TresSugar

Briefing Book! Powell Says Rush Limbaugh's Ruining GOP

CitizenSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:00:44 -0800

Colin Powell: All Rush's fault? Colin Powell says conservatives have to stop shouting at the world and the country. - Gawker
Blagojevich: Would Obama be more likely to pardon Blagojevich if he didn't look like a male hustler from 1974? Seven Blago questions for Obama. - 23/6
Space: Resistant to Obamafication? NASA making transition hard because it wants to save a costly project in jeopardy. - Good
GOP: Are you a Republican needing inspiration? Watch this montage dedicated to the Gipper. - Townhall

Does Calling Obama a Socialist Cross the Line?

LibertySugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:45:00 -0700

In 2001 John McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts, part of which Barack Obama now wants to let expire (while keeping some in place). In 2000, McCain shared a take on the progressive tax system, which deviates from the one he has now. He confronted a question from the daughter of "Joe the Doctor" who asked McCain at a 2000 townhall: "Why is it that someone like my father, who goes to school for 13 years, gets penalized in a huge tax bracket because he's a doctor?" McCain responded:

[You're] questioning the fundamentals of a progressive tax system where people who make more money pay more in taxes than a flat, across-the-board percentage. . . . But I believe that when you really look at the tax code today, the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don't pay nearly as much as you think they do when you just look at the percentages. And I think middle-income Americans, working Americans, when the account and payroll taxes, sales taxes, mortgage pay - all of the taxes that working Americans pay, I think they - you would think that they also deserve significant relief, in my view.

Well now McCain is taking Obama to task for "socialist" plans such as restoring taxes on those making $250,000 to Clinton-era levels. Some say the latest tactic isn't about tax policy as much as it is about exploiting a cultural divide. To see why, read more.

One McCain critic notes that J. Edgar Hoover used the term socialist to describe African-Americans fighting for equality, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., that could not be trusted due to their un-American values. Add in comments from McCain that Obama wants to turn the IRS into a giant "welfare agency" by potentially giving a tax-credit check to those who pay zero in taxes, and suspicion that he's using code words increases among skeptics. Barack has fought back: "The only 'welfare' in this campaign is John McCain's plan to give another $200 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest corporations in America."

Socialism is a treasonous word in America, paradoxically a country with many socialistic policies like the progressive income tax, medicare, and a $700 billion bailout of banks. Do you share Republican Colin Powell's disappointed sentiment conveyed in his ironic remarks: "Mr. Obama is now a socialist because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have." Has the McCain campaign's latest narrative crossed the line?

Source

Reactions to Powell's Endorsement: Race, Elitism, & Legacy?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:49:54 -0700

After Colin Powell's thorough endorsement of Barack Obama yesterday on Meet the Press the reactions and analysis flew in the media and your comments. Here are some of the standout reactions:

Michelle Malkin called "Powell’s embrace of Barack Obama is a triumph of hope over reality," but is careful to say she doesn't think it's an issue of race. "It’s Obama’s social liberalism, not his skin color, that attracts Powell most."
Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan didn't come to the same conclusion, saying, "I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed," and "look would Colin Powell be endorsing Obama if he were a white liberal Democrat..." respectively.
Over on Townhall, they link the endorsement to the importance Powell puts on the opinion of the media elite saying, "But what his endorsement highlights again is that this race isn't just about left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative. It's about elites vs. normal, everyday Americans."

To see what McCain had to say and what happens next, read more.

Time focuses on the military-esque strategy behind the endorsement, and the Times comments on its contribution to Powell's legacy.
McCain said in response to Powell's assertion that Obama is qualified to be president, "We have a respectful disagreement."

Obama has welcomed Powell to the trail and assured him a role as adviser, though Powell has so far said he has no plans to campaign.

What do you think of the reactions? Are any of them right on?

