Who needs Sarah Palin when we have Michael Steele making an ass out of himself around every corner. Let's chronicle this week.
First, he dissed Lord Limbaugh on D.L. Hugeley's show calling him "ugly" and "incendiary".
Then, Limbaugh Responded and completely ripped him apart. I have to admit, I was cracking up when I read Rush's Response:
On his radio show today, Limbaugh fired back, calling the RNC and Michael Steele "so-called Republicans" and saying that they "need a little leadership."
"So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine," Limbaugh said. "Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee...and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."
[And later]
"I'm not in charge of the Republican Party, and I don't want to be," he said. "I would be embarrassed to say that I'm in charge of the Republican Party in a sad-sack state that it's in. If I were chairman of the Republican Party, given the state that it's in, I would quit."
Admit it, that almost hurt YOUR feelings when you read the quote (as I'm sure none of us actually listen to Rush's show)
Of course, this lead Michael Steele to apologize as is Republican Protocol after insulting Rush Limbaugh:
"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."
"He brings a very important message to the American people to wake up and pay attention to what the administration is doing," Steele said. "Number two, there are those out there who want to look at what he’s saying as incendiary and divisive and ugly. That’s what I was trying to say. It didn’t come out that way. ... He does what he does best, which is provoke: He provokes thought, he provokes the left. And they’re clearly the ones who are most excited about him."
Asked if he planned to apologize, Steele said: "I wasn’t trying to offend anybody. So, yeah, if he’s offended, I’d say: Look, I’m not in the business of hurting people’s feelings here. ... My job is to try to bring us all together."
I'd say that was some pretty thorough ass kissing right there.
Well, it still wasn't over. After the apology Michael Steele became the butts of EVERYONE'S jokes. In fact, he was even the "Bama of the Week" on the Tom Joyner Morning Show as awarded by Huggy Lowdown. It's not exactly a GOOD thing to be the butt of every joke. Or maybe that was his strategy to bring everyone together.
GIBBS: I was a little surprised at the speed in which Mr. Steele, the head of the RNC, apologized to the head of the Republican Party.
Even Morning Joe got in on the fun after Steele went on the Today Show and made an ass of himself:
The Today Show Clip:
Steele: That's the Nature of this Job, Baby!"
Seriously? Baby? Who the HELL does he think he's connecting to talking like that? Isn't he supposed to be a professional? Maybe Rush is right, he needs to spend more time doing his job and less time trying to be a celebrity.
He even said his opinion doesn't mean squat
LAUER: I guess I’m asking you your personal opinion. Do you agree with Rush Limbaugh when he says that it’s common sense that as a conservative he wants the policies of Barack Obama to fail?
STEELE: Well, my personal opinion doesn’t matter in this. My job as the RNC chairman is to take into account all of the various views out there within our party and try to put together a strategy and a team that’s going to help us win elections. [...]
LAUER: Mr. Steele, let me try it this way. There are many Republicans out there as well as Democrats who are unemployed right now. People are hurting across this country. Republicans like Democrats are losing their homes, they’re unable to send their kids to school. Do you think those Republicans want the policies of Barack Obama to fail right now?
STEELE: I don’t think that Republicans, Democrats or Independents or anyone wants policies that redistributes the wealth of this country...
Anywhoo, after even more apologizing on Hannity's show, it was released that a RNC member, who happens to be an African American Woman, is calling for Steele to resign:
In a memo to her fellow RNC members yesterday, Dr. Ada Fisher said that their newly elected chairman, Michael Steele, is "‘eroding confidence’ in the GOP and that members of his transition team should encourage him to step aside." She reiterated her argument on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show last night. Fisher’s memo echoed reports in Politico that anonymous "key party leaders" are beginning to feel that "the GOP has made a costly mistake."
If you haven't seen the video of her on Rachel go see it, it's rather entertaining. My favorite part of the interview? This:
MADDOW: In an e-mail that you wrote -- in this email that you wrote, you said and I`m quoting here from, again, something you did not intend to be public but it is. "I don`t want to hear anymore language trying to be cool about the bling in the stimulus package or appealing to D.L. Hughley and blacks in a way that isn`t going to win us any votes and makes us, frankly, appear to many blacks as quite foolish."
I mean, Mr. Steele made history as the first ever black party chairman. You are one of only three members of the RNC who are African- American. Why do you think he specifically makes the Republican Party look foolish to black people?
FISHER: I think that he makes people -- he makes us look -- first off, we have an 11th commandment. And that commandment says we should not speak ill of other Republicans. Mr. Steele has a right to say what he wants as does Rush Limbaugh.
My concern is, we need to focus on our mission and our principles. We need to talk about the fact that this economy is failing and we need to promote what is the Republican response. We need to talk about the fact that we have healthcare coming from the White House, and Republicans need to say this is what our response is. Those are the challenges that we face.
And the Democrats are doing a good job of getting us off-task and off- mission.
They shouldn't speak ill of other Republican's? Really? I mean we knew that, but to hear someone actually SAY it and call it a COMMANDMENT like it's in the Bible. Wow. That explains so much.
Yesterday Michael Steele tried to convince us that he didn't say what we all heard him say:
STEELE: The point that I’ve been trying to make which is if you go back and listen to that [CNN] exchange, there was no attack on Rush. I was saying that there are people out there who actually want to demonize and use him as a boogie man, but also say that what he is saying is ugly and divisive.
Umm, Mike, that's not what you said. There's this little thing called "the internet" that has what you really said ALL OVER IT.
I can't find the clip, but he also said that the Republicans have to stop being cool like the Democrats because they aren't cool. Well, that's honest.
Now, this is just most of what happened on the Comedy Tour, I didn't even mention the stuff going on with him claiming he can withold money from Senate Candidates before his office walked it back, and he said it again. I'm not even going to mention the fact that he's been so busy making an ass of himself in the media that he literally hasn't done SHIT he's SUPPOSED to be doing as part of his job as RNC Chair.
But today there is more Comedy to be enjoyed:
STEELE: It’s been a good week, it’s been an instructive week. That’s really what I take away from a week like this. ... The instruction is particularly for republicans is that you need to stay focused, other wise you get scapegoated. [...]
CALLER: I hope that Paul Bagalla and Emanuel and Carville don’t convince you to resign your position.
STEELE: Aww, trust me. Not me Baby! Nuh-uh. Not happening. No way, no how!
First, there's the "baby" again, Republicans really AREN'T cool. . . But he thought this was a GOOD week? Seriously? I'd hate to see his idea of a BAD week. . .
As Think Progress points out, just a month ago Steele was telling us NOT to trust the GOP because we had no reason to.
"You have absolutely no reason, none, to trust our [party’s] word or our actions at this point."
On the serious tip, he really is making an ass of himself these days, and he really should consider laying low for a few months. I mean we are all loving the hilarity that is the RNC Chairman, but he's about to kill us all with laughter if he has any more "good weeks."
Oh, and you need to listen to this song. That Republican woman is right, he's a HUGE joke in the African American community.