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Colin Powell Uses The Founding Fathers To Explain Why The GOP Will Fail In 2012
On This Week, Gen. Colin Powell used the Constitution, and the Founding Fathers to illustrate why the tea party is destined to lead the Republican Party to failure in 2012.
Video from ABC News:
POWELL: The tone is not — is not good right now, and our political system here in Washington, particularly up on The Hill — Congress — has become very, very tense in that two sides, Republicans and Democrats, are focusing more and more on their extreme left and extreme right. And we have to come back toward the center in order to compromise.
A story I like to tell is our Founding Fathers were able to sit in Philadelphia and make some of the greatest compromises known to man — tough, tough issues. But they did it. Why? Because they were there to create a country, where we have a Congress now that can’t even pass an appropriation bill, and we’re running this country on a continuing resolution which is — what else are they here for but to pass appropriations bills?
And so we have got to find a way to start coming back together. And let me say this directly. The media has to help us. The media loves this game, where everybody is on the extreme. It makes for great television. It makes for great chatter. It makes for great talk shows all day long with commentators commenting on commentators about the latest little mini-flap up on Capitol Hill.
So what we have to do is sort of take some of the heat out of our political life in terms of the coverage of it, so these folks can get to work quietly.
AMANPOUR: I get your point about heat and light, but what about the fact that, in fact, it is one of the political parties, although — or rather the big political influence, which is the Tea Party, which quotes left and right the Founding Fathers? They say compromise is a dirty word, and they try to point to the Founding Fathers and the Constitution.
POWELL: They compromised — the Founding Fathers compromised on slavery. They had to in order to create a country. They compromised on the composition of the Senate, of the House, of the Supreme Court, of a president — what are the president’s powers? Can you imagine more difficult compromises today?
Compromise is how this country was founded, and unless two people in disagreement with each other don’t find a way to reach out to one another and make compromises, you don’t get a consensus that allows you to move forward.
But the Tea Party point of view of no compromise whatsoever is not a point of view that will eventually produce a presidential candidate who will win.
What Gen. Powell was getting at is that our entire system of government is based on an assumed desire in both the majority and minority for compromise. The Founders built our system of government based on the idea that the majority would work with the minority for the good of the good of the country. This country was built on compromise, and our system of governance functions beautifully when both sides compromise.
When political candidates use the line Washington is broken, it is sort of a catch all anti-incumbent buzz phrase. However, Gen. Powell put his finger on the real reason that our system has stopped functioning. We have a single element within one of the political parties that is saying no compromise. They think they are embodying the vision of the Founders, but the source of their inspiration is a different period in American history.
The tea party has adopted the symbols and images of the Revolution, but in behavior they mirror the Confederates. Their willingness to destroy the very foundation of our government in order to keep their principles and, “way of life” eerily echoes the language that came from many Southerners in Congress in the pre-Civil War period.
Gen. Powell was speaking in realistic terms when he mentioned the bleak 2012 future for the Republican Party if they continue to follow the tea party way. The problem that all anti-incumbent movements face after victory is that they become the incumbents. The same no compromise strategy that got them elected will see them defeated for governing as they campaigned. The American people didn’t vote for no compromise. They voted for change, but it is impossible to bring about change when one party refuses to work with the other.
Powell was correct. If the Republican presidential nominee plays to the tea party and campaigns on no compromise, they will lose. It doesn’t matter who the nominee is, they will lose. Tea Party Republicans have taken the GOP down the path to defeat. Colin Powell sees what every other moderate sees. The Republican Party can’t win the presidency the tea party way.
The Founders would not approve of what the tea party GOP has done to our government and it will likely take the reelection of Barack Obama before Republicans wake up and get their house in order.
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66 Responses to Colin Powell Uses The Founding Fathers To Explain Why The GOP Will Fail In 2012
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EmmaLib
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
I disagree with Powell, that the left is pushing an extreme left agenda, when the left has stepped frequently to the center in the spirit of compromise, only for the right to step farther to the right…. Nothing I have witnessed the Dems do would be called extreme. As a self-professed liberal I would say the Dems have been extremely conservative with their agenda.
Reynardine
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Hear, hear! It’s one of those “both sides are doing it” sops thrown out to prove the speaker is centrist. The problem is that this keeps pushing the “center” further right. With one wing six feet long and the other no bigger than a pippin chick’s, the Eagle isn’t going to fly. Let the “centrists” put that in their pipes and smoke it.
