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You are here: Home / Politics / Calling All Moderates

Calling All Moderates

by John Cole|  May 3, 200910:26 am| 94 Comments

This post is in: Politics, Republican Stupidity

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Michael Steele unveils the newest strategery:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appealed to the political middle Friday to join his party but added that the party itself wouldn’t moderate.

“All you moderates out there, y’all come. I mean, that’s the message,” Steele said at a news conference. “The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.

“Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

Steele talked to reporters at the Radisson Hotel in downtown La Crosse before addressing party faithful to kick off the state party’s annual convention this weekend.

Couldn’t he just meet Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in Washington, rather than asking them to go halfway across the country?

And he still fails to understand what is happening. Once Collins and Snowe are drummed out of the party, the definition of what is “moderate” will change yet again. The music will stop, and Lindsey Graham, with his ACU rating of 90, will find himself without a seat because he isn’t conservative enough.

It is already happening with Chuck Grassley (ACU rating of 76), who the conservatives are trying to screw out of the Judiciary seat because of insufficient fealty to the cause. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is their choice. He’s a “real conservative.” The same with Orin Hatch, whose ACU rating is only 80. He recently pointed out that conservatives aren’t going to win a fight over the Souter Supreme Court seat, and I am sure we will soon learn how he is insufficiently conservative and needs to be purged. Plus, he talks to Ted Kennedy.

Only the completely crazy need apply to the GOP.

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Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    Lee from NC

    May 3, 2009 at 10:31 am

    Michael Steele doesn’t even make sense anymore. Maybe if he threw in a “dawg” or something.

  2. 2.

    Ked

    May 3, 2009 at 10:32 am

    If the Republicans are playing musical chairs, who is the winner going to be? (Just wondering, so I can avoid moving to that state.)

  3. 3.

    Robertdsc-iphone

    May 3, 2009 at 10:33 am

    His mangling of the English language bugs me to no end.

  4. 4.

    gbear

    May 3, 2009 at 10:35 am

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    …or not.

    Why should I care to visit the fundie redneck bigot’s house next door? Let him rot.

  5. 5.

    jo6pac

    May 3, 2009 at 10:37 am

    21% and dropping, what fun group.

  6. 6.

    WyldPirate

    May 3, 2009 at 10:40 am

    JC sez:

    Only the completely crazy need apply to the GOP.

    John, I was bored this weekend and did some random reading way back in your archives. While I’m not a psychiatrist, one might make the diagnosis of “completely crazy” from some of your pre-switch screeds. ;)

    I made the switch from Rep to Dem about a month into Shrub’s first term (although I voted for Bubba both times after voting Reagan, Reagan, Bush in my first three presidential elections.

    My final straw with Shrub was his giving Fed money to the Jeebus freaks. Bush 41 I hated for his role in Iran-Contra (Reagan too, after it all came out). What was your “final straw”?

  7. 7.

    Wayne

    May 3, 2009 at 10:41 am

    It’s not an invitation, it’s a warning to all but the far right to stay away. A phrase/action request to determine who is “with us or against us”. And they are taking notes.

  8. 8.

    El Tiburon

    May 3, 2009 at 10:42 am

    How awesome.

    Wasn’t if just a couple of years ago Rove and Delay were all erect over a Republican Permanent Majority?

    Is there a bigger fuck-up than Karl Rove this side of George W. Bush and the entire Republican party?

    And we were once scared of these people?

    Time to focus on Ben Nelson, et al.

  9. 9.

    Krista

    May 3, 2009 at 10:42 am

    What was your “final straw”?

    Terri Schiavo — that was John’s final straw.

  10. 10.

    Betsy

    May 3, 2009 at 10:42 am

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    He used this metaphor on NPR a few days ago:

    Look, I’m not going to stand at the door with a little checklist and say, well, you can be a Republican and you can’t. I welcome everyone to this party. But understand, it’s like — you know, when I come to your house for dinner, all right, and I sit down at your table, what do you think of me when I look at your wife or look at you and go, “You know, this is a nice meal but I would have preferred chicken. And if you could take this plate off, I think I’d like a different type of china.” It is what you serve.

    I think it’s more telling than he realizes – he might think he’s welcoming moderates, but what he’s really saying is “you can only ever be a 2nd-class citizen of our party. You can sit and listen and vote for us and pay your membership dues, but you can’t have any say over what goes on.” Or, more succinctly, “Come in, sit down, shut up.”

    ETA: Further, it’s suggesting that moderates haven’t been there all along – it’s not “their house;” they’re only visitors. I mean, really, I can’t think of a more hostile metaphor to “welcome” people to the party.

