Cheney and Limbaugh Cut from the Same Stupid, Racist Cloth

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

No one should be surprised that Dick Cheney would pick his chicken hawk chum, Rush Limbaugh, over Colin Powell as the best hope for leading the GOP out of the political wilderness.

They do, after all, have a lot in common.

This week, the former vice-president generated his own version of shock and awe when he told “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer that he believes the polarizing radio talker offers Republicans a better way back to relevancy than the former secretary of state.

That statement left some folks aghast.

Powell is, after all, a military hero who, in spite of the subterranean poll numbers of Cheney and his former boss, George W. Bush, is still popular and respected. Limbaugh, on the other hand, is basically an entertainer who appeals to prejudice rather than reason; a man who has run little more than his mouth.

But as I said, no one should be shocked at Cheney’s preference for Limbaugh – as they are virtually doppelgangers in the ways of hypocrisy and intolerance.

Both men, for example, believe that bluster is sound defense policy. They measure patriotism through leaders’ willingness to wage war, yet when they had a chance to prove theirs by going to Vietnam, they didn’t.

Cheney managed to get five deferments. In fact, he even once said that he had other priorities besides military service.

Obviously, he didn’t give the same consideration to thousands of other young men and women as he urged Bush to wage an unnecessary war in Iraq.

Cheney and Limbaugh Cut from the Same Stupid, Racist Cloth....

Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama in new audio message

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF and LEE KEATH

CAIRO,Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri insulted Barack Obama in the terror group's first reaction to his election, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites Wednesday, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.

Al-Zawahri also called Obama — along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice — "house negroes."

Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes."

The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters' house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.

The 11-minute 23-second video features the audio message by al-Zawahri, who appears only in a still image, along with other images, including one of Obama wearing a Jewish skullcap as he meets with Jewish leaders. In his speech, al-Zawahri refers to a Nov. 5 U.S. airstrike attack in Afghanistan, meaning the video was made after that date.

Al-Zawahri said Obama's election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others.

Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama in new audio message....

Commentary: Instead of Making Him a Pariah for Endorsing Obama, the GOP Should Thank Colin Powell

By: Deborah Mathis

Had Colin Powell sat down with Tom Brokaw on Sunday morning and announced that he was supporting John McCain’s presidential bid, the Republican apparatus would have feted him as a semi-prodigal son come home again.

To hear them tell it, it would have been a ponderously important thumbs-up for the struggling McCain candidacy, a green light to queasy independents and wavering others, a permission slip to support a man who is neither who he used to be, nor what many in his party want him to be, and, therefore, a man who needs all the help he can get. Colin Powell’s endorsement would have been a lot of help.

Instead, Powell’s visit to the set of NBC’s “Meet the Press” raised a different headline. He spoke 1,961 words before flipping the script, but there it was -- that amazing declaration, “I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.”

COMMENTARY....

Colin Powell endorses Obama

(CNN) -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."

"He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well," Powell said.

Powell, a retired U.S. general and a Republican, was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself.

Powell said he questioned Sen. John McCain's judgment in picking Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate because he doesn't think she is ready to be president.

He also said he was disappointed with some of McCain's campaign tactics, such as bringing up Obama's ties to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.



Colin Powell endorses Obama....