Let's be fair. Colin Powell showed his clear devotion to the Republican party when he dishonored not only himself but the uniform he once wore, by pushing false information to keep from embarrassing the Republican information he served, He chose the Republican Party over the lives of thousands of US service men and women. How much more Republican could he possibly be?

vygramul: Philip Francis Queeg: Let's be fair. Colin Powell showed his clear devotion to the Republican party when he dishonored not only himself but the uniform he once wore, by pushing false information to keep from embarrassing the Republican information he served, He chose the Republican Party over the lives of thousands of US service men and women. How much more Republican could he possibly be?

I don't know about that. I think he was duped. I think he realized he was duped because you never heard from him again and he quit the administration the next time he had a chance. He was a true believe in US Democracy-that beyond politics everyone truly behaved in what they thought was best for the country. Wen that naivete was shattered, so was Powell.

If he was duped, why did he quietly quit rather than exposing the dishonesty?

I would think that if he thought his colleagues in the Bush Administration had lied to him and the nation to start a war, he would want to do everything he could to bring that outrage to light in the name of the soldiers who were killed and wounded as a result of those lies.

Even if he was "duped", Powell chose to abandon those who paid, and continue to pay, the price in favor of being a Republican team player. And now he trots himself out every chance he gets to pose with wounded vets without a hint of remorse, without any call for justice on their behalf.

Weaver95: um...what was it that Powell said that was wrong? he seemed reasonable to me.

"Reasonable" = "Not Republican"

You already knew that, good sir.

FTFANot surprisingly, neither the class warfare stoked by President Obama and his Party nor the resulting Occupy Wall Street movement was mentioned during this seven minute interview with Christiane Amanpour on ABC's This Week

Assumes facts not in evidence. Please create a foundation for your argument or move on.

Yeah, why didn't they talk about OWS's view of not compromising? And the space unicorns that invaded DC last week, for that matter?

lohphat: He's not getting off that easy.

He is a decorated hero who made one mistake that a lot of people made (and voted on).

Philip Francis Queeg: Let's be fair. Colin Powell showed his clear devotion to the Republican party when he dishonored not only himself but the uniform he once wore, by pushing false information to keep from embarrassing the Republican information he served, He chose the Republican Party over the lives of thousands of US service men and women. How much more Republican could he possibly be?

While I might quibble with 'Soiling the uniform', this bears repeating.

JerseyTim: I will never not laugh at Noel Sheppard's headshot.

Didn't click... is he as ridiculous as Jazz Shaw?

Colin Powell on Sunday blamed the media as well as the Tea Party for the divisive political tone in Washington.

Not surprisingly, neither the class warfare stoked by President Obama and his Party nor the resulting Occupy Wall Street movement was mentioned during this seven minute interview

The Tea Party attacks Obama as soon as he's in office, and that's not divisive political tone.

Occupy Wall Street attacks money corrupting politics, as well as wealth inequality, and that's divisive political tone.

Makes sense to me.

JerseyTim: I will never not laugh at Noel Sheppard's headshot.

I don't know why he always reminds me of

lohphat: Saying he was "duped" is like saying a pilot who missed the runway was "duped".

Except Powell's job was not intelligence. The analogy rings particularly false.

When you're in a situation like that - dealing with supposedly highly sensitive information - it makes complete sense to trust the administration (and the British) and the reams of intel that have been produced by special teams focusing solely on the issue. Any level of Occam's razor application by Powell would lead him to think that the information is at the least mostly true. The idea that the entire system was setup to produce false information and blow everything grossly out of proportion may be obviously true in hindsight, but it's utterly ludicrous to expect someone insulated as much as a high level government official is to figure that out.

It took years for people to untangle just how poorly designed the intelligence apparatus was. Powell isn't farking superman and simply can't dive into a huge pile of intel, especially considering he wouldn't have gotten the clearance to see anything but the results.

Not to say he's entirely blameless, but it's ridiculous to think that believing in the Bush admin's "intelligence" requires malicious intent.

make me some tea: Speaker2Animals: I used to be a Republican too, subby, and I think the party left me.

I was raised as a Republican and the more involved and informed I made myself the more liberal I became, to the point where I now view most hardcore right-wingers as the most misinformed or underinformed segment of the population.

Likewise

Colin Powell on Sunday blamed the media as well as the Tea Party for the divisive political tone in Washington.

Not surprisingly, neither the class warfare stoked by President Obama and his Party nor the resulting Occupy Wall Street movement

He mentioned the extreme left and extreme right... followup question "wut about the tea party".... "Why yes the tea party is devisive"; end interview.

So yes he did mention Obama and the OWS by inference.

Vodka Zombie: Farking children, man.

Republicans are like a retarded version of The Little Rascals. They create a club with the only requirement being that you act in a ragingly stupid and socially embarrassing manner, and when you fail to meet those exacting, ideologically-atavistic requirements, they whine like a girl scout with skinned knees and a box of broken cookies.

I've long maintained that for such a self-assigned "tough" crowd, you'll not find a whinier group of catty teenage girls than the modern GOP. Seriously, look at these retards. When something goes wrong, blame some nebulous enemy like "media bias." When called on their bullshiat they double down rather than admit a mistake. These are all traits that children have, but eventually grow out of.

And then there's wearing the wrong brand of clothes/ideology. It's like they're all in a bathroom and making toxic remarks about anyone who deviates from their code even in the slightest. Democrats don't seem to have this issue, though we of course disagree with each other on a myriad of issues. Dems are the rest of the student body, managing to get along despite being different. But lord help you if you're a Republican an you deviate from that clique in the slightest.

White Republican Martan Lawrence?

Smashed-face Tony Shaloub?

Young Joe Lieberman?

Weaver95: he seemed reasonable to me.

And therein lies your problem...

dickfreckle: I've long maintained that for such a self-assigned "tough" crowd, you'll not find a whinier group of catty teenage girls than the modern GOP.

Some brands of liberals come really, really close, though that's more the exception than the rule like it is with the GOP.

Pies.

sprawl15: lohphat: Saying he was "duped" is like saying a pilot who missed the runway was "duped".

Except Powell's job was not intelligence. The analogy rings particularly false.

When you're in a situation like that - dealing with supposedly highly sensitive information - it makes complete sense to trust the administration (and the British) and the reams of intel that have been produced by special teams focusing solely on the issue. Any level of Occam's razor application by Powell would lead him to think that the information is at the least mostly true. The idea that the entire system was setup to produce false information and blow everything grossly out of proportion may be obviously true in hindsight, but it's utterly ludicrous to expect someone insulated as much as a high level government official is to figure that out.

It took years for people to untangle just how poorly designed the intelligence apparatus was. Powell isn't farking superman and simply can't dive into a huge pile of intel, especially considering he wouldn't have gotten the clearance to see anything but the results.

Not to say he's entirely blameless, but it's ridiculous to think that believing in the Bush admin's "intelligence" requires malicious intent.

This is a really good post. I might nit-pick here and there but you do make a totally fair point.

Powell has said before, "When the President asks you to do something, you do it."

This was in reference to what he would do if Obama asked him to serve as a cabinet member.

With that in mind, if Bush did ask Powell to lie about starting the war, I think he would have done it, regardless of political party.

Diogenes: Bloody William: [newsbusters.org image 71x85]

White Republican Martan Lawrence?

Smashed-face Tony Shaloub?

Young Joe Lieberman?

Ill-fitting rubber mask.

Obvious CSI: New York rapist.