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Bill O'Reilly apparently decided that he should just throw out all of the dog whistles and just bring in the racist bullhorns instead during this interview with former general and Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell this Tuesday night. I'm no fan of Powell for his part in helping to mislead the country into believing that our invasion of Iraq was somehow justified, but given the current breed of right wing mouth breathers who are the majority of the Republicans that we're treated to on the air these days, the man looks downright sane.

O'Reilly went after Powell for stating the obvious, which is that John Sununu, who was a Romney surrogate, constantly threw out racist dog whistles to their base just about every time he was allowed in the air. Sadly Powell did not just call Sununu out for what he is and let O'Reilly brow beat him into saying that the man that was not a racist -- something which is not true and that was made completely obvious to anyone who spent more than a few minutes watching his ugly rants during the presidential campaign.

He also went after him for saying anything mean about Sarah Palin, even though O'Reilly's own network has now thrown her under the bus as well by not renewing her contract.

O'Reilly wrapped things up by saying that Powell "put himself in a category of intolerance by backing Obama's entitlement culture." Powell should have told O'Reilly that his language and questions like that one during this interview are exactly the type of thing he was criticizing Sununu for, but we didn't get that from him either.

He didn't take kindly to O'Reilly's attacks on "entitlements" but rather than hitting back hard at his nonsense, he responded the way we'd expect any other "Third Way," DLC corporate-crat, excuse for what we call "centrist" these days would have, and was pushing for things like the really dumb idea of means testing, or in other words turning earned benefits into a welfare program so we can assure Republicans will have an excuse to destroy them later and there's no constituency left with an ounce of political clout to keep them in place.

I didn't expect much better out of him since he is, after all, still a Republican and a member of the 1 percent, even if his own party and the likes of O'Reilly and company are doing their best to disown him. O'Reilly spent the next segment on his show with Crowley and Colmes trying to do just that.

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is a Republican, is lashing out at a "dark vein of intolerance" in his own party, which he says is being created by people like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu who use racial code words and "slave terms" to attack President Barack Obama.

During a Sunday interview, NBC's David Gregory asked Powell why he continued to consider himself a Republican after supporting Obama and taking moderate policy positions.

"I think the Republican Party right now is having an identity problem, and I am still a Republican," Powell explained. "In recent years, there has been a significant shift to the right and we have seen what that shift has produced: two losing presidential campaigns."

"When we see that in one more generation that the minorities of America -- African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans -- will be the majority of the country, you can't go around saying, 'We don't want to have a solid immigration policy, we're going to dismiss the 47 percent, we are going to make it hard for the minorities to vote,' as they did in the last election."

"There is also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party," he continued. "They still sort of look down on minorities. How can I evidence that? When I see [Palin] saying that the president is 'shucking and jiving,' that's a racial-era slave term. When I see [Sununu] after the president's first debate, where he didn't do very well, says that the president was 'lazy' -- he didn't say he was slow, he was tired, he didn't do well -- he said he was lazy. Now, it may not mean anything to most Americans, but to those of use who are African Americans, the second word is 'shiftless' and there's a third word that goes along with it."

Powell went on to slam Republicans for "the whole birther movement."

"Why do senior Republican leaders tolerate this kind of discussion within the party?" he wondered. "I think the party has to take a look at itself. It has to take a look at it's responsibilities for health care, it has to take a look at immigration, it has to take a look at those less fortunate than us."

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Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) on Tuesday accused Republicans in Congress of using racial "code words" to undermine U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice even though they "can’t hold a candle to her intellectually."

In a letter written to President Barack Obama on Monday, 97 House Republicans said that Rice "is widely viewed as having either willfully or incompetently misled the American public" with her early assessment of the September attacks in Benghazi — which relied on CIA-approved talking points that did not mention al Qaeda.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has also pledged to block Rice if the president nominates her to become the next secretary of state, saying that she was "not qualified" and guilty of "not being very bright."

Speaking at a press conference last week, Rep. Marcia Fudge said that there was "clear racism and sexism" behind the attacks on Rice.

On Tuesday, Clyburn told CNN's Soledad O'Brien that he agreed with Fudge.

"These are code words," the number three Democrat in the House explained. "We heard them in the campaign. During this recent campaign we heard Sen. Sununu calling our president lazy, incompetent. These kinds of terms that those of us -- especially those of us who were born and raised in the South -- we've been hearing these little words and phrases all of our lives. And we get insulted by them."

"Susan Rice is as competent as anybody that you will find," he continued. "To say that she erroneously did it, I don't have a problem with it. But to call her incompetent, a Ph.D., a Rhode Scholar scholar being called incompetent by someone who can’t hold a candle to her intellectually, by someone who said — and Sen. McCain called her incompetent, as well — but he told us that Sarah Palin was a very competent person to be the vice president of the United States."

