A note to Michael Steele; Update: Steele agrees that GOP convention looked like “Nazi Germany;” Update: A non-apology apology

By Michelle Malkin  •  March 2, 2009 03:14 PM

Scroll for updates…Steele non-apologizes to Limbaugh…No word on the “Nazi Germany”/GOP convention slur…

I said positive things about RNC chairman Michael Steele this weekend on Washington Journal (link here) and have covered his rise extensively.

Now, a word of friendly advice:

There’s nothing wrong with criticizing Rush Limbaugh. But if you are going to go on Obamedia outlets like CNN and throw around words like “incendiary” and “ugly,” you better back them up. You should also think more broadly about how this distraction feeds the White House/Alinsky agenda — and how better to avoid their traps.

Also: There is nothing — nothing — conservative about echoing the class warfare-tainted rhetoric of the Left. Nothing.

Don’t go there.

Limbaugh is an “entertainer,” Steele scoffed — on a CNN political show hosted by a comedian, I might note.

Yeah, so? Rush makes a living selling his opinions and trying to reach as many as people as possible. You did the same as a fellow Fox News contributor. So do I. Does it make your commitment to the principles you espouse any less sincere?

We’ve had one too many Beltway Republicans bash conservatives because they happen to earn a living espousing their ideas.

Profit is not supposed to be a dirty word.

We need conservative spokespeople who condemn anti-capitalist claptrap, not spokespeople who parrot it.

***

One more thing: When liberals sit there and accuse the GOP convention of looking like “Nazi Germany,” you might not want to sit there, nodding your head, and respond, “I agree.”

Update: With a hat tip to John Hawkins, I re-listened to the exchange. It’s even worse than I noted. After Hughley rants about “Nazi Germany,” Steele says…”You’re right.”

***

More from Melissa Clouthier.

***

Played right into the Left’s hands. Congratulations. This will do wonders for party fund-raising efforts…on the other side:

In an interview on CNN with D.L. Hughley, Steele assured that he, not Limbaugh, was in charge of the party before saying that he wanted to put the right-wing talker “into context.”
“Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer,” Steele said. “Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes it’s incendiary, yes it’s ugly.”

Steele’s comments, first noticed by NBC producer Chris Donovan, are sure to rankle Limbaugh in part because they validate the liberal critique of the conservative force: that he’s merely an “entertainer.”
That’s one of the phrases often used by Democrats who seek to diminish Limbaugh. MSNBC’s liberal talk-show host Keith Olbermann, for example, frequently mocks his broadcast adversary as “comedian Rush Limbaugh.”

Steele’s broadside comes as top-level Democrats are working to portray Limbaugh as the face of the GOP and daring anybody in the party to separate themselves from him.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs jumped on an opportunity to discuss Limbaugh Monday, saying at the press briefing that reporters should ask Republicans if they side with the talk show host.

“Do they want to see the President’s economic agenda fail?” asked Gibbs of the Republicans, citing the talker’s comments earlier this year and over the weekend at CPAC about the Obama agenda. “You know, I bet there are a number of guests on television throughout the day and maybe into tomorrow who could let America know whether they agree with what Rush Limbaugh said this weekend.

A liberal coalition has already aired two ads tying congressional Republicans to Limbaugh and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday that the conservative is the “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.”

***

Update: Steele says he’s sorry for causing offense and being inarticulate about Limbaugh because his job is to “bring people together.”

He was just, you know, misunderstood.

No word on how his agreement with Hughley that the GOP convention looked like “Nazi Germany” was misunderstood, too.

Posted in: Rush Limbaugh

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  4. Michael Steele thinks that the GOP convention looked like “Nazi Germany”, rips Rush Limbaugh | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
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  7. I smell a right-wing feud in the offing: Limbaugh vs. Steele | My Blog Channel
  8. Rush To Chairman Steele “Where Are Your Guts?”–UPDATED « Blog Entry « Dr. Melissa Clouthier
  9. More Steele vs. Rush « Retake Education
  10. Michael Steele: GOP convention looked like “Nazi Germany”??? | Liberty & Morality Confidential
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  45. Michael Steele’s No Good, Low Down, Rotten, Very Bad Week - Erick’s blog - RedState
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Comments


  1. #637737
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 am, mike.musculus said:

    **Back in the States! Yay!**
    …will be here on&off, out-processing…
    What fun! Its 2parts: 1 part all online, can’t do in-person part w/o the online part… the checklist is wrong, and on top of all that, the site is (literally) down more than up… And these guy want to do Universal Healthcare?!
    If they ever do, we’re all dead….

    I remember posting misgivings abt MS. His constant “… need to reach out to minority/black voters… ” whine showed to me he wasn’t colorblind yet, which meant he *isn’t* a conservative but is a liberal in camo. Just as the rest of the RINOs are. Unfortunately I strongly suspect his views are in harmony w/the rest of the top levels of the GOP.

    Look, if we put forth Principles in harmony with the Constitution, and a person agrees w/us, they’re welcome to join us. I don’t care what a person looks like.

