To tell the truth, the endorsement does more to raise Powell in my estimation than the other way round.

I think the endorsement by Powell is helpful to Obama, but the way he expressed it, the way he indicated why he was voting for Obama, and then critiqued his party and McCain...it was powerful.

Lets not forget who the endorsement is intended for. It is intended for Independenents, the few sane Republicans and Versailles, not us DFH's.

He could have saved everybody an hour of his 'explanation' and just said HE'S BLACK.

He could have saved everybody an hour of his 'explanation' and just said HE'S BLACK.

He could have saved everybody an hour of his 'explanation' and just said HE'S BLACK.

You could quit taking asshole lessons cause you're way ahead.

Powell is a war criminal twice over. First for working to cover up the My Lau massacre in Vietnam, second in promulgating the "Yellowcake" and WMD lies to start the Iraq war.

He should be in prison.

Seriously,

Why would anyone expect Powell to be any different than just about 99% of all American blacks?

Which is worse, palling around with terrorists or misquoting a Bob Dylan lyric?

Why would anyone expect Powell to be any different than just about 99% of all American blacks?

Posted by: El Viajero

Yep, and this is why all American females are voting for McPalin, you betcha.

Why would anyone expect Powell to be any different than just about 99% of all American blacks?

Why would someone presuppose that all blacks are alike?

?

i thought it was a really, really powerful endorsement. that surprised me because I didn’t think it would be–i thought he would just spew out some banal talking points. But this election, these two men and this moment, was something that Powell had clearly thought very deeply about in a way that very few people do. And for that reason he was able to lay out the case for Obama in extraordinary clarity and insight, backed up by the weight of his cumulative life experience--the unique perspective of a decorated military general, a Republican moderate close to the Bushes, but who was still able to take a step back and see what kind of leader we needed for this moment in time–to truly put his country first.

This was the most powerful endorsement I’ve ever seen.

barack obama really can walk on water.

he just doesnt want to scare us.

The central tactical challenge facing McCain is how he pivots to a positive closing message ... and the more time and effort the campaign has invest in justifying its attack messaging, the harder it becomes to make that a successful pivot.

And so the hardest hitting facet of the endorsement is the timing of the "Colin Powell attacks negative tone of McCain campaign" lede. That disrupts the McCain campaign for more than a single news cycle, even as voting continues here in Ohio.

Why would someone presuppose that all blacks are alike?

Because they all look the same, cretin.[/viajero]

Strangely, though, all whiny fuckhead Texan bigots are voting the same way.

"Powerful" is right. Powell is the first important figure to not only deny the Muslim rumors but to issue a demurrer. His description of the grieving mother at the tomb of her son, a Muslim soldier who died in Iraq, really knocked me out. Bravo!

just to confirm that there is no topic upon which we cannot rely upon el viajero to utter stupidity, we've got the "he's endorsing obama because they're both black."

the fact that powell is (in political terms) a long-time republican doesn't seem to have entered el viajero's fingers....

I think the most important part of the video is not what Powell says about Obama, but what he says about the his own party, starting at the 4:27 mark:

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the say,and it is permitted to be said: such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim"

Well, the correct answer is, "he's not a Muslim. He is a Christian. He's always been a Christian." But the really right answer is: "What if he is?" Is there something wrong being a Muslim in this country? The answer is "no"; that's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven year old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?

Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "he is a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

The conservative movement attacks American values, not by directly confronting these values, but by trying to define them out of existence, making the term "American values" mean nothing more than "right wing values." It is good to see someone push back on this and stand up for traditional American values.

Ezra,

I don't think you should be so quick to imply that this decision of Powell's is just band-wagon jumping motivated by self-interest. I'm pretty sure it was on your blog where I said that the endorsement/s of Powell and/or Hagel were probably in the bag long ago, and that they were likely giving the control of the timing of the announcements to the Obama campaign for maximum tactical benefit in the closing weeks of the campaign.

I do not think it is a coincidence that Powell came out and endorsed just as McCain is blunting Obama's momentum (with an assist from the media), however minimally, with the trumped up ACORN story and the Joe-the-Plumber/Spread-the-Wealth offensive.

Last week's offensive from the McCain campaign is exactly the type of media cycle that the endorsement/s of Powell and(?) Hagel are timed to disrupt.

Get the the Dylan right Ezra. Poetry is about cadence and rhythm in language and adding "is" and "ing" to the original "which way the wind blows" destroys one of the best lines from one of his best songs.

A part of me died when I read this post...

"Strangely, though, all whiny fuckhead Texan bigots are voting the same way."

Not true. Some of them are just staying home, while the rest are voting for McCain.

You know, that leads me to wonder: should McCain lose (as I hope he does), will there be complaints that he just couldn't conclusively tie up the racist vote?

I agree with the CW that Powell's endorsement is not likely to make a big difference. But, it's a slightly bigger deal that Powell did not endorse McCain - had he done so it might have made a big enough difference to tip a close election. McCain's best hope is to get a big turnout from the wingnuts and capture just enough votes from more moderate types who think that the 2000 Maverick is the Real McCain. A Powell endorsement would have given the more moderate types a boost.

On a slightly different note, if El Vajero didn't exist, isn't it more likely that he'd be invented by liberals looking for a way to discredit conservatives than by conservatives looking for someone to espouse their values?

Good on Powell, but let's not forget that just two weeks ago he was testifying as to Ted Steven's sterling character and integrity.

Looks like El Viajero has been getting his new bigot talking points straight from Rush.

Brikliant strategy. Keep it up!

too bad we all know you can't believe a word of what Powell says for a man of supposed immense gravitas he has never put his career on the line to oppose bad actions by his employers

Colin Powell is an embarassment to the U.S. army, the republican party, the democratic party, and the independent party, all of which he seems to have belonged to. He is without loyalty and shouldn't be trusted with a cabinet position. Also, Tyro wears adult diapers.