DISQUS

smiling_dog · 1 year ago

I agree that Powell has a certain respect and it would help Obama to get his endorsement. On the flip-side, I will never understand why people have such high respect for the man responsible for one of the biggest sellouts in modern U.S. history.

robertbird · 1 year ago

Forget Powell. And forget Joe the Plumber. I got Mike the Stagehand, and Veteran, and Small Business Owner, and Patriot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9wgkuZ5JKg

Covers lots of points made here.

bumpkis · 1 year ago

Powell should have resigned rather than make that presentation at the UN...things "might" be different today if he had...maybe alot of people might still be alive.

ShirleyGoodnessanMercy · 1 year ago

Prop 8 in California threatens to end legal recognition of gay marriages there, but someone has come to the rescue with a donation of $100,000 which I think is spectacular. Guess who? To find out, click here:
http://www.towleroad.com/2008/09/brad-pitt-dona...

hawkseye · 1 year ago

And the California Teachers Association gave one million dollars, so they deserve a cheer, too.

stephenl · 1 year ago

It'll matter more inside the beltway than outside. The Sunday morning talking heads collection will freak, but it won't matter much on the campaign trail.

mweholt · 1 year ago

Yabbut I'm not entirely convinced he's going to endorse Obama. I wouldn't put it past them that this is a set-up. Talk about a shot in the arm for the Comeback Narrative. What a chance for the media to be !!ASTONISHED!! and for the McCain campaign to laugh at the Liberal Media and all that. I totally hope I'm wrong, but I'm just preparing myself for what happens if this turns out to be an October 19 surprise.

okojo · 1 year ago

If the Obama campaign need former military leaders endorsements to add "credibility" try to get ret. General Zinni, , ret. General Shinseki's endorsement, every General and Admiral that has asked for Rumsfeld's resignation.

Powell not only wreck his credibility with his 2003 UN speech for the war on Iraq, but he continued his role as Secretary of State while he knew that torture was a matter of national policy.

nsr · 1 year ago

At the same time, however, we do have evidence that Powell tried behind the scenes to change things and even prevent going to war. In this, he can be a powerful advocate for Obama,

Huh? He was completely ineffective, and they kicked him to the curb when they were done with him. Why would anyone on the right or left give a rat's ass who this two-bit whore chooses to "endorse"?

Oh, he knows he done a bad thing. How nice. Maybe he'll turn himself in to the Hague.

cmpnwtr · 1 year ago

The purity trolls will dismiss this, but a Powell endorsement helps. The progressive blogs do not represent the electorate and Powell is respected across this country, even with his complicity with Bush.

nsr · 1 year ago

"purity trolls". Thx.

cinemaven · 1 year ago

I think a Powell endorsement will help in the sense that it will give a few of those who are still in the undecided category a small push to our side but I doubt it will help to recover any of the respect that many of us once had for Powell.

RevDrBillyBob · 1 year ago

Powell finds that his lies (he KNEW that all of that stuff he pretended to be true was, in fact, false) in 2003 (lies told to the American people and the UN) to be "painful". And he didn't resign until YEARS after he lied, during which time he continued to LIE. ... oh, my goodness gracious ... I think I'm a-gonna cry. Anybody else here want to cry along with me ? [sniffle . . . sniffle . . . . ]

hawkseye · 1 year ago

Yeah, please pass the crying Powell towel.

katjam · 1 year ago

This could be a needed act of redemption for Powell. He gave into pressure last time. He was the "good soldier" back then but if he had instead fallen on his sword and war had thus been averted ironically it might have resulted in a different kind of fall from grace for him. First almost every Republican and even some Democrats would have shunned him. History from that point would have taken a different path. The disastrous war of the last five years might have been avoided but other possibly tragic events might have occurred instead. What if, having in a sense helped Saddam stay in power, Saddam had ended up funneling a dirty bomb to terrorist who attacks us again? Powell would have been seen as complicit. We just don't know. We are judging him by what did happened and have found him wanting. I would suggest we all listen to his statement and explanation on Meet the Press.
It seems as if he is going to endorse Obama on Sunday. If it helps Obama in any way we should be grateful. We cannot know the future but I believe there is good reason to fear the election of McCain and particularly Palin and the resulting continuation of Republican rule. Without knowing that version of our future be it dark or light we cannot judge the value of Powell's endorsement.