  11. 11.

    gbear

    May 3, 2009 at 10:42 am

    They’re in LaCrosse WI?? Hey Republicans! Did you know that the nature preserve and park across the river from downtown LaCrosse is notorious for M2M anonymous sexual encounters?

    They must be lined up bumper to bumper across the bridge.

  12. 12.

    Comrade Jake

    May 3, 2009 at 10:43 am

    We have Newt telling people that Obama wakes up every morning looking to punish Americans. Really I think we’re just beginning to see the crazy.

  13. 13.

    SpotWeld

    May 3, 2009 at 10:43 am

    So.. it’s okay to be a moderate republican, as long as you keep your mouth shut, fills seats and vote the way the “real” Republicans tell you?

  14. 14.

    dslak

    May 3, 2009 at 10:47 am

    Betsy: The interesting part of that story is that what he’s describing is basically what the conservatives did to the GOP.

  15. 15.

    KCinDC

    May 3, 2009 at 10:48 am

    So moderates are welcome to join if they don’t complain about party positions they disagree with or, worse yet, try to change them. They must understand that the party belongs to those who own it, and moderates are only guests, even if they are being asked for money and to work for the party. Exactly why are moderates supposed to be interested in taking this deal?

  16. 16.

    Soylent Green

    May 3, 2009 at 10:50 am

    The purges will continue until morale improves.

  17. 17.

    sgwhiteinfla

    May 3, 2009 at 10:50 am

    digby has a post that you definitely want to read about Jeff Sessions, the guy Erick Erickson of RedState wants to replace Specter as ranking Republican on the Judicial Committee

    http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/engineers-of-train-wreck-by-digby.html

  18. 18.

    Ked

    May 3, 2009 at 10:53 am

    What was your “final straw”?

    I won’t pretend to be able to speak for Mr. Cole, but I’ve been working through the archives as well, and the March-April 2005 explosion of blogging around the Schiavo mess appears to have been a turning point. Well worth reading through if you enjoy his writing.

    (Though fighting the WordPress formatting to read the posts in order is just brutal. I wish you could get a whole month on one page, or have a single click to the first post of the month rather needing to click through every page or manually buggering the url.)

    That was only a turning point, not the final straw, though, as the September 2005 entries strongly defend Bush in the Katrina aftermath. I’m into late spring 2006 and the tone of the blog has changed (not least because it’s not only JC posting at that point), but I don’t think I’ve seen a true break point yet.

  19. 19.

    mattH

    May 3, 2009 at 10:53 am

    Steele is essentially guaranteeing that he gets to stay party leader until they figure out just how messed up they really are, then he’ll be booted out immediately. So if he doesn’t really believe what he’s saying, he’s only doing it because he thinks this is going to last a while.

  20. 20.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 3, 2009 at 10:55 am

    “You guys are just not hep enough to dig the insane vibe of Stryper so just sit in the cheap seats ’til you get it.”
    Steele is working to assure his position in the party of intransigent stupidity by being more intransigently stupid than anyone else.

  21. 21.

    David

    May 3, 2009 at 10:58 am

    Moderate: “Hey, your house is on fire.”

    Steele: “You’re just a guest here. Mind your own business!”

  22. 22.

    Ash

    May 3, 2009 at 11:00 am

    It’s sad how Steele has become exactly how Republicans like their black men: Stupid as hell with no freaking clue what he’s doing.

  23. 23.

    D0n Camillo

    May 3, 2009 at 11:01 am

    I think it’s more telling than he realizes – he might think he’s welcoming moderates, but what he’s really saying is “you can only ever be a 2nd-class citizen of our party.

    He has just come straight out and said that, even though the are Republicans, it is not their house. That’s the kind of welcome message of which party switches are made.

  24. 24.

    El Cid

    May 3, 2009 at 11:02 am

    It’s just too easy to analogize this to an evangelical recruiting drive among outsiders whom are viewed as easily frightened, so a temporary ‘best behavior’ call is made, so, I won’t.

  25. 25.

    JK

    May 3, 2009 at 11:03 am

    In bookstores this summer, Stop Making Sense: Political Beliefs of Michael Steele

    Micheel Steele has become a walking punchline and is as phony as a 3 dollar bill.

    A theme song for the whacked out, brain dead Republican Party

    Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MLp7YNTznE&feature=related

  26. 26.

    dmsilev

    May 3, 2009 at 11:03 am

    Shorter Michael Steele: “Dear Moderates: We’d like you to vote for us, but we’re not going to actually listen to you.”

    -dms

  27. 27.

    WyldPirate

    May 3, 2009 at 11:05 am

    Thanks Krista and Ked.

