"The gift that keeps on giving."

*

I am going to stop messing with Michael Steele, because I can always count on my man to give me material; even on a slow blogging night. (*That quote in the pic is real. He really said that.)

I swear that my man goes to his podiatrist to get his teeth cleaned. (His foot stays in his mouth)

So anywhooo, it seems that he done went and did it again:

"WASHINGTON — Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, drew fierce criticism and a call for his resignation on Friday after declaring at a party fund-raiser that the United States was on the wrong side of history with its conflict in Afghanistan, a military fight he called “a war of Obama’s choosing.” This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in,... Mr. Steele said in a speech Thursday night in Connecticut in which he offered a strong critique of President Obama’s military strategy.

“It was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be Afghanistan,” Mr. Steele said, according to a video of his remarks that was circulated by Democrats on Friday. “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?.. Mr. Steele, seeking to clarify his remarks, issued a statement on Friday afternoon, saying, “There is no question that America must win the war on terror.”

Now what's funny about all of this is that I actually agree with Hip Hop Mike on this one; we don't need to be in Afghanistan. And what's even funnier is that Mike's republican masters want to seem tough on terror (even if it means the loss of thousands of A-merry-can lives while fighting a pointless war) so what Mike is saying goes counter to the message, and they have to bring him back on the plantation. Some of them are even saying that this is it, and they finally want Mike to step down. I guess this is the straw that broke the elephant's back.

Now here is the real fun part: Watch how Mike does his best to pull his foot out of his mouth by doing a mea culpa until his ass falls off. Don't you just love house Negroes? The problem, of course, with a house Negro, is that he is just a Negro of convenience. The white folks in the house with him have no respect for him and they do not respect his opinions. He is there simply because he makes no public objections to the status quo. He goes along to get along. He does a jig when massa needs to feel good, he tells a joke when massa needs to laugh, and he calls out other Negroes when massa needs to feel secure. The plantation is not lost, I have a Negro right here in the house with me.

"Amid a new firestorm over comments suggesting the war in Afghanistan is ill-advised, RNC chair Michael Steele is doing damage control and adding his support for Gen. David Petraeus.
In a statement released this afternoon through the RNC, Steele reiterated his own support for the war effort, and Petraeus, who was confirmed this week as the top US commander in the theater.

"There is no question that America must win the war on terror," Steele said. "During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama made clear his belief that we should not fight in Iraq, but instead concentrate on Afghanistan. Now, as President, he has indeed shifted his focus to this region. That means this is his strategy. And, for the sake of the security of the free world, our country must give our troops the support necessary to win this war."

Steele spokesman Doug Heye responded to a video in which Steele made his controversial comments by questioning Obama's strategy in Afghanistan.

"The responsibility for building and maintaining [a] strategy falls squarely on the shoulders of the President. Like so many Americans, Chairman Steele wants to hear an explanation from President Obama on what his strategy is for winning the war in Afghanistan," Heye said."

Jig Mike, Jig! Your ass is still there.

Hip hop Mike at Howard.

This post is going to make some of you uncomfortable, but as is usually the case with moi, I really don't give a fuck. (No, it's not about Glenn Beck, although I will be probably be blogging about his moronic ass again tomorrow.)

This post is about republicans, and the man that is charged- as of me writing this post- to lead them. His name is Michael Steele, and once again he made a damn fool of himself on a stage of his fellow humans while on the latest leg of his hip hop tour.

There are a lot of reasons I could never become a republican, and most of it doesn't necessarily have to do with their politics. It's them, the people who make up their party. They are clueless, out of touch, and live in a parallel universe which I never hope to see. But back to Mr. Steele. Or, as I like to call him, hip hop Mike.

Mike had a little town hall get together at Howard University Tuesday night. As the RNC chair and the sanctioned HNIC of the red neck...I mean red party set, it is his job to attract blacks, once again, to the party of Lincoln.

