I think it is great that Colin Powell backed Obama. I don't think that it will hurt Obama at all, many people still view Powell with a sense of dignity (that he deserves). I think that the Bush-Chaney admisistration burned him, they had him put his face on the line telling american families that 'yes we know that Iraq has Weapons of Mass Distruction, they have them, we know this, blah, blah, blah.'

I really don't care if Iraq has WMD's, at this point it wouldn't matter, we have been at this damn war for how many years? 5,6,7? I can't even keep track. I am SO against the war, but I support the troops (several of my friends are over there)One of my friends over there told me that many of the soldier over there don't agree with the 'real' reason we are over there i.e. protect the oil fields.

I think that Powell was used by the Bush administration just like many people before him.

If we wanted to find Osama, we would have invaded Pakistan where he had been living at the time of the attacks, but no we went into uber oil rich Iraq...hmmmm not smart since we are spending BILLIONS of dollars on a war that seems to have no end in sight.

I empathize with the people of Iraq, but I am not really willing to keep paying for this war, when we aren't even going after the person who attacked us.

If we were in Pakistan and in the mountains where Osama is thought to be, I might be able to get behind the war more, but not now.

It doesn't matter if you are a McCain or an Obama supporter, you must see that money is being spent on a war that is either too big for us or we aren't in the right place to catch the bad guy.

We haven't even gotten close to Osama, we are in the wrong country to get him. Yes we got Sadam....anyone find it interesting that the White House put him in power years ago.....and now he is a bad guy.....interesting!!!!

THE BLOOMBERG SYNDROME

How confident's Barack Obama

Of being the White House resident?

He's prepping an amendment repealing

Two-term limits for president.

Calling half your fellow citizens antiamerican sounds just as bad coming from the left as it does from the right. It's meaningless except as an indication that your mind has closed for good.

The deep republican DOOOO:

the "antiamerican" "anticrist" "musilim" "terrorist" republicans want to use as the only shot they have at this point. Pathetic!

The doodoo is in those that buy this crap.

McCain is deep doodoo since decided that Palin was a good choice.

I agree somewhat polite, but after he resigned as Sec of State we've been hearing more and more about his uneasiness about the choices made during the run up to the war and his disagreements with the current administration.

But I don't see Powell as the man to come out in protest about anything publicly. Hes a very loyal and respectful person and I still hold him in high esteem. I truly believe only he did what he thought was right and for the good of this country, even if he was flat out wrong.

I wonder who is making the most noise with regard to Powell and his "unforgivable lie" regarding the push to war and what he knew as truth presented or as the lie it was eventually revealed to be. GOP or Dems?

Either way, the endorsement is in and Obama picks up another generally well respected ex-Pol and life-long GOP member.

Like the guy on the corner in Time Square selling Obama and McCain condoms says, "Either way, your screwed." I hope not.

With Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, John McCain is in DEEP political DOO-DOO.

And so is SILLY SARAH (Palin). OsiSpeaks.com

Colin Powell had no problem congratulating George W. Bush on his "victory" after the 2000 election fraud and helping Bush lie to the American public about going to war in Iraq. We're supposed to believe that his endorsing the leading candidate two weeks before the election is an act of principle? He had his chance and destroyed his credibility years ago.

The worst muslim would do a better job of running this country than any Republican. Inshallah, Obama will win big and wipe D.C. clean of the Republican filth. Allah ahu akhbar!

#21 care to expand on your entry?

Please stop? what exactly?

What is the purpose of discussing if somebody needs to be silenced?

watever..."the he is a musilim" should go on for you guys then!

Amanda, I say this as a solidly liberal democrat, supporter of Barack Obama and opponent of most things conservative: Please stop. What you are saying is thoughtless and immature.

Trying to infuse fear by bringing the musil faith as the worse of all evils, while failing to se how catastrophic has been the republican mandate, ignoring how reckless is to allow republicans to give the whithe house to Palin, is to bring the debate into a denial state. NO THANKS, not falling for that cheap trick creepublicans call "strategy"

Call me belligerent! but the "natural" ever present dogmatic belligerence of republicans have sunk us into the dark ages. I'm not proud of the republicans "intelligence", and I will call the republican ideology intellectual goo because that's how I see it. SO I'm sorry if I'm not open to debate all the "half " trues that republicans use as life savers of their zombie campaign, I just won't waste my time.