lynchie · 1 year ago

There was no dirty bomb, there was no need for the war. Why would he have been shunned by the Dems? You buy into the whole WMD reason for the war. The future is controlled by doing the right thing every day, not through redemption because Powell now needs a job or wants to suck up to the new power in Washington. He has had 2 years to come out and support Obama. Why now?>

katjam · 1 year ago

I have been been personally angry with Powell for years for what he
did but I also know that things are not as straightforward as you
imagine. For example Powell doesn't need a job but by coming out on
Sunday he may actually ruin his son's desire to run for office as a
Republican. As for why now? Maybe the timing is part of a planned
Obama October Surprise. At very least it will give Obama a 24+ hours
of positive news coverage two weeks before the election just as people
are starting their early voting. Powell has always been a strong
speaker. He could give a powerful endorsement. There are few military
men who have great name recognition than Powell. If he says Obama can
lead this country and do it right it will have an effect.

lynchie · 1 year ago

His name recognition has come from being a shill for the Bush Administration. His son is well looked I am sure. Don't be so eager since Powell may in fact endorse McCain. There is nothing positive that will come from the left and for the right it will be taken as a betrayal.

katjam · 1 year ago

Powell will not endorse McCain. Period.

A McCain endorsement would not earn Powell a lengthy interview on MTP
because it would not be considered newsworthy for an out-of-office
Republican to endorse a fellow Republican.

His pro-Obama interview will drive the news for the 24+ hours. The
pundits and newscaster need some new material to blather about and he
will provide it.

dad · 1 year ago

it would help.
it would matter.

with all the talk it could matter if he didn't.
it could hurt.

dad · 1 year ago

the big winner in 08
Gill Sans

Older_Wiser · 1 year ago

At this point, I don't care what Powell does because I wrote him off some time ago. Sure, he could "redeem" himself by endorsing Obama, but what about all the deaths in Iraq, both military and civilian?

All I want is for Obama to WIN and get us the hell out of Iraq.

lynchie · 1 year ago

Don't forget Powell was a character witness for Ted Stevens earlier in the week. So his judgment is questionable at best.

hawkseye · 1 year ago

It provided some comic relief for those of us who saw one liar testifying for the veracity of another.

lynchie · 1 year ago

So here is the theme for the next two weeks. Obama is a Socialist, Communist, Anti American.

McCain and Palin will hammer away on these issues because they have nothing else to say. Where are the rest of the Democrats and the Republicans. This is McCarthyism at its worst and deserves to be shoved right up McCain, Palin and Rove's big white ass.
This is despicable that after 2 years of campaigning the only thing they can claim is that he is socialist because he wants to take some of the wealth from the top 1% and share it with the people who go to work every day and try to support a family. Disgusting, vile and beyond the pale.

ms elyse · 1 year ago

You took the words right out of my mouth.

hawkseye · 1 year ago

Another theme is that the election will be illegitimate because of ACORN and jurists trying to legislate from the bench.

LFAWO · 1 year ago

As others have already mentioned, this feels like Lucy about to pull the ball away before Charlie kicks it. Expect a McCain endorsement from Powell. Powell knows where his money comes from. He demonstrated a willingness to sell out in 2003. Don't forget that. He always had a more honorable way out of that sham of a UN presentation. Many of us were well aware of the weakness of the case for war in Iraq (and all I did was read internet articles). How come he didn't know better??? Colin gets nothing but comtempt from me. Please don't build him up. The very nature of his failure as a leader makes his endorsement less than meaningless in the first place. He's got a very very long way to go to earn any respect from me.