Paman Miner
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
that is what keeps bugging me too. the “both sides are doing it” is a crock.
It’s like saying “the police and the protesters clashed”. When one sit is non-violent, not only unarmed but basic-ly unprotected, is sitting there and the armored and armed police in riot gear and a varity of non-fatal weapons sets-to on them.
The media is highly responsible for this. True investigative reporting is a thing of the past and too many subject are tabu, such as criminal acts by corporations, inside trading among congressmen, rightwing radio talk show hosts who pander to the right and invent “news” about stuff that’s been disproved, and feeding us eye candy and celebrities and sensationalist stories.
The media is not going to say anything the corporations who own them doesn’t agree with.
I hate all the crap being said about Obama. I had found his birth certificate on line way back, and when he posted it with big attention, they would not believe it. They say he’s a muslim but he drinks alcohol and eats pork, says Jesus is his Savior, and call him hateful names. THese things are all meant to cause doubt in listeners minds.
I’m old enough to have seen just how drastic the moves to the right are, how different the USA is from the Country I took pride in and people for the most part pretty much understood that taxes went for highways, roads and school, and this country had schools to be proud of.
People didn’t feel they had to keep guns and weren’t afraid the government was going to seize them either.
SinghX
Nov. 30th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
I have yet to meet or speak with a republican that doesn’t pull out that childish “He did it, too, mama!” mantra in order to minimize THEIR responsibility for what ever THEY “broke”.
It’s part of their up-bringing, behavior pattern…pulling the other party into the issue, whether guilty or not, comes very naturally off of their forked tongue; it’s ingrained in them to use this “party line” instead of admitting to the facts or truth of an issue. I suppose it’s one of those “commandments” the have drilled into them as children…
A Walkaway
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I hear the same from a lot of people (friends and colleagues), who are sick and tired of the “Democrat=liberal” stereotype that is generally accepted but NOT TRUE. I’ve run into so many uber-conservative Democrats who decry any liberal stance taken. Some were even rabid racists, yellow dog Democrats who “remembered about reconstruction”. One person I know, very active in the party, is a staunch supporter of corporations!!! (And a lawyer.)
I might add that we also have our steeplejackers in the Democratic party, but so far they haven’t been even nearly as successful as they were with the Republicans.
By the standards I hold to, the Democratic party is moderate-right, and the Republicans are extreme fringe right.
courtland
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
The Civil WAr is still affecting us, thanks for bringing that up. From the 1830′s until now, the power is still going on. And it wasn’t just the Confederate States, it included Mexico and Europe. Oh, gee, what a surprise.
dragonpuff
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Hear, hear!
PatMc
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
What are these “extreme left” positions he’s talking about? What is actually happening is the Democrats capitulating to the Republicans and the Republicans still refusing to sign. Powell must be aware that the false equivalence he describes is nonsense.
It does however play well and sound all “even-handed” to people who don’t pay attention.
A. Ramc
Nov. 29th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
This is true of congress dating back to the election of President Obama. One party has been “no men” and the other just capitulated in most, if not all, discussions (healthcare/debt ceiling/etc). Even when the Republicans were minority in both House and Senate they would threaten to filibuster everything. This obstructionist, no compromise, trend didn’t change when the GOP took majority in the House.
To say both sides are extreme, no compromise parties, is flat out deceitful and flat out FALSE!
Shiva (Moderator)
Nov. 29th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
it kind of makes you think they are all working towards the same goal doesn’t it?
allan
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
I still dont get it about the extreme left positions?could someone explain it to me?
Rev. Devon
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I’m very glad someone brought up the Tea Party and the Confederates. Living in Georgia where we recently had the Ricin scare by “Militia” men, they go hand in hand with Tea Party rhetoric. I’m very surprised the Tea Party hasn’t pushed for succession from the Union yet. The Southern states feared Lincoln for what he might do to change Southern ways and Tea Party members did the exact with the election of Obama. They should call themselves the Fort Sumter Party instead of trying to tarnish the Boston Tea Party.
