Colin Powell Says GOP Needs To Move To Center

Colin Powell, famous as the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the one-time Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, and most recently, ship jumper/supporter of Barack Obama, says that the GOP must move to the center if it wants to survive. He says "the GOP is 'getting smaller and smaller' and 'that's not good for the nation.'" I can agree with that. What I do not agree with, however, is his next remark: "'The Republican Party is in deep trouble,' Powell told corporate security executives at a conference in Washington...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.'"

I wholeheartedly disagree. I can't imagine any circumstance where Americans would want to pay more taxes for services, and want more government intrusion into their lives. I understand liberals have no problem with raising taxes and drastically expanding government, but the average American, I would venture to say, does not want to pay more in taxes, and either thinks government is big enough already, or would like it to be smaller.

Also, why is he telling the GOP this, at the same time he is telling them to move to the center? Taxation and big government are bastions of the left, not the right or center.

Were the Dems in this position, I doubt Powell would be telling them to move to the center and stop listening to the left of the party. I think he knows that the future of the Republican party is going back to its base, the real Conservative movement. Moving to the center would emaciate the party further and strip any remaining identity; nominating a centrist candidate is one reason why the GOP lost the 2008 Presidential election. The country may be moving left, but in order to save it there needs to be a strong stand from the right, not the center.

The term "polarizing figure" has often been thrown about over the last several years when talking about political figures. I don't think it's the political figures that are themselves polarizing, it is instead the movements they represent. The country is split wide right down the middle. There is no center ground anymore. It is a no-man's land, one where John McCain and Arlen Specter treaded. McCain left much to be desired, both from the right and the left and was thus dismissed, and Arlen Specter saw the writing on the wall and chose his side instead of staying in the kill zone.

This country wasn't founded on liberal principles. It wasn't founded on centrist principles. It was founded on principles which are today represented by only one party, albeit not very well. We need to get back to those roots if we want the United States to remain the dominant superpower for the coming years.

April Was Deadliest Month of Last Seven For US Forces

Things have been decent in Iraq for the past year or so. Not great, but definitely not as bad as they had been. Well, you can scratch that notion, at least as far as last month is concerned. April was the deadliest month for US forces in the last seven months of fighting in Iraq. No less than 18 service members paid the ultimate price in April, along with 371 Iraqis. Strange how we haven't heard anything about the US death toll or injury count since Mr. Obama took office.

"Tensions also rose Friday in northern Iraq after American forces killed two men during a raid in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

The provincial governor's office and tribal leaders said the raid violated the security agreement regulating U.S. forces' conduct and demanded an apology.

The U.S. military, however, said it was an Iraqi-led joint operation and the two men killed were suspected of planting roadside bombs. The suspects were armed and resisted arrest, according to a statement, adding that U.S. troops shot the two men 'for their own safety and the safety of their Iraqi partners.'

Security was tightened in Tikrit after hundreds of angry mourners - some firing weapons into the air - took to the streets to protest the killings. The demonstrators shouted 'Down with America!' and promised revenge."

I don't know about you all, but I am getting a might bit tired of hearing about these Iraqi demonstrators flipping out every time one of their bomb-planting buddies gets waxed. News flash! The bombs can kill you too!

Maybe it is time we pull out of Iraq. Maybe we have given them plenty of time to stand on their own. Maybe they don't want to govern themselves, make choices for themselves, or live on their feet. Maybe they want, maybe they need some dictator to make life's decisions for them.

Now re-read that last paragraph; only this time, replace "Iraq" with "Washington," and "dictator" with "President." Which group of Americans does that sound like? Exactly. Ironic that those among us with the government-nanny mindset are the same ones saying Iraqis have had enough chances and need to do things for themselves.

I fear the sacrifices our fighting men and women gave will be for naught when we pull out of Iraq. It would have been nice to let them make the call as to when they should leave, but as we all know, politics come first, even in matters of life and death.