Steele's accountability moment

Except that it's not his.

The finance chief of the Republican National Committee, Rob Bickhart, and his deputy were fired Friday by Michael Steele, the party chairman, after months of sluggish fund-raising punctuated by unwelcome publicity over some of the committee’s spending. “While we appreciate their service to the R.N.C. and wish them well in future endeavors, the chairman felt it was important to restructure the department in order to continue to improve on our strong fund-raising numbers,” Mr. Steele said in an e-mail message forwarded to the committee staff by his chief of staff. Mary Heitman, a former finance director for the Republican Governors Association, will replace Mr. Bickhart.

The inevitable

How long before we hear:

Know what other head of state wanted the Olympics in his country?

Hitler.

I've got the stopwatch running.

No apologies necessary

Is this one of those things Michael Steele says the GOP will no longer apologize for?

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint over the $150,000-plus designer wardrobe the Republican Party bought to outfit vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the good-government group that filed the complaint, argued that candidates aren't supposed to use donor money for personal expenses such as clothes. The FEC ruled Tuesday that the ban doesn't apply to party money, however.

The Alaska governor was Sen. John McCain's pick for vice president. The purchases from such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus drew criticism for Palin, the self-described hockey mom.

The Republican National Committee told the commission that party money rather than candidate campaign money was used for the purchases.

"We have no information to the contrary," the FEC wrote in its decision.

Good for them!

Michael Steele

Does the Republican Party really want Michael Steele doing the driving right now?

Punishing "defectors"

Yes! RNC Chairman Michael Steele told Neil Cavuto that he is open to cutting GOP funding for the 3 Senate traitors who voted for the Generational Theft Act.

Just saying, "no, no" to civil unions.

A reality check. As the party finds itself uniting in hostility to Obama, and the Independents and Democrats stay pretty much the same in terms of judging him, it's interesting to see Michael Steele being frank about reaching out to the center:

GALLAGHER: Is this a time when Republicans ought to consider some sort of alternative to redefining marriage and maybe in the road, down the road to civil unions. Do you favor civil unions?

STEELE: No, no no. What would we do that for? What are you, crazy? No. Why would we backslide on a core, founding value of this country? I mean this isn't something that you just kind of like, "Oh well, today I feel, you know, loosey-goosey on marriage." [...]

GALLAGHER: So no room even for a conversation about civil unions in your mind?

STEELE: What's the difference?

This, remember, is from the RNC candidate who was most regarded as eager to reach out to the next generation.

The Republican Party seems to have forgotten that its base has gotten smaller and smaller over the last four years, and they seem anxious to harden that through almost geological pressure. The result, they must think, will be diamonds.

There is a leadership vacuum in the GOP right now -- everyone knows that. And it is being filled by Michael "Off the Hook" Steele, and The Excorcist.