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Newark Mayor Cory Booker Backtracks After Criticizing Obama Reelection Tactics as “Nauseating”

May 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
23236v1 max 250x250 Newark Mayor Cory Booker Backtracks After Criticizing Obama Reelection Tactics as Nauseating

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Backtracks After Criticizing Obama Reelection Tactics as "Nauseating" (Image via CrunchBase)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising star in the Democratic Party, did an about-face after criticizing some of President Obama’s reelection tactics at “nauseating,” releasing a YouTube video expressing his support for the president. Um, a Michael Steele-Rush Limbaugh moment.

In the latest YouTube video, Booker said be believed it was appropriate to fully vet Mitt Romney’s private sector record, clarifying his stunning rebuke of Obama on “Meet the Press,” saying “This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity, stop attacking Jeremiah Wright.”

I was in complete agreement with Cory Booker about the “nauseating” vitriol being hurled by both sides, until he decided to pull a Michael Steele and backtrack on his criticism of Obama. Um, what’s he afraid of? His Newark constituents? It’s pretty damning because Cory Booker is an Obama surrogate.

Cory Booker Backtracks on Obama criticism:

Cory Booker Rebuke of Obama reelection tactics on “Meet the Press:”

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Backtracks After Criticizing Obama Reelection Tactics as Nauseating
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RNC Chairman Michael Steele Says "Martin Luther King Jr. Would Be ‘Disappointed’ In Country’s Leadership"

September 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

RNC Chairman Michael Steele is at it again. He told students at a historically black Philander Smith College, in Arkansas yesterday that Martin Luther King Jr. would be disappointed with President Obama. He said, “Dr. King would be disappointed in the political leadership of this country for failing to address the least of us.” Really? I beg to differ. He needs to stop using Dr. King’s name to score political points. That’s just low and dirty. He faulted both the Democrats and the Republicans for failing to address poverty and said the GOP must take steps to win over black voters. If the GOP thinks sending this clown in to win black voters, they have wasted their precious resources. Add that with the racism being pushed by fringe elements of the Republican Party. That spells doom for the GOP attracting black voters.

Think Progress points out that a student approached the microphone and asked, “In all seriousness, I’m curious what you think that Dr. King would think about your party’s current attempts to block universal health care?” “It’s a great myth that we’re doing all this blocking. I wish we had that kind of control with the numbers, but we don’t,” Steele responded. “As I’ve said to the president many times, ‘If that’s the bill you want, vote it up or down.’”

Michael Steele, if you cared so much about poverty in this country, what do you propose to do to help the millions of people who fall below the poverty line in this country? To take it a step further, why did you have to raise the issue of poverty at a historically black college? Isn’t that a little racial too?I have yet to hear him bring this up in other venues. He has been pulling the race card lately and that will only backfire. What Dr. King would be disgusted with is your lack of decorum and effectiveness as the leader of the RNC.

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RNC Chairman Michael Steele Injects Race Into President Obama’s Request that David Paterson Not Run for Governor Again

September 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele has injected race into the New York gubernatorial race. He appeared on “Face the Nation” yesterday and though he told host Bob Schieffer that opposition to President Obama and health care reform had nothing to do with race, he seemed to accuse the President of letting race play a factor in his decision to urge Governor David Paterson (D-NY) not to run in the 2010 Democratic primary. Steele said:

“I found that to be stunning that the White House would send word to one of only two black governors in the country not to run for reelection.”

As you can see, Schieffer looked somewhat stunned and asked the Steele, “Well you don’t think he’s asked him not to run ‘cuz he’s black?”

I guess Steele, realizing that his foot was in his mouth, tried to backtrack. Stumbling over his words, in his classic moronic style, he questioned why Obama wasn’t asking other Democrats with poor poll numbers — like Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) — not to run, calling it “a curiosity.” Steele also said it “will be very interesting to see” how Obama’s request to Paterson will play with black leaders across the country.

Newsflash Mr. Steele, even Rev. Al Sharpton sees the writing on the wall for Governor Paterson. When your own constituents are turning against you, you have a serious problem. That is the case in New York and if Gov. Paterson doesn’t step out of the way, then New York state will have a Republican governor. I scarcely believe black leaders in this country will come to Paterson’s defense. His poll numbers are abysmal.

