Powell Responds to GOP Criticism; Rush Responds to Powell

I think Powell is square on. What is so horrible about being moderate (gasp!), Republican or otherwise? From most people I've met, extremists are close-minded and often willfully ignorant.

Sure, Reagan was great, but it was a different time. It was a dangerous, difficult world. The core values of the Republican party were needed to change the course of the Cold War. He may have run up some debt, but it was more of an investment. Reagan (and Bush) handed Clinton a safer world and the fundamentals of a good economy. Clinton squandered those, enjoyed the good times, and left George W. with unchecked Islamic fanatics, so I don't blame Bush for everything.

However, this is not the Cold War, and Reagan policies aren't the answer. The current problems of international relations and finance are nuanced. We can't just build bigger bombs and threaten to kick everybody else's butt into the next century. It worked in the 80's, but it won't work now.

Now is the time to see the polarizing extremists for their self-serving nature, drop them, and form a coalition of like-minded moderates who can stop bickering about fringe issues and identify, prioritize, and solve the country's REAL problems. I look to a man like Powell to do just that.

Powell voted for Obama because he was black, because he was for increasing social benefits to those that do not contribute, and because Powell was sour on the republican party that exposed him for being somebody that apparently doesn't ask the right questions and ends up being duped. McCain and Powell were good enough friends that Powell gave all he could to his campaign and then publicly abandoned him. This is the Powell we all know very well. Powell's recent comments that Americans WANT to pay more taxes to have bigger government is perhaps the most stupid and dangerous comment he has ever made. We are a broke nation. We have been subsidizing everybody, including most countries for so many years the well has run dry. Admitting he voted for Carter is clearly pointing out once again that giving without expectation of work is a mantra Powell endorses. Jimmy and Obama each share the mantra also that the US is the cause of problems not the solution. I think the republican party should stop responding to Colin Powell, because we can't even depend on his vote, so what the heck???

Oh, and jon, the Republicans have traditionally cause more deficit spending than the Democrats. In fact, Clinton handed former President Bush (I love saying Former in that phrase) the smallest deficit in thirty years - and Bush pushed it up to a trillion dollars by the time he left. Bush also put us into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Not what I would call a great resume when it comes to casting stones about balancing budgets.

Get a grip, then get a clue, dude. That ultra-minority I talked about with Limbaugh includes YOU. The OTHER 94% of Americans are not in agreement with your point of view and unless you're against Democracy and all of the principles of the United States, you might re-think your support for the party that ruined America - and took most of the rest of the world with it.

Rush Limbaugh is a typical ultra-right conservative: His only interest is in himself. Period. Nothing else matters.

He would happily see the Republican party go down in flames (or, more accurately, smolder down from charred remains to blown ash) than lose the 6% of completely out-of-touch Americans who worship him. They are keeping him in prescription pain pills and air-time. No one else thinks he's relevant. Without the support of this delusional ultra-minority, Rush would justifiably be moldering in the Smithsonian as an exhibit demonstrating why the Republicans went from the ultimate power wielders to powerless in less than four years.

GWB 'stayed the course' and like a passenger on the Titanic of politics captained by the former President, Rush has gone down with the ship. He just hasn't felt the cold grip of political obsolescence setting in yet. Too much hot-air, I suppose.

Powell was NEVER a Republican to begin with. Powell is asking for the Republican party to roll over like beaten dogs, because he is afraid that the Republican party is gaining strength by returning to its' core values. Moderates like myself are running away from the Obama Socialism and are looking for STRONG LEADERSHIP with clearly spelled out CORE VALUES that are fundamental to traditional working class Americans. For example, BALANCE THE FEDERAL BUDGET.

NH - I think your so-called "Alinsky method" is basic political behavior that has been going on for over 200 years.

Gosh, this is fun to watch!

let us face it republicans& CONSERVATIVES HAVE COMITED SUSIDE

As a conservative, I agree with some posters here that Bush opened the door on some bad decisions regarding the US economy. But what some posters here won't admit is the democrats took those bad decisions and put them on steroids!

Are you honestly proud of the work of Barney Frank, Dodd, Waxman, Pelosi, etc.?? Those fools should be wearing orange jumpsuits. Have no love of McCain, Specter, Snowe, Collins, etc. either. You either have core beliefs or not.

Why doesn't Powell start his own political party? What do moderates stand for? What are their core values? Are they leaders? We'll see how well that goes.

For all the liberal's talk about the demise of the Republican party - worry about yourselves as you are ruining our country. The backlash that is coming against Obama and his socialist politics is going to be huge. Hopefully we won't have to lose any American cities before that happens.

Colin Powell endorsed Obama due to race. For a 4 star general and former sec. of state to endorse a community organizer with no executive experience, barely spent time in the senate is unheard of.

Just because someone has served in the military does not automatically make them a person of integrity. Powell constantly leaked info to the NYTimes while he served under Bush, kept his mouth shut about Armitage's role in the Plame affair even though Libby was being raked over the coals, and then endorses a far left community organizer for president over McCain - a fellow military officer and Vietnam Vet. Very strange.

dale - You said "It was not the Bush administration that put us in this economical crisis"???!!! This crisis started in 2007 and exploded in 2008 - under Bush's watch! The housing bubble grew and grew and Madoff's Ponzi scheme was investigated by Bush's SEC in 2000 and again in 2005 not finding anything wrong. How is it possible for Bush's SEC not to see what was going wrong in this country? Bush ran up a huge deficit angering his own party. Nothing was done during his administration to control banks and AIG and credit default swaps. 8 years of his agencies being asleep at the switch caused this country to go into a tailspin. Obama was left with Bush's mess - not the other way around.

