It's kinda sad that the best articulation of the necessity of taxation that I have ever heard in my life was just delivered by a Republican as an afterthought.

mr. powell....

after that horrible performance at the UN in 2003..

today was a nice step toward redemption....

Too little too late, Colin.

Where have his morality and ethics been the last 50 years?

He's just now getting a clue what the Republicans have been up to?

I didn't hear him renounce being a Republican.

When he becomes a Democrat, then I might believe that this is not just a calculated way of sticking it to Dubya for hanging him out to dry, and trying to ride of Obama's coattails.

Colin Powell didn't stand up when he had a chance, to be a force against the ridiculous war. He was led around by the nose by Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, and he can endorse Obama till the cows come home, but it isn't goign to rehabilitate the fact that he is damaged goods.

This is fantastic. Thanks for sharing it.

I thought what Powell said about the young Muslim American was very moving. I hope the Media pick up on that and talk about it in the context of Michelle Bachmann's outrageous statements and the madness going on in the Palin/McCain rallies.

In order for Colin Powell to fully rehabilitate himself and gain forgiveness for his shameful lies in the build-up to the Iraq war, he must do 2 things. First, he must become a Democrat and second, he must hit the campaign trail and vigorously work for Obama. Nothing short of those 2 actions will raise my opinion of this coward.
Goddammit Colin! Admit you were wrong and do something positive for Obama.

Powell was awesome in detailing the absurdities and the hate--very cogent (simple and clear) review of the need for redistribution of wealth as well.

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

Looks like we can add 'Mass Murderer' onto the list of character assignations and hate fest: At a Todd Palin rally, a hugely prominent sign up front reads "Charles Manson was a Community Organizer".

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What he ought to do is repudiate right wing Republican ideology. Instead, he's just quarreling with Republican campaign tactics.

This election should be a turning point for the nation. Do we continue down this awful road we've followed for more than a quarter century, or do we finally admit that we need to follow a new route, a progressive route, a 21st century route into the future?

But we're not getting that. We're getting the usual horse race and personality contest crap, as if the choice were simply one of preference for the tough, passionate war hero or the methodical, imperturbable intellectual.

That's not what's at stake. Our future is at stake. We must learn the lessons of the disastrous Bush years, which are the culmination of failed policies of the neo-conservative extremists who took over this country in the Reagan years.

I didn't hear him renounce being a Republican

Nor should he-- it's long past time for the non-batshit-crazy Republicans to take back their party. I'd love for the Republican party to be a loyal opposition; it won't happen during President Obama's first term, nor likely his second, but the GOP needs to walk back from the brink and again be a place where a Linc Chafee or a Colin Powell can find a home, and where a Sarah Palin or a Michelle Bachman can't.

I too was troubled by Powell's presentation at the UN essentially endorsing Bush's now defunct WMD associations. Very troubled. However, he remained the only, and I mean ONLY, person in that administration whom I respected. It was a shit thing that Bush pressured him into doing, and he should have resisted. Yet, then, as now, I was more pissed at Bush than Powell. Bush railroaded nearly everyone into that drum beat. Most notably the press. I say FUCK Bush and I think Powell is finally able to say it too.

ACtually, Todd Palin didn't hold up that sign -- in the video of the event, it's being held up by someone directly in front of him in the crowd. I fell for the photo myself and wrote a scathing post about it that I had to retract after seeing the video. They're being vile enough, though, and Todd probably would have held it up if he could have.

Think Bachmann's opponent will use Powell in an ad?

As an aside to the basic topic, I just have to ask the Captain and de Stael---WTF are the two of you smoking? Are you honestly suggesting that General Powell's comments this morning are meaningless---and worthy of total rejection---unless he becomes a Democrat?

Will you likewise denounce the varied opinions of Independents, and Greens, and everyone else until they capitulate to your demands to join the political party of YOUR choice?

Other than the name of the political party, what difference is there between what Bush has done to America, and what you now seek to do to Colin Powell? Personally, I'd like to think that I've got the General on my side of the issue, when the battle that is now all but guaranteed to come finally gets here, and we all have to step onto what may well be America's "Flanders' Field...."

I hope that El Tinklenberg grabs Powell's comment about Michelle Bachman and makes a nice TV ad with some of the half-million he received after Bachman spewed on Hardball. She SO needs to go.

In order for Colin Powell to fully rehabilitate himself and gain forgiveness for his shameful lies in the build-up to the Iraq war, he must do 2 things. First, he must become a Democrat and second, he must hit the campaign trail and vigorously work for Obama.

Oh great, a demand for self-criticism and re-education driven by ideological fervor. That's where I get off the bus.

I actually don't think Powell was endorsing Obama in order to regain the trust of liberal blog posters.

I think he endorsed Obama because, um, he thinks he would be a better president.

But thanks to the principled liberals here for denying Powell something he wasn't asking for in the first place; strong work.

Well said, Steve W. What is this stupidity about how Powell has to become a democrat? I really have no patience for this idea of "repentance". And I particularly have no patience for this rather McCarthyist idea of being forced to reject any particular political party in order to be considered a good American.

Yes, the two comments in question didn't out-right talk about Powell being unamerican, but the subtext was there. And I consider it absolutely vital not to go there. McCarthyism should have no place in our country. If you don't want to trust Powell or accept his endorsement of Obama, that's your prerogative. But don't start making creepy conditions that he must change his political party before you'll give him a chance. That's out of line.

