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CARMEN'S CORNER: Cheney backs Limbaugh over Powell: Anyone Surprised?
- By Carmen Watkins
- Published 05/18/2009
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Carmen Watkins
Carmen Watkins is president and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston.
View all articles by Carmen Watkins
Every now and then, one of your White associates will remind you that you are still “Black.” What a past week for Colin Powell.
The former general and secretary of state has been taking the heat from yet another fellow Republican—not that this is the first time he has been reminded by some of his Republican coharts of his racial identity, but recently the reminder was echoed loudly for all to hear. Dick Cheney, former vice president took to the media circuit again to ignite his own, “Obama bashing campaign.”
Obviously there is too much at stake for the former VP to go quietly into the night like most past administrations and former President George W. Bush. And Cheney, a man that literally hid in undisclosed spaces for much of his time in the Whitehouse and we rarely heard from, now has more to say than ever.
Cheney has taken to the Sunday media circuit without even a pit stop to make it clear that “America is in Danger,” but this time he has added a new twist—he’d rather follow rightwing-extremist broadcaster Rush Limbaugh, than former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell. “If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican.”
The on again off again debate between Powell and Limbaugh has been going on since Powell’s endorsement of Obama. Limbaugh said it was solely and purely based on race. According to Limbaugh, “What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat.”
Powell has not sat idle during the debate, since his endorsement, he has chided his party to move “more to the center and reach out to growing Black, Hispanic and Asian communities.” And his comments on Limbaugh have been equally controversial to his party. “I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without.”
The landscape of politics and entertainment are resurfacing the age old question of “what comes first the chicken or the egg?” If the past two years have demonstrated nothing else, our entertainers and our politicians have gotten stuck at the intersection of “hope.”
Cheney’s selection of Limbaugh only provides a moment of pause for those of us who still separate entertainment from politics and maybe those of us who question the insanity of Limbaugh’s rationale. But what is apparent and clear is that he’s a bully with “fear” as his primary weapon and “name calling” as his secondary defense.
Every child is faced with the moment when the bully of the group warns them not to play with someone because they are angry with them or they did not go along with the plan … isn’t sad that some of us take the same games into adulthood.
Carmen
The former general and secretary of state has been taking the heat from yet another fellow Republican—not that this is the first time he has been reminded by some of his Republican coharts of his racial identity, but recently the reminder was echoed loudly for all to hear. Dick Cheney, former vice president took to the media circuit again to ignite his own, “Obama bashing campaign.”
Obviously there is too much at stake for the former VP to go quietly into the night like most past administrations and former President George W. Bush. And Cheney, a man that literally hid in undisclosed spaces for much of his time in the Whitehouse and we rarely heard from, now has more to say than ever.
Cheney has taken to the Sunday media circuit without even a pit stop to make it clear that “America is in Danger,” but this time he has added a new twist—he’d rather follow rightwing-extremist broadcaster Rush Limbaugh, than former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell. “If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican.”
The on again off again debate between Powell and Limbaugh has been going on since Powell’s endorsement of Obama. Limbaugh said it was solely and purely based on race. According to Limbaugh, “What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat.”
Powell has not sat idle during the debate, since his endorsement, he has chided his party to move “more to the center and reach out to growing Black, Hispanic and Asian communities.” And his comments on Limbaugh have been equally controversial to his party. “I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without.”
The landscape of politics and entertainment are resurfacing the age old question of “what comes first the chicken or the egg?” If the past two years have demonstrated nothing else, our entertainers and our politicians have gotten stuck at the intersection of “hope.”
Cheney’s selection of Limbaugh only provides a moment of pause for those of us who still separate entertainment from politics and maybe those of us who question the insanity of Limbaugh’s rationale. But what is apparent and clear is that he’s a bully with “fear” as his primary weapon and “name calling” as his secondary defense.
Every child is faced with the moment when the bully of the group warns them not to play with someone because they are angry with them or they did not go along with the plan … isn’t sad that some of us take the same games into adulthood.
Carmen