Steele: The Era Of Republican Apologies Is Over
RNC Chairman Michael Steele is set to deliver a speech today to state GOP chairmen, seeking to re-energize the party.
"The era of apologizing for Republican mistakes of the past is now officially over. It is done," Steele will say. "We have turned the page, we have turned the corner. No more looking in the rearview mirror. From this point forward, we will focus all of our energies on winning the future."
When has the GOP been apologizing, you might ask? In all fairness to Steele, he could be referring to his own speeches in which he himself has owned up to the Republican Party's mistakes. As he famously said in February: "Tonight, we tell America: we know the past, we know we did wrong. My bad." So does this mean the Republican Party is going to stop apologizing -- or more specifically that Steele, in his position as chairman, is going to knock it off?
In a companion op-ed piece in the Politico, Steele further lays out his vision that the GOP needs to remember the example of Ronald Reagan -- and not look backward:
The Republican Party has turned a corner, and as we move forward Republicans should take a lesson from Ronald Reagan. Again, we're not looking back - if President Reagan were here today he would have no patience for Americans who looked backward. Ronald Reagan always believed Republicans should apply our conservative principles to current and future challenges facing America. For Reagan's conservatism to take root in the next generation we must offer genuine solutions that are relevant to this age.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Being a GOPosaur means never having to say you're sorry.
May 19, 2009 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Era Of Republican Apologies Is Over
Fine print: apologies to Rush are still acceptable, encouraged, and, well, compulsory if one is to avoid banishment, shaming and torture.
As Mike Steele himself has demonstrated!
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May 19, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's possible that those are the apologies he's talking about!
May 19, 2009 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Over!? Wo! You mean I missed it? How long does a period have to last to qualify for "Era" status? And is it really a good idea to refer to a dead guy Three Times in your search for "genuine solutions that are relevant to this age"?
May 19, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
But, last time I checked, conservatism was all about looking backward...
May 19, 2009 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um, if you aren't looking backward, how do you find Ronald Reagan?
May 19, 2009 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's what I was wondering.
How does a person simultaneously say the party should not be looking backwards while saying that they should do what Reagan would have done?
May 19, 2009 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't you get it? The master plan is to frame all GOP talking point in the form of jokes. That how they are going to go viral baby.
What late night comedian can pass up this comedic gold? They don't even have to do any work. Like Sarah Palin's Katie Couric interview, it is word for word funny.
May 19, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The Era of Accountability is Over"
May 19, 2009 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
"The Era of Accountability is Over"
I blinked, and missed it.
.
May 19, 2009 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let me get this straight. They should "take a lesson from Reagan" and "not look back".
Um, how exactly can you see Reagan to take a lesson from him without looking back? He's, like, dead.
May 19, 2009 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
(applause) Michael Steele, everybody! He'll be here all week. Try the veal. Tip your waitress.
May 19, 2009 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
"And now, let me introduce our newest party leaders: Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh!"
May 19, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
uhh, great. 30+ years of class warfare. Massive ripoffs, militarization, thousands dead, millions destitute, health care ripped from our lives, global financial collapse, rampant pollution, ignoring climate change....
yes, they have paid their price to society. A few months with Steele at the helm, and all is forgiven and now we can go back to letting them do it ALL OVER AGAIN.
May 19, 2009 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I predicted that Michael Steele would not last past April 22. How delighted I am that I was so very wrong.
May 19, 2009 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I think Steele will be around for some time to come.
gelding -noun: 1) A castrated animal — in English, the term specifically refers to a castrated male horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. 2) A eunuch.
Castration, and the elimination of hormonally-driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a gelding to be calmer and better-behaved, making it quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday working animal.
The GOP leaders don't want someone that thinks for itself and can't be controlled. Steele is just what the doctor ordered.
May 19, 2009 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, not only did I miss the apologies, but I missed the admission of Republican mistakes.
May 19, 2009 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Btw, has anyone else noticed this strange entry on the calender to the right? I've seen it before:
The Senate begins it's morning business at 2:00 PM ????
May 19, 2009 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's always morning in America, silly.
May 19, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe it's a typo and it's supposed to read mourning business.
May 19, 2009 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looking back to Reagan teaches us the importance of never looking back. We need new ideas to make his old ideas work. Enough apologizing for apologies we haven't made!
Are we sure Michael Steele isn't Stephen Colbert's prodigy apprentice?
May 19, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes after a late night, I don't start my morning business until about 2PM.
But what's their excuse?
May 19, 2009 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
This op-ed on Politico is the most childish thing I've ever seen. After his nervous performance on MTP I'd thought we'd seen the last of Steel for awhile. Perhaps he's getting out in front of the coup that's coming for him, but... the last line about Reagan was just... jive talkin'. It almost sounds like he spoke into a tape recorder and had his secretary type it up.
