This is getting so old. This morning, Michael Steele was asked “Do you feel that, as an African-American, you have a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would?”
Steele’s answer: “Uh the honest answer is YES.” Asked why? He responds: “It just is. Barack Obama has a slimmer margin…”
Man oh man. I’m so sick and tired of Michael Steele that I’ve decided to document his first year or so. This by no means is an exhaustive list.
Thanks to hotair.com for the great archive:
January 30, 2009: Michael Steele is elected to Chairmanship of the Republican Party
March 1, 2009: Steele calls Limbaugh an entertainer and his remarks incendiary
March 1, 2009: Steele completely ignores and almost agrees with D.L. Hughley when he characterizes the Republican National Convention as Nazi Germany:
March 2, 2009: Steele apologizes to 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…
“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.”
March 5, 2009: Dr. Ada Fisher calls for Steele’s resignation:
“In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina’s national committeewoman, said Steele is “eroding confidence” in the GOP and that members of his transition team should encourage him to step aside. Fisher added Steele’s personal e-mail address to the e-mail”.
“I don’t want to hear anymore [sic] 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,” Fisher wrote.
March 11, 2009: Steele says he believes that abortion is an individual choice:
Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?
The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.
March 12, 2009: Steele reverses himself on being pro-choice:
I am pro-life, always have been, always will be.
I tried to present why I am pro life while recognizing that my mother had a “choice” before deciding to put me up for adoption. I thank her every day for supporting life. The strength of the pro life movement lies in choosing life and sharing the wisdom of that choice with those who face difficult circumstances. They did that for my mother and I am here today because they did. In my view Roe vs. Wade was wrongly decided and should be repealed. I realize that there are good people in our party who disagree with me on this issue.
But the Republican Party is and will continue to be the party of life. I support our platform and its call for a Human Life Amendment. It is important that we stand up for the defenseless and that we continue to work to change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen so that we can welcome all children and protect them under the law.
May 11, 2009: Jay Cost says it’s time for Steele to go
October 13, 2009: Steele launches new blog called “What up?“
October 31 2009: After spending $1,000,000 on Scozzafava’s campaign, she dropped out and Steele says Hoffman winning would be great!
November 9, 2009: Steele says white folks are scared of him because he’s black
MARTIN: But your candidates got to talk to them. One of the criticisms I’ve always had is Republicans — white Republicans — have been scared of black folks.
STEELE: You’re absolutely right. I mean I’ve been in the room and they’ve been scared of me. I’m like, “I’m on your side” and so I can imagine going out there and talking to someone like you, you know, [you’re like,] “I’ll listen.” And they’re like “Well.” Let me tell you. You saw in Christie and you saw in McDonnell a door open because they went in and engaged. McDonnell was very deliberate about spending –
January 5th, 2010: Steele says he doesn’t know if the GOP is ready to lead yet
January 7, 2010: GOP aides warn RNC: It’s time for Steele to shut up:
“Republicans at all levels have been working day and night to build a wave, and every time we turn around the guy standing on the surfboard is busy trying to collect admission to watch him ride,” the aide said, arguing that “he has an agenda of his own that isn’t reflected by the goals of the party as a whole.”
January 8, 2010: Steele: God has place me in this role for a reason
February 9, 2010:Michael Steele: My critics are racist:
“I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation. Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”