"Why does Colin Powell hate America?"

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=188474&title=An-Arab-Family-Man

"There has been much condemnation over the "Obama-is-a-Muslim" line of GOP attack, but almost all of it has been on the ground that the attack is factually false as applied to the Christian Obama, not on the ground that it is a reprehensible and dangerous line of attack even if it were factually true."

I too find myself at odds with my own visceral distaste for Colin's role in conning our country into war. But I must say, that at one point in the clip I even got a little misty. This is the most eloquent defense of diversity I have seen on the public stage since this whole mess started. I can't imagine what the media and McCain campaign will do with this--its almost as if the parent driving the car has finally kept his promise to "come back there" to the squabbling petty children in the back seat.

However, the current discouse on American Muslims remains troubled. I followed the link to the muslim american soldier you posted, and was disturbed by this.

"He wanted to show that not every Muslim was a fanatic and that some would risk their lives for America."

I don't know who wrote this. It could have even been his whole family, I would not be surprised. We have a long way to go.

Finally, I have also been following the Prop 8 issue nervously. I can't believe it is gaining this kind of ground, but hopefully the polls may not be representing the large number of Obama voters coming out to the polls who will knock this one down.

But I was stunned by his eloquence regarding the willful demonizing of an entire faith by the Republicans. Note how he went out of his way, with a real air of dismay, to note that he had heard such nonsense from senior party members.

I guess that the purveyors of such slime are beyond hope and redemption. It must be nice to be so secure in your righteousness that the entire concept of "there but for the grace of g_d go I" is thrown out the window. Humility in all things when coupled to compassion and tolerance is far closer to the American ideal than this hate, bile and divisiveness that passes for a large part of the Republican party at present. And we are all the poorer because of it, the ultimate guilt-by-association that they revel in. Lincoln is spinning in his grave.

Powell was right, it has long needed to be said -- loud and clear and without equivocation. It's flatly un-American.

Now that it appears that Obama will win by a landslide, Mr Powell has finally stepped up with his endorsement. He should have done it earlier and denounced the horrible tactics being used by his party in this campaign. Still, it does redeem him to some extent of his role in the Bush administration.

I've been wondering if any of our fine "journalists", or Obama himself , would make this point , and/or ask the Obama-is-a-Muslim crowd about this . Perhaps a Cheneyesque "So?"

Good to see Powell bring this up. Maybe this will give the media herd the impetus to start questioning the question. (Who-is-the-real-Barack-Obama) Not optimistic, but one can always hope.

AT LAST SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS THE TRUTH ! I DON,T CARE IF OBAMA IS BLACK ,BLUE,PURPLE,OR ANY OTHER COLOR OR ANY OTHER RELIGION,WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO BE A CHRISTIAN?WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE IN THE US THEY THINK IT IS THE ONLY RELIGION?ISN'T THAT WHY THE PERSECUTED CAME HERE4 SO THEY COULD HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION? GEE, I'M NOT SEEING THAT! wHAT MAKES CHRISTIANITY SO GREAT?I LIKE RELIGION THAT TEACHES PEACE,SO FAR I HAVE NOT SEEN THIS. I SEE HATRED ANS BIGOTRY SPEWING FROM SO CALLED CHRISTIANS AND CASPER I MEAN JOHN MCCAIN.CINDY MCCAIN EVEN FAKED A WRIST PROBLEM SO SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO SHAKE HANDS WITH ANYONE!IF ITS ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED WHICH IS A TOTAL LIE IS THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL THAT'S THE BIGGEST CROCK OF CRAP I,V EVER HEARD,AND THE MOST UNTRUTHFUL PHASE EVER WRITTEN.

Filching a few Percocets I can endure, or even admire. Heck, I'm an long-time rifler of suburban medicine cabinets myself. It takes practice, horse sense, a cool hand and a keen eye. Or maybe that's Prof. Hill's description of billiards. It doesn't matter, now. Just look at this behavior! Alaska? They shoot Mooses, don't they? Oy, I can't type any more. too famischt. But look at this:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/802901064

or click sig.

Warning, the picture alone will tear your beating and all too human heart right from your chest, and squeeze it in a vise-like grip. Sensitive children, they only kind engendered by Greenwald readers, may have nightmares. Use caution.

I'm a physical therapist in a college town, and a good portion of my patients happen to be professors and employees at the university. One patient in particular is an economics professor, and he also happens to be a Muslim. I have thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with him, and our conversations have been nothing shy of interesting and enlightening. I won't get into the details of our conversations, but there have been occasions when he has mentioned the difficulties of being a Muslim in this country post-9/11 (especially in Kansas, if you can imagine). For some reason I naively believed such prejudice and racist behaviors had calmed down a few years after 9/11 - he kindly but assertively told me otherwise.

Seeing how the McCain campaign has been directly and indirectly citing racism has obviously been sad and horrible to me, especially when I've seen how it has affected the emotions of this brilliant man. He has an enormous heart and terrific sense of humor, and often times when our conversations turn to politics and the Republican campaign, he utilizes his humor as a means to explain how wrong things are with that campaign and party. But it's apparent that it affects him. Hell it affects me and I'm Caucasian, and I'm only left to my imagination as to what it does to him.

Anyway, it's funny but I didn't really think about Colin Powell when I flipped over to Salon and read your article. My thoughts quickly moved towards my patient instead. Thanks for this piece, Glenn.