I just posted the video at the Jackson County Democratic Committee website. Powell's attack on the McCain campaign's reliance on conventional negative wingnuttery is brutal.

By the way Lucy, I agree. I don't want us to out wingnut the wingnuts. No reeducation camps for me.

I have wondered when and where the pro-Obama people were going to defend Muslims. That Colin Powell would be the one (and I have no idea whether Powell was acting on his own initiative or at the direction of the campaign) is powerful. The military (and Powell himself) have become symbols in many people's minds of success in integration and the promotion of non-white peoples. For Powell to defend Muslims using a dead Muslim soldier is very powerful. That he referenced a picture that is easily available is even stronger.

"...our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity."

e pluribus unum

It's not hard to reject the social and political extremism of the right, rejecting the Free Market uber alles mentality, governmental phobia, and the concept of American exceptionalism are much bigger steps. More than a few Democrats have yet to take them. If he dares to attempt the transformation of America, President Obama has a long, daunting task ahead. If he doesn't, we are just buying time, at a very dear price. If he isn't 'The One', maybe he can play the role of John the Baptist.

If more Republicans expressed themselves as Colin Powell did today, we might actually be able to have a constructive debate on the issues.

As is theoretically supposed to happen in American politics.

"We have got to stop this kind of nonsense," Powell said.

But then what would Republicans have to campaign on? This kind of nonsense has been their stock in trade since the advent of the "Southern Strategy." Without "this kind of nonsense" how could Republicans promote such bad ideas as the Iraq War, the rationales for which could not stand up even to the most cursory examinations? Without "this kind of nonsense" how could Republicans go about abolishing habeas corpus, the 4th Amendment, and due process?

A day late and a load short, General. The time for you to show some courage is long overdue. The blood of hundreds of thousands and our lost constitutional rights still cry out.

This is all part of McCain's last-ditch secret plan to win. It ends with:
Nov. 2 -- G.W.Bush endorses Obama for president

Until election night is over, I will believe that smears and slurs, particularly about race, will in the secrecy of the voting booth swing the election to McCain and Palin. And then they will be faced with trying to put together some sort of administration for the next four years. Be. Very. Afraid.

A look at Powell's stated reasons for endorsing Obama:

Obama is "inspirational" (inspires people to what that benefits the USA?);

Obama "energizes" people. To what beneficial end for the USA? Many of the world's worst leaders have been great at "energizing" people. (Think of your own example, say maybe Saddam Hussein, whose invasion of Kuwait made Powell a national figure. Saddam certainly knew one way of "energizing" people.

Obamaa is "inclusive" (not of small businesses or productive individuals in America, only of people to whom he wants to redistribute the country's wealth) Obama is certainly "inclusive" of blacks (who voted 99% for Obama against Hillary Clinton). Can you imagine the rage and hatred that would spew from the left wing in America if 99% of white people in America voted against Obama? We'd NEVER hear the end of the "Racism!" charges and hatred and even violence against such "inclusiveness" by a candidate with a different constituency. By having REAL experience in reaching "across the aisle" for a very long time, McCain is by far more "inclusive." Just ask Joe Liberman or Senator Feingold. But in our era of political correctness rather than free speech, anyone that's white has to at least pretend that they're going to vote for Obama to keep from getting lynched. Obama and his supporters have turned this into an election of fear and voter fraud. One has to wonder how long it will be before the Democrats do away with the secret ballot and make anyone who votes against them have to come answer for that sin.

Powell sees Obama as "a new generation coming onto the world stage" (to what end that will benefit the American people?)

Powell rejects any discussion of Obama's association with Bill Ayers and others as "inappropriate." Glad to know that Obama having a decades-long, and money and politics-based association with a terrorist bomber of the Pentagon, who helped launch Obama's short (so far)political career doesn't bother the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the USA. I guess Powell feels no need to care any longer about protecting the safety of the American people, even those in uniform.

Powell says that McCain was "unsteady" in the face of our financial crisis, while Obama "excelled in handling the situation", has shown "steadiness" (in what?), and "an intellectual curiosity" (i.e., a recognition that he needs to educate himself since he has no experience), and a "depth of knowledge." This statement just shows the length to which people will go to try to justify support for Obama, other than just admit the endorsement is based on race. Both McCain and Obama supported the $700 billion bail out; they both voted for it. How has Obama (with only 2 years experience in the US Senate before leaving to run for President) "excelled" in "handling" our current financial crisis? All that Obama wants to do is raise taxes, just like Hoover and Roosevelt in the 30's , and thereby send us into another Great Depression. Obama is a LAWYER. Since when did a law degree, or Obama's fledgling experience as a politician give him any "great depth of knowledge" on how to solve our economic crisis? And just how and when did Powell become an expert on finance or economics? I thought he was a soldier and politician.

Powell was made into a national figure by Republicans - by being selected as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the first Gulf War and by being appointed as Secretary of State beginning in 2001. Without that Republican support and willingness to have Powell assume those positions, Powell would be a nobody today. Just another Admiral Zumwalt. (Look up the reference if you don't know history.) Powell managed to keep from endorsing any candidate all the way until October 19, 2008. I guess he wanted to make sure he got plenty of publicity for himself by generating his own "October surprise", for Obama.

