# Any chance Colin Powell will endorse Obama? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393 "2008-06-27T03:16:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/101 "2008-06-27T19:18:38Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] You mentioned something about Guatemalan houseboys in entertainment, but I don’t know the reference. As far as I know, “houseboy” is only a denigrating term (in American English, I guess I should say) when applied to black people. -FrL- [/QUOTE] The Birdcage features a hysterical Guatemalan houseboy, played by Hank Azaria in the movie. I mentioned it at the end of post #93 as the character I think of when I hear “houseboy”. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/102 "2008-06-27T22:47:38Z")
**TWEEET!!** The topic of whether calling Colin Powell a “houseboy” is racist is now off limits to this thread. Anyone who wishes to continue that discussion may open up a new thread. It has nothing to do with the actual OP of this thread. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/103 "2008-06-27T22:52:28Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] **TWEEET!!** … [/QUOTE] “Did you see the size of that canary? Must have gone 800 lbs, easy!!” “Talks too” “Really?” “Yeah, listen. ‘Here, kitty, kitty, kitty’…” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/104 "2008-06-27T23:01:04Z")
Q. Where does an 800-pound canary poop? A. Anywhere he wants to. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/105 "2008-06-27T23:07:05Z")
“Whoa, Bob! There’s a flag on the play. Let’s listen in…” “Unsportsman like conduct, number 17, offense. Topic ejected from the thread, 3rd down.” “Well there you have it, Bob. Whenever the offence tries to play the old switch-er-oo, the refs are going to kick some butt.” ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/106 "2008-06-27T23:27:46Z")
Sorry for the hijack, but I was just wondering as an aside, do we think there’s any chance Colin Powell will endorse Obama? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/107 "2008-06-27T23:32:42Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] "Did you see the size of that canary? [/QUOTE] I believe that to be a lifeguard whistle, rather as I wish G-d would use in the Middle East;\*\* “OK, EVERYBODY, out of the pool!”\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/108 "2008-06-28T04:25:05Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Sorry for the hijack, but I was just wondering as an aside, do we think there’s any chance Colin Powell will endorse Obama? 😉 [/QUOTE] What a novel question! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/109 "2008-06-28T04:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Explaining his support for the uncompromising liberal Obama, Hunter blogged: “The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of “Weekend With Bernie,” handcuffed to a corpse.” [/QUOTE] I’ve moved pretty far to the left over the last several years, so people may think this insincere, but–I used to vote GOP. And boy howdy, I feel so much the same way. Even if I didn’t believe in economic redistribution & fear the anti-environmentalism of the Reaganite wing, I’d still think the GOP lost its credibility when they re-nominated Shrub in 2004 instead of saying, “Thank you for your service, but we now want someone else, say Mr. McCain, to run the war you blundered into.” Obama is pretty conservative economically; he’s more Black Caucus than a populist after the fashion of Kucinich or even Edwards. He’s genuinely more attractive to a lot of people with historic GOP leanings than most of the current top-level GOP, who appear mostly to lack some combination of imagination, thoughtfulness &/or integrity. The ones that have a modicum of those three things are goofy economic radicals like Huckabee or R. Paul, not reassuring conservatives. (Not that Huck is _thoughtful…_) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/110 "2008-06-28T05:50:21Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] …“Thank you for your service, but we now want someone else, say Mr. McCain, to run the war you blundered into.”… [/QUOTE] But would that have got us anything? McCain suffers from the same blind spot Bush does, he wants “victory”. The “failure is not an option” sort of nut-scratching _machismo_. And when you’re fighting an insurgency that wants you dead or at least gone, you win by staying. Where you shouldn’t be and are not wanted. We Americans, amongst many others, a suckers for military mush, the romantic fantasies of war. McCain is a Navy pilot, and a POW, this makes him qualified to single-handedly create a geo-political miracle and turn a cow patty into the Taj Mahal? Because he’s a tough guy, he can make miracles with steely eyed determination? Hes dropped bombs so he “understands” war? Any more than a supply sargeant at Fort Dix, or a medic on the line? Its the oldest legend there is, the crap about a strong leader who can show us the way out of peril, nine times out of ten, they lead us straight into The Shit. With steely-eyed determination, as usual, they think “from the gut”, which is just like feminine intuition, but more reliable. Fuck that shit. Out now. