Steele's Not Going Down Without A Fight

AP: Embattled Republican Party chairman Michael Steele announced Monday that he will seek a second term despite a rocky two years marked by allegations of financial mismanagement and frequent verbal gaffes.

This is going to get interesting.

Michael Steele Out

Failing to provide a gaffe per week over these last couple of months, RNC Chairman Michael Steele wasn't "feelin' it" anymore and it looks like he won't run for a second term.

Fare thee well, Michael. Fare thee well.

Code Words and Dog Whistles

I'm late to the party on this one but I really don't remember much being said about this. Please correct me if I'm wrong (I was away that week):

Rallying the GOP to win in November and urging supporters to "get on the bus," [GOP Chairman Michael] Steele capped off his call to action by predicting that "Nancy Pelosi will be in the back of the bus."

Why is it that the AAINO (African-American In Name Only) GOP Chairman is the most insensitive when it comes to racial dog whistles? I know he's mentioning Nancy Pelosi in this little rant, but she's two steps away from the Oval Office... and who's in there now? Oh, yeah.

"Back of the bus," Michael?

Nigga, please!

The Michael Steele Quandry

The latest foot in mouth moment for Michael Steele is developing into a very interesting situation. While on the one hand, he once again went against the grain of the entire party he is the supposed chairman, on the other hand, he actually spoke some truth.

To reiterate, Steele said the conflict in Afghanistan “was a war of Obama’s choosing” and “is not something that the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.” Wrong on both counts.

Just to clarify, I didn't necessarily disagree with Steele's notion that history has shown the lack of success in previous Afghanistan occupations, but the thought that Steele would try to lay this solely at President Obama's feet, as if the previous six years before Obama took office never occurred, is absolutely ludicrous.

Now there are calls for his ouster.

"Frankly, I find Steele's remarks totally unacceptable," said [Rep. Tom] Cole (R-Okla.) in a statement Saturday. "He should apologize and resign. He undercut American forces fighting in the field, politicized further a war that two presidents of different parties have deemed in the national interest and embarrassed the party he purports to lead. It is time for him to go -- quickly."

There were criticisms by the usual suspects, Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol included.  So how wrong was Steele if the likes of those two disagreed with him?

Whether he undercut American forces is not ascertainable, but he did undercut his party. While trying to score cheap political points against the President, he managed to turn the GOP rhetoric on its ear, although there are a select few that agree with the RNC chairman.

“Michael Steele should not resign,” [Ron] Paul, a Texas Republican and former Libertarian Party presidential candidate, said today in a statement. “Michael Steele has it right and Republicans should stick by him.”

I don't know if Steele has walked back his comments before or after Paul's support, but walk it back he did, and judging by the reaction Steele has had to previous criticisms, you can tell even he thinks this time he's gone one step too far.

Michael Steele is An Idiot - Afghanistan Edition

It's time for the weekly Insert Foot in Mouth moment for Michael Steele. This time, Steele tries to blame Afghanistan on Obama as "a war of his choosing" failing to realize that not only was this yet another fixer upper of the previous administration's debacle, but also that the RNC Chairman is in direct opposition of most likely EVERY Republican member of Congress.

"This was a war of Obama's choosing," Michael Steele said at the event. "This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."

..."Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan, alright, because everyone who's tried over a thousand years of history has failed," Steele continued.

Where was Steele and his criticism about history in 2003?   Oh, right.  There was a Republican in the White House.  It goes to show how much the RNC is in disarray when this guy hasn't been fired for his foot in mouth disease. And they say Joe Biden is bad!

Michael Steele is An Idiot

Steele thinks George Bush created jobs.



Facts:

"Bush’s job data 'shows the worst track record for job creation since the government began keeping records.' A paltry 1 million jobs were created under Bush; that’s 'a fraction of the 23 million jobs created under President Bill Clinton’s administration.' Even President Carter — who conservatives love to cite as the paragon of poor economic management, and who only served one term — created 10.5 million jobs. That’s more than three times as many jobs as Bush, in half as much time. More jobs may be created under Obama in this year alone than in Bush's eight."

I just love the "Well, I'll get numbers too and we'll compare" line. Like that'll ever happen. I wonder if Steele goes home at night and factchecks himself and then says, "Shit, I got that one wrong too." 

(H/T Think Progress)

Everybody Hates Michael

AHAHAAHAHAAHAAHAAAAAA!





With apologies to Chris Rock.

Think Before You Speak

No sooner does President Obama nominate Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, than the RNC makes asses of themselves.

In a tribute to Justice Thurgood Marshall shortly before his death, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan quoted our first black Justice as having said the Constitution as originally conceived and drafted was “defective.”