Potter
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
I lived in Georgia for most of my life. Luckily, I now live in West Virginia. I was at a Health Care town hall in Warner Robins a couple of years ago. There were 2000 tea baggers there. They were scary and aggressive. Several people there were for secession. There was even a person who handed me a professional grade newspaper calling for the South to secede again. It was well written and well thought out. ( Of course the “South’s gonna rise again” folks aren’t usually educated, these guys with the paper seemed to be.) It was very scary to me. I was lucky enough to get me and mine to West Virginia, where people are still “Southern”, but are less racist, more sane, less fundamentalist, less Keynesian/ Ayn Randian and more educated (REALLY).
Deborah Montesano
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Please! This is the man who led us to war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. How does he have any credibility with anyone?
angela Wolf-Guthrie
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Careful! Colin Powell did not make the decision to go to war. I remember that there was great speculation that he did not support the position but was doing his job anyway. As part of a team, his alternative would have been to quit. In hindsight, he should have. At the time, nobody really knew the ‘truth’.
Carl Voolt
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 9:23 am
Powell only did exactly what he is advocating: COMPROMISE. He did not support the war, but he is a go-with-the-team compromiser. He didn’t insist on my-way-or-the-highway, he COMPROMISED. I actually think that is admirable. It’s the media you can blame in their participation because they had no reason to compromise their journalism to the demands of Bush…
IAmME
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
BUSH led us to war. Powell was only doing his job under Bush. Get your facts straight.
Deborah Montesano
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I have my facts straight, thank you very much. On February 5, 2003, Colin Powell, with a vial of anthrax in his hand, told the U.N. Security Council that “the facts and Iraq’s behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction.” And he recommended the invasion of Iraq. You can defend him all you want, but it doesn’t change the facts. Even he says that his speech to the U.N. is a blot on his record. “Compromisers” like that do no service to the well-being of the country.
Marty Tyler
Nov. 29th, 2011 at 2:03 am
It has been proven that Bush and his gang of lunatics falsified the intelligence reports on Iraq and mislead Powell to spread these lies to the U.N. and the world as a reason to go to war. Why do you think he quit?! It amazes me how ignorant of the facts people like you are.
Deborah Montesano
Nov. 29th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
People allow themselves to be ‘misled’… love your ‘people like you’ comment.
Ray O'Hara
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
The right has no intention of making a deal.
They decided during Obama’s inauguration there would be no compromise ever with Obama
Donna
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
They have all decided, some years ago, that compromise is out of the question when they signed pledges to that false god, Grover Norquist. I recommend watching last week’s 60 minutes episode. Chilling.
Billy Barty
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
I’m “conservative,” but like Powell, recognize that our country has progressed in a steady liberal direction for many years- and much for the good of society. What was extreme left 40 years ago is now center- and frankly accepted as the norm by most “conservatives.” I likely would have been branded a liberal 30 years ago.
Semantics aside, Powell is correct: our great country has been built upon compromise and adaptation to radical societal and economic changes. The Tea Party is mostly a reactionary throwback and does not serve a progressive country like ours well.
Mike B
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Never argue with a general. they are without question “masters of Strategy”. After all, isn’t that why they are generals.
DEBOSS
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
GENERALLY,,,BS!
Russ
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
One extreme left position is that Dems want non-white people to be able to live in America. Except for the token black family to show that the Right isn’t racist or anything.
Shiva (Moderator)
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Really? Did breitbart tell you that?
pogi
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 10:24 am
Always a smart ass, no original posts just criticize others pov!
Gary Pighetti
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 11:56 am
I’ll bite. It is my opinion that your statement that “Dem(ocrat)s want non-white people to be able to live in America” is on its face not only bigoted but racist. I am a third generation Italian and French Canadian American and can tell you in no uncertain terms that the non-white epithet was bandied about by whites in the early 20th century, along with “greasers. dagoes, guineas, morons, communists, and subhumans.” You stand on the shoulders of a long tradition of anti-immigration in this country that puts you in a league of your own: a persons such as yourself who accept the concept of a social eugenicism which is antithetical to the ethos of the American constitution. “Token black,” indeed. I weep for America.
Conservative Heart
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
NO CHANCE!! The Tea Party was clearly sent by God to help Real Americans see the evils of Muslim Obama. The Republican nominee–whoever God hand-picked for us already–Bachmann, Perry, Cain, will go on to decimate Obama bin Biden.
Colin Powell…what does he know? He couldn’t beat Bush for the presidency and ended up working for him. Then he lied to the UN and was fired. Useless…just like Obama…
JAK
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Do you have a white hood over your head when you discuss politics with your buddies?
