Michael Steele Wins BuzzFlash Award For His Book Tour of Hypocrisy

Michael Steele

Welcome back to BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

There's something about book tours that bring out the hypocrisy in the GOP. Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele's new screed is apparently a self-help book for the party he pretends to lead, including some sort of 12-step program.

But it appears to be of no use; Steele is incurably addicted to hypocrisy.

For example, Steele spent the last year attacking President Obama for his plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now that Obama is on schedule to miss the deadline that he set for himself, Steele has changed his tune.

In an interview on NBC's "Today," Steele ironically responded to a question about Republicans politicizing the recent terrorist attempt over Detroit by launching into an unrelated diatribe against Obama's foreign policy credentials, saying in part:

...the approach this administration has taken from its very first moments coming in talking about closing down Gitmo with no strategy or plan to do that, and here we are a year later and Gitmo is still part of the mix.

OK, Steele: Gitmo or no Gitmo. What's it gonna be?

Man, there's no pleasing some people. But wait, it doesn't stop there! Shortly after spewing that one, Steele had a whole other set of hypocrisies to shove along with his new book.

Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Steele started with a lie. He insinuated that Obama waited a full two weeks to address the nation after the failed terrorist attack on Dec. 25, when the president actually spoke on the matter three days afterward.

Then, when asked about Bush waiting a full six days before addressing the situation of Richard Reid, the attempted shoe bomber, Steele said he thought "the timing was right in the moment because you can't afford to go much further without being very clear the direction the administration wants to go on this matter."

Yet Bush only spoke of the matter tangentially, not addressing what his administration planned on doing about it. Obama, on the other hand, not only addressed the issue shortly after it happened (after a major federal holiday, no less), but also then came back less than two weeks later to give an update and explain what intelligence agencies had found out about their own response times in the intervening review of operations. Either way, it was a bit more useful than just saying he's "grateful for the flight attendant's response."

So Steele's two-faced bull is pretty bad, indeed. But consider yourself lucky if you watch NBC affiliates for your book tour news. Because if you're a FOX viewer, Steele seems content to do away with pussy-footing hypocrisy and go straight to the offensive racism.

In a segment where he insists that the GOP platform is modern and relevant, he underscored the point by saying "honest Injun on that" (which, by the way, FOX subsequently scrubbed into the transcripts as "honest engine").

Yeah, an outdated racial slur oughta get your whole point across about being germane and cutting edge.

Seriously, who is this guy? Oh, right; it all make sense when you remember that he's the "leader" of the Republican Party. And don't forget, he's BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

Remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.

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This is Michael Steele's second GOP Hypocrite of the Week Award. He also won on February 6, 2009. You can see a list of all previous nominees here.