Colin Powell Endorses Obama

[Ravi]

Why do you think he was at the courthouse?

Can you say "probation officer?"

I need to spread some rep around.

 

[manifold]

I was smoking a cigarette outside the office this morning. This white woman walked up and started smoking next to me. She started talking politics out of the blue. To no one's surprise she said she was voting McCain.

I asked her why. Her response? "Well I'm not voting for a black person."

I went on to ask her what she specifically likes about him. She had no idea. She just kept coming back to race.

Glad to see we have intelligent voters. Makes you all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[Larkinn]

I was smoking a cigarette outside the office this morning. This white woman walked up and started smoking next to me. She started talking politics out of the blue. To no one's surprise she said she was voting McCain.

I asked her why. Her response? "Well I'm not voting for a black person."

I went on to ask her what she specifically likes about him. She had no idea. She just kept coming back to race.

Glad to see we have intelligent voters. Makes you all warm and fuzzy inside.

I didn't know you were a black woman.

 

[Chris]

I am voting for Obama because he is half white.

 

[Navy1960]

Powell was born in Harlem, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan in 1937 to Jamaican immigrant parents and was raised in the South Bronx. He also has Scottish, and other ancestries.[1] Powell attended Morris High School, a former public school in The Bronx, New York City, from which he graduated in 1954. While in school, he worked a local shop where he picked up Yiddish from the shopkeepers and some of the customers. He remembers some of his Yiddish to this day.[2] He gained a bachelor's degree in geology from City College of New York attaining a "C" average, according to his 2006 graduation address at Marymount University. He later obtained an MBA from The George Washington University after his second tour in Vietnam in 1971. In 1962, he married Alma, who is now the co-chair of America's Promise. He is the father of Michael Powell, the former chair of the Federal Communications Commission (Michael Powell was known mostly for a public battle with radio host Howard Stern).

Powell's first name is fairly common in the United Kingdom and Ireland but rare in the United States. He pronounces his name "KOH-lin."[3] Public officials and radio and television reporters have used Powell's preferred pronunciation.

In his autobiography My American Journey, Powell mentioned several officers he served under that inspired and mentored him. As a Lieutenant Colonel serving in South Korea, for example, Powell was very close to General Henry "Gunfighter" Emerson. Powell said he regarded this man as one of the most caring officers he ever served under. Emerson reputedly had a somewhat eccentric personality. For example, he insisted his troops train only at night and made them repeatedly watch the television film Brian's Song to promote racial harmony. Powell always professed, however, that what set Emerson apart was his great love of his soldiers and concern for their welfare.

Then Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, when asked about his military strategy against the Iraqi army in the Persian Gulf War of 1991:
"First we're going to cut it off, then we're going to kill it."

· Powell, from his speech "U.S. Forces: The Challenges Ahead":
"We owe it to the men and women who go in harm's way to make sure that this is always the case and that their lives are not squandered for unclear purposes."

· "We must not, for example, send military forces into a crisis with an unclear mission then cannot accomplish -such as we did when we sent the U.S. Marines into Lebanon in 1983. We inserted those proud warriors into the middle of a five-faction civil war complete with terrorists, hostage-takers, and a dozen spies in every camp, and said, 'Gentlemen, be a buffer.' The results were 241 Marines and Navy personnel killed and a U.S. withdrawal from the troubled area."

NewsHour Extra: The Powell Doctrine (short version) -- Lesson Plan

I have great respect and great admiration for Gen. Powell, a man that not only came from humble beginnings to rise to the top of the U.S. Military, but one who believed that when you use Military power it should be used in such a manner as to leave no doubt as to the outcome in any conflict. I find it not surprising at all that Gen. Powell would endorse Barack Obama as Obama's foreign policy is more closely aligned with the beliefs that Gen. Powell holds. On a side note, this is the one person I would not hesitate to vote for , for president of the United States as his devotion to his craft and the honorable way in which the man has served his country has made him more than qualified to be listened too.

 

[manifold]

I didn't know you were a black woman.

I'm not. Where'd you get that from?

 

[Larkinn]

I don't think either changed race.

Wow, really? What a revelation. I misunderestimated you

Perhaps Powell was supporting Keyes back then, who's much blacker than Obama.