    I was just sort of randomly reading the archives. I remember popping over to BJ back in the 2005 time frame and thought it was sorta a less unhinged version of Protein Wisdom and Capt. Ed. I was long gone from the GOP tent by that time, though.

    I think the generic “cause” of my turning my back on the GOP was the seemingly constant denial of facts and reality for the most part. I was much younger turning St, Ronnie’s tenure and bought the GOP propaganda and faux populism. A little age and education cured that thankfully.

  28. 28.

    stickler

    May 3, 2009 at 11:05 am

    Well, to be fair to Mr. Steele, another famous Republican once put it this way:

    I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!

    And his strategy worked out fine.

  29. 29.

    David

    May 3, 2009 at 11:06 am

    I think Bush lost a lot of hardcore support when he nominated Harriet Miers. It was so “banana republic.” It was like when a dictator’s daughter “wins” all the beauty pageants.

  30. 30.

    John Cole

    May 3, 2009 at 11:07 am

    @Krista: Abu Ghraib and Terri Schiavo were when it all changed forever. Wish Schiavo had happened six months earlier and I would have voted for Kerry.

    I don’t think people realize how much the Schiavo think really infuriated me. The Republicans were just dead to me after that, but I was still in the party but was probably going to become an independent. Graeme Frost was the final straw before I left the party and the reason I became a Democrat.

  31. 31.

    p.a.

    May 3, 2009 at 11:11 am

    I don’t think the economy will improve noticeably by 11/2010, but the way the Nutters are going it won’t matter; they may lose ground in the House anyway (Senate is ugly for them in 2010 no matter what). How nuts are they when their best strategy fore the midterms is to STFU and let nature (the economy) take its course and they just can’t do it. They are following Limbaugh, the Pied Piper of Putrescence, into the trash bin of history.

  32. 32.

    JL

    May 3, 2009 at 11:12 am

    It’s time for a rant. Can someone please Hatch that Souter did not move to the left. The court moved to the right. How he can say that we should not have activist judges after Bush v Gore shocks me.

  33. 33.

    stickler

    May 3, 2009 at 11:14 am

    Well, to be fair to Steele, et al., I don’t really see how they have much choice but to follow the rantings of the base. They have no leadership to tell them to do anything else. And who the hell is going to rally around Orrin Hatch?

    So the Glenn Becks and Limbaughs yell, a big slice of the GOP base gets frothy, and what alternative are you gonna sell them? “Let’s all cooperate with the President during this time of crisis?” Sure, it would be the right thing patriotically. But it won’t sell to the fringe nutters now attending Teabagging rallies.

  34. 34.

    grumpy realist

    May 3, 2009 at 11:21 am

    Given what comes out of Steele’s mouth, I can’t decide whether this guy is the greatest dingbat alive, or a Democratic mole. It’s like watching someone walking across a meadow with lotsa cows, and the man just *happens* to at each step land on a cowpat….

  35. 35.

    p.a.

    May 3, 2009 at 11:22 am

    I was much younger turning St, Ronnie’s tenure and bought the GOP propaganda and faux populism.

    At Brown in ’80 the only overwhelmingly pro-Reagan department was Economics. (Prof. Wm. Poole was appointed to I believe the St. Louis Fed by ’41) When we mere undergrads confronted the Reaganauts over the blatant falsehood of the Laffer Curve and Supply-Side Economics they just shrugged and said ‘hell, if we told the public what we really intended and who it would benefit we wouldn’t get any votes.’ They even told us of the need to instigate a recession to ‘wring out inflationary expectations’.

  36. 36.

    Jay C

    May 3, 2009 at 11:22 am

    “The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.

    Unfortunately, when all they are serving at that big table are shit tacos seasoned with bile; and the “chefs” keep running out to yell at the diners that it’s really filet mignon and champagne, it will be hard to keep the place busy….

  37. 37.

    Anton Sirius

    May 3, 2009 at 11:25 am

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    RIP Reagan’s Big Tent.

    Say hello to Steele’s House of Pain.

  38. 38.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 3, 2009 at 11:35 am

    Wait til they find out Norm Coleman has a lifetime ACU rating of only 73. Heads will explode.

  39. 39.

    JK

    May 3, 2009 at 11:39 am

    Website of a truly endangered species
    http://progressiverepublican.info

  40. 40.

    Ash Can

    May 3, 2009 at 11:48 am

    “All you moderates out there, y’all come…The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front. Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    OK, I personally see Michael Steele as a basically decent guy who’s in an absolutely execrable position. But this is just one of the flat-out fucking stupidest things I’ve ever heard in my life. What in living hell does he think he could possibly accomplish with this approach?

    I’m beginning to agree with the idea Steele could be a Democratic mole. What could alienate more moderates and independents than to say to them “just STFU and vote for us, bitchez?”

