Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was recently involved in a physical altercation with rapper Sky Blu aboard an Air Canada flight heading from Vancouver to Los Angeles.

While the politician’s spokesman claimed that Romney had been assaulted by a hostile passenger, the rapper (whose real name is Skyler Gordy) claimed he was actually the victim of assault.  Gordy, a member of the group LMFAO said, “He put a condor grip on me - what am I supposed to do?”  His band-mate chimed in with, “that’s like a Vulcan grip.”

While use of the phrases ‘condor grip’ and ‘Vulcan grip’ cast doubt as to the level of street cred Gordy and his cohorts will have intact after this incident, the altercation raises more serious questions: 

Are Mitt Romney’s anger issues similar to what we’re seeing from the extreme elements of the Tea Party movement?[i]

And

Does the Romney condor grip demonstrate that the Tea Party movement, overwhelmingly white and increasing vocal in its violent dislike of rap music, show that we have not quite attained the level of a post-racial society?[ii]

The answer to both questions is a resounding ‘yes!’

In a recent interview, Mark P. said of Romney, “His airline etiquette seems connected to at least some of the core ideas of the radical right.”

He continued, “In 2008, Kanye West was involved in an altercation at the Los Angeles International Airport.  In addition there were airline scuffles involving rapper DMX in 2004 and 2006.  So rappers are kind of a traditional target of the radical right.”[iii]

A blogger from the Daily Kos explained the Romney/Tea Party connection in the following manner, “After months of threats on the entertainment industry, the Anti-Rap forces known as the teabaggers have struck with their first attack - a really tight squeeze of the arm.”[iv]

Journalist Jonathan C. explained things rather succinctly, “The results that the Tea Party movement envisions include less rap music - and less of LMFAO.” [v]

One thing is certain, anger that propels a 62 year old former governor over a much younger man in a power struggle in the sky, can only be explained by the radical and extremely racist movement that is the teabaggers.

Writer Andrew S. explains that the attack presents a “worrying possibility - that this is populist airline terrorism, whipped up by the GOP and its Fox and talk radio cohorts.”[vi]

But is Mitt Romney, as Andrew suggests, merely the trigger man in a far bigger conspiracy to take out unsuspecting rappers mid-flight?

Perhaps the Democratic Underground states things best, ultimately pointing the blame where it rightfully belongs: 

“We need to absolutely expose Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, Michelle Malkin, CNN’s Lou Dobbs, Michael Steele, Rush Limbaugh and the legion of others parroting right-wing lies for trumping up this nonsense and getting people to now commit air assault in a hideous fashion.”[vii]

Indeed, Romney and his many right-wing cohorts need to stop this senseless violence against rap.  When it comes to reclining airline seats, violence and Vulcan grips are never the answer. 

• Every quote contained within this article satirically paraphrases actual examples of the mainstream media trying to connect conservatives and Tea Party followers to heinous acts such as the Austin suicide pilot, the Kentucky census worker suicide, and the Alabama shooting case. Each of these absurd smear attempts is linked below. Note to the mainstream media: This is how absurd you sound when you attempt to smear conservatives with a total disregard for facts, heavily armed with embellishments, and completely devoid of morals.

 Photo Credit:  AP Photo/Cliff Owen

[ii]  Race in America: Does racism explain the ‘tenure shooting’ and Tea Party movement?

[iii]  Matthews’ Southern Poverty Guest Ties Stack To ‘Radical Right’

[iv]  Plane strikes IRS building in Austin

[v]  Race in America: Does racism explain the ‘tenure shooting’ and Tea Party movement?

[vi]  No Suicide

[vii]  Handy Guide to how Republicans and Fox News are responsible for Census worker being hanged

Every time I try to give Michael Steele the bnefit of the doubt, he opens his mouth again.

“I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation,” Steele said. “Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”

Talking to ABC News later in the day, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee “clarified” what he meant.

“It’s not because of my race, but race is more of a factor than it ordinarily would be — just as it is for Barack Obama,” Steele said in response to a question following up on the Washingtonian piece.