I would have agreed with Michael Steele had he not injected race into the equation. This is the third time President Obama has meddled in local politics in New York state. You will recall the mess that ensued in the search of a replacement for Hillary Clinton’s seat. It was clear that the president had initially preferred Caroline Kennedy for the seat, but he later cleared the field for Paterson’s handpicked U.S. senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, asking her toughest potential primary challenger, Long Island Rep. Steve Israel, not to run.
Next he tapped John McHugh, one of just three remaining Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation, to serve as secretary of the Army, which led to a special election in McHugh’s upstate district. Now Paterson is in the president’s cross hairs. What will prove to be an uncomfortable encounter, the president will spend three days in New York, including an upstate stop, where he will be greeted at Albany International Airport by none other than David Paterson. Ouch. So, there was plenty for Michael Steele to hit President Obama on, rather than taking the easy way out to cite race as a factor.

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RNC Chairman Michael Steele: "Bad Form" For President Obama To Invoke Kennedy During His Speech to Congress

September 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It is amazing that all RNC Chairman Michael Steele could find to talk about President Barack Obama’s address to Congress was to state that it was “bad form” and “a political tool” for him to talk about a letter he received from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Wow, is he that daft?

“I’m sorry, but I just felt a bit unnerved by it, in the sense he just passed,” said Steele. “His wife was still clearly emotional,” Steele added. “I just thought that was bad form. We all understand and appreciate the role Sen. Kennedy has played in this debate and the passion he brought to health care. I just thought that was a little bit much for me, so soon after his death, using that as a political tool.” Source: Talking Points Memo

Steele also seemed to be under the impression that this was a surprise to Vicki Kennedy and that it was some kind of coincidence that she’d been invited to sit as a guest of Michelle Obama during a speech. Wow, this was only one of her late husband’s biggest political issues. This is the leader of the RNC? Wow.

That just shows you how out of touch and ignorant Michael Steele is. It is common knowledge that the president and Sen. Kennedy were very close and the contents of the letter were meant to show the urgency of getting health care reform passed. That was an issue of paramount importance to Ted Kennedy.

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RNC Chairman Michael Steele Says Veterans Affairs Manual, "Death Book" is Encouraging Veterans to Commit Suicide

August 25, 2009 by Leave a Comment

RNC chairman Michael Steele is at it again. This time he jumped on the-government-will-kill-you bandwagon saying that a Veterans Affairs manual is “encouraging them [veterans] to commit suicide.” “I mean, this is crazy coming from the government, and this is exactly what concerns people and puts them in fear of what the government control of health care will look like,” Steele said. Wow, Michael Steele, you thought of that all by yourself? This ridiculous drivel about a so-called “death book,” stems from a VA pamphlet on setting up advance directives such as living wills. It started with an op-ed last Tuesday written by George W. Bush’s “faith czar,” Jim Towey, conservative media has been swarming over claims that the pamphlet encourages disabled veterans to evaluate whether they’re a “burden” to their families, in effect telling them to commit suicide. Of course, the pamphlet does nothing of the sort and it’s just typical right wing smear tactics.

The White House has released a fact sheet says it was pulled for revision in 2007, when a panel found it “to be too negative in tone and not sufficiently sensitive to the perspectives of veterans with pro-life perspectives and veterans living with life-long disabling conditions.”

Sorry, but if Michael Steele is the best African American the Republican National Committee could find to be a trailblazer and a voice for the party, then they have made the mother of all blunders. The guy has no substance and when he tries to criticize President Obama, he comes off looking like a complete moron. He has insulted millions of veterans in this country by claiming that they are being driven to commit suicide by reading a pamphlet.

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Michael Steele, RNC Leader, Says He’ll Woo African Americans to the GOP with "Fried Chicken and Potato Salad"

July 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment

GOP gaffe machine extraordinaire Michael Steele is at it again. This time he says that he will woo blacks to the Republican Party with “fried chicken and potato salad.” Steele made those comments as he sat down with a group of bloggers brought together by Republican blog Hoosier Access. Of course, he forgot that we are living in a technologically advanced time and his conversation would be taped. He made the comments about wooing blacks in response to a question for a gay person of color in this clip about the GOP’s diversity outreach.

