UPDATE: Dude! I got called a racist because of this post! Hahaha!
ORIGINAL POST:
Among the many types of bilateral divisions among people, there is this one: those who can come to a reasonable conclusion after stringing together a pattern of cause and effect and those who cannot. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele has repeatedly shown that he falls in the latter category.
RNC chair Michael Steele defended his spending practices Monday morning, saying he has no plan to resign, and at one point suggesting that criticism of his tenure may be rooted in racism.
(…)
Asked if “as an African-American” he has “a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would,” Steele replied: “The honest answer is yes.” Steele went on to explain that, like Barack Obama, he has had to contend with racism as someone who is “not ole boy network.”
Since Steele was elected as RNC chair over men more conservative than he is—including Ohio’s Kenneth Blackwell who is also black—we’ve seen the following occur under his watch:
- During an interview, Steele mutely nodded his head after the interviewer--comedian D.L. Hughley-- asserted that the GOP Convention “looked like Nazi Germany” simply because the Convention was mostly white.
- He needlessly picked a fight with Rush Limbaugh.
- He put his book on the market and began to promote it without telling the RNC.
- He told Sean Hannity that the Republicans would not win back the House and Senate in 2010 and that the GOP isn’t ready to lead.
- He has squandered the coffers of the RNC with nothing to show for it.
- The stripper issue--not his fault but it occurred after all of the things which were.
- His repeated attempts to "urbanize" the GOP are silly, condescending and embarrassing.
- He has repeatedly tried to deflect criticism of his performance as RNC chairman by saying that it is rooted in racism or in fear.
When one starts at a position, one has a margin for error which is of a certain size. The fewer errors one makes as time goes on, the greater the margin for error becomes. And the opposite is true: the more errors one makes, the smaller the margin for error becomes. Mr. Steele’s margin for error is smaller than it was when he first became RNC chair due entirely to the fact that he has made so many errors and due to the fact that he seems incapable of learning from them. In fact, I bet that he doesn’t even think that he has made any mistakes.
Does that mindset sound familiar?
When Steele came up as the front-runner for RNC chair right after the election of Barack Obama as POTUS, it was obvious that the RNC wanted to counter Obama’s blackness with Steele’s. I opined at other blogs that if the RNC absolutely felt the need to engage in the dubious practice of tokenism , that it could have at least elected Blackwell who is more conservative than Steele. But, apparently the Committee also wanted to counter Obama’s media stardom and Steele definitely had a much better carved-out media presence than did Blackwell. The RNC went totally for style over substance and look where it has gotten us. And almost predictably, Obama and Steele are representing their respective organizations about equally as well.
If it weren’t for the total full-tilt Juggernaut that is the Democrat Party’s socialist/fascist agenda and the resulting push-back of the Tea Parties and unlikely candidates like now-Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), there would be no hope, if you’ll pardon the expression.
One top RNC fundraiser has had enough. He’s not the only one.
(Thanks to Hot Air)
UPDATE: Ouch! "Race is the Only Thing Helping Steele":
Steele is hapless, solipsistic, and incompetent. When he isn't embarrassing his party with his personal antics, or his staff's, he's setting it up for failure by driving away its top fundraisers and not keeping pace with Democrats.
Many observers are hypothesizing that Steele is a Democrat plant. Well, he couldn't do any better--or worse, depending on which side one resides--if it were true.
(Thanks to Leon Wolf)
"He’s not the only one."
Absolutely. I will agree with only one thing Steele has said and that is the GOP isn't ready to lead. As long as they nominate folks like Steele and continue down this road of trying to appease rather than stand ground on values, I think we may see more of this.
Posted by: BloodSpite | April 05, 2010 at 10:57 AM
Have you read Tom Burrell's "Brainwashed"? I'd be interested on your take.
Posted by: Omnibus Driver | April 05, 2010 at 02:31 PM
Mr. Steele is incompetent. The only thing that race has to do with it, is that he may have had an advantage in winning the position because of his race (you know, let's prove we aren't racist). If that was the case, we missed a great opportunity by not choosing Mr. Blackwell.
Posted by: Buford Gooch | April 05, 2010 at 05:21 PM
Hey, Ken Blackwell and Saul Anuzis are still available right?
Steele is worse than useless. Enough is enough. Stop the bleeding now.
Posted by: KingShamus | April 05, 2010 at 06:05 PM
Can anyone tell me why they think Blackwell is more conservative than Steele?
Is it that Steele doesn't want to toss moderates? Can a Texas style conservative win in Rhode Island?
Is it that he spoke fact when he said, right now, like it or not, to get an abortion is a choice?
Is it that Steele wants to go after the minority vote and that is some how distasteful? What about Blackwell boasting that he received 50% of the Black vote when he ran for mayor? Or what about Blackwell publicly stating that if the GOP wants to target the Black vote, why hasn't he received any calls on how to go about it, when he got 50% of the Black vote?
As far as Blacks and the GOP and the GOP's attitude towards Black voters, J.C. Watts made the same commentary as Steele. In fact, Watts selection as a Republican leader in the House was seen as an affirmative action selection by some in the House.
Steele is Dead Man Walking but the comments that Steele isn't "conservative enough" by implication is a lot of bunk.
Posted by: negronova | April 06, 2010 at 06:43 PM
You and Booker Rising (Shay) are mentioned in The Washington Post editorial section by Kathleen Parker. Congrats, seriously.
Posted by: negronova | April 07, 2010 at 04:55 AM
You should be a rising star! I love it when liberals sputter and retreat when they begin playing the race card and then realize they are up against you or Michelle Malkin or LeShawn Barber or Thomas Sowell or Lloyd Marcus or...well, you know what I mean.
I still have a stack of James Shire books to get through before I can get to your book (I am a Christian who is focused on study and exposure of worldviews) but I bet it is good and if I do a review I will give you a head's up.
Posted by: Kimbal Binder | April 10, 2010 at 04:52 PM