Michael Steele has been owned by the Republican Party over the past couple of weeks.  First, Rush Limbaugh stated that he wanted President Obama to fail.  Steele criticized Limbaugh for the comment, and then (1) Limbaugh stated that he meant he wanted Obama’s policies to fail; and (2) Limbaugh as well as a number of prominent Republicans attacked Steele for criticizing Limbaugh.  Second, Michael Steele referred to abortion as a personal choice, and was heartily criticized by Republicans for believing other than the “official” party platform.  Steele then quickly “qualified” his statement to say that he was totally pro-life and that his comments about choice were just about adoption.

I’m not debating whether Steele was actually pro life or pro choice, or whether Limbaugh was being authentic when he stated he wanted Obama’s policies to fail rather than Obama to fail.  Rather, I just want to point out that no matter what Michael Steele believes, he is not allowed to say it, because he is owned by the Republican party.  Steele is the RNC chair – he is supposed to be a leader of the party – he is not supposed to just repeat what Rush Limbaugh says.  Steele should not be afriad to – gasp – suggest new ideas for the party or criticize long-held beliefs.  The same goes for any well-known politician in either party.  It is absurd that politicians have to be careful to stay close to the party platform in fear that they might upset “the base” of the party.  The two recent events involving Steele only emphasize how political parties stifle independent thought.

democrat, federalist, limbaugh, political parties, Politics, republican, steele