Politiks As Usual: In The News 2/9/14

Supreme Court to Decide Whether to Hear Cases Regarding Right to ‘Bear’ Arms

Ingraham Battles George Will, Fox Panel: GOP ‘Elites’ Pushing Immigration Reform

Black History Month Should Increase Demands 

Pew Study: Christians Are The World’s Most Oppressed Religious Group

Mary Matalin: Hillary Won't Even Run

Obama: ‘Whenever I Can Take Steps Without Legislation,’ I Will

On MSNBC, Liberal 'Republican' Colin Powell Insists GOP ‘Needs’ Him

Andrea Mitchell Warns Keystone Pipeline Would Ruin Obama's 'Climate Change Legacy'

Is There A Place For God In Hollywood?

Left Icon Henry Waxman Leaves Tarnished Legacy of Crony Capitalism

From Emmett Till to Jordan Davis, a Foolish, Lethal Fear of Black Teens

The Intentional Buffoonery of the Progressive Left

Laura Ingraham Trashes Colin Powell: ‘Liberalism Has Been An Utter Disaster For Black America’

Mediaite.com:

Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham joined the hosts of Fox & Friends on Tuesday where she countered the argument made by Gen. Colin Powell on Meet the Press over the weekend where he claimed that the Republican Party looks down on minorities. Ingraham outlined the ways in which the GOP has advanced the careers of many prominent African-Americans, Powell included, and spelled out how liberalism has historically “been an utter disaster” for African-Americans. 

Steve Doocy asked how the GOP, which has advanced the careers of people like Mia Love, Allen West and Gov. Susana Martinez (R-NM), could be as racist as Powell contends.

Ingraham said that Powell is frustrated with the Republican Party over his role in pushing the war in Iraq. She said that he is still bitter after testifying before Congress regarding weapons of mass destruction that turned out not to be in Iraq.

“It seems that Colin Powell is trying to continue to expiate for his sins of that testimony,” Ingraham said. “He worked for Republican presidents and, presumably, those Republican presidents don’t have the view that the Republican Party is riddled with racism and has a ‘dark vein of intolerance.’”

Gretchen Carlson, playing “devil’s advocate,” said that even Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) has asked the GOP to do some introspection on how they relate to minorities. 

Ingraham agreed, saying that the party has not done an effective job of selling “the wonder” of free markets, economic liberty and conservative social values. She said that liberalism has been a failure for blacks in America in particular. 

“I would challenge Colin Powell, frankly, to a debate on whether liberalism – climate change regulation he wants, I guess more affirmative action, he’s pro-choice, and now he believes that immigration amnesty is going to help, I guess, what? The wages of the black family?,” Ingraham asked. 

“Liberalism has been an utter disaster for black America,” Ingraham said. “The weapon of mass destruction, Gretchen, has been found. The Democrats found it. It’s Colin Powell. He’s blowing up on Republicans.”

RELATED: Colin Powell Accuses GOP Of Racism: They ‘Still Look Down On Minorities’

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama, Why Isn't He a Democrat?

Seems like a fair question, tho I'd agree with John Sununu that it's because the former general shares the same race as Barry:

This week, Colin Powell, a retired four-star U.S. Army general perhaps best known for having served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, endorsed Barack Obama's bid for re-election during an interview with "CBS This Morning."

Given that Powell had enthusiastically endorsed Obama in 2008, his decision to back him yet again shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Yet Powell's endorsement of a Democratic candidate is seen as significant because he describes himself as "a Republican of a more moderate mold," who laments that GOP moderates are "something of a dying breed."

Powell expressed discontent with the Republican stance on climate change, immigration and education, and he seemed more comfortable with Obama's approach to achieving fiscal balance than Mitt Romney's. Powell is also, among other things, a defender of racial preferences in college admissions and abortion rights.

While it is certainly true that Powell's views were not uncommon among moderate and liberal Republicans of an earlier era, it is not entirely clear why he chooses not to identify as a Democrat or as a liberal-leaning independent. One assumes that Powell has some residual loyalty to the party of Nelson Rockefeller and Gerald Ford, which is, of course, fair enough.