“Does Kagan Still View Constitution ‘As Originally Drafted And Conceived’ As ‘Defective’?” the RNC now asks. A litmus test for Kagan, it implies.

But of course the answer should be, yes. Might the Three-Fifths Clause have been a wee bit of a defect?

The continuation of slavery, the three-fifths clause, the omission of women's ability to vote until 1920... uh... yeah, the original Constitution is flawed. But go ahead, RNC, keep making your "big tent" smaller and smaller. It's no wonder that Michael Steele blurts out occasional truths. He can't help himself.

Can A Republican Brother Get A Party Sanctioned Lap Dance?

I don't care about what Michael Steele spends money on. I don't care what he does at night. I don't care if he prefers to frequent lesbian-and-bondage-themed nightclubs and uses private jets and chauffeured limousines to get there. Just don't use public funds, asshole.

On Monday morning, the Daily Caller reported that the RNC spent thousands of dollars on high-end travel arrangements, swanky hotels and, most remarkably, "meals" at a lesbian-and-bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood. The latter expense, naturally, grabbed most of the attention and the cleverest of headlines -- prompting the RNC to simultaneously state that it would investigate the expenditures and that it wasn't Steele who went to the club.

But the damage had already been done. While several GOP strategists are willing to grant Steele a pass -- under the rubric that one has to spend lavishly to raise lavish amounts of money -- several big donors and party officials are completely baffled.

"For those donors who truly believe in conservative values, this latest news about Steele has to be very disturbing," said Douglas MacKinnon, former press secretary to Majority Leader Robert Dole. "No matter which side of the aisle you find yourself, if you are giving a political party your hard-earned money, you should have no doubts that it is going to be spent as advertised and not to provide a spoiled, egocentric, out-of-touch chairman with frivolous luxuries which are out of reach of the vast majority of the American people. Michael Steele needs to resign and let the RNC vote in a man or woman who understands that his or her needs do not come before the needs of the nation or the party."

If the Republican National Committee doesn't sack his ass over this, then we can and should call them out on their hypocritical, holier than thou, fiscally conservative, family values bullshit.

That is all.

I KNEW! This Would Happen

House Minority Leader and resident Congressional Oompa Loompa John "I Can't Read 2,000 Page Bills" Boehner is now complaining that President Obama's 11 page summary for Health Care Reform is... wait for it... TOO SHORT!

A spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner today ridiculed President Obama's health care proposal because it's too short.

"The White House's 'plan' consists of an 11-page outline, which has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office or posted online as legislative text. So they want to reorganize one-sixth of the United States' economy with a document shorter than a comic book, and they're complaining that they can't find our plan on their own website? C'mon," said the spokesman, Michael Steel, in an email to reporters.

What a bunch of fucking hacks.

Wanda Sykes Comments on Reid Quote and Calls Out Michael Steele

(Video via C&L)

Burn of the Week

The Washington Times reported today that RNC Chairman Michael Steele has been raking in the speaking fees and it has former chairmen up in arms. This comes on the hells of Steele, never one to know when to keep his mouth shut, equating the Democratic party pushing health care reform through as "flipping the bird" to the American people.

At today's White House press briefing, NBC's Norah O'Donnell asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the heated rhetoric in the Senate health-care debate, specifically citing RNC Chairman Michael Steele's comment yesterday that Democrats were willing to "flip the bird" to the American public.

Gibbs replied, "How much did that interview cost him?"

OH, NO HE DI'N!!!

Michael Steele's "Tea" Party

Self destruction?

"...Though it lacked the size, enthusiasm and racially-questionable signage of it's real-life counterpart, [Michael] Steele's "RNC Tea Party" was all about embracing the ideals of a growing conservative movement that's often been as focused on slamming the GOP as it has on attacking Democrats. There were even official GOP tea bags given out with "Listen to Me!" signs stapled to them. Interestingly, though, the party lacked most of the big Republican names the tea partiers usually turn to at their rallies. Michele Bachmann and Jim DeMint were nowhere to be found.

[Steele] acknowledged the tea partier's complaints with the Republicans and he promised that the party would work hard to keep it's loudest constituents happy. Steele said he offered a "mea culpa" to tea partiers since the beginning of this term, agreeing with them that the party had abandoned its conservative "principles.

"But that's all over now, Steele said. Tea is the party's drink now. "We are moving back, head first, in that direction," he said. "Because that's where we should be."

