Why no one should listen to Colin Powell *UPDATED*

Let me open this post by stating my biases honestly:  I hate Colin Powell.  I think he is in significant part responsible for the Second Gulf War, because he was one of the loudest voices telling Bush Sr. to abandon the First Gulf War without pressing onto Baghdad itself.  And, incidentally, that also made him responsible for the appalling massacre Hussein committed against the Kurds in the wake of the Gulf War, since they had risen up in reliance on America’s promises to support and protect them.

I also think he’s a cowardly weasel because it’s obvious that he was behind most of the nasty George W. stories in Bob Woodward’s 2004 book about the Bush administration’s decision to go to war.  Every story in there was both an attack on Bush and an exculpation of Powell.  It was obvious that Powell was the source for information about private meetings, because in each telling he was presented as Saint Colin.  If he had a problem with the White House, he should have said so publicly, and not hidden behind a media attack dog.

Okay, now that you know how I feel about Powell the man, let me ask you why anyone should listen to Powell, the ostensible “conservative.”  This is an issue today because Powell, in a speech to a group of corporate executives, launched a scathing attack against Republicans:

“The Republican Party is in deep trouble,” Powell told corporate security executives at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc.

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He blasted radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, saying he does not believe that Limbaugh or conservative icon Ann Coulter serve the party well. He said the party lacks a “positive” spokesperson. “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,” Powell said.

He also said that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate last year, is “a very accomplished person” but became “a very polarizing figure.” He said the polarization was created by Palin’s advisers.

Those are conclusions, of course, and Powell is entitled to his conclusions.  What’s fascinating, and makes him worth ignoring, is the premise underlying the conclusions:

The party must realize that the country has changed, he said. “Americans do want to pay taxes for services,” he said. “Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less.”

In other words, Powell is saying that Republicans need to embrace high taxes and large government, which would pretty much make them liberals, not conservatives.

There are some bright lines in the world.  I’ve never been a fan of Jews for Jesus because they strain definitional credibility.  The big, bright dividing line between Jews and Christians is whether you believe that Jesus was a humanist and a rabbi, or you believe that Jesus was the son of God and the long awaited Messiah.  Once you accept Christ as the messiah, you’ve become a Christian.  Calling yourself a Jew for Jesus is just another way of saying a “Christian who used to be a Jew.”

In the same way, one of the big dividing lines in the American political system is whether one wants more government or less.  Statists (aka progressives, liberals, Democrats) want more; Individualists (aka conservatives, Republicans) want less.  Calling yourself a tax and spend Republican is pretty much the same as saying you’re a big government progressive who used to be a conservative.

As it is, I believe Powell is also dead wrong in his belief about the American people and their desire for a socialist style tax and spend government.  He doesn’t recognize that there is a tipping point beyond which Americans will not want to be taxed and taxed — and that’s because the ones who are being taxed are not the same ones receiving most of the services.  If money from all were being put in a collective pot from which all benefitted, Powell might have a point.  However, since money from the workers is being put in a pot that benefits the non-workers, there’s going to be workers’ revolt.  We just have to hope that this revolt strikes when the worker’s constitute at least 51% of the population.

UPDATE:  Rick, at Brutally Honest, is also umimpressed by Powell’s career guidance.