Actually, it could have nothing to do with race and everything to do with outsourcing the RNC to the same consultants who have been bleeding the RNC dry for years. It could have something to do with management styles. It could have everything to do with the Chairman never meeting a shoe he didn’t want to eat.

And as if right on cue, former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, a black man, is rendering moot the “I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC” line.

Wilder is calling on Obama to toss Tim Kaine.

Try again, Michael. Try again.

I’ve been really absent from Redstate due to family and work (new startup company, two kids under five, and everything else that goes with it) and I do apologize.  I try to keep up, but… let’s face it, Erick has built the best online community of political activists anywhere, and it’s hard to keep up.

But in any case, mea culpas aside, let me pop my head up real quickly to say that having watched Gov. Palin’s speech at the Tea Party Convention in full (available here on PJTV — skip the legacy media, support PJTV if you can)… I am more convinced than ever that Gov. Palin should be the next chair of the RNC.  In fact, Chairman Steele should step down now, fly to Alaska, and fairly BEG Gov. Palin to take the job.

Erick has articulated why Sarah Palin is such a powerful and dynamic political force.  I agree with everything he has written there.  But there’s something more to her that I find even more amazing.

She is a full-spectrum conservative: fiscal, foreign policy, and social.  She is on record with her pro-life position; in the speech itself, and the interview immediately following, she made an astonishing statement that our political class should not be afraid of affirming their faith in God and seeking divine intervention and guidance.

As a two-thirds conservative myself, such religious statements would normally make me nervous and wary.  But not when it comes from Palin.

I don’t know why it is, but she truly gives me the sense that she believes what she believes and will not waver, but that she isn’t seeking to impose her beliefs on me via the force of government.  She is the least threatening, least preachy social conservative on the national scene today.  I do beg forgiveness from the SoCon members on Redstate for that last sentence, if it offends — I respect your beliefs and your positions, but you have to admit that someone like Huckabee is a bit over the top.

Then when she said that she would support candidates who got the basics right — smaller, more limited government, respect for the Constitution, and strong national defense — even if she disagreed with some of their positions on other issues, she won me over completely.

This is a woman who can unite not only the Tea Party partisans, but the entire GOP, while bringing the Republican Party back to its roots and back to its senses.  When Palin spoke about how the Republicans should be thinking how they can bring in as much of the Tea Party under its tent as possible, I thought she was laying out a vision for a simultaneous reform of the GOP and the empowerment of the Tea Party movement through the political power that still exists within the Republican Party.  She can build the big tent, accommodate the various factions, while reminding us all of the Basics: limited government, strong national defense, free markets, and values rooted in faith without overreaching.

Given what she’s been through in 2008, a run for President in 2012 is a bit too early for her, I believe.  She wields enormous political power already as a private citizen.  But the RNC Chair is a civilian position; it isn’t elected office.  The RNC Chair is not responsible for governing; s/he is only responsible for strengthening the Party.

Granted, she doesn’t need the RNC to have the political power she already has.  She is already more powerful, in my judgment, than Chairman Steele.  But the RNC and the GOP need her.  The Tea Party movement would only benefit by taking over one of the two major parties.  And the country would benefit as a result.

It’s time the GOP rediscovered its roots and its core values.  It’s time that the GOP listen to the People, as expressed in the Tea Party movement.  It’s time that the Tea Party movement be lifted up, that every primary be contested, especially those of longtime Washington and Statehouse insiders who have forgotten the Basics.  Imagine what Sarah Palin could do as the head of the RNC.

Run, Sarah, Run — but not for President.  Not yet.  Fix the GOP first, and help us set the foundation.  Before you help clean out Washington, help clean out the Republican Party.

-TS

The latest senior aide to bolt from the Republican National Committee headquarters, national press secretary Gail Gitcho is leaving to oversee Senator-elect Scott Brown’s communications operation, it was reported Sunday by CNN.

Gitcho, who held communications posts in the campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney, is the third senior communications aide to depart in two months, fueling speculation of mid-cycle internal strife.