The Wrong Side of History

For anyone who still believes the Grand Obstructionist Party is stalling the ongoing health care debate and doesn't want reform to pass for the right reasons instead of their own self-serving ones, comes word that no matter what emerges from this debate, no matter how much the Democrats compromise, they're going to hold their breath and their votes.

Senate Republicans predicted on Wednesday that the 40 members of their caucus would unanimously oppose health care reform despite changes made by Democratic leadership to make the product more palatable to conservatives.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told the Huffington Post that he did not think the dropping of a public option for insurance coverage from the bill would be enough for Democrats to win even the support of moderate Republican Senators Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins, both of Maine.

So even before the Congressional Budget Office scores the current bills sent to them, the GOP is saying no way. Even without any form of public option, the bill makes rescission illegal, outlaws insurance denial due to pre-existing conditions and ends caps on what insurance companies pay out for care.

And still 30% of the population identifies with this sorry excuse for a political party. A party that cares more about the profits of corporations than the constituents they are elected to represent.

ADDING... The Republican party is rudderless. And while Sen. Harry Reid's slavery comparison may be a little over the top, although in my opinion it was apropos since Reid's emphasis wasn't the issue so much as the consensus around the issue, isn't it ironic that the leader of the RNC should call someone else an "incompetent leader?" And good job by Donny Deutsch in calling out Michael Steele and not letting him get away with a simple dismissal.

Steele: Obama Hates Black People!

Shorter Steele: "I'm not saying they're pressuring him because he's black, I'm saying it's strange that they're pressuring him because he's a black man."

Steele is sooooo fucking stupid. Keep it up, RNC!

The Party of No Sympathy

Over these last few weeks while Congress has been in recess, we've seen some pretty offensive town hall meetings. Birthers and deathers, seniors who rail against a government run health care option but freak at the idea of possible changes to steamline their government run Medicare, and gun-toting 2nd Amendment activists who for some reason show up armed at health care forums have shown us the ugly, misinformed and disinformed underbelly of the Republican voter, uneducated in the ways of the current health care reform battle among many other things.

But lately, we are becoming witness to the lowest of the low. We are watching our elected officials at said town halls cater to the basest fears of their far right wingnut base and turn their backs on constituents coming to them for answers, constituents in need, people looking for help.

The first of these examples came from Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the heartless representing the heartland, when a distraught woman pleaded for help because her husband's insurance company would not cover his traumatic brain injury. Coburn's response? Call his office, but "government is not the answer." He suggested she should look to friends and neighbors as the sheeple in the audience applauded. I wonder how many of them offered to help this woman and her husband after the meeting was over?

Then came word of Kansas Republican Rep. Lynn "Great White Hope" Jenkins laughing in the face of a young mother with a 2½ year old child who can't afford health insurance when she asked what was wrong with a government run option that she could afford? Here is someone who doesn't want to be on the dole, would rather pay for her own insurance than get subsidized by the government to buy private insurance, and she is basically ignored... as the sheeple again applaud.

But I must say that the latest act of RNC Chairman Michael Steele is disgustingly reprehensible. Steele has shown over and over that in his mind, he is right and anyone who disagrees with him is a moron. It's the Emporer's New Clothes Redux. He knows not of what he speaks and proves it every time he opens his mouth. Well, this time, he not only shows his ignorance but his pompous ruthlessness as well.

Taking a question about health care reform from a student who lost her mother to cancer because she couldn't afford some of the medications, Steele took it all as a big stunt and said, "It makes for great TV. You'll probably make it tonight, enjoy it." He then turned his back on her... and the white sheeple who were bussed in and sat in the front rows of the prodominently black audience applauded.

I mean, I always thought Steele was a bit of a douchebag, but man, that is some cold-blooded shit. What is the point of having a town hall meeting when you don't care what the participants have to say? How does he justify that kind of behavior, not just as a human being, but as a representative, THE representative of the Republican National Committee? Come on, Mike, at least pretend to care. All you're doing is solidifying the notion that the GOP really doesn't give a rat's ass about the average American barely scraping by. He's just as insensitive as he is stupid.

Dave Zirin writes:

...The roots of Steele's unconscionable behavior lie in his own political bankruptcy. The nation faces a health care crisis and has no answer other than telling students, "Everyone in the country needs health care." Lately he has been running commercials telling seniors, "No cuts for Medicare," just two short years after running for senator of Maryland saying that "everything has to be on the table" - including Medicare cuts. As Ron Brownstein wrote in National Journal on Friday, "Steele's pledge this week to 'protect Medicare' might have been more convincing had it not come five months after nearly four-fifths of House Republicans voted to literally end the program as we know it for all Americans younger than 55."