You wonder if he's ever heard the old saw "discretion is the better part of valor."
May 19, 2009 10:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bozo the Clown..I mean really how does anyone (other than Faux) take him seriously. Reagan's policies would be considered Facist-Scocialist but these nutbars.
May 19, 2009 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
The fact that Republicans are still praising Reagan shows that they have not yet begun to learn lessons. When the amiable dunce of voodoo economics is no longer their greatest hero, then the world can perhaps start taking what they say seriously -with or without real, fake, or non-existent apologies.
May 19, 2009 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Steele has made the Republican Party less safe.
May 19, 2009 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Steele is entering Baghdad Bob territory.
May 19, 2009 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Except when an apology to Limbaugh is necessary to keep the golden microphone at bay.
May 19, 2009 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Really? Did they used to apologize? I don't remember that...
So now, with evidence of torture and concocting a war, and running our country into the ground...
yeah, I could see why they don't want to start apologizing... it could be never ending.
May 19, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is sounding more and more like dialogue from a poorly written movie about domestic abuse.
May 19, 2009 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's Steele's appearance on Fox and Friends this morning where he disagrees with the hosts over the rebranding effort:
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/05/michael-steele-and-fox-news-disagree-on.html
May 19, 2009 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael Steele is Humpty Hump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj9_yW8tZxs
May 19, 2009 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
The proof is in the pudding:
All right!
Stop whatcha doin'
'cause I'm about to ruin
the image and the style that ya used to.
I look funny
but yo I'm makin' money see
so yo world I hope you're ready for me.
Now gather round
I'm the new fool in town...
I like my beats funky,
I'm spunky. I like my oatmeal lumpy.
I'm sick wit dis, straight gangsta mack
but sometimes I get ridiculous...
First I limp to the side like my leg was broken
Shakin' and twitchin' kinda like I was smokin'
Crazy wack funky
People say ya look like M.C. Hammer on crack, Humpty
That's all right 'cause my body's in motion
It's supposed to look like a fit or a convulsion
Anyone can play this game...
Let's get stoopid!
May 19, 2009 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The era of apologizing for Republican mistakes of the past is now officially over."
That's interesting, because the era of cleaning up after Republican mistakes may last another ten to twenty years.
May 19, 2009 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it that easy? Because he says so? I'm so tired of the "Look forward, not back" absolving of past sins. It's utterly ridiculous when Obama uses it and ridiculous when Steele uses it.
I mean 95% of Republicans in the House and Senate were part of the Bush years - you can't wish that away and you can't pretend it never happened.
If Steele wants a new beginning it should start with all incumbents in safe Republican seats resigning. Get some new blood in congress that is truly a clean break from the Bush years. Folks voted for Bush and re-elected Bush - his war crimes are on them and on the GOP. Otherwise it's nothing but lip service and hopefully something the Dems don't seemingly accept.
The GOP did it - they now live with the consequences. If I'm ever arrested "Yer honor, starting now this is a new beginning for me, so we can't look back and dig up the crimes I'm accused of because that's in the past and we need to look forward".
May 19, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
No more apologies for old mistakes. Time to move on to new ones!
May 19, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
For what noble mistake?
May 19, 2009 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funnily enough (in spite of the blatant contradiction of not looking backward at Ronald Reagan), I agree with the quoted paragraph. THe GOP should be coming up with genuine and relevant solutions to the current problems. That would make for an honest debate in government and create an atmosphere that promotes dialogue, compromise, and good government. I look forward to hearing those solutions...
But I am noticing that he keeps repeating this sage advice out of one side of his mouth, while with the other he toes the obstructionist line and acts as if liberals are terrorist enablers. It is that contradiction that renders him the unfortunate court jester in this comedy of errors.
May 19, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
For those of us old enough to remember the "Amos 'n' Andy" TV show, I'd like to turn your attention to a character named Algonquin J. Calhoun. I swear to god this guy is Steele's mentor and icon. Tena and I have been making a half-assed attempt to get a sputtering campaign started to bear this out on Greg Sargent's new blog, and I thought I'd sow a few seeds here as well.
For those not old enough to remember, search either Algonquin J. Calhoun or Amos 'n' Andy. You'll be richly rewarded.
May 19, 2009 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I had just rode through a village killing everyone and burning down the entire town I wouldn't want to look back either. However, don't expect other villages to give you the keys to the city.
I want to vomit even looking at Steele when he talks. No integrity. An opportunist and phony willing to say or do anything for money and power.
I've been around such plastic people at social events and it seems you just can't get them to shut up and try to put as much space between them and you as possible while they giggle and laugh at every inappropriate moment...always so pleased with themselves as their huge egos cannot accept that they are not cool and are such an embarrassment. Tolerance is the best one can muster.
May 19, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink