Colin Powell Not Endorsing Obama Again Unless Economy Improves; White House Responds

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‎"The Price Of Greatness Is Responsibility."
Winston Churchill

"You Cannot Escape The Responsibility Of Tomorrow By Evading It Today."
Abraham Lincoln

"The Definition Of Insanity Is Doing The Same Thing Over & Over Again, But Expecting Different Results."
Albert Einstein


‎4-Star General Colin Powell, Former U.S. Secretary of State & the most Powerful, BLACK Republican in America, Endorsed then Senator Barack Obama back in 2008.
Fast forward to 2012.

General Powell has Declined to Endorse pres. Obama again due to the long term troubled Economy.

The American People aren't Stupid!

We know that initially Pres. Obama Inherited a Bad Economy from George W. Bush, however that Excuse is NO longer Viable!

Its been 3 ½ Years & General Powell is Right.

Its time for people be Honest!

From January 2009 to January 2011 Pres. Obama & Congressional Democrats were in Full Control.

They could have easily passed Legislation to start all kinds of Jobs Programs just as Bill Clinton did when he was President.
However this did NOT happen.

Instead they pushed Health Care.

Pres. Obama & Congressional Democrats did NOT Focus enough on Stabilizing the entire U.S. Economy or to help Middle Class & Low Income People.
Only Wall Street & Rich People!

For the record Gen. Powell was NOT bashing Pres. Obama on TV.

He was merely offering Constructive Criticism just as Mayor Cory Booker was attempting to do last Sunday on "Meet The Press."

"“He stabilized the financial system, he brought about stability in the economy, (and) he fixed the auto industry. I think he took us out – not completely out – he took us out of the most difficult problem we were facing at that time, which was an economy that was collapsing. It’s improving, but not fast enough. His number one goal for the rest of this year, as it should’ve been for the whole four years, is to get the economy running again.”
Gen. Colin Powell, May 22, 2012





Colin Powell pauses on endorsing Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that he’s not ready to endorse President Barack Obama’s reelection, as he’s also considering Mitt Romney, a “good man” he’s known for years.

“I don’t want to throw my weight behind somebody,” Powell, who endorsed Obama in 2008, said on NBC’s “Today Show.” “I feel as I private citizen I ought to listen to what the president says and what the president’s been doing.

But I also have to listen to what the other fellow says. I’ve known Mitt Romney for many years, good man.”

Powell said he “owe[s]” the Republican Party some consideration.

The former Bush administration official said that Obama had some substantial accomplishments, but that he wished the president had closed Guantanamo as promised.

“I think he has been [transformational]. Not completely. There are some things that he has done I wish he had not done, for example, leave Guantanamo open. I would have closed that rapidly. He tried, he was stopped by Congress,” said Powell. “He stabilized the financial system he brought about stability in the economy.

He fixed the auto industry.”

Despite these achievements, however, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff still declined to endorse the president.

“It’s not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney, it’s who they have coming in with them,” Powell said.

As for Afghanistan, Powell said upon reflection that “it was worth the sacrifice to give the Afghan people a chance at free government” but that “we have to draw the line at some point,” pointing towards the full withdrawal of American and NATO forces in 2014.

The retired four-star general was on NBC promoting his new book, “It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership.”



White House: Obama’s Record Should Impress Colin Powell

White House spokesman Jay Carney said he hopes that retired Gen. Colin Powell will endorse Mr. Obama again, particularly because of his work on national security — in remarks that came after Mr. Powell demurred when asked on NBC’s “Today” show if he was ready to back a candidate. Mr. Powell, a Republican, backed Mr. Obama in 2008, calling him a “transformational” candidate.

Mr. Carney said the president appreciated Gen. Powell’s support four years earlier. He said, “It’s up to him and every American to decide whom they will support going forward,” adding: “In the national security realm, which has, I think, particular resonance with General Powell, the president’s record has been judged to be exemplary by outside observers and commentators.”

Earlier, Mr. Powell praised Mr. Obama’s work in stabilizing the economy, but said it wasn’t improving quickly enough. He declined to say who he would endorse:

“[Mr. Obama] knows that I always keep my powder dry, as they say in the military. I feel as a private citizen I will listen to what the president says and what the president has been doing, but I also have to listen to what the other fella says. I’ve known Mitt Romney for many years – good man. It’s not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney, it’s who they have coming with them.’’

He added:

I’m still listening to what the Republicans are saying they’re going to do to fix the fiscal problems. We have to get the economy moving, and I think I owe that to the Republican party.