Umm, pray tell why Powell would be supporting Keyes in the Democratic primary?

 

[Silence]

On a side note, this is the one person I would not hesitate to vote for , for president of the United States as his devotion to his craft and the honorable way in which the man has served his country has made him more than qualified to be listened too.

does his endorsement of Obama make you consider voting for Obama? Since you seem to hold him in such high regard, does his opinion carry any weight with you that way? I'm very interested in how and if Powell's endorsement might sway voters.

Powell is also someone I wouldn't hestitate to vote for, even running as a Republican. I wish he had run in 2000 honestly.

 

[Navy1960]

does his endorsement of Obama make you consider voting for Obama? Since you seem to hold him in such high regard, does his opinion carry any weight with you that way? I'm very interested in how and if Powell's endorsement might sway voters.

Powell is also someone I wouldn't hestitate to vote for, even running as a Republican. I wish he had run in 2000 honestly.

Let me say this Silence, Gen. Powell made me stop in my tracks and take a second look at Barack Obama. However, I simply cannot justify two things about Barack Obama, One, his tax program seems to me unwise when the economy is down. IMHO , I think it very important to provide incentives for businesses to stay here and one way to do that is not to raise their taxes. Two, while I am in agreement that healthcare is a big issue , IMO there are ways to make healthcare insurance to people within the boundries of congressional responsibilites without mandating healthcare. If congress was allowed to get into the regulating commerce business , which they are chartered to do, then they can make healthcare affordable to peolpe who wish to purchase it. Three, if his energy policy was more in line with one that I have come to believe is an avenue to energy independance and makes complete sense to me then it would hold much more appeal. I will say this, I am totally in agreement with Barack Obama on his support for Boeing and have great admiration for that as I have a personal interest there. So to sum up your questions, Gen. Powell's endorsement made me stop and think about why I was not voting for Obama yes, I have that much respect for Gen. Powell but that is on a personal level and I cannot speak for others.

 

[Stoner]

does his endorsement of Obama make you consider voting for Obama?

For me it doesn't. I like Powell but I realize he's only supporting Hussein for the same reason Oprah is.

 

[manifold]

For me it doesn't. I like Powell but I realize he's only supporting Hussein for the same reason Oprah is.

Yeah really, if blacks start sticking together like Jews, we'll all be screwed.

 

[9 Volt]

For me it doesn't. I like Powell but I realize he's only supporting Hussein for the same reason Oprah is.

It's been well-documented that Powell has been disgusted by the direction of the GOP for some time. He even called neconservative special interest groups a bunch of "fucking crazies". Powell is the embodiment of a true, patriotic, old-school Republican, who knows that his party's central focus is on foreign economic reform and he is disgusted by this. Dwight Eisenhower would also be disgusted and would do exactly as Powell has done: Endorse Obama.

 

[newpolitics]

I think it speaks volumes that Colin Powell, a distinguished American MILITARY man, has put his name out there to endorse Obama, risking his credibility and his name. More imporantly, like when McClellan "defected" and wrote that book, Colin was intimately involved with Bush, and still is able to see what Obama may be worth to this country. This should present doubt to those who bad mouth Obama, and support McCain, and to those who follow the conservative Media such as Fox and believe it word for word. This is a man of credibility and establishment, and I am so happy that he speaks for truth amidst this environment of chaos.

 

[random3434]

For me it doesn't. I like Powell but I realize he's only supporting Hussein for the same reason Oprah is.

Who remembers that old commercial of the frying pan with eggs in it?



"This is your brain on drugs...."

 

[del]

Who remembers that old commercial of the frying pan with eggs in it?



"This is your brain on drugs...."

i like eggs.

 

[random3434]

i like eggs.

Well, you use yours for the right purpose, if you know what I'm saying.....and I think you do.............

 

[del]

Well, you use yours for the right purpose, if you know what I'm saying.....and I think you do.............

don't blame me, i voted for Bob.

 

[random3434]

don't blame me, i voted for Bob.

What about him?

 

[del]

What about him?

he likes eggs, too.

 

[random3434]

he likes eggs, too.

They are high in protein you know.