Lawrence Wilkerson, Former Colin Powell Aide, Blasts Sununu, GOP, As 'Full Of Racists'

[Mayhem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/26/lawrence-wilkerson-colin-powell-sununu_n_2027721.html

Colin Powell's former chief of staff condemned the Republican Party on Friday night, telling MSNBC's Ed Schultz, "My party is full of racists."

Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson made the comment in response to Mitt Romney campaign surrogate John Sununu's suggestion on Thursday that Powell's endorsement of President Barack Obama's re-election was motivated by race. Wilkerson, who served as Powell's chief of staff when the general was secretary of state during the first George W. Bush term, told Schultz that he respected Sununu "as a Republican, as a member of my party," but did not "have any respect for the integrity of the position that [Sununu] seemed to codify."

When asked by Schultz what, if anything, the remark said about the attitudes of the Republican Party, Wilkerson said:

My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people -- not all of them, but most of them -- who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that's despicable.

The retired colonel also said that "to say that Colin Powell would endorse President Obama because of his skin color is like saying Mother Theresa worked for profit."

Powell, a Republican, endorsed Obama for the second time on Thursday morning -- he also backed the president in 2008 -- saying on CBS' "This Morning" that he was "more comfortable with President Obama and his administration" than with Romney on a host of issues.

Sununu, no stranger to incendiary rhetoric this election cycle, reacted to the endorsement on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight," saying that "when you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama."

Obama himself dismissed Sununu's suggestion on Friday, telling radio host Michael Smerconish:

Any suggestion that Gen. Powell would make such a profound statement in such an important election based on anything but what he thought was what's going to be best for America doesn't make much sense.

Sununu backed off his remarks shortly after his CNN appearance, issuing a statement that said Powell is a friend and, “I respect the endorsement decision he made, and I do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the President’s policies."

 

[darkwarrior3007]

As Cenk Uygur would say, "Awesome."

 

[Johan]

Col. Lawrence is right, Sununu is a fucking racist.
When I saw what he said about Colin Powell, I thought "If you think Powell choosed Obama 'cause he's black, I guess you choosed Romney 'cause he's white.

Cenk Uygur raised a very good question about this : "If Powell endorsed Obama 'cause he's black, why didn't he endorsed Herman Cain during the rep. primaries ?"
Powell heimself compared his presence at he White House, surrounded by Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, etc... to "A dove in an eagle nest". Powell's an oldschool republican and he's very uncompfortable with the turn the party took.

Some may call him a RINO. My though is one of the very last real republicans, one who dares to stand for what he believes instead of following the GOP dogma even if doesn't endorse that dogma.

 

[Bearded_Menace]

This video highlights a point that I tried to make 4 years ago during the last election. Everyone(mostly on the right) was so focused on the fact that 95% of Black Americans voted for Obama that they failed to ask how many White Americans voted against Obama because he was black. Sure Obama garnered 95% of the black vote, but he also lost the white vote by double digits. First time in American history that a candidate has done that and still won. Another thing that I find baffling is the fact that people acted totally surprised by the percentage of the black vote Obama received. Democratic candidates over the last 20 years have received nearly 90% of the black vote. This includes Clinton, Gore, and Kerry who are all white. To me this makes the 95% of the black vote Obama received a non issue since 90% were gonna vote for him anyway because he was a Democrat. Even if 5% of the respondents voted for Obama because he was black, that number is easily countered by the percentage in which Obama lost the white vote, some of which undoubtedly voted against him because he was black as Col. Lawrence suggested.

Also, when you look at the numbers, it suggests that Obama didn't win just because of the black vote and he didn't lose because of the white vote. I don't know how some in the media have managed to twist this fact around to the point that people just ignore it, but I sure as hell would love to have that type of power of persuasion.