Sources: MSNBC, NBC, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Youtube

"Obama Lost Focus On Jobs" Colin Powell Speaks

Powell: Obama Failed To Focus On What's "Most Important"


While saying he talks regularly with President Obama and his administration's officials, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that the nation's 44th president has overreached and lost focus in his first term -- and lost votes because of it.

Powell, a self-described moderate Republican who served as a top military, national security and diplomatic official under presidents ranging from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, said he did not regret backing the then-Illinois senator over Republican Sen. John McCain during the 2008 election campaign.

But he said that Democrats suffered "a real body blow" in the recent midterm elections -- when the party lost seats in the Senate and control of the House -- in large part because Obama didn't prioritize or communicate effectively enough.

"He should have focused on the economy ... to the exclusion of most everything else domestically," Powell told CNN's Larry King. "When you're starting out as a president, you have to figure out (what) is most important."

Powell said he has been "in regular touch with authorities within the administration and the president," including talking "all the time" about its approach to Afghanistan. He credited Obama for stabilizing the economic system, and "doing a good job in ... a number of directions with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan."

He also offered mixed reviews of former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, calling her a "fascinating individual, ... a political celebrity (and) a political force." Powell said that her positions were "very populist, but they are not very specific as to what she would cut and what she would eliminate."

He challenged Palin and Tea Party-backed politicians to offer precise ideas of what programs to eliminate from the federal government in order to simultaneously lower the federal deficit, freeze spending and cut taxes.

"How do we solve that equation, governor?" said Powell.

Still, for all his political opinions, the retired Army general insisted he had "no interest" in government service -- whether it would be as secretary of defense or, as recently suggested by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, as Obama's White House chief of staff.

"I haven't been asked, and I don't expect to be asked," said Powell, jocularly suggesting that Rendell himself would make "a terrific chief of staff." "I have no interest in government service."

The former Joint Chiefs of Staff chair said he's talked recently with Pakistani Gen. Ashfaq Kayani about the situation in his southwest Asian nation, including the hunt for al Qaeda and fight against pro-Taliban forces. Powell said he thinks Obama's administration understands the importance of supporting Pakistan but that efforts so far have been "inadequate."

As to Pakistan's neighbor, Afghanistan, Powell stressed that it is important to realize that the ultimate goal -- for Afghans as well as Americans -- is to create conditions so that political, military and law enforcement authorities there could take over and U.S. forces can get out.

Powell also said that previous decisions -- including U.S. and allied forces' military approach to Afghanistan in the years right after September 11 -- should be looked back at critically.

"Maybe we should have considered some years ago that the light footprint we had in the early years (to 2003) was not adequate," said Powell, who was secretary of state during that time. "I think we might have been better served by a larger footprint earlier."

Afghanistan was one of many topics Powell touched on from his tenure, between 2001 and 2005, in the State Department under Bush.

In his memoir and again Sunday night on CNN, Bush said he stands by his decision to support the use of waterboarding -- a form of simulated drowning -- as an interrogation technique against terror suspects. When its use came up after 9/11, Powell said "all of us felt that waterboarding was, if not over the line, that at least very close to the line."

He said that he understood why Bush authorized waterboarding, but said he himself wouldn't support something he said "could be called now torture."

The then-secretary of state stood by his presentation to the United Nations -- information he insisted that was vetted and approved by the U.S. intelligence community -- in early 2003 suggesting weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq. But he did have disappointment about the talk, which was critical in swaying public opinion in support for the war, in retrospect.

"I regret it now, because the information was wrong," he said.

For all his comments on the past, the 73-year-old former general and statesman said he was optimistic about the future.

"American people still believe in this country," said Powell. "What they're waiting for is for the political leaders in Washington to get on with the solution to problems and not continue to argue with each other. The next year is going to be important."






Colin Powell Critical Of President Obama


Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president in 2008 despite serving three Republican presidents, said Sunday that Obama needs to change his approach in the White House because voters are feeling overwhelmed by sweeping new laws that expand the scope of government.

“The president also has to ... shift the way in which he has been doing things,” Powell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The American people feel that too many programs have come down. There are so many rocks in our knapsack now that we’re having trouble carrying it.”

Powell, a retired Army general, who was national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush and who ran the State Department for President George W. Bush, said Obama must focus “like a razor blade” on employment, giving the same level of attention to creating jobs — and bringing down the 9.6 percent unemployment rate — as he did to passing bills overhauling health care and reforming education.