I fear for our country when we see that we have been taken back to the 1950's or earlier in terms of racial prejudice, deviseness and an atmosphere of intimidation and hatred. Mr. Powell's disclosure today of his support for Obama only makes those things worse, and does nothing good for our country.

Of course I'm glad that any prominent Republican has endorsed Obama. And, yoo hoo, someone's not reading carefully, because I didn't not say that Powell's comments are meaningless. If they help dominate the news cycle to crowd out McCain, and if they help a few undecideds decide for Obama, then great.

But I am APPALLED to hear all this slavering and fawning over Colin Powell, including those who are suggesting that Obama should make him a Secy of State or cabinet official.

The fact is, Colin Powell was LED AROUND BY THE NOSE BY BUSH, CHENEY AND RUMSFELD. And he did their bidding, and thereby got us into an unwarranted, unjust war. Where thousands of people have died. And the blood is on Colin Powell's hands, just as they are on Bush, Cheney, etc. He is not an honorable man. He is an opportunist.

He has been silent, has identified himself as a Republican, for EIGHT YEARS...while HIS party, HIS president, has ruined America's reputation, destroyed our economy, and overseen the death of hundreds of thousands in this ridiculous war.

Where were Colin Powell's concerns, and ethics then?

Where was his concern for America?

When the members of his party were screeching that Obama was a Muslim many months ago, where was Colin Powell?

Oh sure, he's having a political "deathbed" conversion -- and why not? He'll speak up because it will serve HIM. HIS party is headed out the door, and he wants to be an "elder statesman" for the Obama administration. And so he had to ante up, or get left out of the upcoming fun.

I don't seek to do anything to Colin Powell, other than to say "Thanks for the endorsement, General, now go on back to your Republican pals."

But really, do we owe Colin Powell anything other than a "thanks" for having the basic common sense to realize how much Obama offers when compared to the pathetic campaign of McCain/Palin?

So, thanks, Powell.

But beyond that, -- after everything the Bush administration did to him, and the clear evidence of institutional Republican racism -- the fact that he remains a Republican is, to me, evidence that Colin Powell still has a long way to go in the common sense department.

Colin Powell is a war criminal, pure and simple.

To you commenters who insist that Powell (or any other American for that matter) must capitulate and join your party of choice, I say, "STFU!"

Seriously, that is the same kind of narrow-minded, idiacy the W presedency has been living by these last 8 years. Don't get me wrong, I deplore Powell's decision to tow the line in front of the UN regarding WMD in Iraq, but every person deserves a shot at redemption. And he went a LONG way toward that by endorsing Obama and denouncing the angry hate-filled crap coming from the McCain campaign and its followers. And he showed even more class in denouncing the muslim bashing that has been going on. THAT was a beautiful moment.

Besides, it is the neocon movement within the Republican party--with it's right-wing religious POV, bottomless deficit spending and endless war--and not conservatism per se that has been so disasterous for our country. Once upon a time, there were true, moral conservatives who prized prized education with an emphasis on critical thinking and sound reason, whose focus on fiscal discipline and smaller government (where possible) was a nice balance to the progressive movement.

People can (and should!) have disagreements about foreign policy, governance, the budget, etc. And all of us should realize that honest people can come to different conclusions about these things and still respect each other. THAT is what Obama is talking about when he says he will offer a place at the table for everyone.

It's kinda sad that the best articulation of the necessity of taxation that I have ever heard in my life was just delivered by a Republican as an afterthought.

Perhaps, it was an afterthought because any intelligent, mature individual understands this and takes it for granted. To the extent that it is even necessary to articulate this view demonstrates how radical the modern GOP has become.

I have to say that the criticism of Powell from the moral and political purists on the left blows. He doesn't need to impress liberals/progressives. He needs to convince the many moderate Republicans and GOP leaning independents that still hold him in high regard that it is okay to vote for Obama. It will take a coalition to beat the GOP and Obama gets it.

I'd rather have Colin Powell cross over to my side of the road than Joe Lieberman.

Uh, "independent thinker" -- I don't think that telling someone yo udisagree with to STFU is is in line with "Obama offering a place at the table for everyone."

You might tray practicing a bit of what you preach, toots.

And do any of you actually know how to r-e-a-d? Because no one is asking Powell to capitulate to anything, or join any parties.

We're simply suggesting that one intelligent decision by Powell, to endorse Obama, deserves a thanks, but nothing more.

You can carve up the Republican party all you want, but the fact is, Powell has identified himself with the true worst of it -- the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Neocon end of the party.

And if he's moving away from it now, 19 days before the election, forgive me for thinking that while I'm glad he's "seen the light" -- there is also a distinct possibility that Powell is no dummy, and has seen the writing on the wall as well, and wants to at least make some effort to rehabilitate his image as being part of the worst presidency in American history.

Yes, once upon a time, there were true, moral conservatives -- and Colin Powell is not one of them. If he was, he'd have spoken out long before.

I am not condemning Powell, and I'm glad he endorsed Obama.

I am also not -- like you -- telling anyone to STFU.

Again, practice what you preach, and learn how to debate the issues without being so rabid, eh?

I agree with Madame de Stael. My sympathy level for Powell is at zero and unlikely to improve, given his role in the build-up to the Iraq War.