    AND NIETHER SHOULD ANYONE ELSE! Either we have One Law, One Set of Guiding Principles, One Line to Toe *OR* we’ve never left Slavery — we’ve just taken a break from it and tried different control methods!

    **Sorry for the long bold-face statement. I did it in anger: That I find the Abolition Party committing Racial Pandering and assisting the Jim Crow Party (the Dems) beyound obscene and completely abhorrent!!

    There are no words fit to describe the depth of disgust.

    (body of snailmail sent to Steele, CC-ed RNC, All “R”s in DC, etc)
    Steele, you faithless, atrocious walking sandwich board of tainted odiously detestable scabrously Liberal Racially Motivated talking points! You and the rest of The GOP Leadership who are calmly sitting by telling people who believe in The Principles of The Founding Documents and want to see those Principles exercised, that they are NAZIs, simply because they object to your inaction and the Dem’s action in creating a Tyrannical Totalitarian Government shows that you are the same! You’re simply a Smiley Face on Master’s Boot!
    (end letter)

    And the horse you’all rode in on, too!

  2. #637741
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 am, kwyoung said:

    From Rush’s response to Steele

    They chicken out when I happen to articulate exactly what their agenda really is. They don’t have the guts to admit it, and I do. I’m going further and telling you today it’s not that I want Obama to fail; that’s not it anymore. The president is presiding over economic failure. The president is watching it, doing nothing about it. He’s watching unemployment grow; he’s watching the stock market plummet; he is watching people sign up for unemployment. The president of the United States is doing nothing to stop the downward spiral of this economy. He has no economic recovery plan. The truth is, the president of the United States and Rahm Emanuel, who, remember, said, “Crisis is too great a thing to waste.” What does that mean? They want you suffering, they want you miserable, they want it worse, they want you rejecting conservatism. They want you rejecting capitalism. They want you turning to them in fear and desperation and angst for an immediate fix to the problem. They want you thinking you have no ability to fix your own problems. They think you have and they want you to have no ability to take care of yourself. So as the stock market now approaches minus 2,800 since Obama was elected, the statement today is to speed up the economic recovery, we’re going to focus on health care. Ask yourself how that is going to get you your next job.

    Excellent analysis. Steele is a fool to take on Rush. An interview on a CNN show reaches what, 2 million viewers? Rush has an audience of 20 million for three solid hours. Steele is the head of the RINONC. He does not speak for conservatives. I believe Sonofdy said it before, it’s time for a Conservative Party. Long overdue.

  3. #637742
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:27 am, jangar said:

    Is the GOP in some kind of cowering mode or what?!

    Until they allow someone in to lead with conservative onions, they will be perpetually doomed to failure.

  4. #637746
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:29 am, happyscrapper said:

    I like Rush Limbaugh, but I get irritated when he says something I may disagree with and I get lumped in with it (my liberal mother from Boulder does this a lot).

    Rush’s opinions are his own and it pisses me off that liberals think that the rest of us have to either accept or denounce what he says. Rush is a big boy and can defend himself

    But why would that make a person “not too fond of Rush”? It sounds like you are not too fond of being lumped in with all his opinions. Wouldn’t that apply to ANY commentator you enjoy listening to? No one agrees with any one person all the time!

  5. #637751
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 am, Laree said:

    Cinie is a PUMA Blogger, she is like a laser on what the Obama Administration is doing…in this case focusing on Rush Limbaugh.

    Cinie, weighs in on the Democrats strategy of focusing on Rush.

    http://cinie.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/who-died-and-made-rush-god/

  6. #637766
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:41 am, happyscrapper said:

    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 am, Laree said:
    Cinie is a PUMA Blogger, she is like a laser on what the Obama Administration is doing…in this case focusing on Rush Limbaugh

    This really puzzles me…even the person who wrote that piece made sure to say he wasn’t a fan of Rush Limbaugh, nor did he listen to him. I just wonder why people are afraid to admit they LIKE the man? There are 20 million out there who listen to him on a regular basis. Is there some PC reason that people won’t admit they like him?

  7. #637771
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:44 am, Kevin K. said:

    On March 2nd, 2009 at 6:17 pm, usa_usa said: (#173)

    There is not a dime’s worth of difference between the democrats and republicans. Both are against the hardworking real americans and insult patriots like Rush.

    Despite our disagreement in another thread, usa_usa and I almost completely agree here!

    I do, however, make the distinction between party leaders (no difference between R and D), and the ordinary members (have other lives to live). I won’t vote for any Democrat who voted against impeaching Clinton because of intellectual dishonesty on their part. (I was against the whole impeachment because I thought it would end up where it did and lessen the effect of the proceeding; I still think that Clinton was guilty.)