“I understand the importance of all of that,” Powell said, referring to Obama’s signature legislative accomplishments. “But as far as the American people are concerned, the main attack is employment.”

Powell’s critique is noteworthy, given his decision in the 2008 election to spurn Republican John McCain — a fellow Vietnam veteran and personal friend — to back Obama, whom he described as offering “generational change.” The president has continued to consult with Powell in the White House.

“He has lost some of the ability to connect that he had during the campaign,” Powell said. “And it is not just me picking on the president. It’s reflected in the polling. Some of the anxiety and anger that you see out there, I think, comes from a belief on the part of the American people — whether it’s correct or incorrect, and the White House would say it’s incorrect — that ... his singular focus should be on employment.”

Powell declined to say whether he would endorse Obama and the Democratic ticket in 2012, adding that he will evaluate him and a Republican candidate as Election Day nears.

But Powell did praise the president, saying he still considers Obama a “transformational figure.”

“Some people don’t like what he has done in transformation,” Powell said. “And it’s caused him some difficulty. But the fact of the matter is, he did put together a health care reform. It’s not perfect. And I think it’ll have to be fixed over time. And a lot of people are not happy with that health care reform. But he did it.”

Nevertheless, Powell said, he still considers himself a Republican.

“Yes, why shouldn’t I?” Powell said Sunday, adding that he hasn’t thought about leaving the party.

“I still think that there is a need for a two-party system,” Powell said. “And that the Republican Party still has strength in it. It has strength with respect to its feelings about foreign policy and defense policy and our place in the world. And I’m not happy with the rightward switch, [the] shift that the party has taken. And I’ve said this on many occasions.

“And so, I’m not about to give up,” he said.

Powell also leveled some criticism at the GOP for embracing positions that are hostile to immigrants.

“They’ve got to take a hard look at some of the positions they’ve been taking,” Powell said. “We can’t be anti-immigration, for example. Because immigrants are fueling this country. Without immigrants [the U.S.] would be like Europe or Japan, with an aging population and no young people coming in to take care of it. We have to educate our immigrants.”

Powell, the son of immigrants who rose through the ranks of the Army, said that Congress should approve the DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for young illegal immigrants who attend college for two years or join the military.

“America is going to be a minority nation in one more generation,” Powell said. “Our minorities are not getting educated well enough now. Fifty percent of our minority kids are not finishing high school. We’ve got to invest in education. We should use the DREAM Act as one way to do it. Whether it should be part of the defense bill or not is something the Congress will decide.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will offer the DREAM Act this week as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. The chances of passage are uncertain, as Republicans who have supported the initiative in the past say it should not be tacked onto a spending bill.


Sources: CNN, Meet The Press, MSNBC, Politico, Youtube

Colin Powell Says Reid Was Right About Light-Skinned Black Leaders

Harry Reid Was Right


Yes, the Senate leader’s “light-skinned” comments about Obama were uncomfortable. But that’s because he spoke the truth about white attitudes—a truth even Colin Powell concedes.

There’s nothing Americans love more than demanding “honest talk” about race and then kicking the teeth out of anyone who engages in it. Thus the tale of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is now in political purgatory because he told authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann that white people were more open to voting for Barack Obama because he’s “light-skinned” and has “no Negro dialect.” Reid’s use of the word “Negro” was, to be sure, unpleasantly retro. But everything else about his statement is undeniably correct. Political scientists have proved it. Famous African Americans have testified to it. So now Reid must be punished, because he said things about the contours of white racism that you’re not supposed to say, except behind closed doors, where everyone knows that they’re true.

First, skin color. White people (and perhaps African Americans and other minorities as well) are more likely to vote for lighter-skinned blacks. In 2007, when Harvard’s Jennifer Hochschild and the University of Virginia’s Vesla Weaver surveyed every African-American governor, senator and member of Congress since 1865, they found that light-skinned blacks were dramatically overrepresented as a share of the black population. Similarly, they found that when light-skinned blacks run for office, they win at higher rates than their darker-skinned brethren.

But how do we know that this particular species of racism informs people’s view of Obama? Because in 2009, Eugene Caruso of the University of Chicago, Emily Balcetis of New York University and Nicole Mead of Tilburg University in the Netherlands proved it. They showed three pictures of Obama—one lightened, one darkened and one undoctored—to people who planned to vote for him, and to people who did not. The Obama voters were significantly more likely to claim that the lightened photo was the real one. The McCain voters were more likely to claim that the darkened photo was.

