If this story is true Powell will seal his fate as a coward

[Hokie]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/10/17/2008-10-17_signs_that_republican_colin_powell_will_.html?xid=rss-page

If Powell endorses Obama's policies but refuses to endorse him by name he will go down as a coward who put political ties over principles. I am sure the pressure from his friends in the the White House and the McCain camp have been enormous to keep quiet. Bush himself is reported to have asked him not to endorse Obama. To make a big deal this late in the campaign of taking time on national TV to tell us that he will not officially back either candidate is an act of complete cowardice. Colin Powell, this is our time with or without you.

[quantass]

1. Sadly, i think FrenchieCat's piece is likely true -- he IS a coward

[renie408]

2. You know, sometimes this board is enough to drive me to want to vote Republican. n/t

[Hokie]

4. ??

Want to enlighten us?

[liberalhistorian]

12. Don't mind him/her, it appears the

Cult of Colin is alive and well at DU.

[renie408]

17. Right. I must be in the 'cult of Colin' because I am getting tired of people

who would cut off their noses to spite their faces. There is a flaw in ME because I don't think it would be cowardly for Colin Powell to express admiration for Obama and to make it clear that he is supporting him without making a full endorsement? Because I am thinking objectively about this instead of with the popular knee jerk DU reaction, I must be under Colin Powell's spell?

Do you really think that Colin Powell is a coward? Or a traitor? Or that his endorsement means nothing? He does not believe as we do. That doesn't make him either a coward or a traitor. I was extremely disappointed in and felt betrayed by Powell after his UN performance. But guess what? He was disappointed and felt betrayed, too. I don't think he did the right thing after he figured out what was going on. But I also understand why he did it. I guess that makes me some kind of Republican sleeper.

Christ, and everybody around here likes to shout about the GOP aggravating the divisions between the two parties...

[liberalhistorian]

24. The man privately admitted that

the "evidence" he was about to present to the UN was, as he put it, "bullshit." Yet he WENT AHEAD AND PRESENTED IT ANYWAY WITH A STRAIGHT FACE. KNOWING it was wrong and that he was putting politics over principles. KNOWING what he'd seen in Vietnam and what he'd previously said about not getting bogged down ever again in such wars with bogus or flimsy "justifications." He knew * and the administration were full of shit long before he ever even quit as SOS, yet he waited until he was out before ever saying a word about it. Time and time again, even though he knows the huge difference he could make, he has shown cowardice in not standing up for what he truly knows and believes, even when it could really matter. But there are people who fall down and genuflect at the very mention of his name. The Cult of Colin.

[renie408]

28. He knew BEFORE he spoke at the UN?

I thought he had talked to Tennant (sp) immediately before addressing the UN and was assured that the evidence was credible.

As for his not confronting Bush while in office, I don't agree with it, but I understand it. I understand it within the context of his having been in the military for all of his adult life. Again, I don't agree with it. Understanding and agreeing are two different things.

How do you feel about Bill Ayers? I don't agree with what he did in the sixties, but I understand it and the context within which it was done. I feel sort of the same way about Powell. If he is going to make it clear that he is voting for Obama and that we should move away from the GOP method of handling foreign affairs, I am not going to spit on him because of what he did five years ago. Don't have to agree with it, but I can move on from it. And honestly, you know I just don't think that means I love the guy or worship him.

[Terran]

37. It was reported, mainstream...

that he looked at the speech they handed him to deliver at the UN and he responded, in effect, "This is bullshit, I'm not giving this speech." (the word 'bullshit' was actually used by him). So they wrote another one for him that he obviously found more acceptable. We'll probably never know what absurd claims were in the original, but as we know, the claims in the speech he *did* make were baseless.

I don't see making excuses based on his career as a military man. He was serving in a civilian position at the time.

[DainBramaged]

35. Hear hear

[olegramps]

7. Don't let the door hit you in the ass!

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WinkyDink]

9. Whatever.

[JTFrog]

13. Yeah, this board makes freepers head explode. n/t

[renie408]

19. That's me...I'm a freeper!!

I just spent my time making calls for Obama to lull you guys into a false sense of security. I have been covering my tracks well for the past five years here, haven't I? And I cleverly donated money to the DU, too!!

[JTFrog]

21. Took that rather personal didn't you? Are you denying that this board makes freepers heads explode?

You were the one who brought up voting republican. I guess that was just a little morning melodrama?

:shrug:

[renie408]

26. Freepers heads are particularly volatile. They seem to explode rather

easily, so no, I wouldn't deny that this board probably makes their heads explode.

My comment was more hyperbole than melodrama. It just amazes me that people are willing to throw ANY supporter of Obama under the bus for ANY reason. Nobody wanted to throw away the votes of the couple who told the canvasser that they were 'voting for the nigger'. But for two days now, people have been saying that Colin Powell's endorsement is unimportant or even damaging. And here somebody is saying that unless Powell comes out with a full endorsement, he is a coward. And that is just bullshit. Knee jerk negative reactions are just as wrong in Democrats as they are in Freepers.

[JTFrog]

27. You got the freeper lingo down pretty good. n/t

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JTFrog]

31. You're making me sick the way you keep making excuses to type that word out.

Just go away.