  41. 41.

    Mike

    May 3, 2009 at 11:49 am

    I don’t think people realize how much the Schiavo think really infuriated me. The Republicans were just dead to me after that

    ITYM “brain-dead”.

  42. 42.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    May 3, 2009 at 11:59 am

    “All you moderates out there, y’all come ^back now, y’heah?

    Worst little whorehouse in Congress.

  43. 43.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 3, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    This is what Steele has to work with:

    On the subject of education, one attendee declared that “people learn more from listening to Rush Limbaugh than they do in high school or college.”

    That was from the pizza parlor launch of the National Council for a New America. Present were council members Eric Cantor, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney. Bobby Jindal and John McCain, also council members, didn’t make the gig.
    Outside, The Base was making its presence felt:

    And while the leaders said they’re willing to embrace the thoughts of the concerned voters, a group of conservative activists who were protesting in the parking lot complained that they were not allowed through the doors.
    “We’re demonstrating against the fact that this organization set up by RINOs [Republicans in Name Only] have taken immigration off the agenda,” said Michael McLaughlin, a member of the American Council for Immigration Reform, a group seeking to stem the flow of immigrants into the country.
    The activists grumbled that Republican organizers did not widely advertise the event. Several wearing shirts declaring themselves “Republicans Against Maverick McCain” craned their necks for a glimpse of the senior lawmaker, who did not show up.

    At The Hill
    Eric Cantor, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are now RINOs. There is no Peak Wingnut.

  44. 44.

    Hunter Gathers

    May 3, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    Steele to moderates:

    You’re going to eat a shit taco and like it, dawg. How do you like me now, ’cause that’s how I roll, baby. You down with GOP? Ya you know me. Word.

    What a fool.

  45. 45.

    gnomedad

    May 3, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    @John Cole:

    The Republicans were just dead to me after that

    No, look, they smiled a little when John came into the room! I swear!

  46. 46.

    Chesty

    May 3, 2009 at 12:08 pm

    So, what Steele is saying is that this house (the GOP) is no home of moderates, and we, as well-heeled guests should remember that?

    Hasta la vista, baby.

  47. 47.

    r€nato

    May 3, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    …if you’re a masochist.

    “We’re happy to have your votes and your donations of time and money. Your moderate opinions, however, you can stuff up your rear.”

    Wow, that sounds like a great deal. Where do I sign up?

    (Michael Steele seems to have confused the concept of a ‘guest’ with that of ‘a member of the family’.)

  48. 48.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    May 3, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    What in living hell does he think he could possibly accomplish with this approach?

    Not sure, but it gave me the first laugh of the day.

    The GOP has been oscillating between two extreme tactics for a while. One stratergery involves insisting (loudly) that Democrats are effete Bible burning, gun stealing, perverted America haters. Vote for a Democrat, they shriek, and you might as well drop trousers, paint “Welcome Terrorist Overlords!” on your lower back, and wait for Osama bin Laden to make you his bitch.

    Steele is employing their only other statergery. The one that gives us things like the GOP = Party of Lincoln/Democrats take black people for granted adverts, Schmidt telling the LCRs that one day the GOP might not howl for their blood so loudly and lots, and lots and lots of whining because they’re so nice to the dirty fucking hippie darkie fags but the dirty fucking hippie darkie fags still won’t vote for them. Now moderates have been added to the list of people the GOP hopes to guilt into throwing them a vote. “We invited you to our party, it would be rude if you didn’t come. Oh, by the way, if you do come, don’t talk to anyone and stay in the kitchen because our real friends hate you.”

  49. 49.

    demkat620

    May 3, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    @sgwhiteinfla: Yes, Jeff Sessions. The man who asked John Roberts such penetrating questions during his confirmation like;

    “Did you know Ronald Reagan? Was he a good man? Did you like him?”

    Yeah, you run with that Eric. Genius.

  50. 50.

    r€nato

    May 3, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    In Michael Steele’s ‘house’, moderates are the spouse who gets beaten regularly. They’re welcome to stay so long as they put out, make sure dinner is waiting when he gets home and if they don’t like something about the arrangement, STFU about it and do as you’re told.

  51. 51.

    UnkyT

    May 3, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    The big house of GOP crazy has some wicked echo, and they don’t need moderates interfering with the feedback.

  52. 52.

    SnarkIntern

    May 3, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    According to Jeb Bush this weekend, during some kind of “rebranding” or “listening” exercise in bullshit, the GOP represents the “principles and values that resonate with the majority of Americans.”

    Welcome to a one-party country. At least for a while.

    No, I didn’t make that up, Bush actually said it.