How about “black” speech patterns? Yet again, social science is on Reid’s side. In 1999, Thomas Purnell of the University of Wisconsin, William Idsardi of the University of Delaware, and John Baugh of Stanford had people answer apartment-rental ads in the San Francisco area using a variety of dialects. The callers who “sounded black” were substantially less likely to secure an appointment to see the apartment than those who “sounded white.”

Is any of this really a surprise, in a country where the extent of one’s blackness, as well as the fact of one’s blackness, has been the basis of oppression for centuries? In the antebellum South, states like Louisiana even maintained special legal categories for “quadroons” and “octoroons,” blacks whose mixed-race ancestry allowed them rights denied their “full-blooded” brethren. And as African Americans generally understand better than whites, that legacy remains alive today. When asked in 1995 why white people liked him so much, Colin Powell replied that “I speak reasonably well, like a white person,” and, visually, “I ain’t that black.”

So if what Reid said was palpably true, why is he in so much trouble? Yes, his use of the word “negro” was unattractive. But overall, his statement was less an example of white racism than an analysis of white racism. He dared to discuss an aspect of race prejudice that people generally find too toxic to publicly discuss. But it should be publicly discussed. Because amid the triumphalism that has followed Barack Obama’s election—the insistence, particularly on the right, that his election proves that racism has all but died out—it is worth remembering that while Obama’s election constitutes racial progress, it is also, peculiarly, testament to how far America still has to go.


Sources: The Daily Beast, CNN

Jackson Memorial Tickets Already On Ebay...Colin Powell, Major Networks Prepare, Investigation Continues

MSNBC----

(TODAY’s Meredith Vieira talks with Rob O’Sullivan, who is one of only 8,750 people to win tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles.)

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(As many as 750,000 people are expected to turn out in Los Angeles tomorrow for a public memorial service honoring Michael Jackson. Only 17,500 tickets are being distributed for the event. NBC’s Jeff Rossen reports.)

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LOS ANGELES - Listings for tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial service at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on Tuesday appeared on eBay and Craigslist as soon as winners were notified on Sunday.

One eBay listing asked for a Buy It Now price of $20,000, while other prices varied. Buyers and sellers must act fast, as ticket winners received a unique code and instructions to pick up their tickets Monday at Dodger Stadium.

When they pick up their tickets, a wristband will be placed on each person’s wrist. Organizers will check IDs to make sure those picking up wristbands are the same people who originally applied online, said Staples Center spokesman Michael Roth.

Fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.

But winners were permitted to give anyone their second bracelet, so “theoretically, the second wrist band can be sold,” Roth said.

Organizers were considering how to distribute any unclaimed seats, but had not immediately decided on a plan, Roth said.

Meanwhile, former Jackson business associate Marc Schaffel told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Debbie Rowe, the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children, was confirmed for VIP seats at the memorial service on Tuesday.

OMG OMG OMG!

On Sunday evening, fans around the world started posting Twitter messages about receiving tickets.

“I’m in shock that it has happened,” said Deka Motanya, 27, of San Francisco. “It’s surreal.” She received an e-mail message at 4:35 p.m. notifying her, “Congratulations, your application was successful.”

She immediately Twittered: “OMG OMG OMG OMG i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service!!!”

Soon after receiving his invitation, David Gobaud, 25, who studies computer science at Stanford University, was scrambling to find his way down to Los Angeles.

“It’s amazing. It’s quite a surprise. I didn’t believe it was real in the beginning,” he said. “It’s Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musical stars of all time.”

Another winner was Zach Moss, a 21-year-old Chicagoan working for the summer as a DJ in Las Vegas. He said clubgoers have responded strongly to Jackson’s music since his death.

“You can play two, three Michael Jackson songs back to back and people are going to have this huge jubilation celebration,” he said. “Everyone throws their drinks up and shouts, ’MJ!’ It’s extremely powerful.” More than 1.6 million fans registered online for free in the random drawing of only 8,750 names. Each person selected will receive two tickets. The odds of getting a ticket were about 1 in 183.

No ticket? Stay away:

The tickets will admit 11,000 people to the Staples Center plus 6,500 in the Nokia Theater overflow section next door. The streets around the stadium will be closed to prevent those without tickets from trying to attend, police said Sunday.

The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city. No details were available about the actual memorial events.

Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell warned people without tickets to stay away: “You’ll be standing in the hot sun on a city street with a lot of other people ... but not within eyeshot of Staples.”

At the Wilshire Grand Los Angeles hotel about a half mile from the Staples Center, more than 90 percent of the hotel’s 1,000 rooms were booked for Monday and Tuesday night, up from about 60 percent last week.