He's jumping on a huge bandwagon after it has become obvious that Obama will win in a landslide.

Steve, he doesn't dislike the GOP enough to stop calling it "my party."

And, "independent thinker," what HAS Powell repudiated? The racial and nutbar angle of the current GOP attack? But, has he ever said the Iraq war was a bad war in the first place? Has he ever repudiated the excesses of the big biz wing of the party?

Obamaa is "inclusive" (not of small businesses or productive individuals in America, only of people to whom he wants to redistribute the country's wealth)

Dwayne Smith, go f*** yourself.

After you've done that, come back and explain to all of us how Wall Street CEOs are more "productive" than a guy working on an assembly line. IIRC, the Wall Street CEO is skimming profits off the PRODUCTIVE WORK done by that guy on the assembly line and others like him. You know, the people who actually DO THE WORK that allows profits to be generated.

You stinking turd.

What I'm wondering is why there is not more talk from disaffected moderate Republicans about starting a third party.

There certainly are enough wealthy moderates out there (both Republicans and Democrats) that raising enough money to start a centrist party would not be a problem.

Heck, Bloomberg and Romney could fund one all by themselves...

Wow, this is great. Powell is making a powerful case for Obama, but it is much more than an endorsement, he is explaining in clear terms and as an insider what the current state of the republican party is. This will be extremely hard to spin and should be the kiss of death to the extreme fringe of the party -at least for this election-. It is courageous of him, and we should all be gratefull for that.

Mark,

You throw out numbers as if this will prove your point, but
you conveniently leave out empirical and theoretical evidence
that a progressive tax system hurts the very issue you say you care
so much about.

The Laffer Curve empirically proves that lower taxes increases
employment AND government revenues. Tax is a disincentive.
People, regardless of income, respond to incentives or their opposites.
Economics is not an ideology; is it a science representing economic
realities.

At least around the edges, higher taxes are a disincentive to further
business investment. The human beings at the top tax brackets,
at least a significant number of them, will begin to pull their chips
in and retire.

No more new investments for these rational and completely reasonable
individuals. Mark, even you would think twice about pouring your
time and money into an investment that begins to be taxed, with
all taxes included, at over 50%.

People who are considering new business investments are not ideologically
motivated. Despite the fact that Marxist ideology has been endemic
in the left for generations, business investors, such as owners and partners,
do NOT want to hurt the working class. This is not their motivation.
They are not evil; we should stop thinking of them as anything but
people, just as we have done for blacks and other people who are
not in the numeric majority.

When we think of them as rational, loving, hard-working people,
perhaps then we can begin to see that higher taxes hurts everyone.
A hard-working plumber doesn't have to buy his business for him
to be helped by lower high-bracket taxes. More businesses will expand;
maybe his business will start another operation in the next town over
and put Joe in charge.

Businesses don't hire people out of the goodness of their hearts. But
that's a far cry from saying that, because it's not charity, it cannot
but hurt people. Businesses want to hire people when business is
expanding in order to become more profitable. No business wants
to hire people to give back to the community. Everyone they hire
is expected to make the business more profitable. When workers
prove themselves diligent and capable, successful businesses want
to promote those individuals -- again, to become more profitable.

All these benefits to workers accrue to a society that doesn't punish
people for their success. The opposite is true when a society's government
wants to take an increasing percentage of people merely because they
are good at creating profits through business investments. The pie
is not divided between the have's and the have-not's; rather, the pie
is expanded in successful business investments.

If we had a flat tax of 10%, we would see an explosion of new employment,
promotions within existing business, and, most telling, of new government
revenues.

Since even the case of government revenues is furthered by lower taxes,
and because we've known about this for decades, we should consider whether
a higher, progressive tax system is not about helping individual; rather,
it is about concentrating economic power in the hands of government.
One possible motivation is that the people are not to be trusted to do the
right thing with all the money they earn. Some of this money might
end up in the hands of unsavory institutions such as churches and
synagogues. Instead, it is concentrated in the hands of government,
which has an agenda of increasing its own power.

We may be entering a new era, and the repercussions might be negative
and long lasting.

de Stael: "And do any of you actually know how to r-e-a-d? Because no one is asking Powell to capitulate to anything, or join any parties."

You wrote this:

"I didn't hear him renounce being a Republican.

"When he becomes a Democrat, then I might believe that this is not just a calculated way of sticking it to Dubya for hanging him out to dry, and trying to ride of Obama's coattails."

Three comments later, CaptJP wrote this:

"In order for Colin Powell to fully rehabilitate himself and gain forgiveness for his shameful lies in the build-up to the Iraq war, he must do 2 things. First, he must become a Democrat and second, he must hit the campaign trail and vigorously work for Obama. Nothing short of those 2 actions will raise my opinion of this coward."

Now, whether you like it or not, that is pretty clear. You and at least one other commenter here have insisted that, before you will consider him redeemed for his support of Bush, one of the things Powell must do is switch parties.

If that's not how you actually feel, then stop saying it. If that *is* how you feel, then feel free to keep saying it. But don't try to pretend that you never said it in the first place.

Those who complain that Powell won't rehabilitate himself fully until he totally repudiates the Rethug ideology and becomes a Democrat shouldn't hold their breaths. This is as brave and as far as Powell will go. I'm amazed, but delighted, he's gone this far. Just as he thought he could be the force to counteract Cheney and Rumsfeld, he probably now feels he needs to be the force to pull the Rethugs back from their ultra-rightwing precipice. That isn't going to happen either, IMHO.

