I just came across the transcript of Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barak Obama. Take a look:
“So when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we’ve got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president, but which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that, because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities, and we have to take that into account, as well as his substance—he has both style and substance—he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming into the world—onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.”
Is there any substance here? Am I missing something?!
First, Powell says that *either* candidate could make a good president. Bad, bad start for an endorsement, in particular one made by a former Dubya cabinet member dumping his own Party and Party candidate. But then it gets worse.
- Ability to inspire?
- The inclusive nature of his campaign?
- Reaching out across America?
- Rhetorical abilities?
- Style and substance?
What kind of nonsense is this? Hitler had a terrific ability in inspire, did he not? How about some *substance* here? Inspire for what?!
What about the ‘inclusive’ and ‘reaching out across America’? Is there anything to this nonsense other than Barak is Black and he wants Whites to vote for him?
Rhetoric, style and substance? Back to Hitler again? No seriously, what kind of substance is Colin Powell talking about?
Turns out it does not matter in the least. You know why? Because,
“he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president“
Really? Even before being elected Obama has ALREADY met the standard of being an exceptional President? Doing what? Just running for the Presidency?!
Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barak Obama should displace his disgraceful speech at the UNSC about Iraq (imaginary) weapons of mass destruction as the single dumbest and most inadequate public statement he has ever made.
The fact that Obama immediately reciprocated by offering Powell a position in his cabinet is not even funny. It’s scary.
Guys, lets’ face it: Obama or McCain – we are screwed.
The Saker
Chomsky says pick the lesser of two evils
Noam Chomsky: People should vote against McCain and for Obama – but without illusions
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2593&updaterx=2008-10-20+17%3A03%3A43
I have taken the high road and voted for Nader for years. It’s left me feeling like SHIT!
@curt: I have taken the high road and voted for Nader for years. It’s left me feeling like SHIT!
It should make you feel proud of having resisted the trap. You did not vote for good ole Al Gore? Well, neither did you damn your soul by voting for LIEBERMAN!!! You did not vote for Clinton? And now you can look a person whose social security has been taken away in the eyes without shame. You can say that your voice did not cause the NATO campaign in Kosovo. Last but not least, you gave your voice to an honest man.
You should be proud of your vote!
Vote for Obama and you will hate yourself for it.
Forget Chomsky. He is not God and he can be wrong. Vote your conscience or do not vote at all.
I won’t vote because I’m a socialist libertarian. I never voted the last 8 years and never will.
At least in my lifetime, giving your vote to a third party candidate has meant giving your vote to the hungry mouth of the memory hole, where it will vanish forever to the empty vacuum that is the realm of the half-hearted, high-minded insistence on voting for the improbable.
That’s because the probability any third-party candidate wins the US presidency is somewhere near the probabilty Abdullah Ocallan is elected prime minister of Turkey.
Oswald Veblen
@Oswald: I completely agree. So then this begs the question of what can be done. I, for one, do not think that accepting this is the right choice. If the system does not allow choice, then the people need to resist the system by whatever means make political, moral, pragmatic and ethical sense. In Turkey there is the PKK and the Turkish opposition. In the USA there is…
…
…. well, nothing much besides the two basic options I see:
a) abstention
b) a vote for a third party candidate as a symbolic of rejection of the system.
Of course, what will eventually bring down the system is the very nature of the system itself. Imperialism is not sustainable, capitalism is not sustainable and the combination of the two into a bizarre mix of Neocon turbo-capitalist and Fascism is not sustainable either.
We need not actively overthrow a system. We just need to let it collapse under its own contradictions.
My 2cts.
I agree that, and I’m sure Ocalan would have agreed that,
“Of course, what will eventually bring down the system is the very nature of the system itself. Imperialism is not sustainable…”
However I don’t agree that
“We need not actively overthrow a system. We just need to let it collapse under its own contradictions.”
Obviously Ocalan didn’t feel that he needed only to wait for the Fascist Turkish occupation of North Kurdistan to simply collapse under its own contradictions.
Neither should any US citizen wait for the “bizarre mix of Neocon turbo-capitalist and Fascism” to collapse.
The best way to fight is to put one’s efforts for something, not against. I vote for Obama not because it is the right thing to do, but simply because more human beings in far away countries will live if Mccain loses to Obama.
After Obama is elected, I will struggle against him too to change the US away from imperialism(namely his idea of sending more troops to Afghanistan, etc. as he has a lot of really gross ideas too).
Oswald Veblen
@Oswald: Yes, but Ocalan is in jail and the Turks are still in Kurdistan.
Seriously, while I disagree with the premise that the system can be changed from within, for example by voting for the lesser evil, I respect your approach and I wish you all the good luck in the world to succeed.
We are facing a situation where good people can disagree on tactics but still share fundamental values.
As I wrote many times, I only see three options: Nader, McKinney or abstention. But I also know that I might be wrong and that millions of people will vote Obama in the hope that at least one the margins things will change for the better. While it is hard to imagine a worse combination then McCain-Palin (their *combined* IQ must be in the same range as Obama’s) I am afraid that Obama will only end up being more of the same but in a different package.
One more comment: the success or failure of US Imperialism does not depend on this election anymore. It depends on the objective power, or lack thereof, of the USraelian empire. The Empire is falling apart and has very little power left. Heck, Obama might well be a more skilled Imperial leader that the drooling moron we had for 8 years or the two boneheads the GOP is offering to the electorate.
McCain & Co. might well be a *better* choice for the rest of the planet as they are nothing but “Dubya on steroids” and if he was the most pathetic dumb fuck ever elected to White House, the McCain/Palin duo just might even be worse.
My 2cts.