    So, you moderates, come on into the tent, and get instructed in the proper principles and values.

    I have this funny feeling that the GOP panic is being driven by a complete disappearance of contributions. What else would explain why a party that has thumbed its nose at anyone who disagreed with them would suddenly be so interested in how many people identify with them?

    How did the party of “We don’t govern by polls” become the party of “Please, for heaven’s sake, we’re not all that bad?”

  53. 53.

    carsick

    May 3, 2009 at 12:33 pm

    “Hey, we’re not redecorating. We’re not changing. People are leaving the party in droves but I’ve got a new Oak Ridge Boys album I’m about to put on the turntable so come on over. Don’t touch the stereo, use the bathroom or open the fridge though.”

  54. 54.

    kay

    May 3, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    Well, now we have to worry a little bit, because they’ve identified part of the problem, if not yet come up with a solution.

    This is probably “progress” of a sort. They’re part of the problem. That’s become obvious even to them. They do still believe, however, that their “ideas” are fabulous, so that’s heartening.

    It’s the messenger(s), not the message? Is that it? It’s Michelle Bachman’s googly crazy-eyes not her statements. Hmmm.

    I was hoping they’d keep blaming the media a while longer, myself.

  55. 55.

    passerby

    May 3, 2009 at 12:46 pm

    Michael Steele is a clown.

    His “hat” example on Morning Ho the other day was sophomoric and now this idiotic attempt, in the same breath, to frame his party as being open yet closed is just complete and utter nonsense.

    Either he thinks we are mental midgets or he is a mental midget. Or maybe he’s just a willing tool.

    But there he is on TV, dishing out his ridiculous, “urban” analogies.

    Michael Steele is a clown.

    [ This doesn’t really capture how listening to this dross makes me feel and it occurs to me that it is so blatantly a lie as to render me speechless. I’m flabbergasted that current day political dis-course is slap full of what is obviously bullshit. ]

  56. 56.

    SnarkIntern

    May 3, 2009 at 12:48 pm

    Michael Steele is a clown.

    If they let me decide, I’d make him chairman over there for life.

  57. 57.

    Splitting Image

    May 3, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    What I find funny about this is that if the Republicans had any kind of global awareness, they would know that what they’re doing isn’t going to work.

    The Reform/Alliance party in Canada had almost the exact same attitude to moderates between 1993 and 2004, and it led directly to the party’s failure. Between elections, they would publicly complain about moderates and how letting them into the party would dilute their “ideals”, and then they would wonder after every election why the Liberals would win and win and win.

    I still remember reading David Frum’s columns back in the early days, and he was convinced that you could build a “right-of-centre” party that moderates would be happy to vote for even if they weren’t allowed to do more than just sit in the back and not get in anyone’s way. The Reformers didn’t achieve any success until they scrubbed the most objectionable elements of their platform in 2003 and even then they fumbled away the 2004 election by being on the wrong side of the gay marriage issue.

    Those who cannot remember the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat them.

  58. 58.

    Maus

    May 3, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    I think it’s more telling than he realizes – he might think he’s welcoming moderates, but what he’s really saying is “you can only ever be a 2nd-class citizen of our party. You can sit and listen and vote for us and pay your membership dues, but you can’t have any say over what goes on.” Or, more succinctly, “Come in, sit down, shut up.”

    Yeah, the Ron Paul crowd is horribly naive, including Ron Paul.

  59. 59.

    kay

    May 3, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    @SnarkIntern:

    Jeb Bush is an outsider and DC isn’t listening. I heard it.

    Go back to the 2000 election and listen to the Bush talking points. It’s just a rehash of that. Just replace one Bush brother with another.

    I think it’s incredibly nervy that they would try it with his brother, and so soon after the election. I almost admire that.

    Our county commissioners do this sort of thing. The Hug brothers. .

  60. 60.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 3, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    By next week Steele will appear on Beck’s show, put a gun to his head and shout; “Vote Republican or the ni**er gets it!”
    Beck: “You moderates better do it. I think he means business.”

  61. 61.

    JGabriel

    May 3, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    Michael Steele:

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    Imaginary Moderate: But you’re serving shit tacos.

    GOP: Whiner!

    Imaginary Moderate: Yeeeah… I think I’ll go to the restaurant.

    .

  62. 62.

    JGabriel

    May 3, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    Lee from NC:

    Michael Steele doesn’t even make sense anymore.

    Minor correction.

    .

  63. 63.

    passerby

    May 3, 2009 at 12:59 pm

    @SnarkIntern:

    If they let me decide, I’d make him chairman over there for life.

    Bet the NRP needs a putz like Steele. My guess is no one else in their ranks had the political courage to take the position. They can all read the writing on the wall but none seem to be willing to cry uncle and take a sober approach to the ideological reforms that they need.

