Say Anything Blog

The full interview is set to air on Fareed Zakaria’s show on CNN, but here’s a video excerpt:

From CNN:

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria for Sunday’s “GPS” program, President Bush’s former secretary of state said his party’s attempt “to use polarization for political advantage” backfired last month.

“I think the party has to take a hard look at itself,” Powell said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday. “There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views — I don’t object to that. But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority.”

Powell, who crossed party lines and endorsed President-elect Barack Obama just weeks before the election, said the GOP must see what is in the “hearts and minds” of African-American, Hispanic and Asian voters “and not just try to influence them by… the principles and dogma.”

“I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country,“Powell said. “I think that the party has to take a hard look at itself, and I’ve talked to a number of leaders in recent weeks and they understand that.” Powell, who says he still considers himself a Republican, said his party should also stop listening to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

“Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?” Powell asked. “Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?”

The “majority will be the minority” comment is interesting.  I’m assuming (though it’s not clear) that he’s referring to race, and if so is he suggesting that the GOP (ostensibly his party, though he appears to be leaving it) is not a party that represents black interests?

He apparently is, and to a degree he’s right.  The black vote rarely goes Republican.  But what I wonder is why that matters?  Who says that the blacks are voting for the right thing?

Which plays into another comment Powell made about “principles and dogma.”  Now, being dogmatic isn’t necessarily a good thing, but what is a political movement supposed to be about if not principle?  What is Powell trying to say?  That conservatives should stop adhering to principle?  That we should stop demanding limited government?  Less spending?  More individual responsibility?

It seems as though Powell, his assertions to the contrary, would have conservatives stop being actual conservatives for the sake of pandering to certain racial demographics.

Which seems ridiculous to me.  The sort of nonsense that engenders the seeking of power for the sake of power rather than to lead based on a certain set of ideals.

I once had a lot of respect for Colin Powell, and in some ways (when it comes to his service in the military) I still do.  But he sees to have joined the ranks of people who think that conservatism, in and of itself, is a mean-spirited and perhaps even racist ideology.  And on that he couldn’t be more wrong.