An_American_Karol · 1 year ago

I am going to get into trouble, but here goes.
I still think Colin Powell is a great man. He was wrong in allowing himself to be a mouth piece for the current administration, but he paid a high price for it - as well he should. Furthermore, there are many progressives who agree with me. The Independent voters admire and trust him, and the conservatives can't touch him.
I hope he does the right thing tomorrow and endorses Obama. It will go a long way toward his redemption.

lynchie · 1 year ago

What price did he pay? He got millions for his sob story book. He has never fully admitted his complicity in the Iraq war and he has been sitting on the sidelines while our troops have been waging an Urban war he never trained them for with unarmored equipment and inadequate body armor. His son because of Colin was made head of the FTC with no qualifications, like so many Bushbots. He still dresses in very expensive suits and seems to float around in the highest circles in Washington. There has been no price paid but the 5,000 American dead who he is responsible for along with the million or so Iraqi's. Let's also not forget he was part of the meetings on the meaning of torture. He has never come out and publicly denounced the actions of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice.
He is a lie.

hawkseye · 1 year ago

Yes, I agree with you. (see my post above) Powell was also a complicit liar re My Lai incident.

sullivan · 1 year ago

Call me the skeptic.
Where did this news about a possible endorsement start? Was it started by the republicans so that when he does endorse Mc Cain, it will seem like a great blow to the Obama campaign? The repugs are slimy and crafty.
Can anyone help me with where this all started?

hawkseye · 1 year ago

Probably Powell, with the help of the Obama camp.

nsr · 1 year ago

What exactly is Powell's constituency? No, seriously. Even a sports figure endorsing shaving cream has got fans who are more likely to buy because he says to. Who are Powell's fans? Is there some big block of votes that will go Obama's way with this? Or McCain, if he went that way? Or Nader, or Bob Barr?

Powell is an irrelevancy, trying to win back a little respect by pretending his opinion matters. And our celebrity press is playing it up. It's celebrity news. Let's not pretend it belongs to the world of politics. Powell is famous because he's famous. OJ Simpson's endorsement would be news too, but it would count for as much as this.

Hannah · 1 year ago

nsr: Powell is a Republican and an African American. I'm not happy with some of the stuff he pulled, but he is still admired by many Republicans. So his endorsement would be a big deal.

Put it another way: my mother is "afraid" of Barack Obama (because of his life and the garbage put out about him - yes, I told her it's not true). Anyway... in a recent conversation she told me that she realizes she's a bit racist, having grown up in a small town in a mostly white state. And she can't imagine herself voting for an African American... except she likes Colin Powell and thinks she could vote for him if he ran. I doubt a Powell endorsement for Obama will convince her to vote for Obama, but it would at least ease her fears a bit. And I doubt she's the only one. And easing fears is a GOOD thing, given the current political climate, thanks in part to the crap the McPalin campaign is putting out.

Hannah · 1 year ago

Sorry, I forgot to mention above that my mother is a Republican. Doesn't like 'em all, but still makes excuses for W.

hawkseye · 1 year ago

Powell lied about My Lai, too, so as far as I am concerned he is twice a War Criminal.

I also believe in redemption. When any of the many Iraq War criminals fall on their knees before the mothers and fathers of slain soldiers and confess their guilt and beg for forgiveness, I will begin work on forgiving.
Because there are still many people who are impressed with Powell, I hope he does give his endorsement to Obama. I also hope Obama doesn't rely on him for anything else, ever.

ms elyse · 1 year ago

Agreed.

An_American_Karol · 1 year ago

"An overwhelming number of the Democratic senators who voted to authorize use of force indicated they would vote differently today, including former and current Democratic Senators Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, John Breaux of Louisiana, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota."
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=277...