    Heard a brief clip of Jeb Bush commenting and I noticed, when referring to the GOP, he used the term “you” instead of “we”. He’s no fool, what is he even doing in the mix right now?

    Death rattle.

  64. 64.

    passerby

    May 3, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    @Dennis-SGMM:

    Ha! “Do what he say! Do what he say!”

  65. 65.

    Rick Taylor

    May 3, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    So he thinks the Republican party is “his house”? The party is the party of conservative Republicans, but they’ll welcome moderate Republicans if they don’t try to change anything and respect the fact that it isn’t their party; they’re guests.

    Wow.

  66. 66.

    JL

    May 3, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Someone should tell Jeb that the majority of Americans don’t try to sneak $19,000 worth of clothing and jewelry through customs like his wife did. Those are not the values that I believe in.

  67. 67.

    dbrown

    May 3, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    I don’t believe that Steel is a fool. He is trapped between the fact that the ‘base’ (read American Taliban) will not come out to vote if real moderates are allowed to exist and voice counter opinions. That is, the second a moderate says abortion should not be the business of the State (but not legal) or Immigration offers low cost labor (read dirty, under paid jobs no real American would do) or gays should have equal rights (read not marriage but the ability to share some rights as a spouse) then these bat-shit crazies will go even more insane and not come out to vote. Then the repub-a-thugs lose 1/3 – 1/2 their vote even before the election.

    I believe that if Steel wants to keep his job he must very slowly allow moderates to sneak through the back door into the party. Then, I think, his hope is to then allow moderates to get a little power as they replace the Taliban in numbers that will allow these loons (the worse) to be phased out. Then there is hope for repub-a-thugs to take power and rape the American people through spending for the rich (fund jails, big weapons systems to fight the cold war and privatize SS) with tax cuts for the top 1%.

  68. 68.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    May 3, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    Well, now we have to worry a little bit, because they’ve identified part of the problem, if not yet come up with a solution.

    Quite the opposite. They’ve identified the same problem with blacks, Hispanics, gays (to some extent), women, anyone in any union, Jewish people … uh … Well, pretty much everyone.

    However, on Planet Republicon the problem lies with the voters because the party is perfect. (I’m OK, You’re Fucked Up.) Steele is just excessively blatant in addressing the problem: X is not satisfied with the honor of voting or donating money to the GOP. Fixing the problem involves whining at X and reminding X they should be honored to give votes and cash. You can bet your last dollar when X declines the honor or Das Base starts screaming because they don’t want those damn Xs around, Steele and the rest of them will loudly denounce X.

    I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the ads that claim Moderate Republicans are a threat to the American way of life.

  69. 69.

    JGabriel

    May 3, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    @Dennis-SGMM:

    Eric Cantor, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are now RINOs. There is no Peak Wingnut.

    It’s not that there’s no Peak Wingnut. It’s just that the peaks are a lot higher on Mars.

  70. 70.

    Betsy

    May 3, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    @dbrown:

    I don’t believe that Steel is a fool…I believe that if Steel wants to keep his job he must very slowly allow moderates to sneak through the back door into the party. Then, I think, his hope is to then allow moderates to get a little power as they replace the Taliban in numbers that will allow these loons (the worse) to be phased out.

    Based on…? I haven’t seen any evidence that Steele is anything other than a clown and idiot. Or possibly the best Democratic mole imaginable.

    Also, it would be nice if “rape” weren’t used as a metaphor for tax and spending cuts.

  71. 71.

    JGabriel

    May 3, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    SnarkIntern:

    How did the party of “We don’t govern by polls” become the party of “Please, for heaven’s sake, we’re not all that bad?”

    That would appear to be around the same time they had moved so far to the right, that Arlen Specter was left.

  72. 72.

    JGabriel

    May 3, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    @passerby:

    Either [Steele] thinks we are mental midgets or he is a mental midget.

    It’s quite easy to be both, like Atrios’s description of Bush: “a deeply stupid man who thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room.”

    .

  73. 73.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 3, 2009 at 1:54 pm

    Also, it would be nice if “rape” weren’t used as a metaphor for tax and spending cuts.

    Maybe if a few high-profile Republicans get raped by an assailant chanting, “Time to pay your taxes, bitches!” they’ll get some perspective. Wait, who am I kidding? They prolly already do that shit for kicks.

  74. 74.

    Tony J

    May 3, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    Shorter Steele – “Sure, we say we want moderates to come back to the party, we’d look pretty whacked if we didn’t, yeah? But between you and me, it ain’t gonna happen, ‘cos we’re frikking crazy, man. Shit! Don’t you know that already?”

