RNC Chairman Steele Attacks Limbaugh; Limbaugh Attacks GOP; Steele Caves

[Richard Tafoya]

Let's cook up some popcorn and enjoy this one.

TPM:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/steele-rush-isnt-the-gops-leader----hes-an-entertainer.php
Check out this interview Michael Steele did Saturday night with D.L. Hughley on CNN, in the wake of Rush Limbaugh's speech at CPAC proudly proclaiming that he wants President Obama to fail.

Finding himself in unfriendly territory, Steele said that Rush is not the leader of the Republican Party -- Steele is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4EWB0Wc4wQ

"Let's put it in the context here," said Steele. "Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment."

"Yes, it's incendiary," Steele added. "Yes, it's ugly."

You start to see why Dems are so eager to tie Republicans to Limbaugh. The man can do an hour-plus speech for the activist base, declaring that he wants the president to fail so the country can survive and succeed -- but in polite society, most people don't want to be anywhere near this stuff.

[Richard Tafoya]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/limbaugh-blasts-steele-if-i-were-gop-chairman-id-quit.php?ref=fp1

Rush Limbaugh isn't happy with Michael Steele, who insisted that Rush isn't the leader of the Republican Party, but is just an "entertainer" whose work is "incendiary" and "ugly."

Greg Sargent reports that Limbaugh positively lambasted Steele on his radio show today, even seeming to suggest that the new RNC chairman should resign in shame: "I'm not in charge of the Republican Party, and I don't want to be. I would be embarrassed to say that I'm in charge of the Republican Party in a sad-sack state that it's in. If I were chairman of the Republican Party, given the state that it's in, I would quit."

Limbaugh also responded to criticism of his very active desire for President Obama to fail, bringing back the GOP's with-us/against-us dichotomy -- only in this case it's you're with Obama or against him. "So send those fundraising requests out," Rush said mockingly. "Make sure you say, 'We want Obama to succeed.' So people understand your compassion."

So the question now is who better speaks for the Republican base voters and activists: The official party leadership, who say they want the president to succeed even as they don't think his policies can work -- or Rush Limbaugh, who actively wants the stimulus and other policies to fail so that the country can survive? Five'll get you ten...

[DoubleEdgeSword]

Oh man. I'm throwing a pizza party and inviting all my friends over for this one. Let's watch the GOP unravel at the seams. lol

[Richard Tafoya]

And another one caves. That sure didn't take long.

TPM: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/steele-apologizes-to-limbaugh-praises-his-leadership.php?ref=fp1
Steele To El Rushbo: Forgive Me, Please

In the new game of chicken between Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh, the loser is...Michael Steele, who now says he never meant to diminish the voice and leadership of Limbaugh.

In an interview with the Politico, Steele said: "My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate...There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."

This comes after Limbaugh tore into Steele for declaring on CNN that Rush isn't a leader of the Republican Party, but is an "entertainer" whose rhetoric is "incendiary" and "ugly."

"I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking," said Steele. "It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently."

[LesterX]

The Republican party truly is pathetic. Their leader has tremendous respect for someone he "inarticulately" called incendiary and ugly?