Powell endorses Obama, Eviscerates McCain's Smears

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Colin Powell endorses Obama

[quote]Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday 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, and for that reason I’ll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama,” Powell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Powell said he has some concerns about the direction of the Republican Party, adding that it has “moved more to the right than I would like to see it.” Read a transcript of Powell’s remarks

In regard to the financial crisis, which Powell called the candidates’ “final exam,” Powell said McCain appeared unsteady in dealing with it, while Obama had excelled in handling the situation.

“Obama displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge,” Powell said. Video Watch what Powell says about Obama »

“He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president,” he said.[/quote]

Colin Powell Eviscerates McCain’s Negative Smear Campaign

Okay, McCain supporters, listen to this link and respond, please. Oh and Tigerman, he addresses your parroted assertion that Obama is a socialist as well.

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I think maybe the general is bucking for another cabinet post. All of a sudden he is Mr. Credibility and a saint to the left. If you believe that, I have some mobile WMD laboratories to sell you.

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what does he say about Obama’s inexperience and shady past? he is supposed to be running on the top of the ticket right, where experience kind of matters…and his hidden agendas…i guess it wont matter cuz powell will be there to guide him with his great insight on WMDs and all

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They’ll be Powelling around before you know it.

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as i recall from interviews later, Powell was fairly upset at being manipulated and made to parade that ‘intel’ file around, but he did his job well enough. shortly after, though, he got out (was pushed out) and washed his hands of the affair. anyway, i am fairly certain that the majority of you who claim to be appalled by his presentation of the WMD ‘evidence’ at that extraordinary meeting of the Security Council were fully supportive of it at the time, if you’d just care to check your fading memories.

and i don’t think that Powell is supporting Obama just because he’s black (which he isn’t: Obama is a half-Caucasian person).

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Oh you of all people want to bring up WMD’s? Bush had the Iraqi mole and the CIA reports - HE was “the Decider” - it was HIM who decided screw it all and send Powell in and bullshit us into war.

And as for “inexperience and shady past”, I assume you are talking Ayers again. Jesus. Bunch of Karl Rove CRAP. It’s a lot less shady associating with a guy who was a wimpy, never-did-anything terrorist when you were eight years old than it is to have been associated, for instance, with the Keating Five Affair! Or to dump your crippled wife who stood by you while you were repeatedly crashing planes in Vietnam and become the gigolo for a young, rich heiress!

As for experience, another mantra that’s endlessly repeated in the hope that it will stick. Experience sure counted for a whole lot of nothing in the case of the Cheney administration! What Obama exhibits that McCain sorely lacks is LEADERSHIP tempered with wisdom.

For example, back in March, well before it was politically expedient, Obama was saying we need to look at Wall Street and the deregulatory legislation of the past decade. What was McCain saying? Let it ride baby! Seven months later, when the presidency is on the line, NOW he’s all concerned. THAT is not leadership.

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[quote=“urodacus”]as i recall from interviews later, Powell was fairly upset at being manipulated and made to parade that ‘intel’ file around, but he did his job well enough. shortly after, though, he got out (was pushed out) and washed his hands of the affair. anyway, i am fairly certain that the majority of you who claim to be appalled by his presentation of the WMD ‘evidence’ at that extraordinary meeting of the Security Council were fully supportive of it at the time, if you’d just care to check your fading memories.

and i don’t think that Powell is supporting Obama just because he’s black (which he isn’t: Obama is a half-Caucasian person).[/quote]
Republicans are very good at always blaming someone else for their screwups. Gen. Powell should act like a man and disappear. He lied to the US people and doesn’t deserve the right to tell anyone who to vote for.

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:unamused:

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which is why Bush is supporting McCain? (multiple supportive comments since March, including at the Convention).

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No way.

Powell has had a very dubious past. He showed his true colors very early on in his career with the My Lai massacre cover up. It did his career the world of good. He’s that type of bloke. He goes where the wind blows. His endorsement is meaningless to me at least.

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[quote=“Vay”]

Okay, McCain supporters, listen to this link and respond, please. Oh and Tigerman, he addresses your parroted assertion that Obama is a socialist as well.[/quote]

Frontline on PBS in the US aired an informative piece on the backgrounds of both Obama and McCain this weekend. With respect to Obama, there was one part that was quite interesting. There was a lot of tension and infighting between the conservative and liberal wings of the editorial staff of the Harvard Law Review when Obama was elected as its president. The liberal side was excited about Obama’s election at first, but grew frustrated over time as he refused to let the liberals run over the conservatives. Obama held the view that each person on the HLR staff was smart and had something to offer to make it a great publication. He apparently appointed more conservatives than liberals to the top positions on the HLR. One liberal member of the HLR staff stated that Obama would often socialize with the conservative staffers because he enjoyed their company, sense of humor and learning about their points of view.

I think this piece backs up what Powell describes as Obama’s intellectual curiosity and vigor. IMO, he doesn’t simply pick a few traditionally liberal positions from which to build his policy views. Instead, he seems to want to examine many different positions and move from there. I’m happy to have a thoughtful and reasoned person open to discussion in the WH after 8 years of the Bush doctrines rammed down our throats. I think a lot of conservatives (and liberals) will be surprised by an Obama presidency as I don’t see him as being a Reid and Pelosi puppet.