[scrappydo]

39. Renie...I have to agree with you. There are times when posts.....

on DU sounds as ridiculous as the Repugs on the ABC News blog. Colin Powell's endorsement, whether he fully endorses Senator Obama or not, is a plus for Senator Obama. Some bloggers here are so quick to dehumanize Powell based on one act, but forget about the good he has done for this country. Do we WANT to get Senator Obama elected of not? My, god, people, if you want to vent - vent your frustration on McCain and Palin, not on someone who could help get our man elected. And take a look at yourselves in the mirror - have YOU lived a perfect life that entails no mistakes in judgment? It us very easy to throw stones when you have not lived in another person's shoes.

[jonnyblitz]

18. don't you have a thread whining about "political correctness"

to attend to? :eyes:

[renie408]

20. Why yes, I do. Thanks for reminding me!! n/t

[endthewar]

25. Why not wait until tomorrow before throwing Colin Powell under the bus?

All indications show that he's leaning toward Obama. Powell was used and abused by the Bush Administration. FOX News is attacking him on a racial platform. I think we should welcome Colin Powell's endorsement if he so chooses to endorse Obama.

[rocktivity]

3. If he chooses not to choose, he'll still have made a choice.

Does he endorse endorse Obama and risk looking like a traitor? Endorse McCrazed and risk looking like an incompetent? Or endorse neither and annilihate what's left of of his credibility? Which commander-in-chief are you going to hand our troops over to, General?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Gman]

5. That's asinine

Powell, as a four star general, with his very long list of accomplishments is anything but a coward.

The stupid statements made here sometimes make you wish some people weren't Democrats.

[olegramps]

8. Colin was passed over for promotion

I read that Powell was passed over for promotion until the intervention by the administration, I believe it was the secretary of the Army, to put more minorities on the list for promotion. If this had not happened his career would have come to a screaming halt.

[Carolina]

16. yes and he owes that ultimate promotion and his career

to President Jimmy Carter and his Undersecretary of the Army Clifford Alexander -- DEMOCRATS!

[Doremus]

34. Selling one's soul for power and prestige takes no courage whatsoever.

The act of telling the truth, however, quite often requires gargantuan amounts of it.

Colin Powell is like hundreds of other Bush bootlickers: power-hungry sociopaths. I couldn't care less what his opinion of anything is, much less someone with more integrity and character in his eyelash than in 50 Powells.

[lostnotforgotten]

6. He Was A Coward When He Lied For Bush At The UN - What's Different Now?

eom

[burythehatchet]

10. He was a coward when he lied to help cover up the Mi Lai massacre - What's the diff now?

[liberalhistorian]

11. Exactly. Especially since

he privately admitted beforehand that he knew the "evidence" was, as he put it, "bullshit." And especially since he was beginning to disagree with the "preemptive strike" strategy. The man puts politics over principles and it's sickening.

This is an extremely critical election and for him to pull this cowardly nonsense when he could really stand up and make a difference, especially if he agrees with the majority of Obama's policies, is truly infuriating.

[polichick]

38. "Coward" is a nice way to put it imo...

If his endorsement means something to military types who are reluctant to vote for Barack, then good ~ but it means nothing more than that to me.

[FreakinDJ]

14. Powell already proved he is a coward at the UN in 2003

Cheney to Powell : "Come here Bitch, I need you to go sell some shit for me"

[Carolina]

15. he's a coward, a liar

and a chickenshit mother-fucker who sold his soul working for repukes, especially Bush and Cheney.

[TNMOM]

22. Frankly, I DON'T want an endorsement from any member of Bush Administration

... it ties us to Bush's failed policies.

Colin Powell was a floor mat during the Iraq War - if he objected, he didn't do it strongly enough. That is not a man of principal. I hope he just goes away quielty.

[Hokie]

29. Listen up, I am not knocking Powell's service to the country

He has been rewarded for his service both financially and professionally. However, dammit, other Republicans have had the courage to come out and endorse Obama. I think the security of the country is on the line in this election. Electing Palin as VP with a an old and frail McCain puts this country literally at risk. If he can't speak out because he still has some friends in high places on the right then how do you defend that?

[morillon]

33. There is one reason he wouldn't formally endorse.

Because racists will say, "Oh, it's just 'cause he's black." You and I know that's bullshit, lots of Independents and Republicans know that's bullshit, but some assholes will try to twist the narrative into it merely being a matter of race.

[morillon]

32. My guess is a withdrawal of support from McCain but not a full endorsement of Obama.

As I was saying in another thread, you KNOW what the narrative would be -- in some quarters -- if he fully endorses Obama: He's endorsing a fellow African-American. The far right will stop at nothing, obviously, no matter how racist or wrong, to defuse support for Obama. If the goal here is to win this election and to bring in as many Independents and Republicans as possible, then it may be that a devastatingly negative dissection of McCain's policies and a full withdrawal of support from him is more effective than a formal endorsement of Obama.

Powell's a general and a tactician. If I were in his shoes*, I might do the same, even though I would be about to burst at the seams wanting to endorse Obama.

(*God help me if I were in his shoes. I don't know what I'd do if I woke up one day and discovered I'd been responsible for bringing about the Iraq War.)

[cyr330]

36. What do you mean?

He sealed his fate as a lying, pathetic sack of shit a long time ago.

[Spritz57]

40. I do not like Colin Powell

for the some of the reasons stated above and others but the real question for me focuses on two points. Would his endorsement of Obama help the campaign with undecided voters, independents, and republican-lites? Or would his endorsement of McCain hurt the campaign with undecided voters, independents, and democratic-lites? We all want to win this election passionately so how do we spin either an endorsement or a rejection?

[Frank Booth]

41. Why anyone would give a turtle's ass what Powell thinks is beyond me.

Hasn't this guy demonstrated a complete lack of credibility and integrity?