That's it! Steele Must Go

CMR ^ | March 12, 2009 | matthew archbold

[NYer]

Michael Steele is not pro-life. And he must be replaced as the Chairman of the GOP as quickly as possible.

Steele just did an interview with GQ which is quoted in The Politico.

The key part of the conversation is this. It's shocking and I trust you'll agree that Michael Steele's days as GOP Chairman are numbered:

Steele: 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.

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

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

GQ: You do?

Steele: Yeah. Absolutely.

Now, you can rant and rave how poor Michael has been taken out of context once again and how the media has manipulated him again. I don't want to hear it anymore. I don't want a GOP Chairman who makes headlines weekly with his flubs.

And if he meant what he said then I want him out as well.

This is not the first time Steele has referred to his pro-choice credentials. CMR raised this issue months ago and we were told by many that we didn't understand, it was a nuanced position, the media took him out of context and even that Steele was a good Catholic.

Remember this little conversation with Tim Russert on Meet The Press when Steele was running for Senate.

MR. RUSSERT: ...Mr. Steele, if you’re United States Senator, would you vote for a constitutional amendment to outlaw abortion?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I don’t — vote for a constitutional amendment to outlaw abortion? I think we’d have to have that get to the Supreme Court, wouldn’t we? I haven’t seen that bill proposed. I don’t think...

MR. RUSSERT: That’s been introduced in the Senate.

LT. GOV. STEELE: I don’t think anyone’s going to propose that this day.

MR. RUSSERT: So you wouldn’t do that?

LT. GOV. STEELE: No.

MR. RUSSERT: Would, would you encourage — would you hope the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I think that that’s a matter that’s going to rightly belong to the courts to decide ultimately whether or not that, that issue should be addressed. The, the Court has taken a position, which I agree, stare decisis, which means that the law is as it is and, and so this is a matter that’s ultimately going to be adjudicated at the states. We’re seeing that. The states are beginning to decide for themselves on, on this and a host of other issues. And the Supreme Court would ultimately decide that.

MR. RUSSERT: But you hope that the Court keeps Roe v. Wade in place?

LT. GOV. STEELE: I think the Court will evaluate the law as society progresses, as the Court is supposed to do.

MR. RUSSERT: But what’s your position? Do you want them to sustain it or overturn it?

LT. GOV. STEELE: Well, I think, I think, I think Roe vs. Wade, Roe vs. Wade is a, is a matter that should’ve been left to the states to decide, ultimately. But it, it is where it is today, and the courts will ultimately decide whether or not this, this gets addressed by the states, goes back to the states in some form or they overturn it outright.

MR. RUSSERT: Is is your desire to keep it in place?

LT. GOV. STEELE: My desire is that we follow what stare decisis is at this point, yes.

I'm done. Michael Steele cannot lead the Republican Party. I don't want a leader who attacks conservative leaders. I don't want a leader who smiles and agrees when Republicans are called Nazis. I don't want a leader who waffles on abortion every time he's asked about it. That's not good enough. If this party wants the support of pro-lifers then Michael Steele must go.

UPDATE: Steele clarifies his statment. Ed Morrissey of HotAir has it but adds he still doesn't know what Steele believes. "The two statements cannot be reconciled with each other. They are mutually exclusive. And Steele has offered both as his views in two successive days." More at Hot Air.

UpdateII: Fallout is already occuring from some heavy hitters among social conservatives. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released a statement on this issue:
"I read the article last night so I am familiar not only with his comments about the life issue but also about theefforts to redefine marriage and 'mucking' up the constitution. I expressed my concerns to the chairman earlier this week about previous statements that were very similar in nature. He assured me as chairman his views didnot matter and that he would be upholding and promoting theParty platform, which is very clear on these issues. It is very difficult to reconcile the GQ interview with the chairman's pledge."

[sinanju]

Ken Blackwell has a track record of serious conservatism with the scars to prove it. He has been burned several times by the RINO establishment of his native Ohio.

[txnativegop]

Would that be the Taft bunch?

I might be willing to give him a try, but having been burned once, I’m little shy about.

[teddyballgame]

Never go full retard. Everyone knows that.

[Sister_T]

Oh, my! That was awkward! I took it as Glenn being sarcastic but ... wow! That’s not a cool thing to say in that situation.

[steve86]

Instead he’s doing interviews coming off as retarded. And that’s retarded.

Most retarded people, if you showed then a mother and told them the big belly was because there was a baby in there and asked them if a doctor should kill the baby, would say "NO!".

Steele is evil, not retarded.

[marshmallow]

Geez, Russert practically had to hold a gun to his head to get him to give a clear answer to how he felt about Roe v Wade.

Talk about evasive.

Doesn't surprise me at all that he has now given a totally contradictory statement to someone else, concerning abortion. This guy is an empty suit.

[the invisib1e hand]

It takes courage and conviction to be pro life. And it will take more and more as time goes on. It also takes intellectual honesty.

Praytell, where are you going to find courage, conviction, and intellectual honesty in politics?

[Digger]

If only Liberals spent as much time destroying the Dems as Conservatives do with Republicans. This Achilles Heel is poked hard and often by the Dems these days to great success.

