*** Sooz comment: I changed the title of this thread from "Colin Powell Calls Out The GOP's Racism Problem: There Is 'A Dark Vein Of Intolerance'" to "Colin Powell says ..." to include other recent commentaries that suggest he is on a mission to make the GOP face reality ~ I only changed the title, but didn't edit any of the prior posts made to the thread ~ Sooz ***


I lost respect for Colin Powell when he allowed himself to be used by gwb as the "voice of reason" for justifying the Iraq invasion ~ but since retiring from that administration, he's done a terrific job in working to rein in the GOP/TP extremism ~ his commentary below is a fine example that he gets it ~ Sooz

Colin Powell Calls Out The GOP’s Racism Problem: There Is ‘A Dark Vein Of Intolerance’
By Igor Volsky on Jan 13, 2013 at 11:16 am

On Sunday, during an appearance on Meet The Press, Colin Powell condemned the GOP’s “dark vein of intolerance” and the party’s repeated use of racial code words to oppose President Obama and rally white conservative voters.

Without mentioning names, Powell singled out former Mitt Romney surrogate and New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu for calling Obama “lazy” and Sarah Palin, who, Powell charged, used slavery-era terms to describe Obama:


Watch it:



Powell added that the Republican Party is “having an identity problem,” noting that its significant shift to the right has produced “two losing presidential campaigns.” “I think what the Republican Party needs to do now is a very hard look at itself and understand that the country is changed,” he said. “If the Republican Party does not change along with that demographic, they a going to be in trouble.”

Powell also called on Republicans to focus on a more equitable and progressive economic policies that help middle and lower income Americans, as well as immigration reform. “Everybody wants to talk about who is going to be the candidate,” Powell said. “You better think first about what’s the party actually going to represent.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/01/13/1440471/colin-powell-condemns-republican-party-racism-there-is-a-dark-vein-of-intolerance/

There are I think honorable men who are so honorable that they cannot comprehend how dishonorable others around them can be: Colin Powell I believe is this kind of man. Slow, very slow to perceive how he was duped concerning Iraqi WMDs and the semis supposedly transporting labs on wheels for the manafacture of these weapons (who can forget that schematic presentation to the UN?) he did I think resign as full realization of this duping finally finally sunk in....

As an African American, I think he is in fact more sensitive to racial slurs than dishonor--that is not to say that African Americans are not sensitive to dishonor but as he sees racial slurs being made against his President he himself being African American is able to see this ugly side of his party more clearly. I will not be at all surprised if Powell quits the Republican Party.

I thought this was obvious throughout. They used Rush with his "Little Black Sambo" and "Barack the Magic Negro" and his phone calls of Barack looking like Curious George to cater to the racist vote. Rush had stink on him this time with all the Sandra Fluke stuff, so his role of water carrier was diminished.

I guess they thought Beautiful, Sweet, Innocent Sarah could get away with the shuckin' and jivin' stuff.

I thought the whole birther thing was bathed in racism. John McCain was born in Panama and no one went through any of this nonsense about that.

Powell is right. The homophobia, racism, and sexism stuff will not play with the majority anymore. They will have to adopt policies that embrace the middle class; not just to the monied class and the uber far right.

i think he could still run for president. and i think he would be tough to beat.

I agree.

Powell is doing all the right things to reclaim my, and many others, respect ~ Sooz

Powell: Republican leaders should stop ‘idiot presentations’ from Palin and birthers
By David Edwards
Monday, January 21, 2013 11:14 EST

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is calling on fellow Republicans to and speak against “idiot presentations” by people like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the so-called birthers who insist that President Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen.

As Monday’s inaugural ceremonies got underway, Powell told ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos that Republicans needed to “look in the mirror” instead of attacking him after he recently called out Palin and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu for using “slave terms” like “shucking and jiving” to describe President Barack Obama.

“The Republicans have to stop buying into things that demonize the president,” he explained. “I mean, why aren’t Republican leaders shouting out about all this birther nonsense and all these other things? They’re silent. We should speak out.”

“This is the kind of intolerance that I’ve been talking about, where these idiot presentations continue to be made and you don’t see the senior leadership of the party saying, ‘No, that’s wrong,’” Powell continued. “In fact, they sometimes by not speaking out, they’re encouraging it. And the base keeps buying the stuff. And it’s killing the base of the party. I mean, 26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something, you know?”