What Powel's endorsement does mean is that the main-line Rethug establishment, the moderates, to the extent they still exist, have abandoned McCain, and Powell won't pay too high a price for his endorsement. Plus his endorsement will create a feedback loop that allows other prominent Rethugs to also endorse Obama.

This is not a good day for McShame.

Give the man some respect for publicly declaring his beliefs. You may not agree with his past actions, but his coming out and telling the American people that these kinds of accusations are unacceptable is likely to swag some people who are on the fence. Let the independents and Republicans thinking about voting Democratic for maybe the first time effort hear it from a man that many of them respect. Good job, Mr. Powell.

I doubt that the Powell endorsement will do any good with the rabid, redneck paranoid racists foaming at the mouth. Many of these people believe and have said that if Obama is elected the "Blacks will take over." Now these cretins are going to say, "See, toldja so. The niggras all stick together. This is further proof." Never underestimate the ignorance and stupidity of millions of American people many of whom still believe Saddam Hussien was behind 911, Obama is Muslim, he kills and eats babies--white ones too--and that he belonged to that "weather turrerist group that bombed Washington way back when...in the 60s was it?" And how do you know Obama was only 8 years old at the time? His birth certificate is a forgery, we all know that.

Negative campaigning still works and the Obama folks still don't get it. They need a kick in the balls ad like the 1964 LBJ ad with the little girl picking daisy petals with a mushroom cloud in the background. It scared the bejesus out of people and suggested Goldwater was insane enough to start a nuclear war with the USSR. Well McCain and his airhead little Fascist co-pilot are more dangerous than Barry Goldwater was. They could actually bring on "Armageddon" and fulfill the fantasy of all those Rapturistas praying for the end when Jesus H. Christ is going to come back and fix all those Christ-killing Jews once and for all. And the rest of us non-believing heathens too. Just you wait.

I, too, wonder why Powell chooses now to speak up. If he is to redeem his credibility this cannot be the only time he speaks out.

Quite honestly, I don't want him to change parties. I want him to stay with the Republican party and try to reform it. It will not be easy, and it may not be done in his lifetime, but someone of stature, even one who buried himself in manure like he did, must stand up for what's right.

I'm a lifelong Democrat, but it gives me no joy to see the Republican party be the party of intentionally ignorant thieves that it has become. Powell must use the eloquence he used to get us into the Iraq war for reforming the Republican party, or else he will only be remembered for how he sold out.

If Obama had any decency, he would've told Powell "No thanks." But that's a lot to expect from a panderer like Obama.

"I, too, wonder why Powell chooses now to speak up."

Honestly, his timing was perfect. This is the moment when it will do the most good. It counters the horrific negativity of McCain's campaign. in a high profile way no one else could have done. It will be a big story heading into the final week and a half.

Powell's statement couldn't have been anymore elegantly written or delivered. He was truly magnificent. He's gone a long way to redeeming himself.

More impoertant than his endorsement is his indictment. This is really about November 5th. They've lost the election. November 5th the Republican Party will be in civil war. It will decide what the Republican Party becomes. If the hideous racist, bigotted element John McCain is courting and enflaming wins out we may see the reasonable memebers of the party leave and end up seeing the birth a new party.

One of Powell's most important points was how the rest of the world is viewing this. It makes me sick and embarrassed everytime I see the hatefull antics coming from the McCain/Palin rallies and the campaigns toxic tactics. One of the most vital things about this election is to definitively show the world that's NOT america..

Shade Tail, there is a difference between asking Powell to capitulate or change parties, and expressing my own personal opinion.

I'm not asking him to do anything -- as if he would care! :-)

I'm suggesting that I personally don't respect the man, or trust him, or think that he's entirely on the up and up in his endorsement. I sense that while he is genuinely dismayed with McCain, Powell is also an opportunist, who is taking advantage of the situation now, because he has little to lose by endorsing Obama, and a lot to gain.

I noted that he did not renounce 8 years of heinous Republican tactics. He hasn't spoken out against the Republicans in most cases.

He has, in a long public career as a career Republican, taken a principled stance that is in opposition to his party once, today, re: Obama and the Republican tactics.

Am I glad he did it? You betcha. If it helps Obama, great.

But can you or anyone else categorically say that it is not also a move that is highly self-serving, or designed as payback, or both?

Of course you can't.

And I personally think that, given Powell's ong association with Republicans, his failure to criticize the heinous activities that have long gone on in front of him, and his own active participation in some of the most egregious activities perpetrated by his party, he has generally shown especially poor judgment.

Had he months or years ago begun speaking out -- either to help reform the Republican party from within, as an Indepedent, or by becoming a Democrat, I would respect him.

But again, a deathbed conversion, when he has little to lose and a lot to gain, does not a hero make.

Given the amount of blood on his hands, there's little that Colin Powell could do -- in my opinion to make up for his participation in the whole war fiasco, his ongoing support for George Bush, and his failure to speak up or take action until now, 8 years into this national debacle.

"It's kinda sad that the best articulation of the necessity of taxation that I have ever heard in my life was just delivered by a Republican as an afterthought."

