# Colin Powell Resigns **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 15, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859 "2004-11-15T15:04:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/21 "2004-11-15T17:06:58Z")
Alright I live in this country so I’ll say it. Right. He was just a slight bump on the way to totalitarianism. After all, we shouldn’t forget that DimSon himself said things would be “much easier in a dictatorship” – with him in charge of course. March in lockstep with Dear Misleader! Dissent is treason! Welcome to The Homeland! ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/22 "2004-11-15T17:15:54Z")
> [@Roseworm](#): > > Powell is a good man, but he is not a war-time consigliere, and that is what Bush needs. More to the point, Powell was never able (or willing) to purge the State Department (which is openly hostile to the Bush Doctrine). From this exact point in history, having read the State Department proposals/evaluations regarding Iraq and reconstruction, I’d say purging them would eliminate the one major department in Washington that does not have their heads up their asses. The State Department had the far more realistic and comprehensive plan for reconstruction of Iraq and post-war action. It was expensive, and required tons of troops. It was shelved and the Defense Department was given the thumbs-up. That was the single worst decision in the whole reconstruction effort to date. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/23 "2004-11-15T17:18:14Z")
We had an election in which the Pubs won fairly, so democracy still works. Our side didn;t win, but that’s the way elections work; one side wins, one side loses. If Bush starts shutting down newspapers and “disappearing” Democrats, the we can call him a dictator. Granted, he really sucks as a president, byut let’s not dial up the hysteria just yet. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/24 "2004-11-15T17:24:28Z")
Or put it this way: if this were the totalitarian dictatorship that you think, ypou and I would have been reported to the secret police, who would have arrested and shot us by now. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/25 "2004-11-15T17:30:40Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Ideally, Bush will stop after Iraq, collect his armies and his card, and pass the dice to the next player. Whoa boy no. Someone forgot to tell Duhbya that he gets a Risk card after Afganistan. I hope we get good dice rolls in Iran. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/26 "2004-11-15T17:31:55Z")
Powell was a large part of the machine that pushed for war with at best faulty evidence. Fuck him. Fuck him hard. He should be forced to personally face every person in the US and in Iraq who lost a relative to this war fought over the bullshit he spewed to the UN. Sometimes I wish the Christians are right about Hell, so the whole bunch of these warmongers can burn. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/27 "2004-11-15T17:33:03Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Or put it this way: if this were the totalitarian dictatorship that you think, ypou and I would have been reported to the secret police, who would have arrested and shot us by now. We’re not there yet, but we’re gravitating that way. IIRC Gross, the current head of the CIA wanted more powers in terms of spying on US citizens. That’s a nice start. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/28 "2004-11-15T17:42:34Z")
The rats are fleeing. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/29 "2004-11-15T17:50:38Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > The rats are fleeing. Changes in a president’s 2nd term are S.O.P. Note [Clinton’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_clinton#Cabinet) changes (he went thru 2 at State, and 3 each at Defense and Treasury, just to name a few). I don’t have a cite for Reagan, but IIRC, he also saw quite a few changes in his second term. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/30 "2004-11-15T18:09:42Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > We’re not there yet, but we’re gravitating that way. IIRC Gross, the current head of the CIA wanted more powers in terms of spying on US citizens. That’s a nice start. Exactly. Contrary to what **gobear** may think, there’s no personal satisfaction involved in watching your country make such a hard turn to the right. And while you "may not be there yet,’ as you yourself point out, all signs from the Bush WH point that way. Like others have already said, I don’t have much love-lost for Powell – I think he lost his much vaunted integrity with his circus act at the UN. Having said that, there’s also little doubt that he was one of the few voices inside the WH that ‘dared’ dissent with the prevailing neocon agenda. PBS’s 'Frontline" made a fascinating documentary sometime before the Iraq invasion. Called [**The War Behind Closed Doors**](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/), it’s an insider’s view of how the neocons ultimately “won” the foreign policy battle. Powell was really the only one of political stature that attempted to stand up to them at the time. One last thing. While I am not an American, my son _is_. And he of comes of draft age during the upcoming Presidential term. Moreover, even without an institutionalized draft, I, quite frankly _hate_ the America he’s having to grow-up in. Intolerance, nationalism, militarism, xenophobia, censorship, arrogance, hypocritical “moral values,” are all ‘qualities’ that remind me of Franco’s Spain – the one I grew up in. And when you get right down to it, _that’s_ what BushCo represents and _that’s_ what you voted for. Scary path you’ve chosen. And I won’t stop reminding you no matter who happens to be ‘offended.’ Because not only do America’s actions affect the whole world, they affect _me, personally,_ by way of my only child and his uncertain future in this new America of yours. Certainly not the one I fell in love with many moons ago. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/31 "2004-11-15T18:19:51Z")