But would American democracy be better and healthier if we had more Republicans such as Powell and more Democrats such as, say, former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, the Georgia Democrat who famously endorsed President George W. Bush at the 2004 Republican National Convention?

RELATED: John Sununu On CNN: Obama’s Race May Have Influenced Colin Powell To Endorse Him

Politiks As Usual: In The News 11/28/11

Bill Clinton Says Gingrich Surge A Result Of thoughtful Positions, Wins Key NH Nod

Colin Powell Blames Media and Tea Party for Divisive Tone in Washington

Why Not Pay Higher Taxes?

Black Friday Shoppers Set Records, Pepper Spray Suspect Surrenders

The Birthers Press On

Country Sick of Obama Job Act Acting Job

Miley Cyrus Calls Herself a 'Stoner' and a 'Pothead'

Barack Obama and Ed Schultz Make GQ's '25 Least Influential People Alive'

Andrew Sullivan Talks Republicans On CNN: 'I'm Still A Conservative, And They Are Not'

The Supercommittee Failed Because Democrats Insisted On $1 Trillion In New Taxes

Politiks As Usual: In The News 8/29/11

Al Gore Calls Climate Change Skeptics 'Racists'

Why Is The MSM So Ignorant About Religion?

Colin Powell Blasts Dick Cheney's 'Cheap Shots'

Did Major Media Overdo Coverage Of Hurricane Irene?

Excluding Prayer From 9/11 Memorial Compounds The Tragedy Of That Day

Obama's War On The Secret Ballot

Surprise! New Fall TV Lineup Heavy On Sex

Rick Perry Bills Feds $349M For Incarcerating Illegals

Minister: Obama's $50,000-a-Week Vacation A 'Disgrace' In Light Of Economy

NBC's Ann Curry, CNN's Don Lemon Headline 'Revolutionary' Gay Journalist Convention

Pollsters: Modern History Shows Obama Can't Win In 2012

Genocide Continues In Sudan, Christian Group Seeks Congressional Help

Battle For New Orleans, 6 Years After Katrina

Politiks As Usual: In The News 1/24/11

Left Wing Climate Of Hate And Assassination

Colin Powell: Obama Still Has Work To Do

FBI: Woman Who Raised Stolen NY Baby Held In Conn.

Does The NFL Still Need The 'Rooney Rule'?

The Philadelphia Horror

The Fight To Give Educational Choices To Poor Dc Children

Skins: A New Low, Even For MTV; More Advertisers Pull Out

Rick Santorum: Why Would Obama Deny Human Rights To An Unborn Child

2nd Grade Teacher Suspended After Reports Of Classroom Sex

Gov. Robert Bentley Apologizes For Remarks On Christians

Former Rep. Bob Barr: Haiti Is Worse Now Than Under Duvalier; Show Me The Money, Haiti

Norm Coleman: GOP Outreach To Hispanics 'Tough Sell'

Bill Clinton Throws Colin Powell Under The Bus, Blames Him For 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

When all else fails blame the black guy, it's what they do, it's who they are:

Former President Bill Clinton defended signing "don't ask, don't tell" policy into law in an interview with CBS's Katie Couric on Tuesday, saying that Colin Powell, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, told him the policy would be more lax than it turned out to be.


"Now, when Colin Powell sold me on 'don't ask, don't tell,' here's what he said it would be: Gay service members would never get in trouble for going to gay bars, marching in gay rights parades, as long as they weren't in uniform. That was what they were promised. That's a very different 'don't ask, don't tell' than we got," he said.

Clinton also said he agreed to the policy because otherwise Congress would have passed an absolute ban on gays in the military.

Obama Follows Bush, To Renew Patriot Act

Wired.com:

Congress is sending President Barack Obama legislation that extends three provisions of the Patriot Act — despite heated debate among lawmakers that the surveillance measure goes too far.

The act, hastily adopted six weeks after the 2001 terror attacks, greatly expands the government’s ability to spy on Americans in the name of national security. Three measures of the act were set to expire at the end of 2009, but in December lawmakers extended the deadline to the end of February in hopes of reaching a compromise.

But no deal was reached by the end of the new Feb. 28 deadline. Instead, the Senate and House of Representatives ditched their two conflicting measures and extended the Patriot Act for another year without any changes. The final package was sent to the president Thursday for his expected signature.