“There’s a lot of demand right now,” said spokesman Marc Loge. “We are going to sell out.”

Investigation into singer’s death continues:

Jackson died at age 50 on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest in the bedroom of his rented mansion. The cause of Jackson’s death has not been determined. Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks.

Also Sunday, a judge signed search warrants connected to the investigation of Jackson’s death, Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said. The warrants were sealed and Parachini would not discuss any details.

Authorities are investigating allegations that Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. The powerful sedative Diprivan, which is usually administered by anesthesiologists in hospitals, was found in his home. It was not known what drugs, if any, Jackson obtained from doctors.

Jackson’s family was planning a private ceremony at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, McDonnell said. He did not provide further details.

More than a week after his death, tributes and accolades keep coming. Madonna had a Jackson impersonator dance to “Wanna Be Starting Something” at her concert Saturday in the same London arena where he was to stage his comeback.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called for nationwide “love vigils” for Jackson, asking people to gather in schools, community centers and churches to watch the memorial service and talk about the pop star’s “message” instead of the “mess” surrounding his death.

Colin Powell said in an interview aired Sunday that Jackson had controversy in his life, but in death his art should be celebrated.

“Yes, there were some challenges in his life,” the former secretary of state told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Yes, there was a great deal of controversy about him. But he’s now passed on. Let’s celebrate his art.”

Service will be broadcast live:

The memorial service will be broadcast on five television networks, after NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to air the service live. NBC joins ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment.

City officials are preparing for huge crowds. McDonnell, the assistant police chief, would not say how many police would be on the job, but alluded to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the recent championship celebration for the Los Angeles Lakers at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.


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Sources: MSNBC, Google Maps

Ret. Gen. Colin Powell Helps To Battle America's High School Drop Out Crisis

CNN-----

GREENVILLE, Alabama -- Willie Thornton is on a rescue mission. One morning in March he set out to save Desmond Dunklin, a 19-year-old who should have graduated last year from Greenville High School in Greenville, Alabama.

Thornton, 48, the school's dropout prevention coordinator, and Lt. Malcolm Owens, the school's police officer, drive the five minutes to Dunklin's house.

"I need for you to show up," Thornton tells a sleepy Dunklin, who clearly has just been awakened by the men's repeated knocking on his door.

Dunklin hadn't been attending school regularly, despite six or seven home visits from Thornton.

Thornton has been teaching for 16 years, but this is his first year running the dropout prevention program. It is his job to mentor, encourage, counsel and cajole 70 students considered at-risk for dropping out. His school in rural Butler County claims a 75 percent graduation rate, but a number of those kids don't get out within four years. The Southern Education Foundation, an education research group, says only about six in 10 students in Butler County graduate within four years.

The number sounds shockingly low, but it's actually not far off the national average. A 2008 study by America's Promise Alliance, a group founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, concluded that only 52 percent of students in the nation's 50 largest school systems graduate in four years. About 57 percent of Hispanic and 53 percent of African-American students graduate with a regular diploma in four years, according to the study, which puts the national graduation rate at 70 percent.

"Finishing high school is absolutely basic to being a success at any place in our society. We can't afford this," Powell said.

"If we lose these youngsters from our educational system, it doesn't mean they're all going to jail," Powell said. "It just means they're not going to have the same earning potential as they would if they finished school. And ultimately that will affect them, and it will affect the nation."

"I need to finish school," Dunklin says after a meeting with Thornton and his mother. "My mama wants me to graduate, tells me I can't get a job if I don't graduate."

She's right. Even people with diplomas struggle to find work in Butler County.

"Our stores, Wal-Mart, eatery places are really demanding our students have high school diplomas, and we respect that," Thornton said. "We really respect that because we want them to be completers."

In March, Thornton and hundreds of other educators, business leaders and grassroots activists gathered to brainstorm ways to solve the dropout problem.

The meeting was funded in part by America's Promise Alliance, which is chaired by Powell's wife, Alma Powell. One of the charity's goals is to hold more than 100 of these dropout prevention summits across the country and raise alarm bells and create an army of foot soldiers like Thornton to crush the problem General Powell calls a "catastrophe." Alma Powell: Every 26 seconds a child drops out of school »

"It's a ground game," he said. "There's no Hail Mary pass. This is going to be a yard-at-a-time as we go after this problem."

Alma Powell was the featured speaker at the dropout prevention summit Thornton attended.