    Even Shorter Steele – “The old castle? Oh, no, you don’t want to go up there. It’s not safe.”

  75. 75.

    Rick Taylor

    May 3, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    If found this quote from Steele even more striking:

    “That vote on the stimulus bill was the effectiveness of a party call,” he said. “That was a stand-up moment for every Republican. . . . And so, you voted yourself out of the party. We didn’t kick you out.”

    Got that? You guys who voted for a stimulus? You’re not really a Republican anymore; you voted yourself out of the party. That’s pretty clear.

    I can’t imagine why any moderates are sticking around at this point.

  76. 76.

    Comrade Darkness

    May 3, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    @JL: Heh heh, missed that little episode. Hard to say if she just used that as a fall-back excuse for tax evasion (I mean, really they are worth 2.5 million, what’s 20k for shopping?) or whether she just suffers from not earning any money of her own to spend and like a alcoholic, feels they need to hide every drink of the night, even if it’s only two.

  77. 77.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 3, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    That’s the way we roll, bitches!

    This is going to be my standard response to anything Michael Steele says.

  78. 78.

    kay

    May 3, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    @kommrade reproductive vigor:

    In my opinion, Republicans have a huge problem with women.

    I think you can build a shaky 51% without black people, and Latinos, and gay people.

    I just don’t know how you do it without women.

    I listened to Glen Beck the other night. I was really surprised. His whiny, plaintive plea has so much crap pop psychology in it, he’s all but incoherent.

    I think Glen Beck is the secret weapon to attract women. He’s Rush Limbaugh for “the ladies”. It’s sickly sweet. His big, teary eyes in those town hall forums, and how he restates whatever they’re whining about, while nodding his head, like some sort of crazed “counselor”. Yuck.

    Is he supposed to appeal to women? I think he is.

    He’s like a more saccharine version of Oprah.

  79. 79.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 3, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    @kay: Then I must not be a woman because Beck makes me want to punch him in the gut. Then again, I don’t like Oprah, either.

  80. 80.

    Chris Johnson

    May 3, 2009 at 3:38 pm

    “All you moderates out there, y’all come. I mean, that’s the message,” Steele said at a news conference. “The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.
    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    *ROFL* some days Balloon Juice is funnier than comedy… it makes me grateful my comic strip isn’t primarily gags… how can you be funny when Republicans are leaving you in the dust without even setting out to be hysterically, laugh-out-loud-at-them funny?

    Thank goodness I instead compete with them in sexual perversity…

    …wait. oopsie. ah heh heh…

    Dammit.

  81. 81.

    Chuck Butcher

    May 3, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    The Republicans seem to stuck be in a hole because there is a Democratic Party – that’s not just silly partisan shit. What exactly do they build on at this point that isn’t just being a Democrat? The point of being another Party is that you aren’t those other guys.

    Federal taxes aren’t an issue for blue collar workers unless you go to FICA/SS and that’s a train wreck – they can’t talk about those program’s implosion and cut the rates. Democrats show no stomach for starting a fight over guns so that’s only yelling from the corner at voters who wouldn’t vote Democratic anyhow if the scare wears off.

    Here is a reality check for Democrats, though – taxes are going to have to go up. The programs driving that had better produce sufficient returns to have backing or the shit will hit the fan. SS hangs on because people see bad results from it going away – bad enough they’ll tolerate getting whacked on their pay checks.

    Steele may be a clown, but he’s also in a really tough spot trying to have something to offer. He may be trying to hang on until the really big Democratic tent starts to fracture – and that’s not just scare talk. The Ben Nelsons are getting pushed pretty hard and tribal instincts may not be enough for them. It isn’t just about hanging onto that base of theirs, it is having an opportunity to offer something the Democrats aren’t to those outside that base.

    It’s easy enough to laugh at them, but what would you offer if you were them?

  82. 82.

    Delia

    May 3, 2009 at 4:18 pm

    It is already happening with Chuck Grassley (ACU rating of 76), who the conservatives are trying to screw out of the Judiciary seat because of insufficient fealty to the cause. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is their choice. He’s a “real conservative.” The same with Orin Hatch, whose ACU rating is only 80.

    Orrin Hatch in trouble for being insufficiently pure? I know this happened the other day to Gov. Jon Huntsman. As someone born and raised in Utah, I’m really enjoying the spectacle of Utah Republicans finding themselves cast into the outer darkness. There must be heads exploding over this.

  83. 83.

    Tony J

    May 3, 2009 at 4:33 pm

    It’s easy enough to laugh at them, but what would you offer if you were them?

