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Pretty sorry. When the chairman of the RNC apologizes to a talk show host, you know things are in bad shape.
In a few words, Rush Limbaugh has lost it. Not only did he show up at CPAC last weekend to rile up the conservative GOP base, but he challenged the president of the United States to a debate on his show. Is this guy for real?
As for my friend and fellow Republican Michael Steele, who recently apologized to Limbaugh for calling him an "entertainer" with an "incendiary" show, he needs to take a step back and regroup. His apology was ill-considered, and his RNC political advisers are not serving him well.
Poor Michael. He is stuck in a party gone rogue, and we all know it. Caught between the conservative right and the moderate centrist American political temperament, Mr. Steele has to walk a fine line.
Let me be clear. As someone who wrestles daily with her affiliation in the GOP, Mr. Chairman, your job as the leader of the GOP is not to kiss up to Rush Limbaugh or to late-night political pundits. Your job is to build the party at the grassroots level and expand the party to become more diverse, open and focused on important policy matters like the economy. You missed a golden opportunity on D.L. Hughley’s CNN show when Rush Limbaugh’s name came up. Yes, you are the head of the Republican Party, but you made a bad fumble when you apologized to Limbaugh for simply stating the obvious.
Where is your heart? Why would you and others like Rep. Phil Gingrey apologize to a man who proudly proclaims that he [Limbaugh] is “talent on loan from God”?
Limbaugh may have 20 million listeners, but he is the “de facto leader” of nothing. He is a radio shock jock with a $400 million contract, who in the last several years has said some of the most offensive things about black people and our new president.
For example, on Jan. 16, 2007, Limbaugh called then-candidate Obama “half minority.” Earlier in 2006, when a caller on his show referred to Obama as the “Donovan McNabb of the U.S. Senate,” Limbaugh in a self-congratulatory burst declared that he "kind of like[d]" it. The statement was an apparent reference to Limbaugh's controversial comments in 2003 about McNabb, a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Limbaugh, then an ESPN commentator, said that "[t]he media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well" and, therefore, McNabb "got a lot of credit for the performance of this team [the Eagles] that he didn't deserve."
In January 2009, in an extensive interview with Fox News, Limbaugh was proudly quoted as saying, “And he's not black, he's not from Mars, he's not—he's our president, he's a human being. We're a country comprised of human beings that the Democratic Party and the left have attempted to arrange into groups of victims, and that's who he appeals to, and the victims are the people waiting around for some grievance to be resolved.”
Later, in that same interview, Limbaugh took it a step further, “We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president.”
If you and the GOP want to be credible in the black community, then you have to call out this kind of garbage and state emphatically that the GOP does not agree with nor will it or stand for Limbaugh’s inflammatory and divisive rhetoric.
Here is the bottom line, Michael Steele. We have been in the same fight for years, a fight to broaden and truly open up our grand old party to all Americans. As leader of the GOP, your primary role is to infuse optimism and energy into a party that is battered and broken. Stand your ground. Stop worrying about radio personalities and lead the GOP away from extremists like Rush Limbaugh.
Sophia A. Nelson is a regular contributor to The Root.
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I was watching a talk show of sorts on CNBC last night and noticed that a Black Republican woman sent a memo out asking for Steele to step down as Chairman of the RNC.
So, let me get this straight: Michael Steele is the FIRST Black to be placed in that leadership position of a Republican Party not well received in the Black community and the FIRST and ONLY person to openly or secretly (via memo) to ask for him to step down is a Black person.
I guess solidarity does not extend itself to Black folks in the Republican Party.
You know, Mr. Steele may have messed up with his miscalculated confrontation with a shock jock, but mistakes will happen when you are given the mantle of leadership over a party collapsing in on itself. Where is Mr. Steele's support?
Steele did not create the mess in the Republican Party (at least not by himself), but it appears that he is being positioned as the sacrificial lamb. And as history has taught us, get a Black person to fire the first round at the Black leader.
Am I saying that Mr. Steele is the BEST person for that leadership position? No. Am I saying that Mr. Steele should not be penalized for his lack of judgement? No. I really could care less about politics and its participants.
What I do care about is the present state of our society. Blacks and other minorities are simply not operating on a level playing field in America. With only 25 percent of the US population, minorities need to maintain every single leadership position to be had in this country.
The uneven distribution of power, money, control, law enforcement, and other social attributes makes for all minorities to keep struggling to control key positions in government.
As Martin Lawrence said, "No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life." Mr. Steele is learning this lesson the hard way. He has been placed at the top of the Republican Party with no one holding the ladder under him.
After listening to the Black woman who sent out the memo for Mr. Steele's resignation (in so many words), she appears to have a hidden agenda. I get the feeling, by her own words, that she wants that top spot.
Are you noticing how the Republican Party is constantly sending out minorities to pubicly combat President Obama and his administration?
Disclaimer: I am in NO way affiliated with the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, or any other faction of government. My views are simply those of a US citizen.