Are we going to throw these Senators out too?
If memory serves, Hillary never said she was sorry for her vote. She paid a high price also.

gumbygirl · 1 year ago

Karol, I can't agree with you here. Biden, Dodd, Rockefeller,et al voted based on information that they did NOT know was false-Powell lied at the UN, knowingly. You can't compare them.

Millineryman · 1 year ago

Powell's a coward and I could care less about who he endorses. He should've resigned in protest and made the truth be know. I'm really tired of this excusing people who sell out.

PeteWa · 1 year ago

"the role Powell played leading up to the war in Iraq. And, there's no doubt that Powell showed poor judgment in believing the fudged intelligence presented to him"

That is fucking BULLSHIT.
He KNEW that the intelligence he was presenting was lies, that is why he has no credibility.
NOT because he believed the lies, but because he helped SPREAD THE LIES.

Fuck Powell, and Jon Solz, I mostly like where you're coming from but you are DEAD WRONG about this.

Griffon · 1 year ago

This says it all:

"A few nights after he resigned his post as secretary of state two years ago, Colin Powell answered a ring at his front door. Standing outside was Bandar, then Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, with a 1995 Jaguar.

Powell's wife, Alma, once had mentioned that she missed the 1995 Jaguar that she and her husband had traded in a while back. Bandar had filed that information away, and presented the Powells that night an identical, 10-year-old model. The Powells kept the car – a gift that the State Department said was legal – but recently traded it away."

Powell is an absolute disgrace. He's more worried about his 'stain' than the lives his lies have cost. If he possessed an ounce of integrity and honor, he would have resigned and apologized years ago. The fact that he remained and advanced in bush's regime points to his indifference to bush's atrocities.

F*ck Powell.

lynchie · 1 year ago

Griffon: well said. Powell is a disgrace to all men and women in uniform.

ekwhite · 1 year ago

Despite what the Colin Powell haters say, his endorsement still carries weight because of his former position as Secretary of State. He obviously regrets what he did, but given the information he was given, and given the pressure he was under to do what he did, most of us would have done the same. He acted too late in doing the honorable thing - he should have resigned before he made his speech - but he still commands respect in some quarters.

PeteWa · 1 year ago

What part of "Colin Powell KNEW it was lies" does not compute with you?
He said as much, he called the report "Bullshit" and then he went ahead and spread the lies anyway.

If you were given information you knew was false, you would buckle under due to the pressure?
Even knowing that millions of lives will be affected?

Maybe you would, but I sure as shit would not.

The only people who Powell commands the respect of our idiots and fellow travelers, to borrow a term.

lynchie · 1 year ago

I was just following orders.

lynchie · 1 year ago

I was just following orders.

ekwhite · 1 year ago

Need anger management much? Let's get this straight. I do not support Colin Powell, but he is the best of a bad bunch, and he is respected by the low information voter and the MSM. He may only bring a few hundred thousand voters with him, but so what? I am against turning down an endorsement from any mainstream type.

I am also against the "holier than though" types in American politics. Yes, Colin Powell helped to lie us into war, but he has at least repented. When have you heard anything like that from Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld?

PeteWa · 1 year ago

It amuses me that you start off with a personal attack, I suppose that my laughing only proves how much I need an anger management class.

I am also amused at how low you set the bar for repentence... so low it's practically invisible:

"Sure, I helped knowingly lie my country into a war of aggression, in which hundreds of thousands have been killed, tens of thousands have been maimed, and millions have been dislocated, but gosh, it was just a mistake!"
I remain incredibly impressed with Colin, almost as much as I am impressed by those who are so quick to absolve such horrendous crimes.

It would appear that in this regard, I am much less holy than you, as I am much, much less forgiving.

Or maybe you're just one of those 'ends justify the means' kind of people...

freshpaint · 1 year ago

Think the announcement will be that he's endorsing McCain. He's a freeking Republican, after all, and perhaps this is the October surprise they have planned for us.

Milli · 1 year ago

Powell also needs a job.