Gitcho is following in the footsteps of former communications director Trevor Francis, who abruptly resigned in November after RNC Chairman Michael Steele became frustrated he was not receiving proper credit for the party’s electoral successes in Virginia and New Jersey. Todd Irons, Francis’s deputy, resigned just one week later.

To compensate for Francis’s departure, the RNC tapped Republican media strategist Alex Castellanos as a senior communications advisor. A frequent on-air political analyst for CNN, Castellanos minimized his role, insisting he was not “replacing anyone,” only “helping out.”

But in the months following the reorganization, the RNC’s press operation has been decidedly less aggressive. And in comparison to the days of compulsive emailer Danny “$” Diaz, the press shop is a shadow of its former hawkish, oftentimes combative self — which inundated reporters with negative press clippings and research memos.

Read More →

Erick Everywhere strikes again!

Last week, I pointed out that Erick Erickson was in Charles Blow’s Saturday New York Times opinion and in the Sunday New York Times Magazine story on the Florida GOP primary.

I never read columnist Frank Rich, but the column’s headline “The Great Tea Party Rip-Off” caught my attention. Rich rips Michael Steele and Sarah Palin, and I actually somewhat agree with him to a point.

Even given the low bar set by America’s bogus conversations about race, the short-lived Harry Reid fracas was a most peculiar nonevent.

It was a “nonevent” because the MSM won’t touch it because the story involves a Democrat. Duh.

Eugene Robinson, the liberal black columnist at The Washington Post, wrote that he was “neither shocked nor outraged” at Reid’s less-than-articulate observation that Barack Obama benefited politically from being “light-skinned” and for lacking a “Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one.” Besides, Robinson said, Reid’s point was “surely true.”

Let’s be serious, Eugene. If Rush Limbaugh goes on the radio this week and calls you a Negro, you’ll lynch him. I’m a member of the American Dialect Society. It’s called AAVE (African-American Vernacular English). No one I know has used “Negro” in over 30 years. Harry Reid is not an entertainer–he’s the leader of the Senate. So yeah, it is kind of a big deal.

President Obama immediately granted Reid absolution

It certainly was immediate. If it was a terrorist incident, Obama would still be playing golf.

The true prime mover in this story was not a book publicist but Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican Party and by far the loudest and most prominent Beltway figure demanding that Reid resign as Senate majority leader as punishment for his “racism.”
(…)
On Jan. 10 he stormed “Fox News Sunday” and “Meet the Press” to demand Reid’s head. There has been hardly a mention of Steele’s sins since. He can laugh all the way to the bank.

I’ll grant Rich’s argument that not everyone is a fan of Michael Steele. But nothing has stopped critics from mentioning his “sins.”

Rich then turns to fellow “buckraker” (gotta add that to my “Political Glossary,” although i see my colleague at Word Spy beat me to it) Sarah Palin, pointing out that she’s gone for the big bucks with her book and her new Fox News gig.

She recently signed on as a speaker for the first Tea Party Convention, scheduled next month in Nashville — even though she had turned down a speaking invitation from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the traditional meet-and-greet for the right. The conservative conference doesn’t pay. The Tea Party Convention does. A blogger at Nashville Scene reported that Palin’s price for the event was $120,000.

But what does Erick Erickson say?

Last week a prominent right-wing blogger, Erick Erickson of RedState.com, finally figured out that the Tea Party Convention “smells scammy,” likening it to one of those Nigerian e-mails promising untold millions. Such rumbling about the movement’s being co-opted by hucksters may explain why Palin used her first paid appearance at Fox last Tuesday to tell Bill O’Reilly that she would recycle her own tea party profits in political contributions. But Erickson had it right: the tea party movement is being exploited — and not just by marketers, lobbyists, political consultants and corporate interests but by the Republican Party, as exemplified by Palin and Steele, its most prominent leaders.

What’s your final point, Frank?

The right has a point when it says that the Senate health care votes of Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana were bought with pork. But at least their constituents can share the pigout. Hustlers like Steele and Palin take the money and run.

Memo to Frank: Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu were bribed with the people’s money. Steele and Palin make money from people who desire to purchase their products–which no one is forced by law to buy.