"He is a radio shock jock with a $400 million contract, who in the last several years has said some of the most offensive things about black people and our new president."
He's being saying all levels of racist crap ever since he has been on the air. The garbage Rush spews isn't "recent", he's been saying it every day of his career.
Where is the suport of black conservatives supporting Steele and denouncing Rush? Why haven't they publicly denonuced both their party and Rush for the hatred and bigotry? How do they think they are going to attrack minorties when they will not support their own party minorties? Instead the former N.C Chair is calling for Steele to resign. She should be stepping up to the plate and showing some leadership on this issue. The silence is defying.
aaahhh, Sophia...tsk, tsk...
...personally, methinks you need to stop "wrestling" with your affiliation and get real...you're basically Rihanna and the GOP is Chris Brown...
...get with the program and respect yourself!!
There is nothing good about domestic violence, er, uh, oh, my bad...the GOP...
When you decide to throw off the repressive yoke of the Republican party, then I'll consider reading your article all the way through...
...I did try though...it just made me sick.....
"...diverse open, and focused..." don't even belong on the same page with ANY description of the RepubliCANTS
Get with it Sophia!!
You're trying to drink from a dry well that has would rather you cup your hands and bow down than offer you a REAL drink from a proper glass and the respect of a seat at the table!!
I do not know anything about politics nor do I care to know anything about politics.
What I do know is that Mr. Steele is a leader within the Republican Party; an official position. Also, I know that Limbaugh is not officially affiliated with the Republican Party...in deed.
So, here we have a shock jock whose job is to invoke the emotions of his listeners...by any means necessary...spewing some derogatory rhetoric about the Republicans...
...and the Chairman of the RNC apologizing for calling him a "shock jock."
This is an example of politics at its worst.
To understand why Mr. Steele may have felt compelled to render such an unwarranted apology to Limbaugh is to understand Steele's political dilemma. (This is in no way meant to justify his actions, but may add another perspective the ugliness of politics.)
See, Mr. Steele was a panel member on Tavis Smiley's recent State of the Black Union. Mr. Smiley's emphasized how we as a Black community need to ensure the success of President Obama through vigilance of his campaign promises.
Of course, Limbaugh undoubtedly watched the SOBU in order to have some more ammunition on his crusade against the Republican Party by tracking the Black Chairman of the RNC in his every word.
As a Republican, Mr. Steele now has a dilemma: Either work to heal the fractured Republican Party and move them into a stronger position for 2012 or hold on to outmoded beliefs held by Republicans and how most Blacks view Republicans and affiliate himself with a person theoretically holding 20 million constituents.
Hmm...
Though it was utterly foolish for Mr. Steele to apologize to Limbaugh, I can understand why he as a Black Republican would do so. Mr. Steele is being targeted by Limbaugh simply because he is Black and the President is Black. That fact alone should have been enough for Mr. Steele to simply ignore Limbaugh as the shock jock that he is.
Mr. Steele should have also recognized how no one challenges the idea of a White person suspected of supporting the efforts of another White person in government, as if Black-on-Black cross-politicing is unlawful, improper, or taboo as a direct affront to White politicians.
I do not blame Limbaugh for his attacks; that's what he is getting paid the big dollars to do. You can say all you want about Limbaugh, but he will continue to spew his rhetoric because those 20 million "followers" he claims to have are 99% White people.
As long as Limbaugh is saying what most Whites are reluctant to say in public, he will have a job paying him the big bucks...no Whammy.
Momma told me that when someone is behaving like a fool to simply ignore them and they will eventually stop. Maybe Mr. Steele needs to pull out his notes from his home training because he really lowered himself in dealing with Limbaugh.
First the Republicans put Jindal out there flapping in his response to The President. Now they have Steele out that flapping in his response to a non-political opponent, Limbaugh.
All I know is that for the last eight years the Republicans under Bush were in charge of this country and facilitated this economic mess through negligence and greed. Still, the Republican Party remained strong and unified.
Add one single Black man to the White House whose only acts in the past month and half were to formulate and implement measures to save this country and the whole Republican Party implodes on itself.
President Barack H. Obama without lifting a single finger in protest has successfully brought the destruction of the entire Republican Party. The thin veil of civility surely rips asunder from the merest of internal turmoil.
Steele didn't say anything that he should be apologizing for. The fact that there are people defending Limbaugh's act as serious discourse is a big part of the problem. How come nobody is demanding that white politicians denounce Limbaugh the way they demand that black politicians denounce Farrakhan?
And lets not forget the bigotry he directed at Colin Powell after powell endorsed Obama.
I simply cannot understand why any sane black person would be a member of the Republican Party. As it exists today, the republican party is based on a not too subtle agenda that is anti-black. Only a self-hating AfricanAmerican would identify himself or herself as a Republican. It is also surprising that other black journalists and intellectuals have not gone after Rush Limbaugh the way they queued up to denounce Min Farrakhan. Maybe there's no gain or fame to be had from taking on LImbaugh..