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Dick Cheney Says He’ll Take Limbaugh over Powell

May 12, 2009 by Leave a Comment

dick+cheney Dick Cheney Says Hell Take Limbaugh over Powell

With all this in fighting and bickering going on within the Republican Party, there has to be an outcome of something new. The party will have to emerge as a newly reformed, reborn party. The name-calling, the finger pointing, all the apologizes have to amount to something.

I think a lot of this is being done so that the party can stay in the media and in the minds of Americans while it rebuilds. If it were not for the arguing and in fighting, nothing is coming from the Republican party at all. Not unless you count the publicity Sarah Palin continues to get from time to time.

The latest in-house fighting amongst the Republican Party is former Vice President Dick Cheney saying he would take Rush Limbugh over Colin Powell any day. Come on Dick. I mean really? Rush is an entertainer. Had it not been for the Republican Michael Steele making a public apology to Rush, Rush would be a loner out there continuing to look for a fish to hook.

Everything he attempted in this last presidential election failed miserably. First within his own party he spoke out diligently against John McCain. When McCain won the nomination, of course he had to jump on the bandwagon and go along with McCain. When Obama became the forerunner of the Democratic Party’s nomination, after years and years of bashing Hilary Clinton and the Clinton Administration, Limbugh begins what he calls “operation chaos.” I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure that one out. But needless to say that didn’t work either.

So Rush was on his way to being obsolete until Michael Steele comes along with his apology and now Rush is back on top. Of course we can’t forget his continued controversial comments about the current Administration that keeps him in the news. And now the former Vice President has joined in to make Rush seem like a true politician. Well he’s not. He is an entertainer. He entertains himself along with the millions of others who listens for entertainment or the ones that actually take him seriously.

Right now, I think the Republican Party is using Limbugh to stay in the news and in the spotlight. Without him, the Republican Party would not even make the news cycle.
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Michael Steele, RNC Chief, Says Abortion "is An Individual Choice," Will Unnerve GOP Establishment

March 12, 2009 by Leave a Comment

For once I agree with something Republican National Committee leader Michael Steele has said. In an interview with GQ’s Lisa DePaulo, he stated that abortion is an “individual choice. The problem for him is that isn’t likely to go over very well with the GOP. Of course, Steele is on the verge of a no-confidence vote, so some may wave it off as further ignorance on his part of his new role.

The key passage:

L: How much of your pro-life stance, for you, is informed not just by your catholic faith, but by the fact that you were adopted?

M: Oh, a lot. Absolutely. I see the power of life in that. I mean, and the power of choice! The thing to keep in mind about it, uh, you know, I think as a country we get off on these misguided conversations that throw around terms that really misrepresent truth.

L: Explain that.

M: The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life or you can choose abortion. You know, my mother chose life. So, you know, I think the power of the argument of choice boils down to stating a case for one or the other.

L: Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?

M: Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

L: You do?

M: Yeah. Absolutely.

L: Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?

M: I think Roe v. Wade–as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.

L: Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?

M: The states should make that choice: that’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.

Hmmm. I have one question, since he considers abortion an “individual choice,” specifically who counts as an individual in his mind? Goodness, you thought President Bush could mince words or completely befuddle one with his sentences. Eureka, we have found a the heir apparent to Bushisms — Michael Steele. I believe abortion is a personal issue that the government has no business trying to legislate. Though I share some views of the Republican Party on the matter, it is an individual choice and should be treated by all as such.

