Rush Limbaugh 's Bigotry

“It was totally about race. The Powell nomination — or endorsement — totally about race.” ---Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2008

Radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh, conservative firebrand Pat Buchanan, and other right wingers have dismissed Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President as racially motivated. Give me a break.

Colin Powell is a Vietnam Veteran, four star general, former National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State. In addition to his numerous military awards, he’s been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, and the President’s Citizen Medal.

So we’re talking about someone whose life has been dedicated to service of this country. But those critics would have you believe that Powell, after establishing his integrity his entire life, would sell out for racial reasons in the sunset of his years.

Name something that Colin Powell has done that has been racially motivated in the past.

Does Powell have a history of endorsing black candidates for President? Jesse Jackson ran for President in 1984 and 1988. Alan Keyes ran for President in 1996, 2000 and this year on the American Independent Party ticket. Al Sharpton and former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun ran for President in 2004. Never a single endorsement from the General.

If this is the way the game is to be played, how come no one accused Sen. Joe Lieberman of supporting John McCain because they’re both white?

Even the overwhelming support Barack Obama enjoys among blacks cannot solely be attributed to race. Lyndon Johnson got 94% of the black vote. Al Gore carried 90% and John Kerry took 88%. If the Democratic nominee this year had been female, white or Latino, Asian or any other demographic, it’s a safe bet that he or she would get 90% of the black vote. So Obama getting overwhelming support among blacks isn’t unusual for a Democratic nominee.

Why was the GOP caught with their pants down on this endorsement? Though Colin Powell is a Republican, he has described himself as a “Rockefeller Republican” in the past. He’s a man who is pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, supports gun control, been more consistently against torture than John McCain and believes we should be talking to our enemies “without preconditions.”
It’s obvious his politics and priorities are more closely aligned with Barack Obama’s than John McCain’s.

Gen. Powell gave us his reasons. He told us that he thinks John McCain failed in his handling of the banking meltdown. He doesn’t think Sarah Palin is ready to be President and that reflects on McCain’s judgment. He disagrees with McCain’s negative campaign tactics and thinks Obama would be better at helping change the image of the United States abroad.

The judgments Powell made are in line with the judgments made by most Americans according to recent polling.

People like Limbaugh remind blacks that no matter if they're a war veteran, National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of State or even President of the United States, you're still just a nigger.