Colin Powell says he’s only still a republican because “it annoys them”

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.dailynewsbin.com/news/colin-powell-says-hes-only-still-a-republican-because-it-annoys-them/22659/



Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served in several republican administrations but has endorsed a democrat in each of the past two Presidential elections and has also sided with the democratic party on the recent Iran deal, was asked today whether he still considers himself a member of the republican party. His answer aimed for humor but also may have also highlighted the future for a party in chaos: “I want to continue to be a Republican because it annoys them.”

Powell is one of the relatively few Reagan-era republicans left in public life. Although he hasn’t held office since retiring from the State Department a decade ago, he’s remained in the public eye and has routinely weighed in on political issues which he feels are important. To his mind, he’s still the same moderate conservative as ever. But he views the republican party as having moved far to the right since back when he was a key figure in it. His response suggests that he’ll remain a registered republican for life, and that others in his position may do the same even as they see their party becoming unrecognizable and find themselves forced to vote democrat instead.

----------------------------------------------------

I don't know how many will vote for the Democrats, but a number of Republicans are skipping this election cycle all together.

[closeupready]

8. "a good man"?

&index=7&list=PLQ2JSp9ylxlWmnLdX0vp7iYs98nP7uzNV

Don't think so.

[Iggo]

9. The old Taco Trucks Of Mass Destruction presentation.

I still can't believe people bought that.

[kath]

10. yeah, he's such a good man that he covered up the My Lai massacre.

A real peach.

[They_Live]

55. Never forget

+ 1000

[yourpaljoey]

2. Such a spineless shill

[ghostsinthemachine]

3. A war criminal. Stay where you belong.

Fuck that guy.

[lastlib]

41. ^ ^ ^THIS! ^ ^ ^

War Criminal like the rest of the Boosh clique. March him off to The Hague with the rest of him and let him be a Repuglikkkan in prison.

[packman]

4. Fuck him - a Republican of expediency

Helped him promote himself in the Repuke military machine, got him business connections and gave him a political career. This guy has baggage he'll carry to hell.

[Iggo]

5. Drop dead, war criminal.

:middlefinger: :middlefinger:

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. Weakest Enabler who ever lived, except for maybe Laura Bush nt

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Stupid response.

Republicans who tried to form alliances with me have told me that they are only Republicans in order to get all the political brochures. But once I got to know them, there was nothing politically that even resembled a Democratic objective.

[IronLionZion]

11. Their brochures are filled with groupthink and propaganda

and straight up lies. It might help brainwash people or at least confuse them enough if they don't know any better.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Also, in a red county you wouldn't hear too many true blue ideas.

They would get shot down before they take root. If Dems aren't tied to the internet around here, they will be some morphed version of the two.

[LS_Editor]

13. He should have resigned as Secretary of State when W asked him to lie about Iraq.

And because he didn't, his legacy is forever tarnished.

[cstanleytech]

15. To be fair though we dont know what went on behind closed doors in that and by that I mean

that they could have provided him with much of the same information they provided the public and he hardly can say anything about it now without looking like a complete and utter fool.

[Javaman]

35. bottom line is...

even if he did quit, it wouldn't have effected the eventual outcome.

george w. moron* would have found another water carrier to do his dirty work.

colin, ass for brains, powell should be in prison with the rest of the war criminals.

[cstanleytech]

39. Hey I agree but for that to happen there would have to be some real solid proof

that he lied but the problem is if such proof exists its going to be buried so deep that it probably wont see the light of day until sometime after 2300 AD.

[Javaman]

50. he showed the UN cartoons of the supposed labs.

that was a bold faced lie.

[cstanleytech]

56. And he would then use a plausible deniability defense

and claim he was duped and he might win in such a case unless there was proof that he knew for a fact that it was bogus.

[Javaman]

60. he was a willing water carrier. and as such...

he has no credibility at all.

he may not go to prison, but his name is shit.

but prison would be better for that fucking low life.

[cstanleytech]

61. I certainly agree with you but sadly I dont think any of those who

were involved in this whole shitstorm will ever be held accountable.

[Javaman]

70. I agree...

and quite frankly, I believe the reason for that goes back to ford pardoning nixon.

business as usual.

[niyad]

43. his legacy goes back to the attempted coverup of MyLai. The man has always been

an opportunistic scumbag.

[jalan48]

14. It's extremely simple-minded to think someone like Powell didn't know Bush was lying about WMDs.

The Clinton's as well, with their connections within the government had to be aware that the information was being cooked or at the least, manipulated. We are to believe that every government employee with access to the information agreed with Bush?

[cstanleytech]

16. Not all government employees have the same lvl of access to information

not to mention the whole thing depends on the intelligence agencies providing accurate information to the varies elected government officials.

[jalan48]

17. Bill Clinton was President for eight years.

He had connections in the government and the security state. To pretend that he wasn't aware something was wrong is simple-mined thinking.

