Fo Shizzle!

Ten days after President Obama's historical election in November 2008, Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), participated in a conference call with various conservative bloggers. During that call, Steele stated that conservatives should not soften their attacks "just because the President of the United States is a black man". Steele continued to comment on this specific topic by claiming that "the Obama campaign played the race card in reverse beautifully". Steele would launch his campaign for the position of RNC Chairman just ten days later.

Despite his opinions above, Steele sang a different tune regarding race during his interview with George Stephanopoulos on Monday's edition of "Good Morning America". When asked if he felt that he, as an African American, has "a slimmer margin for error than another Chairman would", Steele replied: "The honest answer is yes...Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. We, a lot of folks do. It's a different role for, you know, for me to play and others to play. And that's just the reality of it."

And Steele thinks that President Obama has "played the race card"? Let's take a look at some other incidents involving Steele since he became Chairman of the RNC:

• In response to a question about his plan for "inclusion of diverse populations" within the Republican Party, Steele answered: "I got the fried chicken and potato salad."
• During an appearance on "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on ABC Radio, Steele offered "some slum love out to my buddy", Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (who was born to immigrants from India). Steele eloquently described President Obama's stimulus package by uttering "There's a lot of bling bling -- the bling bling's got bling bling in this package". He insisted the Republican Party "has got to take it's head out of it's you know what and recognize that America doesn't look like America in 1952. That America now is something very different, very beautiful -- that has a lot of strips and strains to it. But it's real and we've got to get in the real." Addressing the criticism from Meghan McCain, the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), that Steele's new "hip-hop" strategy for the Republican Party isn't "going to work", Steele claimed: "I'm not stupid. I was born in [Washington, D.C.] on 8th Street. I know what's up. I know what time it is." After Sliwa informed Steele that he was going to play a song from Jay-Z, Steele responded with "There you go, playa".
• While Steele was speaking in front of approximately 150 students at Howard University, one of those students mentioned her plans to study business law. Steele's reply? "Business law! Mo money!"
• To update the image of the Republican Party, Steele reported that he was creating a public relations team to develop an "off the hook" campaign for "urban-suburban hip hop settings".

As you can see, Steele has never been afraid to play the race card. However, when he does so, it is in a manner that is extremely offensive and degrading to other African Americans. Or in Steele's words, he is just plain trippin'.