And he delivered the ONLY articulation by just about anybody of what is so deeply wrong with "accusing" Obama of being Muslim.

Colin Powell has been carrying the freight for his chain of command superiors in whatever manner could benefit him fastest since his complicity in the cover up of My Lai.

Because someone steps up as a contrarian and restates the prevailing mood doesn't redeem their previous record. Powell is getting to be considered an elder statesman for the GOP (or at least the old-fashioned military-industrial version) but he has decades of bad acts to atone for and this endorsement doesn't make significant headway. (Anyway, apparently he waited until opinion was past the 60% mark before he stepped up, according to a former aide.)

This announcement would have meant something more had he said this pre-Palin when McCain was just getting warmed up but at this point it comes as weak tea. Perhaps his motivation stems from the fear resonating out of the old guard GOP that their tactics of divide and conquer have become a vehemently held raison d'être for the republican voter instead of just a cover to win elections.

If they continue with these tactics, they will become more and more irrelevant and will lose their ability to force spending MOST tax dollars on Defense, rather than the "roads and airports and hospitals and schools".

Powell's endorsement helps more if he remains a Republican... that is, he is still respected by many in his party and his statements will help convince *thinking* Rs that it's OK to vote for Obama, or at least not be afraid of him or an Obama presidency, or Muslims for that matter (!). If Powell had said he was switching parties, his words would not mean as much to the Republicans and he would have lost support from a lot of them.

While I do blame Powell for his role in getting us into Iraq, I do hope this is the first step in his "rehabilitation". Let's please not forget Ted Kennedy, who is still reviled by many Republicans for his role in the death of Mary Jo Kopekne. Since that dark day almost 40 years ago, Kennedy has redeemed himself by pushing through landmark legislation that benefits almost every man, woman and child in America, such as S-CHIP, Americans with Disabilities Act, funding for medical research, Family and Medical Leave Act, and increasing the minimum wage. I realize the death of one woman is not the same as a war that has destroyed the lives of so many, but are Democrats/liberals not the kind of people who are open-minded, willing to forgive?

If Powell can continue this message for years to come, maybe get involved in an organization to correct the mistakes of the Bush administration, turn the Republican party away from the "dark "side", he will go a long way towards rescuing his image.

Digby noted:

Colin Powell walked into the Beltway's St. Patrick's Cathedral, Meet the Press, and endorsed Barack Obama today. Hopefully that'll turn out better than the vials of anthrax. This is devastating for McCain, of course, because Colin Powell was John McCain before John McCain became John McCain, if that makes any sense at all. He was the Very Serious GOP Daddy who everybody in the media establishment fell all over admiring. Heck, even Oliver Stone gives him a wet kiss in "W." And so Powell's rejection of McCain shows that the GOP nominee is no longer worthy of admiration.

But rather than one man's endorsement, I'm more impressed with the 3.1 million endorsers who have supported Barack Obama, with an average contribution of under $100, from retirees to students, and who donated $150 million dollars in the 30 days of September.

The Laffer Curve empirically proves that lower taxes increases employment AND government revenues. Tax is a disincentive. People, regardless of income, respond to incentives or their opposites. Economics is not an ideology; is it a science representing economic realities.

Well, that's a nice bit of hogwash wrapped up in high-falutin' boilerplate. Unfortunately, your Laffer Curve notwithstanding, recent history proves otherwise. To wit: the 1990s, when marginal rates on the wealthiest were higher and EVERYONE made more money and we had full employment. So, let's continue:

At least around the edges, higher taxes are a disincentive to further business investment. The human beings at the top tax brackets, at least a significant number of them, will begin to pull their chips in and retire.

No more new investments for these rational and completely reasonable individuals. Mark, even you would think twice about pouring your
time and money into an investment that begins to be taxed, with all taxes included, at over 50%.

Yes, because we all know that it's basic human nature to turn down the opportunity to earn an extra million if half of it will go to taxes; most completely rational people would just forego the chance to earn only a mere half million after taxes. At least in this alternate universe you inhabit. More:

All these benefits to workers accrue to a society that doesn't punish people for their success. The opposite is true when a society's government wants to take an increasing percentage of people merely because they
are good at creating profits through business investments. The pie is not divided between the have's and the have-not's; rather, the pie
is expanded in successful business investments.

I'm not sure I would characterize as "punishment" asking, for example, the owner of a trucking firm with an income of $2 million per year to pay higher taxes, when we consider that the business he owns that generates that income for him consumes some $10 million per year in resources we all pay for when his trucks tear up public roadways. If his taxes are at the unconscionably high rate of 50%, that means the poor babe is only getting a subsidy of $9 million a year from the rest of us. Horrors!

If we had a flat tax of 10%, we would see an explosion of new employment, promotions within existing business, and, most telling, of new government revenues.

If we had a flat tax of 10%, we would see an explosion in our deficits and debt. If what you say is true, the Bush tax reductions on the wealthy should have generated more jobs. Guess what? They didn't.

Since even the case of government revenues is furthered by lower taxes, and because we've known about this for decades, we should consider whether a higher, progressive tax system is not about helping individual; rather, it is about concentrating economic power in the hands of government. One possible motivation is that the people are not to be trusted to do the
right thing with all the money they earn. Some of this money might end up in the hands of unsavory institutions such as churches and
synagogues. Instead, it is concentrated in the hands of government, which has an agenda of increasing its own power.