“So, instead of attacking me or whoever speaks like I do, look in the mirror and realize, how are we going to win the next election?”

Watch this video from ABC News, broadcast Jan. 21, 2013. [Sooz comment: video is accessible via the end link]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/21/powell-republican-leaders-should-stop-idiot-presentations-from-palin-and-birthers/

Colin Powell can't do it all alone ~ and I question if there are enough other rational Republicans left to do some of the heavy lifting ~ Sooz

Colin Powell Hammers GOP: Their 26% favorability rating ought to be telling them something
By: Sarah JonesJan. 21st, 2013

Colin Powell brought reality down on the Republican Party in an appearance on ABC News special inauguration day coverage with Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos this morning, saying, “26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something.”

Powell also criticized the Republican Party’s crutch of changing their messaging instead of adapting their policies. “The Republican Party ought to be out there not restricting voting by voter ID, but saying we want everybody to vote. It’s a party that has to stop saying, ‘We are going to appeal to you with new messages.’ You need policies — the country is becoming more minority.”

Watch here via ABC: [Sooz comment: clip accessible via end link]

Powell said Republicans have hurt themselves by not calling out the lies of birthers, “Republicans have to stop buying into things that demonize the president. I mean, why aren’t Republican leaders shouting out about all this birther nonsense and all these other things? They should speak out. This is the kind of intolerance that I’ve been talking about where these idiot presentations continue to be made and you don’t see the senior leadership of the party say, ‘No, that’s wrong.’ In fact, sometimes by not speaking out, they’re encouraging it. And the base keeps buying the stuff.

“And it’s killing the base of the party. I mean, 26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something. So, instead of attacking me or whoever speaks like I do, look in the mirror and realize, ‘How are we going to win the next election?’”

Right now, Republicans think they’re going to win the next election by cheating and by better messaging. They are going to stop insulting immigrants and stop using the word rape. They have no plans to change their actual policies that restrict freedom for women and treat immigrants like criminals.

Powell endorsed Obama for both of his presidential runs, but is still a (hopeful) Republican. He’s doing the tough job of trying to kick the party back into sanity and national viability. In case you’re not sure if he’s still a Republican, he did blame Obama for not reaching out to Congress enough, when the facts are that Republicans held a secret meeting four years ago on Obama’s first inauguration, plotting to derail the President at every turn. They’ve carried that agenda out, to the nation’s detriment.

It is not the President’s job to force Republicans to grow up and do their jobs. If Powell really wants the party to change, he’s going to have to go all of the way and hold them accountable for their actions. They chose to be obstructionists. Blaming the President for that is simply enabling Republicans’ childish behavior.

The Republican Party won’t change until they address their policies. They can’t forge forward on a meaningful path until they face their failures and admit that their policies are out of step with the public. If they can’t win by stoking resentments, they’ll have to come up with a real platform. If they come up with a real platform of fiscal responsibility, they will have to admit that they’ve been ballooning the deficit every time they are in power. They’ll have to admit that revenue is necessary. This requires that they turn their backs on the Koch brothers and other huge donors who are driving them off the crazy cliff.

If Republicans are going to get serious about what they stand for, they need to stop wasting money on showboating. “The Bipartisan Policy Center has calculated that last year’s debt ceiling fight will ultimately cost taxpayers $18.9 billion over 10 years, due to elevated interest rates between January and August 2011. “This is what they wasted last year,” said Steve Bell of the center, and a former GOP Senate aide.

The party of fiscal responsibility would not have wasted 18.9 billion dollars refusing to do their constitutionally mandated job of raising the debt ceiling, and President Obama would be an irresponsible president were he to attempt to meet those folks in the middle of crazy. No, it’s not the President who needs to move to the middle; it’s the GOP who needs to move to reality and responsibility.

The party that drove up the debt and brought our credit rating down for no reason other than to cater to the extremist Tea Party caucus is the party of birthers, legitimate rapers and self-deporters. That party is not a national party in any real sense, and while they hardly deserve to be one, the country functions best with at least two viable parties.

http://www.politicususa.com/colin-powell-hammers-gop-26-favorability-rating-telling-something.html

"Their 26% favorability rating ought to be telling them something..."

They're still relying on their own echo chamber polls, perhaps?