The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:22-23 NRSV

Monday, March 2, 2009

Inarticulate?

I never got on the bandwagon of praise for the Republican National Committee's choice of Michael Steele as its new chair. In a time when the Republican party is itself increasingly out of touch, I read his choice as a cynical attempt to portray themselves as forward-thinking. It was as pathetic as the choice of Sarah Palin as VP nominee. But even though I was never a big fan of Steele, now I am through entirely with him.

The cause of my complete dismissal of Steele has to do with an exchange between Steele and the real Republican power, Rush Limbaugh. According to an article on HuffingtonPost.com Steele has apologized for calling Limbaugh an entertainer, after Limbaugh put Steele in his place by telling him that the RNC is not synonymous the GOP and in fact it fails to represent a significant consituency of Republicans. All of that internecine Republican bickering would bring a smile to my face, if it weren't for one particular excuse Steele used for his apology: "I was maybe a bit inarticulate."

Everyone knew that Limbaugh was calling the Republican shots. After all, nature abhors a vacuum. And in the absence of any real leadership, what with Palin's problems and Jindal's less than stellar performance last week, Limbaugh is all that the GOP has left, that is, unless you count Steele. And apparently Limbaugh doesn't. Nevertheless, Michael Steele should really try not to sound so pathetic and whimpering. And more than that, despite being the RNC chairman, Steele should try to remember he's a BLACK MAN!

How in the world can black people continue to be mad at white people for acting surprised when we're "articulate" if other black people go out in public claiming to to be "inarticulate" whenever they say something they wish they hadn't said? Now I'm not trying to revoke Steele's black card, because I don't want him to join the millions of unemployed people, but he needs to watch it. Goodness!