[cstanleytech]

18. So you are saying that its Bills fault for the Iraq invasion?

[jalan48]

19. Nope. I'm saying he had to be aware something was wrong with Bush's intel.

Clinton chose to remain quiet (because that's what ex-Presidents and VPs do (unless your name is Cheney). There was a united front among Republicans and almost all Democrats to go to war. It's how our government works and the concept of two different political parties is often an illusion, especially or really big issues like the Iraq war.

[arcane1]

28. Clinton did a fair share of bombing of Iraq over WMD claims too, softening it up for Bush.

As his Secretary of State said at the time:

"We are lessening, degrading his ability to use this. The weapons of mass destruction are the threat of the future. I think the president explained very clearly to the American people that this is the threat of the 21st century."

[cstanleytech]

40. I doubt they kept him in the loop

as far as classified intelligence goes once he was out of office.
Sure he might have suspected it but if he had said anything without proof they could have just turned it against him as the act of a spiteful ex president whos political party just lost an election.

[Javaman]

36. powel was the secretary of state.

even a dullard paying the very least amount of attention, who had no access to any "intelligence", knew that the excuse to go to war was complete and utter bullshit.

I cut him no slack. he is as guilty as the rest of george w. morons* room full of dopes.

[Johonny]

30. The question always remains how many policians thought they were stong arming Iraq

to get weapon inspectors in and broader control to military sites and how many knew that no matter what happened we'd go to war.

For the record the threat worked, but W went to war anyways because Cheney et al. wanted a war. It's not clear given how Powell responded to war at all costs that he saw this as the end game to the strong arm tactics.

I think most people in the power structure knew they were lying, but not everyone knew it would be war at all costs...this was a huge misread by not just Powell but a lot of Dems as well, but not ALL DEMS

[jalan48]

31. Good points.

Plus, politicians didn't want to appear weak at a time of media driven fear and hysteria. It takes a real statesman/stateswoman to stand up for what he/she knows is right, as their stand could easily end their political careers.

[Lars39]

51. After seeing the photo of Powell and his wife

being greeted as personal friends by then Saudi king, I will always believe Powell knew exactly what he was doing.

[samsingh]

20. Unfortunately, the true test for powell was when the bushies asked him to lie to the UN and he did.

[FLPanhandle]

21. Agreed.

His reputation died at that moment

[Javaman]

37. his reputation, his morals, he ethics, etc all died. nt

[oldandhappy]

22. good answer

[Hekate]

23. Too funny

[liberalnarb]

24. Good, we don't want him over here either. War criminal.

[liberalnarb]

25. The entire bush administration should be imprisoned.

[arcane1]

26. Whatever his reasons, I don't care, as long as he doesn't switch parties.

The Dems have too many right-wingers already, and I worry about Trump causing some to cross over. They are unwanted!

[surrealAmerican]

27. He's not half as clever as he thinks he is.

The party is not annoyed by him - they're using him. He is, at best, a worthless tool.

[Javaman]

38. as a buddy who was an officer in the Army once told me...

there are generals, and there are generals.

the ones in Washington just know how to suck up better.

[immoderate]

29. LOL! Not just Republicans, but Democrats are moving to his right.

Leaves him holding the anthrax.

--imm

[Rex]

32. I don't care, he will ALWAYS be remembered now as a Bush WH funky.

Hope he enjoyed starting a war based on lies...it will follow him as long as there are history books.

[Demonaut]

33. fuck that asshole, he still lied us into the Iraq war and I'm sure he has secrets to spill

but no backbone or courage


fuck him

[Iggo]

52. He lied then and he's lying now.

Fuck the fuck out of him.

[Javaman]

34. who the F cares...

he was the water carrier for george w. morons* war of fancy.

he was the goebbels who presented the UN with the excuse of justification for the war.

a minister of propaganda by any other name.

he should be in jail with the rest of those bastards.

[LiberalLovinLug]

42. You know what would annoy Republican leadership more Colin?

If you publicly denounced the party and DID switch to the Democrats, or at least registered as an Independent.

By remaining a Republican, they can still use you as a "see see..we still have sane moderates left in our party" and also push the "good soldier" meme. That its more important to follow orders than to do what is right.

[RufusTFirefly]

44. Guess what? If Clinton gets the nomination, Powell's her VP

Hillbots are already marshaling their defenses against future accusations regarding the notorious UN speech, not to mention the My-Lai (huh? what's that??) whitewash.

Watch as Powell miraculously becomes the hero of the corporate Democrats.

[lastlib]

45. No, he's only still a repuglican cuz he hasn't been frog-marched to The Hague for prosecution!

[orleans]

46. i was going to write: fuck that asshole

but i see so many here have beaten me to it

[nikto]

47. He's a sad figure in US History

And I have come to see Powell as no deep thinker.