"Steele spoke at Howard in front of roughly 150 students as part of his outreach program to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. His effort to connect with young black students got off to a rather cringe-worthy start when right before the billed "student dialogue" two dozen white members of area young Republican groups arrived to sit in the reserved first two rows of the packed room. One wondered, as students grumbled, if Steele hired John Ashcroft to be his event manager. "

Of course, we can't have those "young republicans" mixing with those black students. Hell they might be packing. But let's move on with more of Dave Zirin's account:

"..But when challenged, Steele exposed himself, and it was awful to see the Tin Man's tin ear. When the RNC chair took a written question on health care, he blasted the public option, saying that "every time the government gets involved in something it doesn't work."
Then came Amanda Duzak, and Steele's evening just got a whole lot worse.
Duzak, a 23 year old Towson University grad, stood up, against the rules and out of turn.
"My mother died of cancer 6 months ago because she could only afford three of her six prescription chemotherapy medications," she projected. "There are 50 million people in this country who could end up like my mom, suffering or dying because they do not have adequate health care. Everyone in this room and everyone in this country should have access to good health care."'

Good job Amanda. Nice to see a republican confronted about health care for once. So it wasn't a town hall meeting, but it was close. Let's see what our boy hip hop Mike did:

"The room woke up and other than those glaring from the front, the applause was wall to wall. But it's Steele's response that makes this moment both newsworthy and a terrible comment on his character. After saying that he believed in a mature, honest discussion and not in shouting, Steele said, "People are coming to these town meetings and they're like [he then shakes]." He then looked and gestured right at Ms. Duzak and said, "It makes for great TV. You'll probably make it tonight, enjoy it." He then turned his back to her, as the crowd clapped."

Wait, Dave, did you write "as the crowd clapped"? What the fuck were they clapping for? The young woman was right! I know a lot of college kids read this blog, -including some of you from Howard- and if any of you were in that auditorium with hip hop Mike as he tried to clown that young lady, you should be dusting off your tapping shoes and your head wraps right about now. But let me not jump to conclusions, let me look at the video again......yep, there was definitely some shuffling going on at old HU. I saw you Negroes grinning and "cooning" with Steele as he tried to play "I am down with you" while parroting republican talking points. The only thing worse than a house Negro is a college educated house Negro. That young white woman had more field Negro in her than all of you grinning Negroes put together. Oh field, stop it, the young lady was being disrespectful, she was interrupting Steele. Just like you claim the republicans do when the democrats hold town halls. What's the difference? You just say this now because you happen to share her point of view. That would be correct! And I will continue to share her point of view until every A-merry-can has access to affordable or free health care in this country, and until the crooked insurance companies and profit over lives HMO companies are a thing of the past.

"Think about what Steele did. He didn't only turn his back and rudely dismiss a young woman whose mother just died of cancer. He used the shameful recent behavior of the right wing town hall screamers -- his own party's base -- to try and turn the crowd against Ms. Duzak. "

Relax Dave, that's just hip hop Mike being hard core. Keeping it real to the end.

Story here.

"Message to Michael"

Michael, this has gone on long enough. It's time to come home my brother. You gave it the good old college try, but you and I both know that some of these GOP folks to black folks is like oil to water. Putting you up as their leader was a gimmick, something they tried in order to stay hip and relevant in the age of Obama. Unfortunately for you , you just happened to be the only black guy (Kenneth Blackwell doesn't count. I said "black guy")around.

Of course it didn't help that all this HNIC stuff got to your head. You just couldn't shut up and stay on message, and the RNC folks weren't down with that. Bad enough they had to put a Negro in charge, but one who couldn't keep his mouth shut was too much for them.

"Let’s put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary. Yes, it’s ugly."

That was your first mistake: saying unkind things about the new republican leader in public. And then you had the nerve to tell A-merry-ca the truth about your party.

"You have absolutely no reason -- none -- to trust our word or our actions at this point. "

You got that right Michael. But the straw the broke the elephant's back was when you made statements to GQ Magazine which hinted that you believe that a woman can do what she wants to do with her own body.

"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. "

Now dem there is fighten words Michael, and the folks in GOP land are all over you for uttering them. As you know, there is a growing movement within your own party to send your black behind packing. Republicans don't waiver on certain things: The right to life, gay marriage, and no equality for blacks. Okay, the last one isn't an official party platform, not yet anyway, but you get the picture.

Honestly Mike, I wanted you to succeed. I hoped what I thought about the republican party wasn't true, but the reality is that just seeing you in public as the representative of their party drove quite a few of those good ole boyz crazy. And all it took was one slip up for them to jump ship. As far as they are concerned you have been one constant slip up, and that ain't gonna cut it in the land of NASCAR and Rush.

So come on Mike, how about it? Hold a press conference tomorrow and tell the country that the GOP is not ready to go main stream. Tell us that it is not the party you thought it was, and that the people who make up the base of the party are just too extreme and unyielding for your taste. Tell A-merry-ca you tried, but as a person of color you just can't in good conscience support the GOP anymore.

