Powell to Rush: I'm Not Leaving GOP

Ex-veep far less popular than his target for criticism

(NEWSER) - When Dick Cheney got in a fight with Colin Powell, it looks like he was punching above his weight class. Cheney dismissed Powell’s views on the Republican Party’s direction, saying, “I didn’t think he was still a Republican”—a comment echoed by Rush Limbaugh. But CNN reports a poll that shows Powell—who says, “I am still a Republican"—with astronomical popularity: 70% rate the former general favorably, compared to 37% for Cheney and 30% for Limbaugh. More»

(NEWSER) - The verbal war between Rush Limbaugh and Colin Powell has actually ticked up a notch. On his show today, Limbaugh resigned as “the titular head of the Republican Party” and sarcastically appointed Powell in his place, reports Media Matters. He blasted Powell as a representative of the “worn-out GOP that never won anything” and said “the only thing emerging here is Colin Powell’s ego.” More»

VP is a veritable font of nonsense

(NEWSER) - Isn’t it time we sent Dick Cheney back to Wyoming, found him a home “where the buffalo roam and there’s always room for one more crazy old coot down at the general store?” Eugene Robinson asks in the Washington Post. It’s no wonder the TV networks love him: “Unrestrained by protocol or objective reality, he’s pretty much guaranteed to say outrageous things.” More»

Though Obama team hasn't been consulted, move could insulate Dem from criticism

(NEWSER) - The Bush administration is moving ever closer to establishing a long-rumored diplomatic office in Iran, Newsweek reports, with a decision possible by Thanksgiving on putting an “interests section” inside another embassy in Tehran, likely the Swiss. The move might signal a victory for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and company in their final skirmish with Dick Cheney's hardliners. More»

Barak talks tough, will press case in Washington next week

(NEWSER) - In the wake of Iranian missile tests, Israel’s defense minister will visit the US for talks next week to press the case that Tehran poses a serious nuclear threat, the Jerusalem Post reports. Yesterday, Ehud Barak suggested that Israel is ready to attack. "We have proven in the past that we are not deterred from acting when our vital interests are at stake." More»