Colin Powell: GOP Has"A Dark Vein ofI Intolerance"

Unlike myself, Colin Powell continues to at least nominally consider himself to be a Republican.  But, unlike many of my one time GOP compatriots who seem to be drinking the Christofacist/Tea Party mind altering drug laced Kool-Aid, Powell at least can recognize the toxic bigotry and intolerance which have become the hallmarks of today's Republican Party.  The question remains how log before Powell feels he can no longer identify even nominally with the GOP.    But back to Powell's recent remarks on the GOP.  Politico has coverage and here are details:

While continuing to identify as a Republican, former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday criticized the GOP for a series of racist attacks against President Barack Obama.

"There's also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is they still sort of look down on minorities."
Powell, who endorsed Obama, pointed to a number of statements that were directed at Obama as evidence that there is still racism within the party. 

"When I see a former governor say that the president is 'shuckin' and jivin'.' That's a racial-era slave term," Powell said, referring to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin using the term to describe Obama's response to the attacks in Libya.

Powell also pointed to former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, who was an aggressive surrogate for Mitt Romney, for calling Obama "lazy" after the first debate during the campaign.

"He didn't say he was slow, he was tired, he didn't do well; he said he was 'lazy,'" Powell said "Now, it may not mean anything to most Americans, but to those of us who are African Americans, the second word is "shiftless," and then there's a third word that goes along with it."

Powell also eschewed the "birther movement." "The whole birther movement: Why do senior Republican leaders tolerate this kind of discussion within the party?" Powell asked. "I think the party has to take a look at itself."

Powell said overall the Republican Party has been moving to the right, creating problems for the GOP.  "In recent years, there's been a significant shift to the right, and we have seen what that shift has produced: two losing presidential campaigns," Powell said. "I think what the Republican Party needs to do now is take a very hard look at itself and understand that the country has changed. The country is changing demographically. And if the Republican Party does not change along with that demographic, they're going to be in trouble."

Powell's assessment is on target, although rather than state that there is still racism in the GOP, I would argue that the racism is increasing at an alarming rate.  That and hate dripping homophobia  and a frightening desire to strip women of control over the women's lives and bodies.