The only Republican with stones finally said what needed to be said.

Such an indictment of the GOP. Their scapegoating of an entire religion is something they'll never live down.

Point is: Even in his books, Obama speaks of growing up as a Muslim. Yet now his website proudly proclaims He isn't now and never was a Muslim. So why the need to lie? To me, it is a disturbing pattern in Obama to distance himself from his true friends and mentors.

Well, I just finished Dreams from my Father and I'd say that that is not really accurate. His father (who he only met once) was Muslim, and he attended a Muslim school as a child in Indonesia (this is during what would be the preschool years in the US. His mother was living with a different man, not his father.) And, apparently, that's it.

His recollection of the religious aspect of his tutelage is very distanced and somewhat negative.

Later in Chicago he becomes very involved in Christian congregations, and seems to eventually settle on Wright's as his home church. Even then, he's not particularly pious - as you might expect from somebody who has experienced more than one flavor of religion, he's a bit agnostic about the actual sacred stuff, and at first he says he felt uncomfortable when questioned about what he himself believed, as though he didn't really belong there.

These are his own words, and they are very detailed. I really don't understand how partisans get off thinking they understand his experience better than he does, to go so far as accusing him of "lying." When you look at what he actually writes, these claims seem absurd.

Obama has no pride, and certainly no sense of humor.

Absurd. Are paying attention to the man himself at all, or just repeating what you have been told by propagandists? Obama has an extremely sharp sense of irony (which is occasionally expressed with humor but, more often, just as irony. Heck, the book is basically all irony - first it seemed like this, but then I realized this, but isn't it really like this, and here's an image for you that kind of summarizes all of the ambiguity.)

Compared to the nonsense that McCain has pulled in the last few months, moves that seem totally disingenuous (like the selection of Palin or his campaign "suspension") I think Obama comes off as much more trustworthy. So does Powell, apparently.

Amanda,

That has to be one of the worst political attacks I've yet read. I'm sure you think it is very clever, but it comes across as trite and petty.

NYCSniper has raised valid concerns. It has nothing to do with paranoia, conspiracies, Republicans or anything other than SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES.

Democrats like yourself are really doing nothing more than highlighting why party politics are fundamentally flawed. You are so beholden to your party that you cannot even discuss simple political issues without resorting to name calling.

Democrats are not 100% right about every issue. The dysfunction of New York City should be evidence enough of that. So, let's all just focus on the issue, ok?

I see what you're saying, NYCSniper, but I disagree completely with your take. We see the same thing and come away with very different impressions.

I don't see where in his books Obama has claimed to have grown up Muslim. He's talked about growing up among Muslims (and Christians and Jews) at different points of his life, and spending time in Indonesia while visiting his father as a boy; is this what you're talking about? Nor do I see his verbal slip as a sign that he accidentally told the truth. I see it as a simple mistake. As when McCain calls Obama Senator Government during a debate. It was funny, and an interesting slip, but does it have deeper meaning? Well, in my opinion, no. But we disagree.

If I already thought he was a Muslim and was hiding it, I suppose I might feel differently.

NYCSniper, paranoia and conspiracy theories seem to work very well for the republican minds, those that are becoming more and more irrelevant, in spite of not working much for those that have real arguments and care about public impact of policies.

None of what you and creepublicans deem as half ass "facts" are anything but fearful gossipy republican constructs glued with very low intellectual oozing gue.

Only those that like oozing goo as intellectual food eat this shit!

PS: I voted for Obama in the primaries and intended to vote for him in the general election, but after doing a bit more research on B.O. (and after his support of the Bush bailout bill) I have moved on to other candidates.

I just don't trust Barack Obama. His record is one of dishonesty (I mean, does he or doesn't he support the Iraq war? Corporate Bialouts, etc?) His "no new taxes" moment was his call that there will be "No more bailouts if I'M elected." Oops, notice he dropped THAT one real quick!