Mike, if you do that, I will call off the drop squad, and I will pretend all the house worthy behavior you participated in didn't happen. The groveling to Rush, the back pedaling on your stance on abortion, and your silly pseudo cool buffoonery to try and attract young blacks to your party. I will forget all of that, and to top it off; I will even put in a good word with the Negro Acceptance Coalition *(NAC) for you. I promise.

* FYI, there is no organization called the Negro Acceptance Coalition. Not yet.

If you can't beat em....

"We've been misdefined as a party that doesn't care, a party that's insensitive, a party that is unconcerned about minorities, a party that's unconcerned about the lives and expectations and dreams of average Americans, and nothing could be further from the truth.."

So says Michael Steele, the guy who loves puppies and the new Chairman of the RNC. Oh, and Michael, as you can tell by his pic, just happens to be an African American. Oh those repubs, they are so original. Seriously, if you are a *dye in the wool repub this has got to hurt. Steele, after all, pissed off conservatives when he found a moderate organization, and from time to time has seemed almost embarrassed by his party affiliation. But look at the choices they had: The frat boy's hand picked man, Mike Duncan, Chip (the rapper)Salstman, Katon (I am a son of the confederacy) Dawson, and Kenneth (I am a proud house Negro)Blackwell. Wow, talk about scraping from the bottom of the barrel. These repubs are in some serious trouble.

Oh come on field, you are always crying about how insensitive the republicans are, and how they need to reach out to people of color, and now they pick one of your people and you still aren't satisfied. Nope, because I know a hustle when I see one. Here is the thing: if you put an African American in a position of power just because the other guy did it and you think it was successful for him, you aren't really doing shit. You are just playing politics as usual.

Steel might be "charismatic", but he strikes me as one of those Negroes who will say whatever is necessary to fit in. I see the guy on FOX NEWS and he is killing Obama and calling him every kind of name in the book. Then I see him on one of those late night talk shows and he is saying what a great guy Obama is and how the repubs have a lot of work to do blah blah blah. Yeah, Michael is somewhat of a fraud, he should fit in well with the folks over at the RNC.

But he will be right at home with the repubs, and this is just what the Doctor ordered for them in the age of Obama. They were losing their minds while trying to come up with an answer for his O ness, and now they think they have it. Damn that Obama sure is popular. He is smart, articulate, and very telegenic. Where can we get a Negro like that? Hey, how about that Steele guy, he speaks really well....

"I would say to the new president, congratulations,... It's going to be an honor to spar with him, and I would follow that up with 'how do you like me now?' "

Michael, I didn't like you before, and I sure as hell don't like you now. I am just not feeling the our Negro is better than your Negro game your party is playing. And I am really not feeling you because you are letting yourself become a pawn in the game. Still, I wish you luck. Your party has a lot of work to do. Divide and conquer politics doesn't seem to work in A-merry-ca anymore. And all of those old Southern voters who long for the days when we were paler and more Christian are all [thankfully] dying off. What that means is less votes for you and a better A-merry-ca for all of us.

So congrats Michael, you can go out and celebrate now. But don't party too hard, you have a lot of work to do.

*Thanks Murf..

The "S" word again.

Poor O man, seems he just can't shake that "Magic Negro" label. Now comes Chip Saltsman, who is in the running for the RNC chair, representing the latest in a long line of repubs to make fun of his O ness and his pedigree.

I know, I know, it's satire. ["I think most people recognize political satire when they see it"] It wasn't meant to offend, everyone is just having a little fun. Just a little something to relieve the racial tension here in A-merry-ca. You black people are just way too sensitive.

Well Chip, I was checking out your album, and I have to be fair to you, not only do you make fun at black folks, your album, "We Hate the U.S.A.", makes fun of the poor, liberals, certain religions, and immigrants as well. Hey, at least you are an equal opportunity satirist. But some of your lyrics could use some work: “See, real black men, like Snoop Dogg, or me, or Farrakhan, have talked the talk, and walked the walk, not come in late and won..” I think you could have been a bit more original, don't you?

Honestly, whenever I read about stories like this one, I always wonder what the black folks in the RNC camp are thinking. Do they think it's funny? Are they embarrassed? Do they pick up the phone, call their comrades in arms, and say: hey man, you are killing me here? Do they tell their republican pals that they are making it way too easy for certain bloggers of color and black folks to label the party as insensitive?