    That’s kind of the point of why Steele’s comments are so laughable. The GOP is in the trouble it is because its voting base is made up of aging nutters, and they refuse to let the leadership dial down on the crazy one bit. They don’t care if they only represent 21% and falling of the population, they’re pure and good with God, and that’s what matters.

    So when you get the Chairman of the party telling reporters that, basically, there is no room in the GOP tent for non-crazy people, and he wants to let them know that before they get their hopes up, it’s plain that the GOP strategy is to offer them…. nothing at all. Zero. Nada. Ziltch.

    Which leaves only laughter. Loud and sustained. Because that’s sure as hell not a strategy to win votes, even protest ones.

  84. 84.

    The Other Steve

    May 3, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    Wow, they’re going after Grassley?

    These guys have gone insane.

  85. 85.

    Jamey

    May 3, 2009 at 9:32 pm

    “Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

    Dunno ’bout Steele, but if I go into my neighbor’s house and it’s on fire, I’m sure as hell gonna tell them to put out the fire. Hell, if they won’t do it, I’ll grab an extinguisher put out the flames myself.

  86. 86.

    tammanycall

    May 3, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    Is he supposed to appeal to women? I think he is.

    @kay

    Judging by your name, I’ll assume you’re a woman. (So am I). So I have to say, RLY? But he’s so icky. Oprah’s uplifting and she gives you cars sometimes – she helps you find your inner “strength”. Glenn, on the other hand, is a crybaby. He’s for the men who listen to Rush whose impotence makes them want to rage, cry, or lash out at something. He’s their surrogate, but he’s too creepy for most women. (Personally, I think he gives off sex offender vibes and every time he speaks my inner “DANGER!” siren sounds, but YMMV.)

    So I think he’s the anti-Oprah. His aim isn’t to lift up but to drag down. He exists to bring GOP men together to wallow in the pettiness, anger, and misery of impotence.

  87. 87.

    Snark Based Reality

    May 3, 2009 at 11:54 pm

    All this talk about what Steele needs to do to “keep his job” is stupid.

    Any sane moderate when faced with that job would have walked out the door by now and told the wingers to go fuck themselves. It’s not like they have done anything for his ass.

    He’s incompetent and his ass is only in that job as long as a true national winger doesn’t step up and demand it. And any politician with a tiny bit of clue wouldn’t right now.

    So it doesn’t matter what inane garbage he shovels out, he’s just a placeholder. I guess he was so hard up for a job he’s willing to play the role of seat warmer. Fuck him and his party.

  88. 88.

    Mary

    May 4, 2009 at 1:28 am

    Michael Steele is an opportunistic hack, to be sure. But right now, he is stuck in a job where everyone hates him. They’re redefining his job and leaking derogatory information about him to selected sources I think he is falling apart and that’s why he can no longer sound like a true believer.

    He should quit and reinvent himself as a Democrat, write a book spilling exposing what the GOP is really all about and hit the airwaves. He’d be a star. And still an opportunistic hack.

  89. 89.

    Mark

    May 4, 2009 at 8:10 am

    That is a pathetic comment. Why don’t you read Clarence Thomas biography sometime.

  90. 90.

    J. A. Baker

    May 4, 2009 at 9:57 am

    It is already happening with Chuck Grassley (ACU rating of 76), who the conservatives are trying to screw out of the Judiciary seat because of insufficient fealty to The Cause™©®.

    There. Fixed your typo.

  91. 91.

    J. A. Baker

    May 4, 2009 at 9:58 am

    All this talk about what Steele needs to do to “keep his job” is stupid.

    It also wouldn’t even be uttered if he were white.

    Just sayin’…

  92. 92.

    DaddyJ

    May 4, 2009 at 11:06 am

    For me the Steele comment is yet another example of what’s been delighting me lately: the GOP is losing its grip on folksy metaphor. They are becoming tone deaf. Spouting “street” catch phrases wins you nothing if your metaphors don’t make street sense.

    In what possible way does his “host versus guest” metaphor relate to building a political party in a free republic? Who “owns” the house of the GOP? Steele? Newt? Rush? Sarah? The ghost of Ronald Reagan?

    Presumably, what makes a Republican a “moderate” is a belief in building consensus. How is this remark supposed to appeal to them?

    Their chief party builder seems to think that party politics consists of subjecting yourself to an authoritarian will. He would have made a dandy Baath party functionary.

  93. 93.

    Tonybrown74

    May 4, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    It also wouldn’t even be uttered if he were white. Just sayin’…

    Oh, fer fuck’s sake …

    Are you serious? The man talks like he’s part of a minstrel show; a modern day steppin’ fech’it, and white people are supposed to feel guilt because you say that people wouldn’t talk about him if he were white?

    Please! As a black man, I am embarrassed by him …

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