Think Progress

McCain On DADT: ‘I Will Be Glad To Listen To The Views Of Military Leaders’ - Thursday, February 4th, 2010

In October 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that “the day that the leadership of the military comes to” and says the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy “ought to change,” he would “seriously” consider changing it. In an interview with the Washington Blade in 2008, he said he would “defer to our military commanders” [...]

Flashback: McCain cited Colin Powell as justification for opposing DADT repeal. - Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Following President Obama’s call in his State of the Union address to end the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, Congress has taken up the issue and is debating legislation that would repeal it. Last June, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — a leading critic of ending DADT — cited Colin Powell as justification for his [...]

Powell Hits Back At Limbaugh: Calling Sotomayor A ‘Reverse Racist’ Is ‘Nonsense’ - Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Last May, hate radio talker Rush Limbaugh called Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, a “reverse racist,” referring to Sotomayor’s past comment that a “wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
Today on CNN, [...]

Wilkerson says DADT ‘should be repealed’ immediately. - Monday, June 29th, 2009

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.), former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, appeared on the XM/Sirius radio show “Stand Up! With Pete Dominick” today and stated forcefully that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring gay men and women from serving openly in the military “should be repealed”:
DOMINICK: You’re a 31 year [...]

Fox Nation Pushes ‘Satire’ Site’s Article About Ridge Attacking Limbaugh As Fact-Based Truth - Monday, June 29th, 2009

Last Thursday, while appearing on C-Span’s Washington Journal, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) was asked about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s statement that “Rush Limbaugh is Republican and Colin Powell is not.” “Colin Powell was a Republican as far as I’m concerned,” said Ridge, adding that “it’s that mindset” displayed by Cheney that is [...]

Armitage: Obama conducting foreign policy ‘in a more intelligent way’ than Bush. - Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage spoke earlier this week at the Missouri Boys State, an event that was held on the campus of the University of Central Missouri. During the question and answer period, Armitage was asked about President Obama’s “softer force when dealing with other nations.” “Mr. Obama is in some ways [...]

Limbaugh: ‘I do want and I still want Obama to fail.’ - Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

On Hannity’s America tonight, host Sean Hannity interviewed conservative talker Rush Limbaugh. In one of his first questions, Hannity attempted to portray the media as being unfair to Limbaugh by characterizing him as wanting President Obama to fail as president. Limbaugh, however, quickly corrected Hannity, insisting that he does indeed want Obama to fail:
HANNITY: Last [...]

Cheney Now Willing To ‘Welcome’ Powell Back Into The GOP: ‘I Meant No Offense’ - Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Earlier this month, Vice President Cheney made headlines by saying that Rush Limbaugh is a better Republican than former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell. “Well, if I had to choose — in terms of being a Republican — I’d go with Rush Limbaugh, I think,” said Cheney on CBS’s Face the Nation. “My take [...]

Kristol Ball fails: Predicted on Sunday that Granholm would be Supreme Court nominee. - Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Today, President Obama picked Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee. On Fox News Sunday this past week, right-wing pundit Bill Kristol (ie “Kristol Ball”) confidently predicted that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) would be the next Supreme Court nominee:
KRISTOL: I think he has made up his mind, and I think it’s going to [...]

Powell refuses to answer questions about torture-Iraq war link. - Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Earlier this month, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, revealed that the reason why detainee Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was waterboarded was not to prevent another terrorist attack, but to unearth “a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa’ida.” This false confession was later used by Powell in his infamous February 2003 U.N. speech making [...]

ThinkFast: May 26, 2009 - Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

The California Supreme Court will rule today on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state. “The justices will also decide whether the state will continue to recognize the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages carried out in 2008.”
President Obama will attend a fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in [...]

Rove sides with Cheney, says he would pick Limbaugh over Powell. - Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Earlier this month, Dick Cheney made headlines after telling CBS that he would rather have Rush Limbaugh in the GOP than Colin Powell. “Well, if I had to choose — in terms of being a Republican — I’d go with Rush Limbaugh, I think,” he said. Today on Fox News Sunday, Karl Rove said he [...]

Limbaugh resigns as ‘titular head’ of the Republican Party, passes ‘the baton’ to Colin Powell. - Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Today on his show, hate radio talker Rush Limbaugh delivered a tongue-in-cheek monologue in which he announced that he was “resigning as the titular head of the Republican party.” Limbaugh explained, “It’s not an office I sought, it was a position that rather was ladled onto me…without my acquiescence. … I quit!” Explaining his [...]

Powell responds to Limbaugh and Cheney: They have their own ‘version’ of the GOP. - Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Earlier this month, Rush Limbaugh declared, “What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat.” Days later, Dick Cheney said that he would rather have Limbaugh in the GOP than Powell. “My take on it was that Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a [...]

Limbaugh responds to Price: ‘How the hell’ can Price say Powell is better for GOP than Cheney? - Monday, May 18th, 2009

This morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough asked Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) if he believed that Rush Limbaugh and former Vice President Cheney were “somehow better Republicans than Colin Powell.” “Goodness, no,” Price responded. On his radio show today, Limbaugh respond to Price, asking, “How in the hell can you say that [...]

Rep. Tom Price: ‘It’s Not Up To Rush Limbaugh To Decide Who Ought To Be In The Republican Party’ - Monday, May 18th, 2009

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) went on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today and publicly distanced himself from Rush Limbaugh’s version of the Republican party. Price said that “it’s not up to Rush Limbaugh to decide who ought to be in the Republican Party” and such exclusivity is “counterproductive.” He also said that Vice President Cheney was wrong [...]

Rep. Shadegg Dismisses Rush Limbaugh As Just ‘A Television Personality’ - Thursday, May 14th, 2009

This morning, Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) received enthusiastic praise during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. (Host Joe Scarborough called him “the wind beneath my wings.”) Scarborough and Shadegg began by agreeing that party leaders like Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh were wrong to say that Colin Powell is no longer welcome in the Republican [...]

Conservative Talker Bill Bennett: Rush Limbaugh Is ‘An Entertainer’ - Monday, May 11th, 2009

Saturday night, at the White House Correspondents Dinner, comedian Wanda Sykes responded to Rush Limbaugh’s stated hope that Obama’s presidency is a failure, by jokingly remarking, “I hope [Limbaugh's] kidneys fail.” On CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, conservative talker Bill Bennett objected to the joke, asking rhetorically, “What the hell was that?” Bennett [...]

Cheney: As a Republican, I choose Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell. - Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Last week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the Republican Party is in “deep trouble” because it is “getting smaller” and being led by far right polarizing figures. Specifically, he said that Rush Limbaugh “diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be [...]

Cheney: ‘I think it would be a mistake’ for the GOP to become more moderate. - Thursday, May 7th, 2009

With only 20 percent of Americans self-identifying as Republicans, the GOP is searching for a way forward. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), along with Colin Powell, have said the GOP must move toward the center to expand its tent. In an interview with Scott Hennen, a North Dakota radio host, Cheney declared [...]