Source

Gen. Colin Powell Endorses a Candidate on Meet the Press

CitizenSugar — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:23:21 -0700

On Meet the Press moments ago, former Secretary of State Colin Powell laid out first his reasons, and then his much-anticipated endorsement. Powell said that Obama had been showing intellectual vigor and displaying concern for all of the country and the issues people care about, while he was concerned by McCain's seeming constant changing of ideas on how to solve problems. He said though Gov. Palin was to be respected she was not ready to be the president, which is "the job of vice president."

Continuing, he expressed dismay over the Ayers tactic and the robocalls happening about him, saying, "this goes too far. It makes the McCain campaign look too narrow." Adding the party has moved too far to the right, something else that he was troubled with. After telling a stunning story about a picture of a mother at her son's headstone in Arlington cemetery who was a 20-year-old soldier of the Muslim faith, and he expressed extreme disappointment that the faith seems to being used in the campaign as a synonym for terrorism or anti-Americanism.

Then he said it. To see who he endorsed, read more.

Powell said, "I've come to the conclusion because of his ability to inspire. . . as well as his substance. . . he has met the standard of being an exceptional president. I will be voting for Senator Barack Obama." Speaking of the consideration of race behind his choice, Powell said if that was the only consideration, he could have made that decision long ago.Then he said of an Obama presidency that, "all Americans should be proud, not just African-Americans, that we have reached this point in our country."

What do you think of Powell's endorsement?

Source

Colin Powell Gets Down - and Could Be Ready to Endorse?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:00:57 -0700

Glee. This pictures of Colin Powell getting down with his soberly respectable self fill me with utter glee. The former secretary of state hip-hopped on stage with the Nigerian group Olu Maintain at the Africa Rising Festival at the Royal Albert Hall last night. After proving a suit and tie is no match for the funkiness of his moves, he turned more serious. He said that his own black identity matters now more than ever, and told the audience that with work and foreign investment, Africa could start to succeed like Asia and Eastern Europe.

Powell said:

I stand before you tonight as an African-American. Many people have said to me you became secretary of state of the USA, is it still necessary to say that you are an African-American or that you are black, and I say, yes, so that we can remind our children. It took a lot of people struggling to bring me to this point in history. I didn't just drop out of the sky, people came from my continent in chains. . . .Asia is expanding, it created jobs for people, and Eastern Europeans are doing the same . . . it's now Africa's turn.

Christina and Seal were at the festival too, but Powell? Clearly the showstopper. Could he be ready for an encore? There are rumblings that he could be ready to endorse a candidate, and perhaps not the one from the party he served. Possible?

View 5 Photos ›

Source

Joseph Wilson: Obama Has Not Proven Better Judgment

LibertySugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:00:19 -0800

Joseph Wilson, who personifies the dissent surrounding the build up to the Iraq war, profoundly resents Barack Obama's distortion of George Bush's folly into Hillary Clinton's responsibility.

On the Huffington Post, the husband of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame and former ambassador, systematically deflates Obama's argument that he possesses superior judgment, evidenced by Obama's 2002 speech against the war. For some of the arguments made by Wilson, read more.

Wilson contends that:

Obama was not privy to briefings by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in support of authorization as a diplomatic tool.

Obama's 2002 speech was nothing more than pander during a re-election campaign for an Illinois senate seat in the most liberal district in the state. No other position would have been viable.

Bush lied to Congress about his intention, and cooked up intelligence.

Obama is a political opportunist looking to avoid having his fingerprints on any controversial issue that might require real judgment, while preserving his freedom to attack his adversary for actually taking positions.

To find out what Joe Wilson makes of Obama's judgments in foreign affairs as a US senator, read the piece.

Are you convinced by Wilson that Obama's 2002 speech is not enough to demonstrate superior judgment? Or - do we want leaders that are informed and intuitive enough to spot cooked intelligence?

Source

The Most Terrifying Dropped Call Ever

GiggleSugar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0800

Holy guacamole! Those Cingular ads underline how important getting clean reception on your cell phone is. Otherwise, dropped calls cause wives to think their husbands are cheating on them, workers to think their bosses don't get their bad jokes, or boyfriends to think their girlfriends have other boyfriends. Child's play-all of it- after you see this horrifying spoof...