Personally, I love it. Just more stuff for me to write about and to dissect. Just more insight into the souls of my friends on the right. I want to learn as much as I can about you folks. Because the next time you express yourselves in a satirical way, I really want to be able to say: I get it.

Just an accident?

Add me to the list of bloggers who are saying hmmmm about this story.

I really hate the Bush republican cabal for making me think this way, but here I am, a living breathing skeptic of all things Bush and Cheney.

Please read below and tell me if you aren't just a tad bit skeptical yourself:

"At 3:31 PM Friday, December 19, Michael L. Connell, a top Internet consultant for the Republican National Committee and for the Bush and McCain presidential campaigns, left Washington from the small airport in College Park, Md. Alone at the helm of a single engine Piper Saratoga, Connell's flight plan anticipated arrival at his hometown Akron-Canton Airport in a little over two hours, at 5:43 PM.


Instead, about three miles short of the Akron-Canton Airport, Connell's plane crashed to the ground in an upscale section of Lake Township, killing Connell instantly. "I was standing in the kitchen and I looked out the window and all I saw was fire," Taylor Fano told The Akron Beacon Journal. "It took out the flagpole and the cement blocks surrounding the flagpole . . . . It skidded across the driveway and right in-between a line of pine trees and a small fence around an in-ground pool."


The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident and has not yet filed a report, but there was no immediate evidence of wrong-doing or sabotage.
Many in the blogosphere have called for further investigation of the crash, suggesting that Connell was about to provide crucial information in the case of alleged vote fraud in the 2004 Ohio presidential contest, and that that information would implicate Karl Rove and others in the Bush administration. [see update below]



Just last month, Connell was deposed in the ongoing case, King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell. According to accounts of the November 3rd deposition, Connell denied any knowledge of attempts to fraudulently manipulate 2004 Ohio vote counts.


There is, however, a more immediate and relevant question: How much will Connell's death, even if the accident was entirely without malfeasance, impede congressional committee investigations into the more controversial activities of the Bush administration over the past eight years - including the ongoing investigation into thousands of missing White House-RNC emails sent and received by some 22 White House political aides, including Rove. These emails are believed likely to shed light on the political firings of U.S. Attorneys, and to show if the White House had any role in controversial decisions to prosecute former Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman.



After first emerging as a web consultant during the 1998 gubernatorial campaign of Jeb Bush, Connell quickly became a key member of the Republican brain trust and quickly became part of a small network of political consultants and lobbyists favored by Rove. He advised both Bush-Cheney campaigns, and was a regular consultant to the RNC and other GOP committees.



Connell, and his firms - New Media Communications, Govtech and Connell Donatelli Inc. - were part of a universe that included such other GOP operatives as Tony Feather and Jeff Larson of FLS Connect, Tom Synhorst of the DCI Group, and Jeff Averbeck of Smartech. Their companies have received millions of dollars from the Bush-Cheney campaign committees of 2000 and 2004 from the three major - national, congressional and senatorial - Republican Party committees; from such conservative interest groups as the National Rifle Association and Citizens Against Government Waste; from a host of corporations and trade associations seeking to remain in the administration's good graces; and from dozens and dozens of Republican House and Senate campaigns."



More here.



Oh field, has it ever occurred to you that it could all be just a big coincidence? Actually, no. Not with this bunch. But I will take a wait and see approach. I just hope that no stone will be left unturned in this investigation. And if there is no investigation, we will scream loud enough for every reasonable person in A-merry-ca to hear and then demand one.

Sarah, it's time to go solo.

It was bound to happen. It happened to Beyonce with Destiny's Child. It happened with Diana Ross with the Supremes, and it happened with Patti Labelle, and her former group, Labelle. At some point the star of the group realizes that it's their show, and as a result, they decide to break off and go solo.