AC
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Better question to ask, has ‘Con’ had his diapers changed today?
charro
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
You are a waste of space.
Independent Cat
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
@ Conservative Heart– If YOUR god sent the Tea Party and a hand-picked President, then I pray MY God will save us. Bachmann, et al, know less than my granddaughter about governing. Colin Powell told the U.N. EXACTLY what Bush/Cheney told him to say. Fired, I don’t think so. He has morals which prevented him from working for THEM any longer. Talk about “Useless”, Bush, Cheney and you!
Jason
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
Ya know it’s really hard to tell the difference between people being satirical and sarcastic from the actual conservatives who are being serious with stuff like this.
Catherine
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
If YOUR god sent the Tea Party and some one like Bachmann to lead this great nation, then I pray MY God saves us. Powell only repeated the LIES Bush/Cheney told him. Obviously Powell knows more than you. Talk about “Useless”, Bush, Cheney, and YOU!!
IAmME
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
See, this is what’s scary. People like this guy, who ACTUALLY think like this. Oh, what is our country coming to?? I feel like we’ve taken about 100 steps back.
NamelessGenXer
Nov. 30th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Conservative Heart: You might want to read up on Know-Nothings and the demise of the Whig Party.
Sane People: Do you think the teahadists realize they’ve become a parody of themselves?
Reynardine
Nov. 30th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Guys: Poe.
SinghX
Nov. 30th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
My funk-soul-bru’tha, where ya’ been? Last I heard, you were raising funds to start a global glossolalia club for other misunderstood conservatives…bless your little pea-pickin’ Tabasco laden heart.
Gawd bliss yew!
disgruntled
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
I’m a military veteran of the Viet Nam era, and I have seen so much chicanery by the Federal “government” that it makes me want to puke. I’m service connected, and along with Social Security just barely make ends meet on a monthly basis. You want the answer to community service? Bring home the troops that are over there fighting and dying for the capitalist regime that controls the strings of the puppet that you call government. Put them to work on the infrastructure, put them to work on guarding the borders, put them to work inspecting the 90+% of incoming goods for contraband, put them through schools that will allow them to be cross-trained, and then dare anyone to cross our borders.
When was the last war between any two factions of the Middle East? And, when it comes down to it who really cares? There is absolutely no way we can continue to fund a war that is costing us three billion dollars a week. It’s total INSANITY!
This was another fine example of the media getting in bed with our government officials to offer us an opinion of no value. There are four ways of looking at what things appear to be:
1. It appears that way, and it is that way.
2. It doesn’t appear that way, and it is not that way.
3. It appears that way, and it is not that way.
4. It doesn’t appear that way, yet it is that way.
So, I say this video is BS. You have to fill in the second half and act on your beliefs if this is truly to be a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”.
Thanks for reading, and Keep the Faith!
disgruntled
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
And after reading the comments posted before mine, I have to say that when a boot is placed on your throat it makes not one bit of difference if it is RIGHT or LEFT. Please wake up and quit bickering across party lines.
You all know, every last one of you, that your party is just as crooked as the other one. Why not just shake hands, agree that Congress sucks, and start talking about how to regain some of the control that both sides gave away to the corporate elite that have been legally raping, pillaging, and plundering our homes with Congressional support? It’s time to put your parent’s political beliefs away and develop your own. This not the government that your parents supported, not the government that our forefathers designed, and not the government that my friends died for when they won the raffle that awarded them a vacation in Souteast Asia.
Moongal6
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
I beg to differ with you.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r...
BearFax
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 5:31 am
Very good link. Thank you!
Joe anderson
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 8:28 am
‘Stop bickering over party lines’ and rehashing arguments
I’m heartened that Powell sees a country of many that want to help. His observation that the military has no problem raising troops (people willing to do the job, even when treated badly) is new to the discussion.
I see Colin Powell as Obama’s best pick for second term VP
charro
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
I too am perplexed by this “extreme leftist” position. Really? Making sure everyone has access to healthcare, clean food and water, shelter and food are “extreme”? Wanting a progressive tax structure and a healthy welfare state? Roads that are well paved? A well staffed and trained police and fire fighting force? Highly credentialed and excellent teachers and plenty of them? High Quality education available to everyone? High quality secondary education easily affordable and accessible to all? That’s “extreme”? Ensuring that politicians serve the people not the lobbyists? Make legislatures -accountable- to their constituents??! Stopping the revolving door between Congress and K Street?? Stopping the Wall Street Casino? Working towards gainful employment for all? Retirement? How the hell is any of this extreme?? I would post this on the Blaze or Fox News but I know all I will get is a bunch of fallacious responces that have no information or facts just talking points and conspiracy theories.