Geez, maybe Colin Powell was right in criticizing Dick Cheney's allegations that Barry's been keeping us "less safe", when you consider that Obama has pretty much kept in place every national security policy that Bush started. See our enemies a lot different now that you're Prez, huh Barry?

Colin Powell: I've Been Racially Profiled "Many Times"

HuffPo:

In an interview with CNN's Larry King, former Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested that both the Cambridge police and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates were to blame for last week's incident.

Saying he has suffered from racial profiling "many times," the general suggested that Gates could have handled the situation differently. He urged young people confronted by the police to "cooperate. Don't make the situation more difficult."

Powell later added, "Do you get angry? Yes. Do you manifest that anger? You protest, you try to get things fixed, but it's kind of a better course of action to take it easy and don't let your anger make the current situation worse.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 6/22/09

Unrepentant Rumsfeld Finally Opens Up: Slams The Media, Still Rages At Rice And Powell

Democrats Worried Health Plan Lacks Votes

White House: Census Will Count Married Gay Couples

The Uninsured: A Bogus Excuse For Trillions In New Welfare Spending

Reading Miranda Rights To Terrorists Is 'Crazy' And 'Stupid,' Say GOP Congressman

'Today Show': Don't Stay Together For The Kids

Sarah Palin Slams Critics Over Ethics Complaints

Obama's Dinner Joke: I Sleep With Brian Williams

Senate Apologizes For Slavery And Jim Crow Laws - But Why?

Sean Hannity Discusses California's Congress-Created Dust Bowl

Black Immigrants Overrepresented In The Ivy League

Obama's White House Not Much More Diverse Than Bush's Team

Sarah Palin Slams Obama Administration: "Government Wants To Control The People"

Newsmax.com:

In a speech in Anchorage this week, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin charged that the government is planning to “bail out debt ridden states” so it can “get in there and control the people.”

Ostensibly the address was to introduce Michael Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan, to an audience, but the former GOP candidate for vice-president cut loose with some bold rhetoric aimed at the Obama administration’s fiscal policies.

Palin said that the programs the administration had unleashed “fly in the face of principles” and “defy Economics 101,” according to a report by CNN.

Conservative talk show icon Reagan took a back seat to Palin, even though the two have been something of a mutual admiration society.

After listening to Palin’s rousing speech to accept the Republican Party’s vice-presidential nomination in 2008, a bowed-over Reagan commented: “Governor Palin would have made my father Ronald Reagan proud tonight. The last great speech I heard was delivered by my father. There seems to be a new Reagan – and she’s a she.”

But Palin reserved her flourishes for lambasting the Obama policies rather than praising her guest.

“Since when can you get out of huge national debt by creating trillions of dollars of new debt?” Palin charged. “It all really is so backwards and skewed as to sound like absolute nonsense when some of this economic policy is explained.”

“We need to be aware of the creation of a fearful population, and fearful lawmakers, being led to believe that big government is the answer, to bail out the private sector, because then government gets to get in there and control it,” she said. “And mark my words, this is going to be next, I fear, bail out next debt-ridden states. Then government gets to get in there and control the people.”

“Some in Washington would approach our economic woes in ways that absolutely defy Economics 101, and they fly in the face of principles, providing opportunity for industrious Americans to succeed or to fail on their own accord,” she argued. “Those principles it makes you wonder what the heck some in Washington are trying to accomplish here.”

This is the kind of talk/criticism that the GOP needs to get together on. Quit with the silly internal disputes, quit listening to liberals in sheep's clothing, quit with the over-the-top rhetoric about a Supreme Court nominee who'll likely be confirmed anyway, but probably won't make much of a difference to SCOTUS' ideological make-up. Attack Obama. Attack his policies and socialist agenda. Attack Barry's minions in the press. Attack the ever-growing bastion of corrupt Democrats. Focus on the game and send the people a message that'll make them listen.

Colin Powell Needs To STFU!

Newsmax.com:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell blasted Rush Limbaugh Monday during a speech in which he said the Republican Party is in a state of collapse.

The GOP is "getting smaller and smaller" and "that's not good for the nation," Powell said, according to the National Journal. He also said he hopes that emerging GOP leaders, such as House Minority Whip Cantor, will not keep repeating mantras of the far right.