Only time (and a win by Obama) will tell.

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Obama’s voting record does not support your claim. He is as liberal as one can be, and he will be dangerous with no checks and balance in Congress and the Court. I don’t see how something as small as organizing bipartisan staff on a school publication satisfies the requirement to be president.

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The Republican legacy is an unnecessary war killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions and the worst financial crisis in eighty years, the nationalisation of billions in private equity and millions about to be dumped out of work. Not to mention global stock markets in meltdown, indeed very nearly sparking a global depression.

Go with Bush’s heir backed by the same clowns, Rove and Cheney et al that got the world into the current mess? Sorry, it really is time for a change. The world can’t take anymore of these “conservatives.” You are either deluded, a racist bigot or a complete idiot to think otherwise.

There is no longer a place for mouth breathing monkey luggers on the global stage. So pack up the chimp and move off, please.

HG

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The Choice The Frontline piece on Obama and McCain.

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Obama may very well win, but will he get elected? That’s the question.

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[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]The Republican legacy is an unnecessary war killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions and the worst financial crisis in eighty years, the nationalisation of billions in private equity and millions about to be dumped out of work. Not to mention global stock markets in meltdown, indeed very nearly sparking a global depression.

Go with Bush’s heir backed by the same clowns, Rove and Cheney et al that got the world into the current mess? Sorry, it really is time for a change. The world can’t take anymore of these “conservatives.” You are either deluded, a racist bigot or a complete idiot to think otherwise.

There is no longer a place for mouth breathing monkey luggers on the global stage. So pack up the chimp and move off, please.

HG[/quote]

:notworthy: :bravo:

Agree!

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It’s not but did it ever occur to you that perhaps the best way to get parties to work together is not to be too extreme in either direction? Perhaps he is striking a thing called a common ground where both are pleased and do what I actually put them office for-TO WORK.

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[quote=“smerf”]
Frontline on PBS in the US aired an informative piece on the backgrounds of both Obama and McCain this weekend. With respect to Obama, there was one part that was quite interesting. There was a lot of tension and infighting between the conservative and liberal wings of the editorial staff of the Harvard Law Review when Obama was elected as its president. The liberal side was excited about Obama’s election at first, but grew frustrated over time as he refused to let the liberals run over the conservatives. Obama held the view that each person on the HLR staff was smart and had something to offer to make it a great publication. He apparently appointed more conservatives than liberals to the top positions on the HLR. One liberal member of the HLR staff stated that Obama would often socialize with the conservative staffers because he enjoyed their company, sense of humor and learning about their points of view.

I think this piece backs up what Powell describes as Obama’s intellectual curiosity and vigor. IMO, he doesn’t simply pick a few traditionally liberal positions from which to build his policy views. Instead, he seems to want to examine many different positions and move from there. I’m happy to have a thoughtful and reasoned person open to discussion in the WH after 8 years of the Bush doctrines rammed down our throats. I think a lot of conservatives (and liberals) will be surprised by an Obama presidency as I don’t see him as being a Reid and Pelosi puppet.

Only time (and a win by Obama) will tell.[/quote]
Thanks for that, and Namahottie for the link. That Frontline narrator rules.

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Neither, as we have learned, does being Governor of Texas. :smiley:

I think some of Obama’s congressional voting can possibly be explained by his recognition that the Republican powers in control of the WH and Congress (for his first 2 years at least) might not be acting in the country’s best long-term interests. You call it liberal, others call it sanity.

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Not a great fan of Powell’s but the important thing about his endorsement was not that he made it, but the way he made it. I was expecting a typical tepid Powellian hug-the-yellow line kind of deal; instead he laid a major smackdown not only on McCain- erratic during a crisis, looney picking Palin, vicious use of smear tactics- but also the wingnuts who have taken over the Repubs.

And speaking of endorsements, Ken “Iraq will be a Cakewalk” Adelman, just endorsed Obama.

[quote]When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I’ve concluded that that’s no way a president can act under pressure.

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain’s main two, and best two, themes for his campaign—Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.[/quote]

newyorker.com/online/blogs/g … colin.html

Little shot of his bio. from Wiki:

[quote]From 1975 to 1977 during the Gerald Ford administration, Adelman was an Assistant to United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and now is a member of the Defense Policy Board. He has also served as a national editor of Washingtonian magazine for more than 17 years.

He was the deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for two-and a half years, working with Jeane Kirkpatrick. He also served as the Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for nearly five years, during the Reagan administration. He was an advisor to President Ronald Reagan during the superpower summits between Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

Adelman is a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board well-known for his involvement in conservative policy efforts dating back to the 1970s, when he was a member of the Committee on the Present Danger. More recently, he strongly supported the war on Iraq and worked for the think tank Project for the New American Century, arguing for new policies to help the United States remain a global leader. Adelman, called “a lifelong neocon activist”, worried in 2006 that the incompetence shown in handling the war in Iraq would damage the neoconservative movement: neoconservatism, he said, “is not going to sell” for at least a generation[1].[/quote]

When a Republican starts losing people like this…