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RNC Head Michael Steele Apologizes for Calling Rush Limbaugh "an Entertainer" During an Appearance of D.L. Hughley’s Show

March 3, 2009 by Leave a Comment

To the left, to the left…. That’s basically what’s happening in the Republican Party when conservative nutjob Rush Limbaugh is criticized. An apology always comes. So, Rahm Emanuel was absolutely right when he said that Limbaugh is the head of the GOP. I cannot believe that Michael Steele, who recently made some comments about Limbaugh while on the “D. L. Hughley Breaks the News, ” has apologized to the Almighty Rush.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says he has reached out to Rush Limbaugh to tell him he meant no offense when he referred to the popular conservative radio host as an “entertainer” whose show can be “incendiary.” “My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.” The dust-up comes at a time when top Democrats are trying to make Limbaugh the face of the Republican Party, in part by using ads funded by labor. Americans United for Change sent a fund-raising e-mail Monday that begins: “The Republican Party has turned into the Rush Limbaugh Party.”

Steele told CNN host D.L. Hughley in an interview aired Saturday night: “Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh — his whole thing is entertainment. He has this incendiary — yes, it’s ugly.” Steele, who won a hard-fought chairman’s race on Jan. 30, told Politico he telephoned Limbaugh after his show on Monday afternoon and hoped that they would connect soon. “I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking,” Steele said. “It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not.” “I’m not going to engage these guys and sit back and provide them the popcorn for a fight between me and Rush Limbaugh,” Steele added. “No such thing is going to happen. … I wasn’t trying to slam him or anything.” On Monday’s show, Limbaugh reacted both to the comment and to the assertion on CBS’s “Face the Nation” by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that the radio host is “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.” Source: Politico

Well, Michael Steele punked out. As a result of his actions, he is now a very diminished leader of the Republican National Committee. First of all, I took offense when he excused Limbaugh as an entertainer. I am no fan of this guy, but since when is it an automatic disqualifier from political life to be an entertainer? Wasn’t Ronald Reagan an actor before he became the governor of California and later served as the President of the USA for eight years? If you can’t choose your words carefully and speak with some semblance of knowledge and diplomacy, then Steele is simply not ready to be in such a leadership role. Also, I am still wondering why every Republican that says something contrary to Rush Limbaugh ends up apologizing? What gives? If Limbaugh is the new voice of the GOP, then they are in way more trouble than they care to admit.

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GOP Chief Michael Steele Promises PR Blitz in ‘Hip-Hop Settings’ and for ‘One-Armed Midgets’

February 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment

steele GOP Chief Michael Steele Promises PR Blitz in Hip Hop Settings and for One Armed MidgetsPhoto: Smialowski/Getty Images, Michael Steele

I knew it was a matter of time before new GOP party chief Michael Steele put his foot in his mouth. He is now promising an “off the hook” public relations blitz into “urban-suburban hip-hop settings” in hopes of wooing Latinos and African-Americans. Right. I am sure he will succeed in that ridiculous endeavor.

Steele is searching for Americans of all ethnic backgrounds to join his Grand Old Party, and I do mean “old.” “We need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets,” he joked. Right. He will succeed when donkeys fly and it will be a cold day in Hell.

Steele told the Washington Times that he aimed to revive the party by breaking out of the South and Southwest and to “reach beyond our comfort” zone to expand in Democratic strongholds like the Northeast and Midwest.

“We missed the mark in the past, which is why we are in the crapper now,” he said. “We had the White House, the Senate and the House and were not building a farm team over the last years. He said he’s planning a massive advertising outreach online, on TV and on the radio that will “surprise everyone.”

“We need messengers to really capture that region – young, Hispanic, black, a cross section ,” he explained. “We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-suburban hip-hop settings.” Source: NY Daily News

This is really too funny. His intentions are good, but brother man, this is the same party whose Senators and congress people overwhelmingly did not support the Stimulus bill in any shape or form. This bill is targeted at helping middle class people in this country. The very same people Michael Steele wants to support the GOP. Didn’t some conservative nutjobs call President Barack Obama out for his so-called association with some members of the Hip-Hop crowd? How quickly they forget. I must end on this note. It is safe to say that most Republicans scoff at the idea of hanging out with the “Hip-Hop” crowd, so I take Mr. Steele’s comments with a grain of salt. This will go now where. He’s in the wrong line of work. He ought to be an actor because that’s all he is doing — acting.

pixel GOP Chief Michael Steele Promises PR Blitz in Hip Hop Settings and for One Armed Midgets
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