[Skittles]

48. he's a republican whore

he can rot in hell

[uhnope]

49. I wonder if he pushed the WMD hoax and the Iraq War just to annoy people also

that would be about a million dead, injured and displaced annoyed people

[Bucky]

53. Bullshit. He's a Republican because they pay better for speeches.

I don't begrudge him that. He served his country honorably as a general and came damn close to it as Secretary of State. Nothing wrong with making a little scratch for his years of service. But let's not pretend he'd find a welcoming home among Democrats without seriously facing up to the reality that, when he had a tough choice to face, he picked party over country and did Cheney's heavy lifting on the lies that got thousands needlessly killed in Iraq.

[Grins]

54. And we know who "them" is, don't we, Colin?

And we know who "them" is, don't we, Colin?

[TonyPDX]

57. He's the Joe Lieberman of the Republican party. n/t

[ffr]

58. As you can read above, Powell carried water for the GOP

I know the republis here have spoken of him fondly, in the sense that they'd support his presidential bid as a republicon. What can you say? They're low information types. Just put an R by a serial killer and they'll vote for them over any democrat.

They just don't like democrats. Period.

[KG]

59. piss on Colin Powell

[Bad Dog]

62. "a number of Republicans are skipping this election cycle all together."

Not enough. From the BBC.

Remember the #NeverTrump movement? No one in the Republican Party seems to. While certain pundits (Bill Kristol) and politicians (Mitt Romney) continue to tilt at the independent-conservative-candidate windmill, the rank and file of the party appear to be falling in line behind their presumptive nominee.

According to a Washington Post survey, 85% of Republicans plan to vote for their man. A New York Times offering finds a similar number.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-36372929

Quite a worrying opinion piece, it looks like a Trump presidency isn't as far fetched as it first appeared.

[Egnever]

63. It's an opinion peice

and it didn't look very deeply at the numbers in the polls it cites. In fact it got the main citation wrong.

"According to a Washington Post survey, 85% of Republicans plan to vote for their man. A New York Times offering finds a similar number. "

The poll doesn't seem to say that at all. What it asks self identified trump supporters is it possible you would vote for Clinton to which 85 % say no. That is a much different question than will you vote for trump. There is no question will you vote for trump asked of just trump supporters that I can find in that poll.

It also completely ignores a lot of key questions like, do you think Trump is qualified to be president to which 60% said no.

Or this one, has a better temperament to serve as president 61% favor clinton..

Both of those are devastating numbers and are going to be very hard to change.

[Bad Dog]

64. Yet it's an opinion piece aimed at a British audience.

One that does not have a vote in this election and is more concerned about the outcome. As someone from the UK I find this very worrying.

[Egnever]

65. And still draws the wrong conclusions

in fact misstates the results.

Worrying in the sense that opinion writers are pulling stuff from their butt to try and make Trump appear viable? or worrying in the sense you really think Trump has solid support?

[Bad Dog]

66. I don't know.

I don't live in America. Americans were daft enough to vote for Dubya twice, so anything's possible. American news reports are very partisan, as are the contributors on DU. The BBC at least has a reputation for honest impartial reporting.

I'm very worried about the consequences of a Trump presidency.

[Egnever]

67. Can't fault you for that

Everyone is worried about a Trump presidency.

That article you linked has a link to the poll it is supposedly discussing in it. You should take a look at it. The numbers don't add up to what the article claims. It is pretty ugly for trump and Hillary has not even begun to work on him yet.

The media over here is going to do everything it can to make this race look a like a horse race while completely ignoring the underlying fundamentals of the race. Try to keep that in mind as you read the coverage here.

The fundamentals inside that poll are horrible for trump and while the basic positive negative feelings for Hillary are not much better than trumps when you look at the other questions asked she beats him in nearly every if not every category. In some cases by very troubling margins if you are a trump supporter. Does he have the temperament to be president? No 60%, You can't win an election with a number like that in the general election.

I don't want to say it is impossible for him to get elected, anything is possible but to do it he will have to pull off a pretty amazing feat, and no, winning the republican primary was not an amazing feat.

That piece was written by an american and picked up by the BBC it was not written by the BBC for what it is worth.

[Bad Dog]

68. He is an American, but he's employed by the BBC.

I'm at a loss, I tend to trust the BBC, partisan news outlets makes it hard to trust a lot of other sources. I just don't want Trump to win, the World is still recovering from Dubya's disastrous term in office.

In some cases by very troubling margins if you are a trump supporter. Does he have the temperament to be president? No 60%, You can't win an election with a number like that in the general election.

I really hope you're right.

[Egnever]

69. "the World is still recovering from Dubya's disastrous term in office."

I hear ya!

[matt819]

71. Not funny

Sorry, Secretary Powell, but you are a political coward. You don't have the will or capacity to change things from the inside, and you acknowledge that the Republican Party doesn't reflect your views. At this point, there is no party that reflects your views, except perhaps the Democratic Party. You can make a difference, maybe, if you were to admit this, change party affiliation, and stop joking about something that has become frighteningly serious.