By Would you believe disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley?
What they both said was how great Foley looked, and he was particularly excited about Colin Powell’s endorsement that morning of Obama. Foley said he also favors Obama.
I agree with James Joyner at OTB who writes- “Let’s just say I don’t believe Team Obama will be touting this one as loudly as the Powell endorsement.” Who’s next to come out for Obama? Senator Larry Craig?
Disclosure- While never meeting Congressman Foley, my wife Leonita and I met his parents. They were parishoners at the church we attend, where Leonita also works and got to know the Foleys who were Eucharistic Ministers like herself.
10:28 am on October 21st, 2008 1
Is this your attempt to somehow diminish all the amazing endorsements that have come Obama's way?
Truly pathetic, but typical of the imploding GOP.
10:35 am on October 21st, 2008 2
And what strikes me even more is that there was not a post on Powell's glowing and well-structured endorsement of Obama/critique of McCain.
2:27 pm on October 21st, 2008 3
In another thread, Pete said,"Powell sounds like a whore who will sleep with the highest bidder." That seemed like such an inappropriate use of the word "whore" to me: A person who trades away their virtues cheaply even, at times, for nothing more than the immediate gratification.
We are social animals and we make compromises and trade-offs all the time. We make those decisions based on our individual priorities. I remember an old 1st Sgt. who was trying to preach something about our priorities as military members. It started with 'The Mission' first. Then there was an ordered list I don't remember exactly but was something like 'Your God', 'Your Family', 'Your Military Service', and 'Yourself.' I remember thinking at the time, how presumptuous it was for someone to be telling me what my priorities were. I learned over time that there were actually people in the real world who allowed their lives to be led that way. Many of them end up in cults. Some of them end up in political parties.
People seemed so much smarter and rational when they discussed their political views in the past. Today someone can summarize their entire range of ideological thought by saying something like, "mega-dittos for Rush." Ideological differences were subjects for academic discourse discussed by intellects. There were debates between William Buckley and Patrick Moynihan, and between George Will and Micheal Kinsley. Today, they would all have been dismissed as elitiest by the Sarah Palin crowd. In the '80, debates turned into shouting matches with the advent of CNN's Crossfire and NBC's The McLaughlin Group. Now, we have something no longer recognizable as discussion or debate on talk radio and cable news.
Powell went on at length about why he chose to endorse Obama. He was never a far right conservative. As I recall, he didn't even want to publicly announce he was Republican until he chose to endorse Bush in 2000. He is now uncomfortable with the direction the republican party is taking, "It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that's a choice the party makes." He is even uncomfortable with the direction the Party has taken the courts and, maybe thereby, the country, "I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration."
Belonging to a major political party is like going to a restaurant where you are only allowed to order a full course meal. More people are choosing to declare independence and state their preferences buffet style.
Republicanism has been equated with conservatism, but conservatism can mean many different things. The big blocks are social conservatives; the evangelical fundamentalists, then there are the fiscal conservatives; the free market economy purists, and then there are the libertarian conservatives; smallest government, least taxes, and no foreign nation building. Normally, these different flavors of conservatism had almost nothing else in common until they came under the shared umbrella of the republican party. Now they are starting to come apart at the seams.
The Contract With America offered shared promise to all those groups. But that contract was shredded when rampant corruption, spending excesses, and the neo-conservative Iraq disaster were exposed. Powell wasn't the first to be disillusioned with the party. Richard Vigery, a well respected conservative, publicly disassociated himself with the current party's ideals two years ago. Bob Barr finally decided he no longer wanted to tarnish his libertarian principles. On the other side we have Kenneth Adleman; an intellect of the neocon movement who also recently endorse Obama for some of the exact reasons Powell gave. He cited the Palin appointment as not meeting McCains promise of Country First and McCain erratic response to the financial crisis. You also have to ask why ultra-evangelical conservative James Dobson chose to endorse McCain who had early been very critical of the evangelical influence on the party. Finally you have to ask about John McCain himself. What happened to the independent 'maverick' John McCain of four years ago? The politician we have seen emerge this year is not the man we knew. What virtues or principles does he hold that he would never compromise or trade on?
So, before we start tagging people with the label "whore" we should consider much more carefully what we are saying about them and maybe about ourselves.
2:55 pm on October 21st, 2008 4
"Foley said he also favors Obama."
Obama is much more of a virile manly speciman than the decrepit McCain.
This endorsement does not surprise us at all.
4:10 pm on October 21st, 2008 5
I've got to agree with comment #1. Truly pathetic indeed.
If one were to make lists of horrible people and idiots who support the candidates, both Obama's and McCain's lists would go on forever.
5:39 pm on October 21st, 2008 6
I can't wait until Obama gets elected and redistributes some of that wealth my way.
Lord help us all….
8:16 pm on October 21st, 2008 7
# 3 -I think your definition sounds more like a slut. I would have used the word prostitute but I can't spell it. Bottom line – money/power (the hope of more in the future) is the driving factor on these type of late indorsements. I needed hip boots to read the rest of your post.
1:07 am on October 22nd, 2008 8
THE RATS ARE FLEEING THE SHIP:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12245502773055250…
9:02 pm on October 25th, 2008 9
OUCH!! That's gotta hurt.
Alaska'a most prominent newspaper endorses Obama.
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/567867.html
9:24 pm on October 25th, 2008 10
"Obama is much more of a virile manly speciman than the decrepit McCain."
Your racist comments are not welcome!
9:42 pm on October 25th, 2008 11
Hey ChimChim (aka Shattered?), once you work out the difference between racism and ageism (and sexism), come back and I'll explain the difference between irony and sarcasm, OK?
9:46 pm on October 25th, 2008 12
Hey ChimChim (aka Shattered?), once you work out the difference between racism and ageism (and s.e.x.ism), come back and I'll explain the difference between irony and sarcasm, OK?
10:38 pm on October 25th, 2008 13
Quit speaking in riddles! And come back when you stop racist comments towards John McCain.
8:31 am on October 26th, 2008 14
Welcome back Shattered! Still nuts for Palin? Hahaha!
12:16 pm on October 26th, 2008 15
@7: Maybe Ken Adelman explains his Obama endorsement better than I did.
1:15 pm on October 26th, 2008 16
Ad hominem, should I call you Hwang Woo Suk now?