It's one thing to be a fraud. That's politics as usual. But to turn your back on a young person whose mother just died of cancer is more than politics as usual. It's shocking.

UPDATE (10:30pm): Keith Olbermann gives Steele the once over.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Steele Diagnosed with Foot In Mouth Disease

Does his brain shut down the second he stands before a microphone or camera? Or is he really just that stupid?

STEELE: The problem that we have with this president is that we don’t know [Obama]. He was not vetted, folks. … He was not vetted, because the press fell in love with the black man running for the office. “Oh gee, wouldn’t it be neat to do that? Gee, wouldn’t it make all of our liberal guilt just go away? We can continue to ride around in our limousines and feel so lucky to live in an America with a black president.” Okay that’s wonderful, great scenario, nice backdrop. But what does he stand for? What does he believe? … So we don’t know. We just don’t know.

I guess he got his talking points from Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh Challenges Obama To A Debate

Limbaugh thinks he is so important, he can challenge the President of the United States to a debate... on his own show... on his turf.

"I am offering President Obama to come on this program without staffers, without a teleprompter, without note cards to debate me on the issues," Limbaugh said on his program today. "Let's talk about free markets versus government control. Let's talk about nationalizing health care and raising taxes on small business. ... Let's talk about illegal immigration and lawlessness on the borders. Let's talk about massive deficits and the destroying the opportunities of future generations."

And apparently, he thinks if he's "taken out," that President Obama will have defeated his opposition and will "own" the country. As if a radio talk show personality warranted equal footing with the leader of the free world .

"If you take me out," Limbaugh said addressing Obama directly, "if you can wipe me out in a debate and prove to the rest of America that what I say is senseless and wrong, do you realize you will own the United States of America? You will have no opposition."

Un. Hinged.

Callers then asked why, if he's fighting for the soul of America, Limbaugh wouldn't take the opportunity to debate in prime time with a moderator of his choosing in front of a huge audience. Limbaugh refused. It had to be on his show.

What a valiant man!

Also... POPCORN APOLOGIES!

Balls of Steele...

...are now sitting in a jar on Rush Limbaugh's mantle along with the rest of the Republican political so-called leaders on Capitol Hill.

It started early on with Phil Gingrey in his once in a lifetime moment of lucidity when questioning the rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh, until folding like a house of cards and apologizing to The Portly One the very next day after receiving tons of phone calls from the Dittoheads. For every time one of the Republican politicians deny that Limbaugh doesn't speak for them, denounce his "hope that Obama fails," or that they don't go by what Limbaugh says, they then grovel and apologize the next day.

Now the new off-the-hook, hip-hop, leader of the RNC, Michael Steele is the latest to fall under Limbaugh's corpulent thumb.

During Steele's appearance on D.L. Hughley's CNN show on Saturday, he took umbrage at his host's observation that Limbaugh is the de facto leader of the Republican party.

"I am the de facto leader of the Republican party... Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh — his whole thing is entertainment. He has this incendiary — yes, it's ugly.”

Wow! Michael Steele was one step away from poppin' a cap in Limbaugh's fat ass. But then the inevitable happened.

"My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.

...I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking,” Steele said. "It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not.

I’m not going to engage these guys and sit back and provide them the popcorn for a fight between me and Rush Limbaugh,” Steele added. “No such thing is going to happen. … I wasn’t trying to slam him or anything."

That brown you see on Michael Steele's face is no longer his skin color, it's the skidmark left after inserting his head into Limbaugh's cornhole. Add another jar to Limbaugh's mantle to house Michael Steele's testicles next to Phil Gingrey's, Mike Pence's, Eric Cantor's, Mitch McConnell's and on and on.

Here's Democratic Committee Chairman Tim Kaine's shorter response: I was impressed with Steele for about a minute, until he licked Limbaugh's stiletto heels. All hail Rush Limbaugh! Leader of what used to be the Republican Party!

Douchebag of the Week: Cliff Kincaid

It was incredibly tempting and I'm still arguing with myself to award the dubious distinction of Broadway Carl's Douchebag of the Week honors to CPAC and the entire body of people who attended or spoke at the event, but in light of the fact that there were soooo many douchenozzles attending, I had to narrow it down.

I couldn't lump in Rush Limbaugh and Ann "Obama is insane for sending troops to Afghanistan" Coulter and Michael "My bad" Steele and the myriad other assholes who said ridiculously asinine things during the weekend; besides, I'm sure they'll have their own week soon enough. But the one person in my mind that stuck out was early on was Cliff Kincaid. Who? This guy.




Douchebag of the Week: Cliff "We are sore losers so we may as well keep perpetuating the lies" Kincaid.