"That ought to tell you a little bit about his judgement."

(h/t: The Hill)

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From this Friday's Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill's annual election reel, "In Memoriam."

Um, okaaaaay. This ad is now running in Ohio, thanks to the "Empower Citizens Network." Via TalkingPointsMemo:

Cable viewers in several markets across the state are being treated to ads by an obscure self-described “alternative conservative” super PAC called the Empower Citizens Network. One of the group’s ads accuses Obama and Democrats of imploding the economy by forcing mortgage companies to lend to “unqualified borrowers” while the Soviet national anthem plays. Another promises welfare recipients that “Republicans can save your money source” by reducing regulations on business.

And then there’s the ad which one viewer told TPM is airing in the Columbus area on cable. Our source caught it a couple of times on MSNBC. That ad is the Empower Citizens Network spot that tells African Americans it’s a “lie” that Democrats support them and cites the Emancipation Proclamation as evidence.

The Empower Citizens Network ad uses some old Republican rhetoric to try and earn African American support for the GOP. “Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act while Democrats opposed it,” the narrator says at one point in the Empower Citizens Network ad.

Many African American Republicans will say their party still hasn’t figured out how to expand its support among black voters. John Sununu, a prominent surrogate for Mitt Romney, recently posited the Colin Powell only endorsed Obama because he’s black. In Florida, a move by the Republican-led state government to eliminate early voting on the Sunday before Election Day was seen by African American churches as aimed squarely at them.

And they accuse Democrats of playing the race card.

Here's a protip for the GOP: Start respecting people of color first, and then you'll understand how to reach them to "expand your support."

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Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday insisted that "small brush fires" like former Gov. John Sununu's suggestion that former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed President Barack Obama because he's black were just distractions.

Speaking to CNN last week, Sununu wondered whether Powell's endorsement was "based on issues, or whether he’s got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama."

"I think when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud of being President of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him," the top Romney surrogate said.

But During a Sunday interview with CNN's Candy Crowley, Priebus dismissed Sununu's comment as a "distraction."

"You want people to be disciplined," the RNC chairman explained. "And obviously if people misspeak and they cause -- for no apparent reason -- small brush fires on their own, that's a distraction. But overall, this is still an election about the economy, about the president's failed broken promises and now we have this issue with Libya."

Crowley also asked Priebus if Republican Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's assertion that pregnancies from rape were "something that God intended to happen" hurt the GOP brand.

"I promise you, people out there are not talking about what Richard Mourdock said," Priebus replied.

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Former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson, didn't mince any words this Friday evening during an appearance on Ed Schultz's show, when asked what he thought about John Sununu going off the rails again and claiming that Powell only endorsed President Obama "because he's black."

Former Powell Chief of Staff: ‘My party is full of racists’:

Former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson told Ed Schultz of MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” on Friday that the Republican Party is “full of racists,” and that the main reason most Republicans want President Barack Obama to lose the election to former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) in November is because of the president’s race. [...]

“Let me just be candid,” Wilkerson said. “My party full of racists. And the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as Commander in Chief and President, and everything to do with the color of his skin. And that’s despicable.”

We've all known this since the Republicans aren't even trying to be subtle with their racism any more. They've gone from dog whistles to blow horns with their race baiting. It is nice to see them just straight up called out for it though, which happens all too rarely these days.

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Conan O'Brien sent Triumph the Insult Dog to the last presidential debate and hilarity ensued, of course. The full segment was quite long but here is a snippet where Triumph meets Republicans John Sununu, John McCain, Marco Rubio, Peter King, and George Pataki.

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Leave it to good old John Sununu to say out loud what the rest of them only say in private. As a top surrogate for the Romney campaign they must have been thrilled to hear that. Here's what he said to Piers Morgan tonight on CNN.

SUNUNU: You have to wonder whether that’s an endorsement based on issues or that he’s got a slightly different reason for President Obama.

MORGAN: What reason would that be?

SUNUNU: Well, I think that when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud of being President of the United States — I applaud Colin for standing with him.

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After Mitt Romney's strong, although lie-filled and substance free performance at the debate last night, it seems his surrogate John Sununu is out to destroy the only good day in the news cycle Romney has had in months. Sununu appeared on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell and called President Obama "lazy and disengaged" in regard to his debate prep and performance the previous evening.

After he was done with the racist dog-whistles, he then spent the rest of the segment arguing with Mitchell about Mitt Romney's tax plan and their refusal to give specifics to come up with the dollars to match the tax cuts they want to give to the wealthiest individuals in America.

As President Obama repeatedly pointed out during the debate last night, and others have as well, Romney's numbers just don't add up unless you raise taxes on the middle class. Usually Sununu just rolls over Mitchell without much push back. It was nice to see her take a cue from Soledad O'Brien and take him on with some of the lies.