  8. #637775
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 am, cheapseat said:

    michael steele should spend his energy going to see the 3 rino senators who voted for this debacle, and informing them of the peril they face trying to run a primary financed by real republicans. trying to be on the network talking head shows for a conservative is asking for nothing but trouble. stick to fox, let the libs lie on the other networks, and just ignore those shows. since the death of the meet the press host, no conservative will be given a fair shake on any of the networks except fox. so screw them, they have theirs, we have ours and that’s the way it is. were i president, i wouldn’t have a single press conference, nor a press secretary. i’d shut down that room and kick those hacks out on their butts. steele, you too need to recognize who your friends are, and who are your enemies. specter, mccain, snow, collins, mcconnel, et al definitely need to come to grips with friends vs enemies. mccain should have gotten the message that the talking heads love to butter him up when he’s the maverick, but as soon as he is the opposition, they seek to destroy him and his family and his reputation they lauded just last week. friends mr steele deserve loyalty, enemies deserve resistance. they are most assuradely resisting your success. if you believe that is rush, you need to reevaluate your thought process.

  9. #637803
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    The GOPS’s blog roll includes McCain Now and McCain Blogette.

    Get the picture?

    The RNC is NOT about conservatism.

  10. #637812
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:10 am, RetFireman said:

    People wonder why children are the way they are these days. The simpl answer is that the adults raising them and that are around and influencing them no longer have the strength of their convictions. They have all been programmed to not offend anyone and to make everyone happy to the point that they no longer take a moral stand on anything, no longer stand up for their beliefs or do whatever it takes to make sure that justice is carried out,

    Put a camera in their face and the issue is magnified to the umpteenth power.

    The so-called Republican leasership has been operating in this fashion since Gingrich resigned. Yhey no longer have a spine, other than one made from jelly or painted yellow, then wonder why people are leaving the party in droves and failing to vote “R”.

    Have they lesrned NOTHING from the last 2 election cycles? Is there no one who will make a stand?

    Why does Rush have so many listeners? Why are the Liberals making such a huge deal out of what Rush is saying?

    It is because even THEY know that were the Republican Party to ever start listening to and following Rush’s examples and actually act like Republicans and honor and follow the Conservative Doctrine that the Dems would not have a chance in hell of getting elected.

    It was not Conservative views that has lost the last two elections. It will not be Conservatives that will lose the next one. It is the so-called Republicans who continually think that if they just act more like the Dems and put a “moderate” somewhere in their description who will lose and who will sink this Party.

    Was Abe Lincoln a Moderate? Was Eisenhower? Was Teddy Roosevelt? Was Nixon? Was Reagan?

    Then why the hell do they think that this country wants what they weren’t. If Steele wants to unite this party and to build it back and make it strong again, then he better start listening to his constituents and the people who have been leaving in droves and stop listening to the media and others with no vested interest in making a stong Republican party again. Doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different and better outcome…

  11. #637851
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am, mike.musculus said:

    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 am, On-my-soap-box said:
    The GOPS’s blog roll includes McCain Now and McCain Blogette.

    Get the picture?

    The RNC is NOT about conservatism.

    (emph. mine)

    You are absolutly right.

    Try an experiment:
    (1) On a blank sheet of paper, write tenets of the Dem-Socialist. Put the paper away and forget about it.

    (2)Wait a couple of days.
    (3) Now, without looking at your previous list, on a new sheet generate a list of the RNC’s tenets as currently practiced.
    (4) Compare the two.

    If you’re honest, you’ll see that they are simply variations on a theme: “You are part of the ‘great unwashed’, it soils us to deal with you! You are too stupid to understand how to breath without our grace! Your children’s life’s-work belongs to us, and you too work for us. So stop being ‘Loud Folks’ or we will get you!”

    A parting thought:
    Question: What moron listens to his enemies advice on winning?

    Answer: The RNC.

  12. #637887
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 am, RabbidSquirrel said:

    I like Rush Limbaugh, but I get irritated when he says something I may disagree with and I get lumped in with it (my liberal mother from Boulder does this a lot).

    Heres a solution…. cut the cord. Take down your old Bob Marley posters out of your old bedroom because youre grown now and are not going to move back in with her. Then tell your mom that you only come to visit when you are scouting for a retirement home to put her in one day. :grin:

  13. #637899
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 am, happyscrapper said:

    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 am, RabbidSquirrel said:
    Heres a solution…. cut the cord. Take down your old Bob Marley posters out of your old bedroom because youre grown now and are not going to move back in with her. Then tell your mom that you only come to visit when you are scouting for a retirement home to put her in one day.

    Thanks for a great laugh! I needed that! And laughter, coupled with pearls of wisdom is the best!

  14. #637921
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 12:12 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

    Interesting… I found the ‘Rules of the Republican Party’ on http://www.gop.com

    I shall have to puruse them… and perhaps compare and contrast them against the Dem party.

    And on reading MS’s blog comments

  15. #637932
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

    On March 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 am, happyscrapper said:

    Thks! But I grow weary now and must nap for a while. The kids flew in to snowboard this weekend and I had 4 trips to the airport and 3 trips to the ski resorts in 5 days. That and I feel the weight of Boulder on my shoulders at the moment. I cant hold all the libs into Boulder Valley by myself forever… Its like herding cats.

    They’ve already legalized up to an ounce of pot there, but one day…one day, it will run out and then they will discover they can escape the city on their own and make a drug run to Denver….

  16. #638081
    On March 3rd, 2009 at 2:00 pm, RetFireman said:

    Hey RS…mind if I get a little skiing in too? Continual storms here means I won’t be able to make it to Northstar for at least another week.

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