not a RINO. He has no reason whatsoever to lie about being a Republican.
No, he didn’t endorse President Obama because he’s Black. He endorsed President Obama because the GOP keeps tossing up idiots as candidates. I’d bet a paycheck that if Hillary Clinton runs in 2016, he’ll be endorsing her as well.
He’s offering the GOP, free of charge, his opinion that if they don’t get their act together and move with the rest of the country, they’re definitely going to be DINOs (dinosaurs).
“The country is moving more toward the center. There are social changes taking place in this country that are irreversible and there is demographic change … you can’t just say, ‘Well, we’ll fix our message,’” he said. “It’s not the message. You have to appeal with policies and programs to these people who are going to be the leaders of our country in a generation.” (Source)
I suppose General Powell is attempting to soldier on in his attempts to penetrate the thick skulls of the Republican party leaders. I don’t have a military-like acumen, but I’ll say this: You, sir, are wasting your time. It ain’t gonna happen.
Related articles
- Colin Powell Calls Out The GOP’s Racism Problem: There Is ‘A Dark Vein Of Intolerance’ (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
- Colin Powell slams GOP’s ‘dark vein of intolerance’; says some in party ‘look down on minorities’ (thegrio.com)
- Colin Powell: ‘Birther Nonsense’ Is ‘Killing The Base’ Of The GOP (dailyqueernews.wordpress.com)
- Joe Scarborough: GOP Cheating To Win Implies Party In Decline (VIDEO) (addictinginfo.org)
- Colin Powell slams GOP for ‘idiot presentations,’ ‘demonizing’ the president’ [VIDEO] (upi.com)
- Colin Powell slams GOP, says it has developed ‘dark vein of intolerance’ (kdvr.com)
- Colin Powell to GOP – Stop This ‘Birther Nonsense’ And Voter Suppression (VIDEO) (addictinginfo.org)