I do have questions with certain moves by Michael Steele (writing a book, etc.) and Sarah Palin (Nashville Tea Party Convention, Fox News gig), but neither is an elected official and neither involves taxpayer money.

I have no idea why the column was titled “The Great Tea Party Rip-Off.” Only a small portion of the column was about this particular Nashville tea party. Certainly, all tea parties are not “rip-offs.” A better title would have been: “Steele & Palin–They’re Republican and I hate them” by Frank Rich.

Take your bets for next Sunday’s New York Times “Erick Erickson” sighting–Maureen Dowd, Nicholas Kristof or Thomas Friedman?

I remember back in November when you hopped on a plane to congratulate Chris Christie for his victory in New Jersey.   On Tuesday night, if Scott Brown should prevail, don’t you dare!   It won’t be your party; and you can interpret that phrase everywhich way.

We should all thank you Scott Brown for having the fortitude to persevere.  He worked every day, 18 hours a day.  The guy started at less than zero.  He shook every hand in sight and made retail politics the bread and butter of his campaign.  And it worked.   As a Republican.  In Massachusetts!   Of all places.   He raised money, no thanks to you or the RNC, and it flooded in - small donations - from people everywhere.  My elderly dad asked me to show him how to donate “through the computer.”   Your support can best be described as perfunctory.  At the same time interest in Scott Brown was growing, you were reminding people how the Republican Party CAN’T retake Congress.  Nice timing.

If, God willing, Scott Brown pulls this out next Tuesday, it won’t be because of you or the RNC.  it will be in spite of you.   It will be because the guy was tireless in a place where no one - you included - thought his tireless effort was worth it.  He did.  Win or lose, he deserves our thanks.  But, in either event, don’t you dare jump in front of the parade.

That’s all.  I’ll be watching.

With less than a month left before the Illinois Primary on February 2nd, Patrick Hughes has released this TV ad:

While most of the politicos and pundits are focused on other races across the United States, Illinois has one of the first opportunities to place a conservative Republican on the ballot for the General Election.

With this ad, Hughes shows what is truly on the line in the upcoming Primaries and Generals.  We are fighting for Progressive versus Progressive-lite or Pelosi versus Pelosi-lite.  Tea Partiers like myself reject the idea that this is our only choice.  Many of the larger Tea Parties in Illinois, including the Joliet, Homer/Lockport, and Rockford Tea Parties, (along with some downstate Tea Parties including Effingham) have endorsed Hughes as their candidate to beat Rep. Mark Kirk and retake the Illinois US Senate seat from the same old, same old establishment characters.

Recently, We have seen the near revolt within the Republican Party in Florida has cost the Florida Republican Chairman Jim Greer his job because of his early endorsement of Gov. Crist while for the most part ignoring the Tea Party sentiment and Marco Rubio as a viable candidate - not to mention ignoring conservatives.  I would argue that a similar internal revolt is happening within the Illinois GOP which spells trouble in the General Election should Mark Kirk win the nomination in the Primary.

Yesterday, Michael Steele went on TV and essentially threw most of the Republican party under the bus.  He also went further by saying he’d join the Tea Parties.   While I would like to believe that this was a genuine sentiment, I wonder why now and why not prior to NY-23 or even earlier.  He went on to explain that if he wasn’t the head of the GOP, he’d “be out there with the Tea Partiers”.  If he is genuine, then more power to him, but actions speak louder than words.  As Chairman, he has a unique opportunity to direct the GOP in one direction or another.  If he really believed in the Tea Parties, then why come out now and claim to believe in what they stand for?  Call me a cynic, but I question his motives because of polls released showing the GOP trailing behind Democrats and Tea Parties in a mock election, the resignation of FL GOP Chairman Jim Greer, the recent defection of Parker Griffith from the Democrats, the increasing number of Democrats retiring from Congress, and finally, the prospects of picking up a good amount of seats in both Houses of Congress.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Erickson asked whether conservatives should take another look at Illinois.  With less than 28 days to go until Illinois votes on February 2nd, I hope conservatives do take another good long look at the Illinois US Senate race.  Time is running short and there is no time like the present!