"You cannot afford to let one go," she said. "You cannot give up."

Thornton is someone who doesn't give up. In late May, Dunklin, donned the green cap and gown of Greenville High School, walked across the stage and received a folder and a handshake from principal Charles Farmer.

Dunklin didn't earn a diploma; he received a certificate indicating he finished coursework in an independent study program. Alabama still considers him a dropout; he must complete more classes and tests to receive an actual diploma.

It's a start, Thornton says.

"The benefit is basically for a student to say that 'I can' and 'I've raised my self-esteem enough,' because prior to that most of them in their hearts have already quit," Thornton said.

"What we do here [in the dropout prevention program] is try to gain some sort of success story that they own. And we try to build story by story. That gains a lot of energy and hope," he said. "When you lose hope, you lose everything."

Dunklin insists he is done with school, but Thornton still hasn't given up. "I think once he starts seeing what he needs. He'll come back."


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Sources: CNN, Black News, Time2jamm, America's Promise Alliance, Google Maps

Colin Powell Defends His Republican Party Affiliation....Responds To Rush & Cheney

During a recent appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" former Secretary of State and retired Army General Colin Powell defended his political party affiliation.

Prior to the 2008 Presidential election Powell crossed party lines to endorse President Obama. Having done so Limbaugh and Cheney branded him as a Democrat.

Two weeks ago former V.P. Dick Cheney also appeared on "Face the Nation".

While discussing the future of the Republican party with host Bob Schiffer, Mr. Cheney commented, "Well, if I had to choose — in terms of being a Republican — I’d go with Rush Limbaugh, I think." "My take on it was that Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican."

Today Powell responded to Cheney and Limbaugh's divisive, false claims by stating, "Rush will not get his wish and Mr. Cheney was misinformed – I am still a Republican." "Neither Cheney nor Rush Limbaugh are members of the membership committee of the Republican Party."

In addition Powell urged the G.O.P. "to broaden its appeal".

Considering the Republican Party's scant support nationwide, it would be very foolish for G.O.P. leaders to diss such a distinguished member as Colin Powell. Very foolish indeed.

(Colin Powell setting the record straight regarding his Political Party affiliation this morning on "Face the Nation".)



Sources: Politico, MSNBC, CBS, Face the Nation, Think Progress, Day Life

Dick Cheney Endorses Rush Limbaugh, Slams Colin Powell...Recipe for G.O.P. Failure

This morning on CBS's Face the Nation, former V.P. Dick Cheney (R) made a shocking statement which helps to further explain why the G.O.P.'s image is so screwed up.

In front of millions of viewers Cheney stated to host Bob Schieffer,
"Well if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh."
"My take on it was Colin had already left the party."
"I didn't know he was still a Republican."

When Schieffer called him on having made such a boneheaded comment, he bore reference to Powell's decision of endorsing President Obama last Fall.

He went on to say, "I assume that, that’s some indication of his loyalty and his interest."

Having viewed that segment of the program I'm not surprised Cheney feels this way about Powell, however I am puzzled as to why this man doesn't think such polarizing comments won't in fact help bring more destruction upon the G.O.P.

Perhaps Dick Cheney wasn't aware that instead of coming across as a stable, intelligent leader during his appearance on "Face the Nation", he came off as a bitter, jealous, confused, old man.

In addition has anyone noticed how former President George W. Bush remains mum on both Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney?

While one can assume that some of Bush's silence could be due to his extremely low polls ratings since leaving office, he's still a Republican Leader (sort of). Thus his silence is significant.

Hopefully all will agree that Cheney's obvious, harsh dislike for Colin Powell, his praise for Rush and his preference of more Conservatism, spells nothing but absolute ruin for the G.O.P.

Faced with a crumbling legacy and no real appointed leader, the Republican party doesn't need anyone to create a greater divide or participate in activities which will place more doubt in the minds of American Voters regarding the future of the G.O.P.

Here is where the rubber meets the road for Republicans:

Cheney + Rush + Palin + Steele + Refusing to adapt + Resistance of Change = Failure and Irrelevancy.

Broad acceptance of Moderates + New sensible ideas + Younger, open-minded leaders + Less bashing of the Democrats + More Minorities = Possible Comeback or Possible Success.

(Check out Cheney uttering his famously foolish, negative comments about Colin Powell.)



Colin Powell endorses then Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama on "Meet the Press" with David Gregory.

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Sources: CBS News, "Face the Nation", MSNBC, "Meet the Press", Politico, TPM, CNN, Youtube, Google Maps