Funny how it's only rich people who the Republicans, and people like you, trust to know how to spend their own money. Middle class taxpayers haven't gotten a tax cut since Reagan took office. That's right - Reagan didn't cut their taxes either - he lowered the income tax rate one year, then came back the next and raised the FICA tax (which NEVER goes down, ever) by even more. But his wealthy pals made out great.

This mantra about making more from lower rates is pure-D bullshit, as illustrated by the example already given of the Clinton years. Sure, revenues went up over the 8 years of Reagan and even by a small amount during the 8 years of Bush. Guess what? THE POPULATION WAS GROWING. Does that mean the government took in MORE money than it would have with marginally higher rates of taxation? NO, IT DOES NOT. Only people who are very poor with logic and mathematics, and even history, such as yourself, believe otherwise. The people who sold you this load of bull - even THEY don't believe it, they know better, but they also know there are people out there stupid enough to buy into it, so they keep selling it.

Whether you like it or not, a capitalist system cannot function over the long haul without a progressive tax structure. Why? Because wealth tends to concentrate into fewer and fewer hands. When it gets to the point where one guy, or just a hanful of guys, have all the money, everything screeches to a halt. It's like a poker game - when it gets to the point where one guy is sitting on most of the chips, the only way for the other guys to stay in the game is to borrow from him. Once they can no longer borrow, it's game over. Is this striking a chord with you at all? Why do you think we are in a "credit crisis" right now? Ring any bells?

Progressive taxation and legislating higher wages are virtually the only tools government has to stop over-concentration of all the chips in the hands of a few. I'm sorry if that conflicts with the capitalist Tinkerbell story you've bought into for all these years, but that's the way it is. You idiots have even managed to convince yourself that it's somehow "evil" to tax estates - as if the dead guy - you know, the one who was PRODUCTIVE and EARNED the money - is going to feel it at all. No, that's wrong - we should reward his heirs for being born into propitious circumstances by not taxing them AT ALL, even if they've never moved a pinky in their lifetimes. Meanwhile, your average Joe (plumber and otherwise) pays the full freight on every penny he EARNS through work. Talk about "punishing" people with taxation.

It's all bullshit. Every damn word you posted.

I'm kind of stunned by the harshness with which liberal bloggers meet any mention of Powell.

I think we trusted and respected him, and feel betrayed by his lies serving Bush in 2003.

I know of quite a few thinking, moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats, who either supported or remained silent about Bush's illegal war in 2003, mainly because Powell supported it and they trusted him. So, Powell did real damage and that hurts.

I'm glad he's supporting Obama though, and is slapping McCain and Palin for running a scorched-Earth, suicide-bombing kind of campaign.

Could it be the start of republicans speaking out about the ignorance of their party.

What McCain/Palin's tactics will do is make it possible that in the future some thug republican who will promote violence and elicit the racists and thugs of their party to act like the "brownshirts" as if they are doing what is "best" for America and attack their opposition and their supporters.

We have the opportunity to prevent the conditions that would make this possible by getting rid of republicans in office everywhere. By reversing their policies of protecting the wealthy we still have time to prevent a great depression. Our environment doesn't care about our politics but it is demanding we learned from our very similar past and unite to deal with global warming in order to survive as a human race.

Necessity, urgency, demanding we totally change direction and what we are witnessing by these McCain/Palin tactics if the death of the neocon/republican party, the "last throes" of corporate dominance and the deterioration of the rule of law. They are acting just like what you could expect from such a destructive disastrous force breathing its last breaths.

"...They are pushers, selling that last, nihilistic lie to the junkies on the Right who will pay any price and cut any throat to escape the fact that they are personally and specifically responsible for the destruction of the country they claimed to love in the name of a God they claim to believe in.

Which is why November 4th is so much more than an election.

November 4th is an Intervention, because the junkie-pusher spiral of the Republican rank-and-file and their leaders has finally hit bottom: we need to heal this country or lose it, and arguing -- "reasoning" -- with wingnuts and their enabling shills and hacks is as pointless as trying to reason with addicts and dealers.

The only way this country is going to be saved is by taking it away from them, school board by school board, city council by city council, congressional district by congressional district, state by state, election by election until they are driven back into the political sewers from whence they came...."-driftglass.com

"....Posted by: Jennifer on October 19, 2008 at 4:36 PM "

THANK YOU JENNIFER. LOVED YOUR POST...THANKS.

This monopoly game needs to end now.

Too little, too late. Why did it take him so long to come out? It is as if he wanted to make sure Obama was going to win before he declared his support.

If Powell is so disgusted by the Republicans, how come he still claims to be one? He could have left the party and called himself an Independent.

If he thinks Obama is such a great candidate and that the Republican ticket is so bankrupt and negative, why doesn't he campaign for Obama?

I would have had respect for Powell if he came out right after McCain picked Palin, well before the race shifted to Obama's favor. Palin/McCain ticket hasn't changed fundamentally in the last six weeks, so there is no reason why Powell didn't come out with his Obama endorsement before Sep 15th. Instead, he waited until the last two weeks to endorse Obama. If the race was a statistical dead heat, I don't think Powell would have endorsed either candidate.

Powell does deserve credit for calling out the McCain campaign's embrace of religious bigotry.

I wish he came out and said this a little earlier, but better late than never.