OK, I’ve been patient, quietly waiting for GOP leaders to find themselves in the wilderness and come forward with a plan, any plan. A plan that will run contradictory to what Obama and his band of merry spenders on Capital Hill are doing.

Instead, what do I see? I see the Chairman of the Republican National Committee on Hannity last night hawking his new book.

Are you kidding me?

But wait you say, the book covers a “12 step plan” to take back America that includes:

step 1: Admit we have a problem
step 2: Admit our mistakes
step 3: Expose liberal policy as a “reign of error” Part I: Hitting you in the pocketbook
step 4: Expose liberal policy as a “reign of error” Part II: Taking America down the wrong path
step 5: Inventory our Principles
step 6: Contrast our Principles with theirs, Part I: Identity Politics and Judicial Activism
step 7: Contrast our Principles with theirs, Part II: Tolerance, Equal Rights and a Culture of Freedom
step 8: Contrast our Principles with theirs, Part III: Economics, the Justice System and National Security
step 9: Take back the culture
step 10: Take back the economy
step 11: Take back national security
step 12: Shape up, reach out and Connect: A Republican Renaissance

And I say again, are you kidding me?

Clearly, Mr Steele’s first priority is to enrich himself. Any no nonsense conservative could have created this so called “plan” in half a day. This is a disgrace.

George Washington would not even accept a $25,000 dollar salary to serve as President of the United States based on principle even though he needed the money at the time. The country came first, not his desire to enrich himself.

The Republican party needs leadership that puts the interests of the country and the American people first.

If you can be successful doing that Mr Steele, knock yourself out on the longest book tour ever! But before you autograph the first copy of your book, how about a plan for:

1. Correcting the GOP’s dismal PR efforts. Since the media won’t cover you on Capitol Hill, find a way to reach the American people with your messaging. Do not just rely on the New Media.
2. Identify and Broadcast whether the GOP will be the party that will repeal ObamaCare. I live and breath this stuff and dont know the answer to this one. McConnell had the opportunity to answer this (2 times) and blew it (skip ahead to minute 4).
3. What is the Republican plan for Health Care reform if they do take control?
4. What is your plan to help with the Economy?

If the Republicans would stand on the principles that made this country great and let their policy flow from those ideals, the American people would embrace the ideas and the party. Base your policies on Individual Freedom and Liberty.

There are only 11 short months until the next election. If the Republicans cannot put together a plan to save the United States from this White House and Congress, I fear that irreversible damage may be done.

Mr. Steele, GOP Leadership, Where is your plan to save America? Create it and shout it from the mountain tops! There is no time to waste.

crossposted to The Ritz Report

This is why Michael Steele is a tool and needs to be replaced as chairman of the Republican National Committee by someone — anyone — with a set of cojones.

The neutered RNC chairman told Sean Hannity he doesn’t think the Republicans can win back control of the House of Representatives in November.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele said Monday night that he doesn’t think Republicans will win control of the House in 2010 .

Asked by Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel whether he believes the GOP is going to take over the House, the chairman of the Republican National Committee responded, “Not this year.”

Pressed on his prediction, Steele later said, “I don’t know yet.”

Steele said, “We’re going to see, I think, nice pickups in the House,” but added it is difficult to provide a number because it is still early in the 2010 cycle.

That would be comparable to Mike McCarthy saying he didn’t think the Packers could win the Super Bowl despite qualifying for the playoffs. We might win a game or two but …

Embarrassing. This isn’t the first time Steele has flapped his gums without having his brain in gear. Steele piled on Rush Limbaugh , calling the talk show host’s words “incendiary” and “ugly” to al-CNN before backing off. Then, on a later appearance on the Commie News Network, Steele refused to rebut allegations by host D. L. Hughley that the Republican National Convention looked like Nazi Germany and that blacks weren’t welcome in the GOP.

Another member of the Go Along Get Along Gang. Willing to say or agree with anything the popular, cool kids say just to be accepted.

A longer version of this post appears here .