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Devastating RNC ad captures Biden laughing at the issues
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The Spectacle Blog
In case readers missed it, I wanted to point out an oldie but a
goodie — John Corry’s profile
of Colin Powell from 1996. Here 
are a
few snippets that are particularly poignant:
Sam Donaldson said a Powell presidency would be “good for the country.” Media enthusiasm knew no bounds, and exactly where Powell stood on any issue was irrelevant. He transcended race and partisan politics, and personified the American dream. Meanwhile, he was off on his fabled book tour, while he kept his “options open.”
…
Powell may be loyal to past presidents, but he has qualms about being a Republican, and in truth many Republicans continue to have qualms about him. They do not express them openly, though, because they have that most Republican of all fears: God forbid someone should think they are racist.
…
Try as he might, it was hard for Powell to think of himself as a Republican. “It is a racist society,” he said after the O.J. Simpson verdict. “All you have to do is listen to Mark Fuhrman.”
…
“We’d never have to worry about Powell being a candidate. He’s not a risk taker. He’s not an entrepreneur. It’s not in his character. He’ll talk about running, but never do it.”
…
A man who knows him well, and therefore declines to be identified, says Powell wants to be president, but that he thinks he would lose his “moral credibility” if he were to admit it. Presumably, then, Powell would never hold office unless he were drafted, or else swept away by popular demand. There is no chance of that happening now, of course, but it does explain some of Powell’s recent behavior. He seems to have found politics beneath him, and consequently he has squandered the glow from a year ago, and made himself look foolish. He said he would not campaign for Dole; then he said he would. He said he did not plan to speak at the Republican convention; then he said he did. He criticized party positions on abortion, gun control, welfare reform, and affirmative action. He said, mysteriously, “I am practicing my politics privately.”
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More Blog Posts by J.P. Freire
http://spectator.org/blog/2008/10/22/more-colin-awe-scopy
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OCPatriot| 10.23.08 @ 2:17AM
SOUR GRAPES, ANYONE?
The fun thing about those who put Powell and his endorsement down for one reason or other is that, if Powell had come out for McCain, he would have been hailed as a leading light of the Republican Party. Deep in your heart, dear reader, you know it's true. Think of it that way, and you can't help but realize that such articles and comments are nothing but "sour grapes."
P.S. Ever notice that the schtick is PUTTING PEOPLE DOWN as opposed to pointing out the positives of the alternatives? Are such commentators actually scared, or are they using fear, as George Bush did, to enlist sympathy for their side?
Broadside| 10.23.08 @ 7:15AM
Powell has always had a large dose of the arrogance and self-regard that generals are known for. His endorsement of Obama reveals a streak of opportunism as well.
When the GOP was ascendant, Powell readily aligned himself with the Republican administrations that promoted and encouraged him. Now, with the GOP and old friend McCain in trouble, Powell turns his coat and serves up an endorsement of Obama loaded with flimsy reasoning.
For Republicans, there is a benefit to the departure of an unreliable ally with a poor record of performance in office. Good riddance.
anne| 10.23.08 @ 9:34AM
I'm not surprised about Colin Powell's sudden awakening.. He was never quite what he appeared to be anyway - just another Media-created messiah.
Since leaving the Bush Administration, Powell has had NADA to say about domestic and world issues and his critical assessment of them. He has had NOTHING to say about a Democratic Congress and Clinton who have perpetrated through their greed and misplaced sentimental liberalism a financial crisis for the American people and the WHOLE WORLD. So much for socialism social engineering. Powell has NOTHING to say about the successful surge in Iraq, but remains mute on issues of moral import, stays hidden in the confines of his security, and then, perfectly timed, what a surprise, endorses the Marxist socialist Obama - but, of course, NOT because of race - NO, NO, NO.
Powell is perfectly at ease with Obama's wealth redistribution by robbing hard-working American citizens, his ACORN blood, Ayers, Wright, the Chicago machine, Obama's Alinsky doctrine, Obama's Cloward-Piven ideology, Obama's relentless dissembling and equivocation, his megalomania, Obama's total lack of experience, his absolute dismal grasp of foreign policy, his anti-capitalist TAX, TAX economic policy, his undercutting of our military and determination to cut military spending, his empty rhetoric?
Then why didn't Powell support Clinton?? Why didn't he join the Democrat Party?
Because Powell is as confused as Obama - neither stands for much that can't be shifted like sand.
How can Powell declare himself a Republican, serve in a Republican administration that gave him the highest of positions, serve in our military, and then support someone diametrically opposed to it all?
Apparently, Powell is a man of two faces, just like Obama - one public and one private - Powell and Obama want to hide who they really are until they have power.
America hasn't heard a peep from Powell in years and NOW he issues his switch-a-roo political declaration??
AND Powell dares to claim that Obama, whose resume is thinner than tissue paper, is ready to be the president of the USA, but states that Sarah Palin, who is the governor of one of the largest states in the Union, is not ready to be a VP?
But, of course, Pelosi is qualified to be third in line for the presidency!! YOWZA!
I always had doubts about Powell - he has a seething unsettled anger, misplaces it, and out of that pronounces to the world something both ignorant and self-serving -
Powell is not a man of principle, but a man of opportunity - and that's as pathetic as Obama and his narcissistic drive for self-power.
I'm SURE Powell received NO pressure to "come out of the Democrat far-left closet" and issue his spurious and specious "celebrity endorsement" declaration of absurdity.
Do we have any people of moral and ethical courage in government or are they all snakes under rocks?
David Henson| 10.23.08 @ 9:41AM
How can anyone still attribute even a shred of "moral credibility" to this man after his disgraceful, embarrassing, and fraudulent appearance before the U.N. in the run-up to the Iraq War back in 2003. He cannot and will not...and should not...ever live that down.
J David| 10.23.08 @ 10:22AM
If Powell had come out for McVain he would have been hailed by REAL conservatives(not necessarily *Republicans* anymore) as more the elitist insider types of RINO that the decidedly unconservative Soros-owned, commie-lib Dem ally, Juan Amnesty McVain likes to hang out with anyway...though he would have been far more likely to gain from a McVain endorsement in a McVain administration that he could possibly hope to expect under Obama. He has gained EVERYTHING he is from Republicans.
Dan| 10.23.08 @ 2:59PM
Anyone remember that Powell refused to write a battle plan for the first Gulf War until Bush I threatened to fire him? Thank God for Schwartnager because if Powell had run the war we would have lost.