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/111 "2008-06-28T06:15:33Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Fuck that shit. Out now. [/QUOTE] I’m so sorry for making this [very stupid joke](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9949496#post9949496) about your post. And I tried to make it not a hijack by putting it in a different thread, but then, I have to link to it here, so how is it not a hijack? What am I doing? Why can’t I stop myself? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/112 "2008-06-28T15:17:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry for the hijack, but I was just wondering as an aside, do we think there’s any chance Colin Powell will endorse Obama? Interesting topic. Maybe you should start a thread about it and see where it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/113 "2008-06-28T16:02:09Z")
The whole thread, I was wondering why **Liberal** ’s use of “whipping boy” didn’t raise any eyebrows at all. But no, I don’t think Colin Powell will publicly endorse Obama. Powell is smart enough to know that such an endorsement could cut two ways. I wouldn’t put it past the talking heads to try to spin that into something. The wackos on the right — remember them, the ones who said, “Why don’t you tell the lie about the yellow cake? You’ve got good poll numbers, you could stand to lose a few points” — they sold him out, but they’re not above dragging his reputation through the mud if it could possibly be a weapon against Obama. “Look, Powell endorses Obama!” they’d say gleefully, “and we all know what a liar _he_ is!” They’d conveniently forget who it was that handed that script of lies to Powell in the first place. Powell’s too smart to endorse Obama publicly unless it can be done at a time, or in a way, that doesn’t hurt Obama’s chances. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/114 "2008-06-28T16:09:36Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] The whole thread, I was wondering why **Liberal** ’s use of “whipping boy” didn’t raise any eyebrows at all. But no, I don’t think Colin Powell will publicly endorse Obama. Powell is smart enough to know that such an endorsement could cut two ways. I wouldn’t put it past the talking heads to try to spin that into something. The wackos on the right — remember them, the ones who said, “Why don’t you tell the lie about the yellow cake? You’ve got good poll numbers, you could stand to lose a few points”… [/QUOTE] No, I don’t remember who told him that. Can you refresh my memory? ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/115 "2008-06-28T16:46:42Z")
According to the [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092700106_4.html), it was Dick Cheney who told him that: > [@](#): > > In addition to proving the charges against Iraq, Wilkerson believed, they had to protect Powell’s integrity against those within the administration who had long been out to tarnish it. There was a widespread belief among the secretary’s loyal aides – privately shared by Powell himself, although he brushed it off as meaningless political gamesmanship in conversations with them – that both White House political adviser Karl Rove and Cheney had actively plotted to undermine him for the past three years. Powell had laughed when he described to his aides how the vice president, after a discussion of the upcoming U.N. speech, had poked him jocularly in the chest and said, “You’ve got high poll ratings; you can afford to lose a few points.” Cheney’s idea of Powell’s U.N. mission, Wilkerson thought, was to “go up there and sell it, and we’ll have moved forward a peg or two. Fall on your damn sword and kill yourself, and I’ll be happy, too.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/116 "2008-06-28T21:29:23Z")
So, from a joke you speculate that Cheney, who is not a talking head and whose approval rating is about on par with Satan, will tarnish Powell’s reputation if Powell endorses Obama? Got it. At any rate, no one made Powell lie, and he didn’t have to say anything to the UN he didn’t want to say. Powell certainly had one of the best reputations of anyone in Bush’s cabinet, but as the SecState, he was the most logical person to make that presentation to the UN. The only other person who might have made sense would have been Bush himself. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/117 "2008-06-28T21:35:52Z")
I didn’t call Cheney a talking head. I called him part of the Wacko Right. Did you miss the em dash? Some of the talking heads (also part of the wacko right) would gleefully try to taint an Obama endorsement with Powell’s lies. Do you disagree? Or are you just being disputaceous for the heck of it? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393/118 "2008-06-28T23:28:53Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] “House boy” isn’t racist, period. [/QUOTE] House boy is an insult but not racist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-colin-powell-will-endorse-obama/454393.md?page=5)