Posted on 03/02/2009 3:20:29 PM PST by Dan Nunn
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.”
Limbaugh said: “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 the 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. I might get out the hari-kari knife because I would have presided over a failure that is embarrassing to the Republicans and conservatives who have supported it and invested in it all these years.”
On the RushLimbaugh.com home page, the transcript is labeled: “A Few Words for Michael Steele.”
In the interview with Politico, Steele called Limbaugh “a very valuable conservative voice for our party.”
“He brings a very important message to the American people to wake up and pay attention to what the administration is doing," Steele said. "Number two, there are those out there who want to look at what he’s saying as incendiary and divisive and ugly. That’s what I was trying to say. It didn’t come out that way. … He does what he does best, which is provoke: He provokes thought, he provokes the left. And they’re clearly the ones who are most excited about him.”
Asked if he planned to apologize, Steele said: “I wasn’t trying to offend anybody. So, yeah, if he’s offended, I’d say: Look, I’m not in the business of hurting people’s feelings here. … My job is to try to bring us all together.”
You ain’t lying. When I met my husband he said (thought) he was an independent. I knew better or else the relationship wouldn’t have progressed. HE is the one now who plans trips during Rush’s show so we can listen in the car. :) He even volunteered at the Palin rally in our area last fall. He loves Rush.
Shows you two things:
1. Ideas trump pragmatism. “Conservatism” is the conceptual and ideological core of the GOP.
2. Rush is the de facto spokesman of the conservative movement.
Steele understands that — he was indirectly apologizing to us, as well as to Rush — but he does not identify himself as a “conservative.” He identifies himself as a “Republican.” Two different things.
Here is my letter to Steele: Dear Mr. Steele, I was excited and "hopeful" when you took over the RNC that we would have someone with backbone tackle the tough issues of today. I was even so hopeful, that when the RNC called the other day, I decided to give what we could afford at this tough time. I have not given to the RNC for the past 2 years due to lack of principles and core values. I was even more buoyed on Saturday afternoon while watching Rush Limbaugh speak at CPAC. I even found myself jumping up in my living room giving him a standing ovation. This is the kind of speech I expect every Conservative to give. It was neither "ugly" or "incendiary". This speech was uplifting and hopeful. That you felt the need to decry that is beyond belief.
Day after day, I am bombarded with doom and gloom from Washington to my customers who are holding onto every penny. I do not need more from so-called conservatives. I guess that is just the same old RNC. Why did I pledge money? First we have Snowe, Collins, and Specter. Next you and Eric Cantor. Who is next? Not only is Rush an entertainer, he is a teacher, he is inspirational, he is CONSERVATIVE!
Quit worrying about what Chuck D or DL Hugley thinks. Care about those who stand up for you. Do you remember who chastised Schumer for stealing your SS# and credit info.
You owe both Conservatives and Rush an apology.
Steele is a flake and a huge mistake. We need a fighter. This guy is an apologist. He’s the alternative black the RNC run out there. Appeals to no group at all.
You mean Steele?
WE ARE SO SCREWED!
I remember a lot of FReeers had a tingle up their legs when Steele was elected chairman. Frankly, I’ve never been that impressed with him. He doesn’t seem to be much of a leader, and, as far as I can tell from my position as a mere spectator, he doesn’t seem to have shaken things up too much at RNC.
Rush tried his damndest to drag your boy kicking and screaming across the finish line to win the Presidency. Isn’t that what a good GOP soldier does? Try to get RINO trash elected?
My favorite thing about FR. Haven’t even read the article fully or the thread, just came home from work, had a little dinner with the fam, clicked up email, then Drudge for the news, got 1/4 way through this story, thought “I gotta see what FReepers are saying, see it on the breaking news, and there’s ........3 or 4 HUNDRED comments before I even finish reading the ^%$# article. Steele’s cooked in my book. Cheers!
Steele is a sop to soothe sour stomachs of still-guilty white racists who can’t bend over backward far enough.
You hit the nail on the head. I suspect the RNC got hung up on many times today, and received many more calls pulling support.
I'm not convinced that Steele believes that conservatives are the base of the Republcan party. For Steele, it has to be difficult for him to raise money for the three sisters, (Collins, Snowe, Specter), and the other RINOS, (Lugar, Hatch, Voinovich, whoever), and still keep the "Maverick" in line.
As Conservatives, we have to make it clear that we are not going to tolerate any more nonsense from the RNC. Period.
Mr. Steele,
You tow the line on conservative principles to grow the base or forget any money from me.
I am sure many will come on this thread and talk about how great Steele is, I don't think he is and wasn't all that happy when they made the gun grabbing POS RNC chairman.
So it’s one of those, “if he was offended” apologies”. So I guess if Rush wasn’t offended, then Steele isn’t sorry for anything he said. Give me a break.
I was born in 1968...I have never felt white guilt, nor will I. I thought I was born into an integrated world. That is what I always thought, so I never feel guilty about expecting others to pull their own weight.
Inarticulate? As opposed to “articulate”.
Steele should step down. The GOP needs a new boss.
Someone articulate. Someone who can stand up to the yard dog Dean. It’s long past time for niceties. The Dema are destroying this country.
I told him the same thing in my email. I may give him this one slip up. It all depends on what happens in the coming days. I don’t want a Mr. Smooth.
Why do thoughts about "weasels" keep coming to mind?
Bush was a good guy, too I bet. What with the way he TARPED us. You probably felt good about voting for McCain, beacause he did the morally right thing, and came home from his gruelling (trying to lose on purpose) campaign so he could help TARP TARP TARP. And Steel’s a good man. He just momentarily forgot who the hell he was and what the hell he stands for. You’re clearly delusional.
Why don’t you check out what Alan Keyes is saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqkMfToY9Pk
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