Didn't you folks notice how so many of the talking "heads", both blatant Republicans and pseudo-center-left water carriers, were downplaying the Powell endorsement? But of course. Check out this great post by Brad DeLong about George Will immediately pivoting into talk of blacks just voting for blacks:

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/10/washington-po-6.html

The takedown later of Rush is also great, re Rush demanding what low-experience white pols did Powell endorse, to which the obvious (and much regretted now I'm sure) answer is: George W Bush

Too little, too late. Why did it take him so long to come out? It is as if he wanted to make sure Obama was going to win before he declared his support.

rational, I'm a fan of yours, but this time I disagree with you. This is a great moment for Powell to have come out with his endorsement. It's a few weeks before the election. The polls are tightening. The conventions and debates are over, so Powell can (and did) say he deliberated over them and the way Obama and McCain reacted to the economic crisis.

Does anybody disagree with anything Powell said, which no one else, certainly not Obama's talking-points-ridden surrogates or equivocating conservatives like Brooks, have been saying? Can we appreciate that what Powell said--about anti-Muslim bigotry, Obama, McCain's campaign, the Republican party's lurch to the extreme right, the unfitness of Sarah Palin for the presidency, etc.--is true?

It cracks me up that people think Obama will win "in a landslide". Do you ever talk to voters? It's a racist country out there! Obama needs all the help and every last dollar he can get. Seriously, Powell's endorsement and indictment of the Republican party is a gift to Obama's campaign. I, as embittered as any of you about Powell's complicity in some of the most egregious crimes of the US government, am grateful to him today.

Joe Scarbough is such an ass. Please look at what he claimed with conviction on Hardball special edition today with Chris Mathews.

He kept insisting that a double standard is at play--that if Obama was named 'John O'Donnel or whatever, he would be attacked even MORE so than he presently is.

In other words, he was saying (with a frightening confidence and cockiness, I might add) that folks are being rather soft on Obama and the Ayers thing--precisely because of his name (read race).

I think this thread is about dead and didn't read through all the posts, but the most important thing that Powell said today wasn't his endorsement of Obama, it was his strong and unqualified endorsement of Muslim Americans--noting how they have fought and dies for this country.
You could tell it was something he really wanted to address, the notion that a Muslim child born in America can aspire to be president, and that they are no less American and patriotic.
McCain could never say anything like this, if he even believes it, because he would lose his remaining supporters who are mostly a bunch of bigots.

WKT just said "The Laffer curve empirically proves..." unironically, which means that nobody has to listen to anything he says on any subject for the rest of his life forever.

The Laffer Curve... good stuff... now tell me, which side of the Curve are we on right now and how can you tell?

Powell's role in the lead up to the war in Iraq hardly makes him public enemy number one. Especially when compared to the architects of it. He was more like the "sub-contrator" of it. That he reputedly spoke up many times prior to his UN appearance and that he has apparently confessed remorse since no doubt hastened his departure. In the deliberately chaotic days and months after 9/11 we can't know what pressures he was under or what ultimately led him to the UN with his PowerPoint show. But I think it's fair to say that, while extremely disappointing at the time, Colin Powell has proven himself to be a better American than his colleagues: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Feith, Kristol, Rove, and all the other scum that saw the Iraq War for what it is and not only never expressed remorse, but never admitted--even once--that it was anything less than an absolute necessity. Even now.

I will accept his endorsement knowing that, unlike his colleagues, this man has a conscience and a sense of duty. And he does not make important decisions lightly.

Jennifer for Sec of the Treasury!

I always kind of dug Frank Zappa's [and many others] idea to kill the income tax entirely and make a national sales tax. His thought was that it would discourage debt spending, encourage saving, and levy the highest taxes on the highest spenders. When I was a kid, this made perfect sense to me. Nowadays, I know it's fanciful, but a man can dream. A man can dream.

god, i'm sick of this. colin powell is a war criminal, flat-out, nothing less. i have been arguing with people since yesterday who have been gulled by his 'eloquence' -- the use of the term vis a vis black men is another discussion of course.

do not overlook the fact powell is an un-indicted co-conspirator, and a front-line liar for the bush regime. his excuses about what he didn't know are pathetic --- if he didn't know what he was talking about, that makes his performance at the UN even more of a war crime; if he went before the UN and scared the shit out of the planet and he was unconvinced of the evidence, then he should be arrested and tried for the murder of 5000 us troops and about half a million iraqi civilians.

if this is the same guy who can cozy up to cretinous morons like the bush neo-con circle, then i don't trust his motives.

i'm quite sure he's using obama to help with his own PR rehab. but you incredulous sheep continue to have virtually no instinct for bald faced lies when they're told to your face ---- so you're eating it up. you will never, ever learn.

Funny that Powell saw fit to highlight how insinuating that there is something wrong about being a muslim is bigotry, yet he answers the accusation that Obama is a socialist by stating that he is not. As he said about the muslim charge, that's an accurate answer, but the right one would be: And what if he were?

Can't the American people hear the proposals and decide if that's what they want, even if they are socialist proposals? Since when is that a banned ideology that disqualifies someone from getting elected?

I'm kind of stunned by the harshness with which liberal bloggers meet any mention of Powell.

I've disliked him ever since he defied his commander-in-chief in 1993 and spoke out against gays in the military.