Catherine
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
How accurate! Won’t fly with those who hate facts!
pogi
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 10:48 am
Wow, you really believe that the Republicans are against all of your talking points, YOU ARE DISILLUSION!!!!!
You provided no facts or information just your own talking points while calling out what you are certain would be the same by those you oppose. You border moronic…
The democratic House and Senate could not even muster the Democratic Strength to pass the funding for our country, passed it on so they could blame someone else! FOR TWO YEARS THEY HAD ABSOLUTE POWER AND DID NOTHING but provide a CR!!!!! But is the Republicans blocking the Senate from the House creating a do nothing Congress???? Got everyone to sigh off on Health Care Bill at Midnight on a Sunday before Christmas, lol, would you personally sign a contract you had been negotiating in that manner?
The funny thing about your post is you mixed it up with some Tea Party talking points…
A. Ramc
Nov. 29th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
You mean the filibuster *everything* Right, for the two years D’s had control of both houses?
DEBOSS
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
just like the moron who said,,tuuuubes,,omg they’re making wmd w/missle deployment capabilities,,ands anthrax trucks,,,a war pounding stupid big brain,,w/o a real thought in it!!!,,just like a colon,,spewing crap!!!!
labman57
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
10 essential steps necessary to become a viable GOP candidate for POTUS:
1) Claim that God spoke to you and encouraged you to run for office.
2) Publicly declare that Obama is a socialist and question his loyalty to the United States.
3) Defend the right of corporations to maximize profits unfettered by environmental and business regulations or workers rights, and insist that corporate taxes be slashed or eliminated.
4) Imply that all unemployed and otherwise downtrodden Americans are shiftless, lazy parasites on society.
5) Insist that the top 1% wealthiest Americans are overtaxed and that economically impoverished folks are undertaxed.
6) “Obamacare is socialism!”
7) Vow to eliminate Social Security and Medicare.
8) Denigrate gays, Muslims, and non-English speaking immigrants.
9) Tea party protestors are patriots, Occupy protestors are anti-American thugs, bums, and hoodlums.
10) Embrace the philosophy of political contrarianism — if Obama is for “it”, then you must be against “it”, no matter what “it” happens to be.
Of course, becoming a candidate that can attract a right wing following is easy. Winning over moderates and independents without losing favor with tea party extremists — not so easy.
Jay Peterson
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 11:56 am
This pretty much sums up the current, simplify-and-repeat party line that the Tea Party has been innocculating us with since their King and Prince , Bush and Cheney left office. They pretend they are modern day Robin Hoods, yet they bow in allegiance to the Sheriff of Nottingham on a daily basis. As far as Powell, like any general, he is preparing to fight the last war. His analysis of the left being too left and the right being too far right is hooey. The far left doesn’t even exist anymore.
labman57
Nov. 27th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
Congressional Republicans insist that they want to compromise on ways to reduce the federal debt and other key issues.
Unfortunately, the Republican concept of compromise — a key component of any meaningful negotiation — is for the opposition to discard their own beliefs and completely embrace the conservative point of view.
In short, their notion of negotiation involves capitulation by the opposition.
The GOP made a huge gamble by embracing the often naive, frequently irrational, usually hyperbolic rhetoric of the tea party movement. The party leadership stands at a political precipice, contemplating whether to back away slowly, oblivious of the mindless tea party stampede heading straight toward them that will send the entire party over the cliff.
John Franklin Mason
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 12:39 am
Colin Powell is mistaken in attributing to the Founding Fathers what is rightfully due the “Framers” of the Constitution, a completely different group of men.
The term “Founding Fathers” is political rhetoric coined by Warren G. Harding in his keynote address to an early 1900′s Republican Convention. Rhetoric that has been used to ambush United States Historical reality regarding it’s founding and the players involvement when and how.
Mike
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 12:46 am
America is compromised from within.
Eric
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Colin Powell is one of the compromisers!!!
Ordinary Bob
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 6:16 am
Compromise on appropriations? Where is this president’s budget? Compromise is what put us in this mess.
