When Limbaugh came on the scene, there were two raps against him. 1. He was a crypto-fascist (literally, not figurately) who would abuse the airways along the lines of Goebbels. 2. He was a shouter/hater like Morton Downey Jr., who preceded him briefly as a national figure. Powell, by referring to "shouting" and "baser instincts," is revealing himself to be a person who probably does not know much more about Limbaugh than what he read about him in Time or Newsweek c. 1989.

Limbaugh, to his credit, is a pretty effective satirist of the left. When he first emerged, and took aim at icons like Jesse Jackson and Dan Rather, his approach was quite original, and arresting. Since then, in my view, he and others like him suffer (rather boringly) from the plague of making the government (and/or liberalism) the cause of every problem. They also develop a kind of siege mentality which, regardless of its merits, tends to be unhealthy, to my way of thinking.

Okay, now back to Powell. Limbaugh noted, I think correctly, that Powell's endorsement of Mr. Obama was not about the merits (if you read the transcript of Powell's Meet the Press interview, the endorsement is about as substantive as whipped cream), but about race. Now for me, that is not really a problem. I am an Indiana kraut, and have said before that if I lived in a country where no similar person had ever achieved high office, I would be glad to vote on race/gender identity. It makes even greater sense here, where Powell actually shares Obama's view on the hottest button issue of them all, abortion. I don't think there is one chance in a hundred Powell would have endorsed any Republican ticket this year, against Obama. Rather than admit that, of course, he's doing a little lashing out against Limbaugh (who may have made him uncomfortable) and of course the dreaded rightist tendencies of the party. Just as the sun rises in the east, an interview of Colin Powell must lament the rightward trend of his party.

Logically, of course, Powell's comment makes little sense. If every Limbaugh listener votes Republican, how does that hurt the Republican party? Is Powell suggesting that Limbaugh's mere existence, and the fact he has a platform for his opinions, is so offensive that the party itself suffers? I guess I don't understand that line of thinking, but again, I think the bigger point here is that Powell did not like being called out on his racialist endorsement -- even though there was no shame in it, from my perspective.

One final thought. I liked Powell's comment several years ago that he preferred to stay in hotels like the Holiday Inn, rather than something fancier. I am the same way. There are few things I dislike more than the sight of tasseled lofers, polo shirts, and expensive golf bags in a hotel lobby. I much prefer to be among "regular" people. Incidentally, I suspect my favorite Republican feels the same way. Maybe someday Powell will come around to seeing that he has more in common with her than he thinks today.

I had hoped the country as a whole would throw that bum out years ago. He is so obnoxiously ignorant. He spews hatred, come on already, America. There's a guy in my city on an AM station. I will not give him publicity, sorry. and he was near to libelous towards Obama during the campaign. Besides that, he , of course, knows better, like Limbaugh does, how everyone else should live their lives.If a person reveals to me that they listen to Limbaugh,Shamus, or this local guy, they are out of my address book for good !!!

Well if this isn't a case of the pot calling the kettle.

Has Powell forgotten that his lies have resulted in over a million dead Iraqi civilians ?

Has Powell no remorse for the tens of thousands of American limbs that have been left to rot on Iraqi soil ?

Powell is a Top Ten War Criminal on the face of the planet.

Whether it was trying to cover up My Lai or presenting forged satellite imagery in the lead up to the first Gulf War...Powell has excelled at murdering and pathologically lying.

Although he is right about Rush "oxy fiend" Limbaugh , Powell should keep his mouth shut and keep a low profile before the American people realize that they have to take responsibility for every single Bush Administration jerkoff that had a hand in war crimes and subverting democracy and charge them accordingly.

Until America takes out it's trash there will be zero credibility amongst it's peers.

Colin Powell should be immediately renditioned to the Hague and face charges with the rest of those bastards.

Which, in the Republican playbook, becomes their voting base. Because they know that an un-empowered people demand big 'L' leadership, which is what the right-wing myth makers sell.

Rachel Maddow said it susinctly last night. It is the Repubs job to dismantle Unions and get big bidness the cheapest labor they can. Only CEO's and upper management are allowed to make a living. Thats why they resisted the minimum wage increase so long while they were in power. They measue their success on a permanent underclass that can't get ahead.

The Republicans just told Joe the Auto Worker to FOAD the other day. There have to be a few white, blue-collar Republican voters in the Midwest that were alarmed by that kind of game-playing with the country's economy. (And in the south? Do they think that no southern Republican voters are going to realize the effect two million unemployed Midwestern auto workers, moving south for work, would have on their own wages or employability?)

But no. It's an economic policy of Cheap Labor Republicanism, all the time, now. Their party is doomed to shrink to only those whose hate for Messcans/Homos/Libruls/N*****s/Towelheads/etc is stronger than their own sense of self-preservation.

Republicanism is a tribal identity now. By definition, those who are left in this tribe do not learn. That is the reason why they continue to remain republicans.

As their wrong-headedness is continuously demonstrated for the rest of the population, they will cease to become relevant to anyone but themselves.