Fun With Language With Michael Steele.

To hear former RNC chair and bondage-themed nightclub habitue, Michael Steele, tell it, the Republican Party is shit.  That's not a word Steele ever uses on teevee, but that's what he means.

Shit.  

And even though he inexplicably remains a registered Republican, he's right. 

After all, the Republican Party nominated Donald Trump. Republicans elected Donald Trump.  The Republican Party pledged fealty to Donald Trump.  The Republican Party renominated Donald Trump.  And Republicans came out in ever greater numbers in 2020 to voted for Donald Trump than they did in 2016.

A real shit party.

So by the converse law you would think it be safe to say that, in the same way Republicans are responsible for Donald Trump, that Democrats are responsible for Joe Biden.  After all, Democrats nominated Biden, right?  

And Democrats elected Biden.  

And somewhere north of 80% of Democrats approve of the job he is doing.

So, fair to say that Joe Biden is a Democrat who was elected by Democrats, in the same way Donald Trump is a Republican who was elected by Republicans, right? 

 I mean, there's a Wikipedia pic and everything.

Sorry for being so elementary and redundant, but to tell the balance of this story, we need to get these very obvious facts straight, because according to Michael Steele everything you and I just agreed on is wrong.  

So, so very wrong.

According to Michael Steele, Democrats did not elect Joe Biden.  Instead, a large, amorphous group called "the American people" elected Joe Biden.  Which, corollarily, also must mean that the people who did not vote for Joe Biden, but instead voted for Donald Trump, are either not Americans, or not "people", or both.  

And that doesn't seem right. 

Isn't language fun!

So having removed lifelong Democrat Joe Biden from the Democratic Party and assigned his victory to "the American people", Michael Steele now grants himself the liberty to use his credential as an American Person (and therefore a member in good standing of "the American people") to sternly lecture Democrats on the subject of what "the American people" did and did not elect Joe Biden to do.

By the way, in case you were wondering, I am not just pulling this out of thin air or some nether region I would never mention on this family-friendly blog.  These are the thoughts of paid MSNBC contributor and bondage-themed nightclub habitue, Michael Steele, as he spoke them on this Lincoln Project podcast, which does not come with a transcript, so you'll have to trust me that I wrote it all down to the best of my abilities.

Steele:  The second thing that worries me is that Democrats don't have a damn clue how to do politics.  They just don't know how to do the politics. 

Reminder that this is the same Michael Steele who hired himself out to front for a patently racist party, then got run out of that party by the racists he swore weren't there, and who has been consistently wrong about his Republican Party since it ran him out.  But please continue. 

Steele:  And they spent the first 18 months of this term bickering over filibusters and chompin' at Joe Manchin and the like instead of clarifying again for the American people why they elected Joe Biden.

Once again, and louder, for the slow individuals in the back, A) other than geographically, there is no such group as "the American people" and, B) this non-existent group certainly did not elect Joe Biden.   But please continue. 

Steele:  Joe Biden was not elected to bring Liberal policies your front door.  

And...

Steele:  Joe Biden was not elected to do the Green New Deal.

And...

Steele:  Joe Biden was not elected to forgive student debt.  That's not why Joe Biden was elected. 

And this is how you know that, from the top of his bald head to the tips of his tasseled loafers,  Michael Steele is a Republican for life.  Because the single greatest article of faith among Republicans and the mainstream media during Steele's lifetime has been thatm, when Democrats win elected office it is somehow illegitimate for them to try to govern as Democrats.  Period. Full stop.

And make no mistake, that is exactly what Steele is saying, plain and clear.  That Joe Biden -- who ran and won as a Democrat -- has no business even trying to run his administration as a Democrat.  Has no business doing policy.  Has no business proposing legislation or executive actions, even the legislation or executive actions which he ran on. 

Has no business, y'know, governing.  

Joe Biden's only role, according to Steele, is ceremonial.  To be a smiling figurehead on the prow of the ship of state at whom "the American people" can point and say, "Hey, that's not Donald Trump.  Well whatdya know about that!"

Steele:  Joe Biden was elected to help us restore our faith in democracy and to protect us against the threat that stood in front of us...  And then they start coming, talking about "The next LBJ", I'm, like, shut that down.  That's not what this is about.  That's not what the American people want.  

And so forth.  

So what are some true things we can say about Michael Steele?

First, that he is the former chair of the Republican Party who swears he never knew his Republican Party was full of Republicans.   

So, fair to say that Mr. Steele doesn't know shit about Republicans.

Second, its painfully clear that, like most Never Trumpers, Mr. Steele's understanding of the Democratic Party consists of a skull full of Fox News/Hate Radio caricatures left over from the days when Mr. Steele had to go groveling to Rush Limbaugh for Limbaugh's forgiveness and approval.

Steele to Rush: I'm sorry

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.”...

Third, while Mr. Steele disowns the party he once chaired (and which turned out in their tens of millions to voted for Donald Trump in 2020) and disdains Democrats as irrelevant, loudmouth spoilers who want to ruin Mr. Steele's vision of Joe Biden as a marble statue placeholder...at the same time,  and also like most Never Trumpers, Mr. Steel claims to speak with deep expertise and sweeping authority about a non-existent set of humans called "the American people" who Mr. Steele asserts are actually responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic president.   

So is Michael Steele a liar, or just deeply delusional?

I'm not sure.

The only thing I am sure of is that Michael Steele is a paid MSNBC contributor who...well, let's let him tell it:

Steele:  Check me out on MSNBC.  I'm there a lot, so chances are you won't miss me.

And that's true.  Like all the other Never Trumpers who have colonized the media and now dominate the public political narrative, Michael Steele is there.  

 A lot.  

But I do miss him every time he's on because I know how to use the teevee remote.

I Am The Liberal Media