GBJames
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 10:48 am
Powell falls into the false equivalence trap. “Both sides” are not focused on extremes in their parties. In fact, the Democrats have consistently caved in to the Right. And it has only gotten us closer to Crazytown. Republican inability to compromise does not mean both sides are intransigent.
pogi
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Caved in?
You mean like the Health Care debacle! What did the democrats give us when they had absolute power? The Democrats in the House, Senate adn White House could not even approve an Appropriations Bill for two years (talk about a do nothing congress) while kicking it down the road with continued resolutions so they could blame it on the Republicans. Why didn’t they resolve the Debt Limit when they had power to do so, they knew it was coming and DID NOTHING but kick it down the road to blame the Republicans….
Compromise, that is the buzz word you all sucked into… When the Democrats did not have to compromise they only did one thing Health Care Bill, they could have done a lot to help the country as they made an oath to do but they played a game and kicked it down the road to blame the Republicans.
THE KKK AND SOUTHERNERS WERE STAUNCH DEMOCRATS!!!!!
Anne
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 11:38 am
The fact that there were Democrats who started the KKK does not alter the fact that at some point, the Dixiecrats joined the Republican Party. The GOP has now become the Democratic Party of yesterday, and vice versa.
As for the Health Care Bill, the president adopted some of what had previously been Republican ideas, but because they want to defeat him, they went against things they were once for. They have been quite outspoken in their desire to deprive President Obama of as many legislative victories as possible to ensure that he’s a one-term president and that a Republican can win the White House. The problem is that they have thrown millions of Americans under the bus in this quest. Anyone who says the parties are equally culpable is delusional, and the poster who says the Democrats have compromised too much is absolutely correct.
escobar
Nov. 28th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Everyone needs to work together and learn to share and compromise. No one group will get everything there way but if one group thinks its there way or no way than that one group is just spoiled and entitled and will hurt the overall country. Colin Powell is 100 percent correct and I agree 100 percent with what he says.
A. Ramc
Nov. 29th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Which group threatened to allow default if their tax cuts didn’t remain in place for the rich again????
Magicbowlbob
Dec. 1st, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I want to get the occupy movement to focus on fair taxes. I do not care what or how you pay or don’t pay taxes but if you are not paying 1% of your net worth you are not paying your share. I say the movement should be focusing on 1% for the 1%.
those that do not pay income tax still have many other taxes they pay, that together add up to way more than 1% of their net worth. Bumping our heads against the wall saying things are wrong in America is not a solution. Getting our financial affairs in order has to be the start. We can afford to pay our bills, just look on any hill anywhere and you know that. It is the fact that we don’t tax enough to pay our bills, that things got this way in the first place. Nobody gives a hoot about whats going on if they are not paying for it anyways. Taxing the citizens enough to pay for what the government spends is the only way you will get reform in spending. Right now you have both the Left and the Right hooting and hollering wan wan wan all the way to the bank. If you don’t make them pay for it they will never get off the ride.
Magicbowlbob
aleman
Dec. 2nd, 2011 at 12:11 am
You all missed the meat of this story which was one paragraph near the beginning:
“And so we have got to find a way to start coming back together. And let me say this directly. The media has to help us. The media loves this game, where everybody is on the extreme. It makes for great television. It makes for great chatter. It makes for great talk shows all day long with commentators commenting on commentators about the latest little mini-flap up on Capitol Hill.”
Powell hit the nail on the head. As long as our media continues to relinquish their responsibility to actually verify what is said rather than just transcribing it and publishing it, we will never come together and there will be no meaningful compromize. We are all guilty of ignoring this gorilla in the room and continuing down the same road that has been paved for us by all the talking heads. Pull your heads out of your butts and start calling our media to task when they renege on their duties.
Peter Gatliff
Dec. 3rd, 2011 at 9:10 am
I really don’t know why people are so suprised at the actions of the Republican Right Wing. The same familys and Wall Street Banks attempted a Coup D’etat of the US Government in 1934. FDR was to be put in prison. The goal to make the US into a Fascist country like Nazi Germany. Its on record in the library of Congress
Geek Hillbilly (@GeekHillbilly)
Dec. 3rd, 2011 at 7:56 pm
I’ve been expecting the GOP to self destruct but they’ve delighted me by taking a header into the nearest Black Hole.By the time they wake up,it will be far too late to avoid annihilation.”Pride Goeth before a fall,a Haughty spirit before destruction” Keep it up,Teanderthals,Keep it up.