This article is conpletely misleading. Where is Powell's point of view in this article. Is a bunch of ranting from Limbaugh, who wants to hear his crap. Anyway Powell will come out on top in this one, necause i believe he;s a man of integrity and his opinion are driven by the desire to see this country prosper. However Rush's motivation is quetionable, His goal is to build the Rush Limbaugh brand and enterprise. He recently signed a new contract worth million upon millions to continue to push his super conservative views. He can care less what happens with the republican party and their agenda.

Someone said, "Since they (Democrats) do not have one (demon) handy, they chose Rush"

No - they have plenty - although I wouldn't call any of these folks DEMONS. However, there are more than enough easy-target Republican idiots spouting off some fool thing every day - e.g. CO2 is in coke, therefore more and more of it in the atmosphere is OK. The Republican party - rudderless and no ideas.

However, I do agree - Rush is not worth "demonizing". Not even worth the ink or the electrons to mention. He is nothing more than a fool leading the ignorant.

Now Cheney - he is dangerous enough to have demon potential; but just misses. It turns out that he is merely a demon's tool: A coward led by the fear of his own reflection.

The Democrats' whole MO is to use the Alinsky method. They have to find a target to demonize and polarize. Since they do not have one handy, they chose Rush.. what a mistake! Rush is a citizen like the rest of us who has the right to say what he thinks. He simply has the luxury of the extensive reach of his radio show. They made a big mistake when they attacked Rush because he knows how to take on these liars, robbers and hypocrites.

Many republicans are afraid to use the word 'socialism'? Gimme a break. They should do more than that!

RIGHT NOW the Demcrats/Liberals/Globalists are ruining this country.

Obama has allowed his foreign banker corporate friends to steal, yes STEAL, $14 TRILLION DOLLARS from poor people like you and me, and are in the process of bankrupting the country so these global elites can have their WORLD GOVERNMENT.

It is no longer a theory, it's here, it's now and America is falling to the enemy within.

EVeryone in Congress and the WH should be arrested and removed from office. WE need to start fresh with pro-American, pro-sovereignty, pro-freedom people who are not working for the Rockedfellers, Soros, Warburgs and other world bankers to redistribute the wealth so they can have their dream of global domination.

The problem with Conservatives is that they always take the attitude that if you are not with us then you are against us. As long as Republicans let that attitude permeate their party they will continue to become more and more irrelevant. Perhaps Conservatives should form their own party and see how many they attract? They are on the fringe just as Liberals. It is the party on both sides that temper these extreme idealogies.

I think the extremes of both parties are very hypocritical.

Whenever the Dems are in office the Repubs and their friends in the media say, "too much spending" "look at this scandal" yack yack yack blah blah blah. Whenever Repubs are in office the Dems and their friends in other parts of the media say, "too much spending" "look at this scandal" yack yack yack blah blah blah.

Oh yeah Fox News is not fair and balanced. They are very very much totally republican. In all fairness, many of the other networks are very biased in favor of dems. But at least some of the other networks will put opposing viewpoints on them. Didn't Glenn Beck get started on Headline News or something.

Republicans and Democrats have both been in office during some heavy spending. If you converted Reagan's government spending for the cold war etc. into real money, we'd be astounded. If you did the same for FDR during WWII, we'd be astounded. Moreover, Dems and Repubs have both had some really big scandals...don't even get me started there.

I think it's funny that a bunch of repubs were throwing taxation protests supposedly protesting Obama's budget. He's only doing what FDR did during the Great Depression instead of sitting on his rump saying nothing is wrong with the economy like Hoover and Bush did . Many of those same republicans agree with what FDR did in such a crisis. Moreover, they act like Republicans 1) don't spend a lot of money on what they deem important - war in Iraq- still waiting for that connection between Al Qaeda and Sadam Hussein. I heard that Osama Bin Laden is doing saonces in order to establish that link.

Socialism Socialism Socialism
I really think the cries of Obama being a Socialist are very much a straw man fallacy. Last time I checked the drug store down the street still belonged to CVS and not the federal government. Taco Bueno down the street still belongs to Taco Bueno. If Obama was a socialist, wouldn't all that stuff belong to the "People" through the government. Just about every modern American president belongs to an economic school called the third way that believes in a mixture of socialist and capitalist ideas. I believe even Reagan was lumped into this group of people.

Anyway, let's get some consistency in our criticisms of people. Rush obviosly doesn't have that.

Powell is NOT a democrat nor Replublican, he is an American hero.

What Conservatives don't seem to understand is that Reaganism is stale and old. It was made stale and old by those who trumpeted it as a solution to every problem since 1980...less government, less taxes....Stale and old....Just like the remaining bastions of the conservative movement...

I'm so tired of hearing what is wrong with Republicans. Take a look around and see what the Democrats have done to this country. No it was not the Bush administration that put us in this economical crisis, it was Democrats that are so liberal they can't see right from left or right from wrong. Start taking inventory of all your problems starting at the top with your Socialist Party Head, Mr. Obama

hmmm.
The lead (headline) suggests this is about Powell's response to the barbs. Instead, it is a recounting of Limbaugh's further rants.

This is reporting?