Powell Says Palin Too Fringe

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria, Colin Powell said Sarah Palin, especially, and other republicans used polarization for political gain, which failed.
In 20 years the minority is going to be the majority, he said. I think that's what many republicans are afraid of. 

Obama's National Security Team Announcements

These folks have already been in the news for what seems like weeks, but the official announcement comes tomorrow. Obama's cabinet is expected to be in place before Christmas. 

The Obama transition team announced Sunday that Obama will unveil the full team at a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, around 10:40 a.m. ET.

CNN and CNN.com will carry the event live.

The officials said Obama is also expected to finally confirm that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his current post. Obama plans to name retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as his national security adviser at the White House, the officials said.

Also, two sources close to the transition said Obama will nominate Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador; Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary; and Eric Holder as attorney general.

Annual book author's show on Face the Nation

Face the Nation Roundtable on Obama's Economic Challenge

Former Reagan Adviser Votes Obama

CNN: Former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein told CNN's Fareed Zakaria Friday he intends to vote for Democrat Barack Obama this Tuesday.

Duberstein said he was influenced by another prominent Reagan official - Colin Powell - in his decision.

"Well let's put it this way - I think Colin Powell's decision is in fact the good housekeeping seal of approval on Barack Obama."

Powell served as national security advisor to Reagan during Duberstein's tenure as chief of staff.

Powell: Experience Helpful But Judgment Matters

Powell's endorsement of Obama was a grand thing. But even better for me, expressed in Maureen Dowd's story, is that he actually said it: What's wrong with being a Muslim?
It seems all of us were cowed because we had to defend against the constant barrage of idiot attacks. We knew calling Obama a Muslim had a whole other meaning for McCain Palin supporters. The truth is, McCain Palin supporters, the rabid ones, don't just dislike extreme Islamists. They hate the entire religion. They think it breeds terrorists. Don't let them fool you.
I have watched Powell's endorsement over and over because it is soothing and reassuring that maybe this time intellect will win out.

NYT: In a gratifying “have you no sense of decency, Sir and Madam?” moment, Colin Powell went on “Meet the Press” on Sunday and talked about Khan, and the unseemly ways John McCain and Palin have been polarizing the country to try to get elected. It was a tonic to hear someone push back so clearly on ugly innuendo.

Even the Obama campaign has shied away from Muslims. The candidate has gone to synagogues but no mosques, and the campaign was embarrassed when it turned out that two young women in headscarves had not been allowed to stand behind Obama during a speech in Detroit because aides did not want them in the TV shot.

The former secretary of state has dealt with prejudice in his life, in and out of the Army, and he is keenly aware of how many millions of Muslims around the world are being offended by the slimy tenor of the race against Obama.

He told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: “ ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”

Powell got a note from Feroze Khan this week thanking him for telling the world that Muslim-Americans are as good as any others. But he also received more e-mails insisting that Obama is a Muslim and one calling him “unconstitutional and unbiblical” for daring to support a socialist. He got a mass e-mail from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim.

“Holy cow!” Powell thought. Upon checking Amazon.com, he saw that it was a reference to Fareed Zakaria, a Muslim who writes a Newsweek column and hosts a CNN foreign affairs show. His latest book is “The Post-American World.” Read the whole thing.

Fareed Zakaria Endorses Obama

Editor of Newsweek International Fareed Zakaria is one smart cookie. I've been meaning to read his book, The Post American World. I heard him talk about it on NPR. He suggests America's new role in the world should be Chairman of the Board.

McCain Needs Calm Palin Needs to Go

Palin doesn't understand the question, says Fareed Zakaria, who wrote that Palin is unqualified.

Here's her partner talking about his lack of qualifications in economics and Wall Street

McCain needs to calm down. He's doing too much squawking. He keeps saying we should stop blaming and his next breath is blame. 

CNN: But it was a majority of McCain's own Republicans in the House who voted against the bailout by a 2-1 ratio Monday afternoon, leaving the outcome of the bailout in doubt and sending the stock market diving 778 points. Despite McCain's lobbying efforts, 133 House Republicans voted against the bill. 

After the vote, McCain was defensive, accusing his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, of just wanting to "phone it in" when it came to the bailout and introducing partisanship into the process.

"Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship into the process. Now is not the time to fix the blame. It's time to fix the problem," the Arizona Republican said after the vote. 

But on Tuesday morning, McCain said the bill failed "because we haven't convinced people that this is a rescue effort, not just for Wall Street, but for Main Street America, for working families, for small businesses, for the heartland of America.

"I may fail a first or second or third time, but we have to get this job done for America. And I have a plan to restore our economy," McCain added

Palin Utterly Unqualified

I keep thinking that maybe Palin's playing the part of being utterly ignorant to create really low expectations, only to strike out like a mad woman and make Joe Biden cry during the debate.

But the reality is that Palin is more likely to cry during the debate. If she did, that would truly be sad to see, though her supporters would rally to her side.

Surely then McCain would have to admit an error in judgment and send Palin packing back to Alaska. But as I've said before, being unqualified doesn't matter to McCain. She would have no real duties as vice president. It would be the office of public affairs. I think many republicans know this, which is why some of them aren't so worried. Palin is like a sacrificial lamb, meant to woo a certain kind of voter --Jesus, guns and babies.

It would be Joe Lieberman or Lindsey Graham who would hold vice presidential powers. The only danger in Palin is if something happens to McCain. The Palin pick also demonstrates McCain's lack of judgment and his rash leadership style.
Newsweek:

This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.

Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic challenges.