A PROMINENT SUPPORTER
of Barack Obama
told a Washington audience
last week that "the Republican Party is in deep trouble"
and "getting smaller and smaller"
because its views are not in sync with those of mainstream Americans.
Republicans would do better without the "nastiness" of Rush Limbaugh or the "very polarizing" Sarah Palin, the speaker said,
and they would do well to realize that their philosophy
of lower taxes and limited government
has put them out of step with their fellow citizens.
"Americans do want to pay taxes for services," he told his audience. "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
There is nothing particularly unusual about Democrats deprecating conservatism or endorsing big government, but these comments didn't come from a Democrat. The speaker was Colin Powell, who claims to be a Republican.
There are times when party loyalty asks too much, JFK once said, but for Powell there rarely seems to be a time when it doesn't. Though he owes every lofty position he has held -- national security advisor, four-star general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state -- to Republican presidents, Republicans perpetually appear to rub him the wrong way: especially the conservative Republicans who constitute the party's base.
This is not the first time Powell has urged the GOP to become more liberal. "There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views," he said during a televised interview in December, but Republicans must "begin appealing to Hispanics, to blacks, to Asians . . . and not just try to influence them by Republican principles and dogma." He complained that Republicans "had moved further to the right" -- something he also complained about last October, when he went on "Meet the Press" to endorse the presidential candidacy of the most liberal member of the US Senate.
Nor is this the first time Powell has denounced Limbaugh.
"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" he asked on CNN a few weeks after throwing his support to Obama. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be, when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?"
I wonder if Powell has ever actually listened to Limbaugh. Some years back, the liberal Washington Post columnist William Raspberry wrote a piece in which he compared Limbaugh to the racist politicians he remembered from his Mississippi youth. He accused him of "demagoguery" and of trafficking in "the raw meat of bigotry."
Eleven days later, Raspberry took it back.
"Rush, I'm sorry," he wrote. He admitted that he had written the first column without ever having tuned in to Limbaugh's program, and that his "opinions about him had come largely from other people." But when readers challenged him to listen to Limbaugh for a while and make up his own mind, he had done so -- and now regretted having so unfairly maligned the man. Limbaugh might be "smart-alecky," a "master of ridicule" who loved "to rattle liberal cages." But as Raspberry had to admit, he was certainly no hater or bigot.
Perhaps if Powell spent less time reflexively deriding the country's most popular conservatives and more time listening to their message, he might admit something similar.
But probably not. Powell's antipathy to the GOP's Reaganite roots has gone beyond the point of reason and reflection. What kind of Republican, after all, preaches that Americans "do want to pay taxes for services" and "are looking for more government in their life, not less"? (The opposite is true: In a nationwide poll last month, 62 percent of respondents said they prefer a government that offers fewer services and lower taxes; only 28 percent preferred more services and higher taxes.) What kind of Republican calls John McCain "my beloved friend" and acknowledges that he "would be a good president" -- then turns around and endorses the most liberal Democrat ever nominated for president?
Republicans these days are in the midst of a debate over how best to rebuild their party, and there are honest differences over what Republicanism should mean.But there are also limits. Powell may sincerely believe that embracing bigger government, higher taxes, and Barack Obama is the formula for success, but most Republicans don't. Most Democrats, on the other hand, do. If party loyalty asks too much, maybe it's time for Powell to switch.
---
THE PARTY OF COLIN POWELL
by Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe
May 13, 2009
http://www.jeffjacoby.com/5575/the-party-of-colin-powell
(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe.)
*************************
Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama
is a
USURPER
because he is not eligible to be President of the United States
because he is not a Natural Born Citizen
as required by Article Two, Section One, Clause Five
of the United States Constitution.
This is a fact regardless of
where he was born (Mombassa, Hawaii, Chicago, or Mars).
He is not a Natural Born Citizen
because he was not born of
TWO PARENTS
BOTH OF WHOM WERE UNITED STATES CITIZENS
at the time of his birth.
His father was a subject/ciitizen
of Kenya/Great Britain at the time of his birth and afterwards.
His mother was too young to pass on her US citizenship
according to the law in effect when he was born.
Check it out:
http://www.TheObamaFile.com/ObamaNaturalBorn.htm
His usurpation cannot be corrected by Congress,
it can only be corrected by his resignation, his removal
or
by an amendment to the Constitution
which will never happen.
**************************************************
April 1, 2009
AP- WASHINGTON D.C. - In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama's qualifications for the presidency, the group "Americans for Freedom of Information" has released copies of President Obama's college transcripts from Occidental College. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program. To qualify, for the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship. This document would seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obama's detractors have been seeking.
The news has created a firestorm at the White House as the release casts increasing doubt about Obama's legitimacy and qualification to serve as president. When reached for comment in London, where he has been in meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused comment on the issue. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at the report stating that this was obviously another attempt by a right-wing conservative group to discredit the president and undermine the administration's efforts to move the country in a new direction.
Britain's Daily Mail has also carried the story in a front-page article titled, "Obama Eligibility Questioned", leading some to speculate that the story may overshadow economic issues on Obama's first official visit to the U.K.
In a related matter, under growing pressure from several groups, Justice Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments concerning Obama's legal eligibility to serve as President in a case brought by Leo Donofrio of New Jersey. This lawsuit claims Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. Donofrio's case is just one of 18 suits brought by citizens demanding proof of Obama's citizenship or qualification to serve as president.
Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the results of their investigation of Obama's campaign spending. This study estimates that Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign funds in the past year with eleven law firms in 12 states for legal resources to block disclosure of any of his personal records. Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still ongoing but that the final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused to comment on the matter.
According to Associated Press story shown below, Obama's tramscripts from Occidential College show that he was an undergradraduate at the school under the name Barry Soetoro, and received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia. I did a search using "Smoking gun finally found."
Here are a few of the websites that came up. None said it was false.
http://affiliate.kickapps.com/_Smoking-Gun-Finally-Found/blog/266247/85365.html
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID616
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/News.php/2009/04/30/smoking-gun-finally-found
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc9495;article3895;title=APFN
http://www.sodahead.com/question/346077/breaking-news-obamas-occidental-college-records-released-under-court-order-records-show-real-name-barry-soetoro-he-received-financial-aid-as-foreign-student-more-supreme-court-to-hear-eligibility-case-against-mr-obama-do-you-care-bout-time/
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