Powell lashed out at Limbaugh and conservative icon Ann Coulter. Neither serves the party well, Powell said during a speech to corporate security executives at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc.

"I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without," Powell said.

And Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate last year, is "a very accomplished person" but became "a very polarizing figure," he said, adding that Palin's advisers created the polarization.

Colin Powell is an idiot. Seriously. Why should any member of the GOP take anything this man says with earnest after he voted for Barack Obama? Last year, Powell turned his back on his party to support a man who stands for everything the GOP is against, from social values to healthcare to how we handle our economy. Powell's mad at Limbaugh because the radio host had the balls to call him out for supporting Barry in the election solely because he's black. And how funny is it that Powell would try to diss Sarah Palin for being "polarizing", when the consensus pick for most polarizing figure is now our Secretary of State? If Powell is that unhappy with the GOP, he should do an Arlen Specter and just leave, instead of pulling this con job pretending to care about the GOP's future after he betrayed his own party and endorsed the most liberal senator of our time to be our President.

Rush Limbaugh Quote of the Day!

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race. OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

- Right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh defending comments he made on his show regarding Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama for President.

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

CNN.com:

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 was concerned about what he characterized as a recent negative turn of Republican candidate Sen. John McCain's campaign, such as the campaign's attempts to tie Obama to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

Powell, a retired U.S. general and a Republican, was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself.

Eh, I really don't see this as a big deal. For starters anyone whose been paying attention to Powell of late knows that he's been leaning Left for years now, esp. in his criticism regarding the handling of the Iraq war. In turn, perhaps he remains bitter about taking many of the hits from the press since it was he that was front and center on the Bush administration's reasons for us needing to go into Iraq. Secondly, as a prominent black man in the political world, with a black man running for president, Powell's in a no-win situation: feeling guilty if he doesn't endorse Barack while also being a labeled a "sellout" or "Uncle Tom" or any other smear liberals use towards Black people don't toe the line and vote Democratic. Lastly, Powell's had such a relatively low profile since he resigned as Secretary of State that his endorsement just doesn't strike me as being that significant, except to liberals of course.

Colin Powell To Endorse Barack Obama?

FoxNews:

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol repeated Thursday that sources have told him they expect former Secretary of State Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama , though the former secretary of state has denied reports that he will speak at the Democratic National Convention.

“We all talk to people who talk to people and there are people close to the Obama campaign in the course of conversations who made clear to me that there was very high level discussions. … The Obama people expect Powell to endorse him,” Kristol told FOX News.

In a FOX News exclusive Wednesday, Kristol, a regular contributor, said inside sources suggested Powell would show up in Denver in the week of Aug. 25 specifically to back the presumptive presidential nominee.

“He may well give a speech at the Democratic convention explaining his endorsement of Obama,” Kristol said, citing the sources.

Listen, I like Bill Kristol, but to be fair anyone whose been paying attention to Kristol of late knows that he's not exactly the most reliable source for breaking news. Then too, while Colin Powell has been publicly leaning Left (criticizing the war in Iraq, implying that the response to Hurricane Katrina was racist and even going so far as to tell CNN News that "I will vote for the candidate I think can do the best job in America -- whether that candidate is a Republican or Democrat or an independent") of late, his influence was waned considerably since he stepped down as Secretary of State on 2005. Yet, a Powell endorsement for Barack would still be a huge coup for Barack, if only for his name recognition as well as how much he's meant to the Republican party going way back to Reagan. Shame on Powell if he crosses party lines and sells the GOP out.

Zogby Poll: Obama Strongest With Colin Powell As VP

This is just dumb:

As the Presidential candidates ponder potential running mates, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows many voters would be more inclined to vote for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama if he were to select retired four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell as his running-mate.

If Obama were to choose Powell, 42% of likely voters nationwide said it would make them more likely to support the Democratic candidate - as did 42% of Democrats and 43% of political independents.

Sorry, but I'm a realist. I don't care how much foreign-policy & military experience Colin Powell has, I don't think that America is ready for a Black president, much less two Blacks on the same ticket. It's the bias and naivete of the liberal press that just makes uninformed people believe anything they read.