What the he!! does Republicans have to do with conservatism? If you are a fan of Steele after these inconsistencies then stay with the RINOs. RUSH said it best when he said that if you are a true conservative you don't have to sputter in expelling your views. They are inherit. This guy, like many, are stuck on trying to be & say what is PC. Get a core belief conservative in that position - NOW!

[sinanju]

Question: Why do you think so few nonwhite Americans support the Republican Party right now?

Steele: ‘Cause we have offered them nothing! And the impression we’ve created is that we don’t give a damn about them or we just outright don’t like them. And that’s not a healthy thing for a political party. I think the way we’ve talked about immigration, the way we’ve talked about some of the issues that are important to African-Americans, like affirmative action... I mean, you know, having an absolute holier-than-thou attitude about something that’s important to a particular community doesn’t engender confidence in your leadership by that community—or consideration of you for office or other things—because you’ve already given off the vibe that you don’t care. What I’m trying to do now is to say we do give a damn.

_____________________________________________________________________________

That should have jumped out at me when I first read it. “We have offered them nothing” he first badmouths his own party up one side and down the other and then promises to give them stuff? Give a damn?

Incredible. There are so many ways he could have explained that the GOP had short-sightedly abandoned minorities to the democrats but that conservatism had much so more to offer. Instead he makes the GOP out to be just as bad as the libs have accused them of being. Then he nebulously promises to start giving a damn.

He really thinks he’s being hip, cool and persuasive. I’d have rather had Jesse Helms giving these interviews.

[sinanju]

This guy is selling himself, not the GOP.

Just like Clinton and Obama, WE have now put another fatherless boy in charge. When will we ever learn?

[Melinda]

Keep a lid on, I'm not a fan of Steele's, just stating the obvious. The Conservative movement and the R party seem to be beyond repair, and the Dems have exploited it to their lopsided advantage. It's time the Conservatives start their own party or turn their efforts to destroy the Dems, their bigger adversary here. The split between C and the R party ensures the Dems success for decades. How about a solution to the problem? BTW, that's inherent, not inherit. Should I say one more thing to make you apoplectic? I find Ann Coulter’s message succinct, but her delivery too often boorish. The Conservatives seem to have a problem finding a total package for a messenger.

[woollyone]

“Steele: The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life, or you can choose abortion.”

Here we have a classic useful idiot.
Never, ever let your opponent define the terms, or you lose the debate before it even begins.

Hey Michael...
I'll help you with the terms...

“Steele: The choice issue cuts decision is one of only two ways. You can choose life for your unborn child, or you can choose abortion to kill your unborn child inside your own womb."

[bestintxas]

What’s so bad is that the GOP’s affirmative action selection of Steele will backfire afte he gets fired.

Some blacks who may have been attracted to the GOP with “one of their own” as leader will not be prone to see him dissed.

Too bad a more competent black leader as moved into that spot.

[bestintxas]

I agree - “offered them nothing” is so distateful when we see all of the many things the GOP’s conservative platform stands for.

By definition(unless you are on-the-take or power-hungry), Conservative principles are what’s really offered to all Americans, white black or whatever, that form a bedrock to guide the country’s and individual’s prosperity.

Steel needs to go. NOW.

[Kansas58]

With all due respect, your approach is brain dead.
In practical application, our government thinks it DOES have jurisdiction, at the Federal level.
Prior to Roe, abortion WAS a STATE issue.
We must deal with the world the way it is, and in the world we live in, we must fight a battle that we have a chance of winning.
You present an absurd situation where no possible positive resolution is possible.

You are WRONG, we need a law.

Congress absolutely has the Constitutional power to limit the jurisdiction of the Courts. That requires a LAW.

[Kansas58]

Actually, we do not need to go that far, not that I would oppose the action.

On any issue in which the Constitution does not give SCOTUS “original jurisdiction” -— the Constitution gives Congress the right to limit the “appellate jurisdiction” of the Court”.

[txnativegop]

That’s the problem, the Congress won’t limit the Judiciary branch’s power.

[NYer]

where are you going to find courage, conviction, and intellectual honesty in politics?

One need only look at history for the answer to that question. The Book of Ecclesiastes says it well:

What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.

Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

Fathers Corapi and Pacwa addressed this last night. Excellent program! Did you catch it?

[iowamark]

It was obvious after Steele’s recent remarks bashing conservatives that he had to go. He will never stand up for human life.

I would never have voted for him for Chairman but I was one of those willing to give him a chance. No more. He has to go. You do not give traitors multiple chances to betray you. (Of course, we made the same mistake last year by nominating McCain and we are paying the price now.)

We must make it clear to the GOP that an unapologetic pro-life Reagan conservative must once again lead the GOP.

Forget this “third party” nonsense! We need a second party to oppose the Leftists who are now in almost total control of this country. Who dares speak against the Left now? Rush Limbaugh and a handful of Catholic bishops! That’s all. No organized political opposition exists because of the “go along to get along” Michael Steele types.

[haircutter]

Does any one know ‘was Michael Steele adopted or was he raised by an unmarried person??’

He stated his mother chose life over abortion...by the grace of God our son’s life was saved over abortion and we were able to adopt him and he has been one of the greatest gifts we have ever received, he calls ME Mother, not the girl whom gave him life.