Obama Weighs In On Sununu’s Powell Comments

[DonViejo]

Source: TPM

Obama Weighs In On Sununu’s Powell Comments

IGOR BOBIC 2:27 PM EDT, FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2012

President Obama on Friday weighed in on comments made by Romney surrogate and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, who said on Thursday that former Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of the president was racially motivated.

"I'll let Gen. Powell's statement speak for itself," Obama told radio host Michael Smerconish in an Oval Office interview on Friday. “I don’t think that there are many people in America who would question Gen, Powell’s credibility, his patriotism, his willingness to tell it straight -- so any suggestion that Gen. Powell would make such a profound statement in such an important election based on anything other than what he thought would be best for America doesn’t make much sense.”

Obama was also asked if he had anticipated television coverage of the first debate to include extensive use of split screens, which highlighted his demeanor.

"There's no doubt the way they cover the debates have changed over the last four years," Obama said. "We knew there'd be some splits, I don't think we anticipated that it was the entire time."

-30-

Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-weighs-in-on-sununus-powell-comments

[xxqqqzme]

1. I do not like the

continuous split screen.

[reflection]

2. It has some advantages.

Look at what this guy did:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/the-way-my-dad-watches-the-debate-picture_n_2005600.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Politics

[xxqqqzme]

23. I saw that on FB. It's cute.

That is one advantage but I no longer have an entertainment armoire.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

19. I agree. It's just creepy. No one needs to have a camera straight on them for 90 minutes.

[high density]

26. I watched it on PBS

They only showed one camera at a time. I was surprised to see on "The Daily Show" clips from Fox and ABC showing both candidates at once in split screen.

[Life Long Dem]

3. Oct 3rd

The first debate. Are we going to get past that, or what.

[SoapBox]

4. Ditto...it's now ancient history.

[AndyTiedye]

5. Nope. The Other Ones Don't Count as far as the MSM is Concerned

[DallasNE]

6. The Proper Story Of The First Debate

Should have been the Romney lies and how Romney pivoted 180 degrees on everything rather than how it caught Obama flat-footed. This was, after all, something that had never happened in these debates going all of the way back to 1960 so that was a huge story and it still has not been reported on to any great extent by MSM. If that wasn't enought, Romeny did the very same thing on foreign policy in the last debate and it has taken Colin Powell to point this out to any extent. The Romney answer to all of this; he will not conduct any interviews until after the election, turning the next 11 days into mere photo-op's. The proper response to this would be very, very limited coverage of Romney events. But that will never happen as MSM will continue to kiss Romney's a$$.

[Cha]

9. Agree.

[ashling]

12. A 360 degree screen would have shown Romney all over the place

[mountain grammy]

7. Next question; Do you think Americans are proud of their racism?

You bet! The election of a black man to the presidency, instead of putting an end to racism once and for all, has seemed to awakened the deepest, darkest instincts of many Americans. They're so whacky and pissed off in Texas, we could have another civil war, as soon as they get a day off.

[Cha]

10. Yeah, why aren't the media jackals calling Sununu a freaking race baiter/asshole?

[TrollBuster9090]

16. Yes, Obama's election forced the racists to stand up and show themselves.

And they're mostly in the Republican Party. Obama's election has highlighted this. They'd previously kept fairly quiet, and only showed their location on election day. When Obama started running for President they got very vocal, and have found it hard to contain their stupidity.

Personally, I think it's a good thing. Flushing them all out, so their attitudes can be confronted and dealt with.

Yes, if this were pre-1965, all the racists would be hiding in the Democratic Party. But the Democrats were finally able to erase their racist past thanks to LBJ and the Civil Rights movement. I think the Republicans will do the same, eventually. Renounce the 'Southern Strategy' and all the dog whistle politics, and pass some affirmative action legislation. Then the racists will have nowhere to do except to some crackpot third party, where they can be marginalized where they belong.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. It wasn't that long ago when Republicans were claiming affirmative action was "obsolete",...

....since racism didn't exist anymore.

Now there are white people being fired from their jobs for being Obama supporters.

Amongst racists, as you know, there's only one thing worse than a ni**er and that's a ni**er lover.

[mountain grammy]

27. I love your optimism and hope you're right.

a few million more mixed race kids like Barack and racism disappears... I should live so long.

[azurnoir]

8. so how many of Mittens supporters are 'racially motivated'?

hmmm seems Sununu is suffering from an acute case projectionitis, don't know if there's cure though

[TahitiNut]

20. In effect, ALL of them.

When a candidate harbors racists and stands behind them as they spew their racist filth, anyone voting for such despicable human sewage is, in effect if not overtly, a racist and a coward.

[mahannah]

11. UN Address?

"Gen. Powell’s credibility, his patriotism, his willingness to tell it straight." Mr. Powell's address to the United Nations just prior to our invasion of Iraq comes to mind.

[TrollBuster9090]

14. True, but the narrative he's tried to spin ever since is that he was duped

and that's why he left the Bush Administration in the second term.

It probably isn't true, but if it gives Powell enough cover to make his endorsement of Obama useful, I'll go with it.

[1StrongBlackMan]

22. Why do you believe that ...

it's a narrative he's tried to spin ever since.

Is it beyond the realm of possibility that he WAS duped? And, that that was the reason he left the bush administration? Bottom-line, as Sec. of State, you go with what your intelligence agencies tell you is true, unless you have evidence that contradicts it.

The argument seems to be satisfactory for Democrats/DUers, when it comes to what HRC said about Bengazi ... she was given inaccurate intelligence.

But I guess that's somehow different.

[justiceischeap]

25. I'm not defending what Powell did, he's stated he had some reservations but one thing I keep in mind

is that Powell was a career soldier. They are shipped to basic training, where they are torn down and remade in the mold that the US Military wants them to be, which is order following killing machines (to be blunt). When a career soldier is told by his commanding officer that he is to do something, he is not ALLOWED to question it. I would guess that went through his head when being told to go to the UN.

It's not out of the realm that he too was lied to. Bush/Cheney lied to everyone else, why not him?

Lastly, liberals may not appreciate Powell's endorsement but there are other people in this country and there are still people who respect him, see him as a man who served this nation honorably. No matter what he did in the Bush admin, he was a decorated soldier before that and he willingly gave to this country up to offering up his life if need be. People outside of DU and the progressive community respect that and some moderate Repubs & Independents may take a second look at President Obama based on this endorsement.

[George II]

13. As usual, he's cool and calm and knows how to take his shots without seeming to come off........

....insulting or offensive. Perfect response.

[TrollBuster9090]

15. Thank you, John Sununu.

Most of the Republican pundits had been doing their best to make the Powell endorsement a non-issue all day yesterday, until Sununu stuck his big, rancid foot in his mouth with that comment. Now it's a good excuse to get Powell's endorsement back into the news cycle.

I've been VERY impressed so far with Team Obama's ability to run the news cycle. They're beating the Republicans at their own game.

[SunSeeker]

17. If all Powell cared about was race, he'd have endorsed Herman Cain.

Why anyone puts a mic in front of Sununu is beyond me.

[estrada1]

18. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)

[Turborama]

24. Wrong thread? Oh, and welcome to DU!