The strange part is, Powell never actually mentioned race when endorsing Obama. If my memory serves me well, his Meet The Press announcement touched on uniting the country, not a strong suit for hateful people like Limbaugh. But there was something even more disturbing about Limbaugh’s statements that I wanted to address-
As for Powell’s statement of concern this morning about the sort of Supreme Court justices a President McCain might appoint, Limbaugh wrote: “I was also unaware of his dislike for John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia. I guess he also regrets Reagan and Bush making him a four-star [general] and secretary of state and appointing his son to head the FCC. Yes, let’s hear it for transformational figures.
Limbaugh’s point here is that minorities should be grateful to whites for elevating them to positions of power. After all, according to right-wingers like Limbaugh, black people lack sufficient merit or capability to actually succeed on their own. In essence, the argument here is that Powell would be nothing if it wasn’t for whites like Reagan or Bush and accordingly, he owes a great deal to them. So, the Conservative outrage over the endorsement and cartoons like these are just a way to keep uppity black folks like Powell in line. This is Race 101, as understood by the right wing.