Powell was privately against the war and knew that UN speech was full of shit, but what could he do? Resign? Refuse to play along? Maybe it’s a Great Debate: you’re Bush’s Secretary of State. You know that there’s evidence no of WMA. You know that the very plan for war is weak. But you are one of the few voices of reason. You’ve handled your boss through skilled diplomacy up until now–but now, on the brink of disaster, you just can’t get through. And you’re the one who has to deliver this prime peice of half-assedness to the UN. It’s okay, Cheney tells you. Your approval rating is in the 70s. You can afford to lose a few points. What’s the honorable thing to do in this situation? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/32 "2004-11-15T18:25:51Z")
> [@sugaree](#): > > What’s the honorable thing to do in this situation? Resign, and get elected president in 2008 on a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/33 "2004-11-15T18:26:26Z")
> [@sugaree](#): > > Powell was privately against the war and knew that UN speech was full of shit, but what could he do? Resign? Refuse to play along? > > Maybe it’s a Great Debate: you’re Bush’s Secretary of State. You know that there’s evidence no of WMA. You know that the very plan for war is weak. But you are one of the few voices of reason. You’ve handled your boss through skilled diplomacy up until now–but now, on the brink of disaster, you just can’t get through. And you’re the one who has to deliver this prime peice of half-assedness to the UN. > > It’s okay, Cheney tells you. Your approval rating is in the 70s. You can afford to lose a few points. > > What’s the honorable thing to do in this situation? Refuse to play along / resign You don’t stand by as a bullshit _war_ is initiated under your watch. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/34 "2004-11-15T18:35:32Z")
Please let the next resignation be from Condi’s hairdresser. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/35 "2004-11-15T18:35:39Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > E > > One last thing. While I am not an American, my son _is_. Then why did you say got my facts wrong when I said that America isn’t your homeland when you just admitted as much? > [@](#): > > And he of comes of draft age during the upcoming Presidential term. Moreover, even without an institutionalized draft, I, quite frankly _hate_ the America he’s having to grow-up in. Intolerance, nationalism, militarism, xenophobia, censorship, arrogance, hypocritical “moral values,” are all ‘qualities’ that remind me of Franco’s Spain – the one I grew up in. America has always been arrogant, but at the moment, we’re the dominant force on this planet,. Intolerance–well, I hate the anti-gay movement’s successes, but there are a lot of people who are tolerant. Xenophobia–we’re in the midst of the greatest wave of immigration our nation has ever seen. A xenophobic nation would have kept them out. Militarism–we have an all-volunteer army, for now. Censorship–well, the FCC is out of control, but the government can’t touch cable TV, movies, newspapers, the Internet, or satellite radio > [@](#): > > And when you get right down to it, _that’s_ what BushCo represents and _that’s_ what you voted for. I didn;t vote for him, nor did 49% of the nation. You don;t seem to know that Bush won a very narrow victory. It seems bigoted of you to write off almost half of the country that agrees that Bush is a bad leader. > [@](#): > > Scary path you’ve chosen. And I won’t stop reminding you no matter who happens to be ‘offended.’ Because not only do America’s actions affect the whole world, they affect _me, personally,_ by way of my only child and his uncertain future in this new America of yours. Certainly not the one I fell in love with many moons ago. By all means, keep fighting the power, but try not to be as hateful as the people you decry. We’re all in this together, including the people Bush has deceived. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/36 "2004-11-15T18:59:09Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Censorship–well, the FCC is out of control, but the government can’t touch cable TV, movies, newspapers, the Internet, or satellite radio Oh no? Funny that stupid wardrobe malfunction had quite an impact on TV. > [@](#): > > I didn;t vote for him, nor did 49% of the nation. You don;t seem to know that Bush won a very narrow victory. It seems bigoted of you to write off almost half of the country that agrees that Bush is a bad leader. Bigoted or not, it’s human nature. I wish people were smart enough to say “well 51% voted for the man who went on and invaded Iran”. Instead they’re going to call us a bunch of fucking crazy cowboys, _all of us_. Bah, we’ve been down this road before. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/37 "2004-11-15T19:02:44Z")
> [@sugaree](#): > > Mutual? Powell is the only staff member respected by liberals and moderates, and he’s mutualled on out the door? Nice way to be a uniter, Mr. President. > Please, please, please let Powell write a book. And John Ashcroft was the only Cabinet member respected and trusted by the Religious Right. THEY’RE the ones who really have a gripe coming with this administration. After all, THEY helped Bush win. Since when are liberals entitled to representation in a Republican Cabinet? ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/38 "2004-11-15T19:04:28Z")
_:: shrug ::_ I kinda liked Colin Powell. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/39 "2004-11-15T19:06:14Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > According to the [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4013621.stm) > I have no clue who this Spencer guy is, but anyone want to bet on who gets knifed next? Michigan guy - was a first term Senator from Michigan who lost (pretty substantially if I recall correctly, at least for an incumbant), his re-election bid prior to his annointing. He’d been a Republican Party Hack prior to his Senatorial debut. (no other public office that I’m aware of prior to that). Was one of John Engler’s buddies. Oddly enough, Engler, as popular as a governor as he was, was unable to deliver Michigan to the Bush regime. Since we again went blue, I’m not surprised that a Cabinet seat wouldn’t be again wasted on Michigan. (cynic that I am) ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859/40 "2004-11-15T19:07:04Z")
Resign? And effectively hand the asylum over to the lunatics? Would you then tell the world the true reason you resigned, maybe campaign against Bush’s policies in the media, or would you hide behind some kind of bad-health/family crisis farce? I honestly can’t say I’d walk away from it. I tell you, there’s a tragic play of Shakespearean scope in this story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-resigns/274859.md?page=3)