Well, we can add Sarah Palin to that list. Girlfriend has realized that it was her, and not Mr. Morton, who has been the star of the republican show. And now she wants to go solo. She wants to break away from the restraints of the RNC's grip, and do her own thing. As a result, there has been some serious infighting between the beauty queen and Mr. Morton's people; and now, rethuglicans from coast to coast, are starting to turn on each other like a bunch of robbers caught red handed by the po po. From where I sit, it couldn't have happened to a nicer set of folks. Go figure, just a few months ago Sarah was supposedly electrifying the base, but now she is a drag on the party, and republicans are jumping ship faster than the rich folks on the Titanic. Apparently, Sarah just doesn't have it anymore. (I am sure Beyonce can relate), and she needs a hit. It's been a couple of bad weeks for poor Sarah. (Tina Fey, may you rot in hell) I bet she can remember when she was packing them in all by her lonesome, and raising the roof while the party faithful chanted her name. But now, the McCain folks are acting like their failure to gain some traction is all her fault, and it's only her negatives that are hurting the salty ones chances. They made her the designated attack dog, but now the the rest of A-merry-ca is turning on the attacker, and the RNC is in a bind.

Still, it doesn't seem Sarah is buying it. Like Patti, and Beyonce, girlfriend is a Diva (or at least that's what RNC operatives say) and you how Divas can be. The world centers around them, no matter who else is in it. Even pesky RNC operatives.



Personally, I never believed the Sarah hype (as you all can see from my multiple posts about Ms. Thing), maybe it's the Philly in me, but I knew she was a fraud all along. She might have been the lead singer in the RNC band, but unlike Beyonce, and Patti, she didn't have any talent, and it was just a matter of time before the rest of the country saw what was so obvious to us field Negroes. (Thank you Tina Fey)

And I am not crying for Sarah, she will be fine. I hear she might end up being the leading figure in her party after these elections. And while she waits to be crowned as the rethuglicans version of George W. Bush, she can cool her heels doing a talk show on FAKE NEWS like the rest of her washed up republican friends.

Should be fun. Hey, maybe she can even do some Tina Fey impersonations.

Frat boy you have had three years, do you think you can get it right this time?

As hurricane Gustav churns towards the "boot"; my thoughts, first and foremost, are with my friends, loved ones, and in laws. Those poor folks will be doing everything that they can to ride out this potentially devastating storm. Still, I can't help but think of the irony of the entire situation. (Maybe there is a god) Almost three years to the date after the frat boy and his incompetent administration fucked over the *residents of an entire city, his party has been forced to cut back on their coronation of Mr. Morton and the beauty queen.

Personally, I love it. Not the storm, but the fact that those assholes had to change their plans because of it. They just couldn't have the rest of the A-merry-can people thinking that they are heartless and uncaring, and that they are throwing a major party while the Big Easy takes yet another hit.

And now I hear that the frat boy, and his side kick (Dead Eye Dick) will be skipping the convention to "monitor" the situation. My question to the frat boy would be: why? A-merry-ca already considers you a an incompetent buffoon, and no matter how hard you try, you will never get us to get those images and your handling of Katrina out of our minds. I know you think this is your second chance to get it right, but it's not. You get no second chance, not after the way you fucked up your first one. "Brownie you are doing a heck of a job". Remember those infamous words frat boy? They will go down along with "Mission Accomplished" as words which will define your administration, and your presidency.

Folks, let's be clear, Katrina is what doomed this administration in the eyes of many A-merry-cans. A lot of people could live with the Iraq war, after all, countries do go to war. People like moi might not like it, but there are some folks who think it's necessary, and quite a few people in A-merry-ca were fine with Iraq. But not the handling of Katrina. The republicans were supposed to be the grown up party, the folks who could always be counted on to be competent. The democrats, on the other hand, are the ones with the great ideas, but they can never carry them out. Katrina changed all of that. It showed the rest of the country that republicans were just as incompetent and clueless when it comes to getting things done as the democrats were. It showed us that in spite of all of his rhetoric, the frat boy only cared about hooking up his incompetent ass friends. As a result, many of you started looking at the Iraq war from a totally different perspective. If this man couldn't take care of a crisis in our own back yard, how can we trust him to prosecute a trillion dollar war to influence foreign policy? The frat boy never recovered from Katrina, and even the clowns on FOX were forced to acknowledge that he blew it.

Now, almost three years later, as we count down the days for this human version of Katrina to leave office, we are faced with yet another storm. It's as if god is saying; I am going to give you one more hit frat boy, because you fucked up the first one so bad. And for good measure, I am going to bring it right in the middle of your parties' convention. Let's see all those praying folks pray their way out of this one. I know they were praying for the rain to hit Obama on his big night, but I had some different plans.

Anyway, let's keep the folks on the Gulf Coast in our thoughts. And let's hope that they ride this one out without any loss of life or serious injuries.

As for the folks up in St. Paul; I wish them all a safe trip home.......

*Thanks for the correction Liz :)