Colin Powell Unplugged

The modern Republican party is dead.

When George W. Bush's promise of "compassionate conservatism" never materialized, Republicans flocked so far to the right that even Pat Buchanan had to turn his head. Bush, who promised to unite Americans following his farcical appointment to the White House by the Supreme Court, instead introduced a new brand of Republicanism fueled by fear-mongering, greed, and contempt for civil discourse.

John McCain sold out to those same politics of hatred in recent months, forever attaching his legacy to those of Rove and Cheney. And yesterday, under the bright lights of Washington's most influential television studio, America's most respected General sounded the death knell for his own party.

Colin Powell's appearance on Meet the Press was the most devastating indictment of the modern Republican party during this campaign. One of the most respected Republican figures over the past 100 years, Powell disowned the politics of McCain and Bush and threw strong support behind Barack Obama. He did it with the thought, substance, and wisdom you'd expect of a former Secretary of State, General in the U.S. Army, National Security Advisor, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The seeds for Powell's endorsement of Obama might have been planted in early 2003, when Powell was steamrolled by neoconservatives inside the Bush administration during their drumbeat into Iraq. Bob Woodward's bestseller on Bush's decision to invade Iraq, Plan of Attack, reveals why Powell was unable to continue to serve under Bush. The book provides a frightening look inside the Bush Republicanism of the past eight years, based on personal accounts of those inside the White House - including Bush himself.

Following his chat with Tom Brokaw yesterday, Powell stepped outside the NBC News building in Washington and continued his assault on the tactics of the McCain campaign: