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(Pick which one is going to get all rogue and strange)

Fear of the independent voter. It's certainly been around for a while. Probably since there was such a thing as a secret ballot. In 1975 the big worry was the coming election in 1976. Who were all those independent voters and were they really going to vote another Republican into the White House? The concern was mostly for the demise of the two-party system. Were they irrelevant?

On May 7, 1975, NPR ran a National Town Meeting entitled "The Independent Vote: Is It Killing the Two Party System?" Hosting the discussion was Robert Novak and the panel consisted of Arthur Schlesinger, Louis Harris and Richard Obenshain, co-chair of the RNC.

Arthur Schlesinger: “No one can doubt that the two-party system is in grave trouble. And no one can doubt the rise of independent voting. But I think the rise of independent voting is the consequence, rather than the cause of the crisis of the party system. The real question, it seems to me is why is the party system in this trouble, why have party loyalties become so weak, party affiliations so fluid, party organizations so irrelevant?”

Then as now, the difficulty in pinning down who the independent voter was and what made them tick. But the real question was if two party politics was going to head into obscurity.

They wondered in 1975 - they worry in 2010. No change.

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After telling Sean Hannity that the GOP wasn't ready to take back Congress in 2010, RNC Chairman Michael Steel changed his tune Sunday. "We absolutely can take the Congress back this year," Steele told NBC's David Gregory.

CollegeHumor.com's The End of The World

It's an old newsroom axiom: If it bleeds, it leads. The bobblehead corollary to that axiom is that even if no one actually bled from the event, if the possibility of someone bleeding existed, then it leads, with plenty of speculation as to whose head should roll from this almost-bloodbath. And the thwarted (and let's be honest, really poorly planned and a pretty lame) attempt on the part of the Underpants Bomber is just the kind of scenario that makes the bobbleheads excited: perfect for partisan sniping and insinuations of everything from benign neglect to gross malfeasance. Hence the appearance of the Senate's version of Statler and Waldorf on State of the Union all the way from Jerusalem, to heckle Obama as only two irrelevant electoral losers can. And Pete Hoekstra, who in his Twitter stream has been eagerly linking Captain Underpants to everything, including the "smoking gun" of the Ft. Hood shootings (if you can follow his thinking, please feel free to explain it to me in the comments--I'm flummoxed.) And even more egregiously, Liz Cheney on the This Week round table. What reason could anyone have to get Liz Cheney's take on today's issues, other than for partisan sniping? Speaking of which, we will also be treated to head-to-head match ups of RNC chair Michael Steele and DNC chair Tim Kaine on Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday. Will David Gregory find his journalistic gonads enough to ask Michael Steele why he's using an outside PR firm to promote his book instead of the RNC flacks? On the non-bleeding side, WH Economic Adviser Christina Romer will be on a couple shows as well, trying to instill some economic confidence and encourage jobs.

ABC's "This Week" - Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.; Democratic National Chairman Tim Kaine; Republican National Chairman Michael Steele.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show"- Panel: Joe Klein, Elisabeth Bumiller, Andrea Mitchell, David Ignatius. Topics: If al-Qaeda Is On The Run, Why Do They Seem On The Attack? Does Obama Have Support From the Military and Intell Leadership, and Does He Have Their Back? Have the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Helped the Fight Against al-Qaeda? YES: 7 NO: 5; Will Obama Push A Big Jobs Bill Next Year? YES: 6 No: 6.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; former Gov. Doug Wilder, D-Va.; Romer.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen discusses the war on terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

CNN's "Amanpour" - U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Kaine; Steele.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

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Rudy Giuliani went on ABC's Good Morning America and had the balls to say that America never had a domestic terrorist attack under George Bush. 9/11 was the most heinous attack on US soil since pearl Harbor and to think that Giuliani was the mayor of the city that was attacked only illustrates how despicable the conservative movement is. New Yorkers should be outraged by his behavior on ABC. Almost as lame: George Stephanopoulos didn't even correct him on the air.

I spoke to the former mayor of New York City this morning on GMA, who assailed the Obama administration’s decisions on national security.

“What he [Obama] should be doing is following the right things that Bush did -- one of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We’ve had one under Obama,” Giuliani said. “Number two, he should correct the things that Bush didn’t do right. Sending people to Yemen was wrong, not getting this whole intelligence thing corrected.” Giuliani seems to have forgotten about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and shoe bomber Richard Reid.

We also had the anthrax attacks as well. Watching the video you can see Stephanapoulos either was asleep at the wheel or didn't want to confront Rudy on his outrageous lie. What good is writing a post correcting him when he was right in front of his face. Bloggers are fact checking him as usual.

Rudy's persona since the attacks has been about terrorism and 9/11. His whole presidential campaign was built on 9/11. And his speech to the RNC before the 2004 election was littered with references to 9/11.
And remember this part:

Thank God George Bush is our President."

It's Jay Rosen time. How should the media handle Rudy going forward? Does he need to be banned from TV for 90 days?

UPDATE: Giuliani tried to clarify his remarks after he got criticized, but he's still wrong of course.

Giuliani this afternoon:

The Mayor’s spokesman says that the remark “didn't come across as it was intended” and that Giuliani was “clearly talking post-9/11 with regards to Islamic terrorist attacks on our soil.”

No, the shoe bomber, which took place three months after September 11, was Al Qaeda. So if you count that attempted Al Qaeda plane bombing, then you also count the one attempted Al Qaeda plane bombing under Obama. So it's one to one, not zero to one. Of course, the underwear bomber attack did not occur on our soil, so even that's wrong. Stephanopoulos, who reported Giuliani's correction, apologized for not catching Giuliani on this this morning. But he shouldn't just repeat the spokesman's new lie, unchallenged.

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Republicans have not been happy with Steele for a long time, but when it hits their fundraising efforts then he's in serious trouble.

Some wealthy contributors are shunning the Republican National Committee and donating instead to the other GOP campaign committees or directly to candidates -- in many cases because of discontent with the leadership of Michael S. Steele, the party's national chairman.

"I don't plan to give to the Republican National Committee this cycle, and no other major donor I know is planning to either," Christine Toretti, a Pennsylvania RNC member and a longtime major donor to the RNC and other GOP campaign committees and causes, told The Washington Times. [...]

Lawrence Bathgate, who served a record three times as RNC finance chairman during and after the Reagan era, told The Times, "No, I haven't given to the RNC this cycle."

Michael Steele is angry now and he can't take it anymore and let everyone know about it while talking to ABC.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Rick Klein report: RNC Chairman Michael Steele is lashing out his critics, with a series of blunt messages for prominent Republicans who have blasted him over his leadership for the Republican Party.

“I tell them to get a life. That’s old Washington, that’s old ways, and I don’t represent that, and that kills them,” Steele told ABC News Radio in an interview today.

“I’m telling them and I’m looking them in the eye and say I’ve had enough of it. If you don’t want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way.”

Steele was responding to a series of reports -- most recently in today’s Washington Times -- where prominent GOP operatives and fund-raisers have criticized Steele for seeming to focus more on his own image (and pocketbook) rather than the good of the party.

So his solution is to make another gaffe. For Steele to come out publicly like this says a lot about the discontent he is feeling as well as the entire GOP. I almost feel like fundraising for the guy because I would hate him to be let go. He's such an entertaining figure for me. A real top notch conservative comedian. And we know how hard it is to find true conservative comics.

Rachel Maddow has some advice for Michael Steele and company who can't stop lying about the president's use of the word terrorism. What's pitiful is they pay no price for doing this day in and day out because almost no one besides Rachel is calling them out for it.

MADDOW: But first, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele has told our booking producer on this show that he would love to do an interview with me, which is great. I would love to interview Michael Steele. The other folks at the RNC who decide what interviews Mr. Steele actually does, however, seem rather less certain that it will ever happen.

So, Mr. Chairman, between you and me, the invitation is open anytime.

Don‘t let your handlers hold you back. We‘d love to have you.

The reason you‘ve seen a lot of Michael Steele on TV recently is because he‘s promoting a new book, which is called “Right Now.” Its subtitle is more interesting. The subtitle is, “A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda.” Twelve steps, just like A.A.

The first and second steps, according to Mr. Steele, are that Republicans should “admit we have a problem, then admit our mistakes.”

In the spirit of trying to help Mr. Steele out so maybe some day he‘d come on this show, we have decided to try to help Republicans out with steps one and two. We have identified a problem that we‘d like to help Republicans admit to, because it is a political mistake.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has encouraged Republicans to believe that President Obama and his administration don‘t talk about war and terrorism. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Congressman Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, even Chairman “Admit Our Mistakes” Michael Steele have also been out in public reiterating that, insisting that it‘s true—even though it‘s really not.

Congressman Peter King of New York has even taken this assertion to, as Mr. Steele would say, “beyond the cutting edge.”

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As much as Michael Steele is trying to suck up to the teabaggers, they aren't being seduced by his witless charm. IL Tea Party co-founder Steve McQueen is no fan of the RNC's Michael Steele and said as much to FNC's Neil Cavuto the other day.

Steele: There really was this big push on tea parties and if I weren't doing this job I'd be out there with the tea parties.
{}

CAVUTO: Retired Army Sergeant First Class and tea party activist Steve McQueen saying, “Not so fast Mr. Steele.” He joins me right now. Steve, you would say “not quite,” right?

MCQUEEN: Not quite, Neil. Actually the Tea Party is, I liken that to an army of Davids which I am only one. I do confer with Tea Party organizations all over the country so I feel confident that I understand what the movement’s about and as I understand it right now, the GOP is currently on probation with the American people and obviously you can’t be on probation and probably be a member of the Tea Parties at the same time.
--
MCQUEEN: I'm saying that the last possibly a year specifically has been a time where I believe that the American, the conservative side of the American constituency has lost trust in all partisan politics and until we get that back on track. Until all candidates, all elected officials in our country are finding themselves in a place where they are representing the outrage the trampling of our constitution and until they are out there representing people in the actual views of American citizens they are going to be on indefinite probation with the American people.

There are great misconceptions about the tea partiers. The reason they are attacking the GOP is because they aren't as far right as they would like them to be. It's not out of anger about politicians being in the pockets of Corporations, but that they haven't bowed down enough to them.

McQueen says teabaggers are upset just by the GOP's behavior during the last year. Seriously? That's why they are mad. They should be praising these GOPers. Not a word about how Bush expanded the government or how he took the deficit to new heights or that Bush led us into two disgusting wars. Nope. As long as conservatives are in charge, Fox News would never have helped create them. It's that they aren't conservative enough. McQueen and his fellow teabaggers want fringe conservative values being represented to the max. And remember, we can't have brown people running around needing health care, we can't have regulations making sure Wall Street and others have rules to follow to protect Americans from their unfettered power and we can't have New Deal programs like Social Security messing with their lives.

In the end, the Tea Party people want to rule the GOP, as they've said before.

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(h/t Heather)

Has there ever been a worse man running a political organization than Micheal Steele? I mean, I agree with his take here from the other day on Hannidate, but I doubt his RNC peeps do. They attacked him the following day which made him back off. I have to say he's been a really interesting character. He's stuck more shoes in his mouth than any politician that comes to memory since Kristol's boy named Dan Quayle. I do hope they don't fire him because he gives us so much material to work with.

HANNITY: Predictions for the election?

STEELE: Predictions for the election, I think that overall -- and we're beginning now to do the assessments on the various races. But I think overall, given what we know so far and what this administration's proclivities are, we're going to see, I think, nice pick-ups in the House. I think we're going to see nice...

HANNITY: More specific.

STEELE: Well, I can't give a number right yet. Because like I said, we're just now beginning to look at the races. And we have races where it hasn't been clear...

HANNITY: Do you think you can take over the House? Do you think Republicans...

STEELE: Not this year. And Sean, I would say honestly.

HANNITY: You don't think so?

STEELE: Well, I don't know yet, because all the candidates we still have vacancies that need to get filled. But then the question we need to ask ourselves is, if we do that, are we ready?

HANNITY: Are you?

STEELE: Are we...

HANNITY: Answer your own question. Are we -- do you think they're ready?

STEELE: I don't know. And that's what I'm assessing and evaluating right now. Those candidates that are looking to run have to be -- have to be anchored in these principles. They have to be -- they have to understand...

HANNITY: I'm agreeing with what you're saying. I think...

STEELE: They have to understand these steps, because if they don't, then they'll get to Washington, and they'll start drinking that Potomac River water. And they'll get drunk with power and...

Honesty is a deadly word when you're a conservative. The NRCC responded this way.

"The NRCC's goal - as the campaign arm of the House Republican Conference - has always been to recapture the majority in 2010. Independent political analysts and even liberal columnists have stated that Republicans have a very real shot at taking back the majority in 2010. Make no mistake about it, we are playing to win," said Ken Spain, NRCC Communications Director.

Joe. My. God.: Pending senate health care vote fosters more wingnut calls for Civil War

Wall St. Cheat Sheet: Credit Suisse circumvents Iran sanctions to make money

Bay Area Houston: Speaking of giving somebody 'the bird'...

Dissident Voice: Among the most important corporate media censored news stories of the past decade, one must be that over one million people have died because of the United States military invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Runnin' Scared: War on Christmas not as warlike this year

Brad DeLong: Ten economic paragraphs worth reading

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Well, well, well...Michael Steele is a paid shill after all. He's been raking in the bucks in speaking fees at a clip of at least 10k a shot. That's not bad for an RNC chairman.

White House spokesmen Robert Gibbs made fun of him during a recent presser.

The White House quickly pounced after news broke that Michael Steele was charging up to $20,000 in speaking fees in addition to his official gig, mocking the RNC chairman for delivering criticisms of the health care bill for profit and calling his reasoning '"delusional."

Pressed about a remark Steele made Monday, in which he insisted Democrats were "flipping the bird" to the public in the form of health care legislation, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs asked how much money Steele was paid for "that interview." Later when a cell phone ring interrupted the briefing, and someone cried out that Steele was on the line, Gibbs insisted it would cost $30,000 to answer that call. The quips were both delivered with a Cheshire-cat smile. On Tuesday morning the Washington Times reported that Steele, who earns $223,500-a-year in his RNC post, was charging roughly $10,000 to $15,000 for appearances at "colleges, trade associations and other groups." The moonlighting was condemned by former RNC chairmen Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. ("Holy Mackerel!") and Jim Nicholson. But Democrats also gleefully jumped on the news -- in addition to going after the substance of the RNC chairman's latest round.

He's such an easy punch line. Steele has no integrity and I wonder if his new teabagger allies will appreciate his cash cow endeavors while they struggle to survive because of the principles they believe in.

If you're the chairman of the RNC and the uber-deficit-hawk conservative-wingnut Judd Gregg calls you foolish then things aren't looking too good for ya. Michael Steele is the latest GOP party leader to try and be another leader of the angry teabagger movement. On a conference call with the odious Dick Armey, he said this:

In the latest example of RNC Chair Michael Steele attempting to tie his party to the Tea Party movement, Steele rhetorically out-tea-partied a movement leader, Dick Armey, on a conference call the two shared this morning.

"I'm tired of this congress thumbing their nose and flipping the bird at the people of this country," Steele said during one of his many rants that sounded like it could have come from the podium at at tea party rally. He wielded the angry vehemence and promises to get revenge commonplace among tea partiers during the health care debate to set the stage for the GOP next year. "I intend to have my foot on the throat of the Democrats on this issue [health care reform]," Steele said.

What good teabaggin' fun. Nora O'Donnell, guest-hosting on the Andrea Mitchell, asked Sen. Gregg if he agreed with Steele's language.

Nora: Would you agree with this?

Gregg: That's foolish language of which unfortunately people are getting a little frayed..

.
Gregg put his foot down on the RNC leader and called his remarks "foolish." That's not a very good endorsement for Mr. Steele, but he does have a habit of embarrassing himself.

Talking about feet, Steele continually puts his foot in his own mouth when it comes to his party, and is easily the most inept leader of a political party I've ever seen. When he backs a party favorite who's not a teabagging fool in 2010, the Tea Party movement will turn on him in a New York minute. Good luck with that, Michael.

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You've got to love these compassionate conservatives...huh? From Think Progress--Steele’s Economic Plan: Take Away Unemployment Benefits:

This morning on NBC’s Today, RNC chair Michael Steele said that in order for banks to start lending to small businesses, the federal government should reduce the unemployment tax:

STEELE: Well, I think, first off, he should recognize that banks aren’t going to lend money to people who can’t pay them back. … So there’s — there’s this whole cycle of not understanding exactly how the economy works with respect to small-business owners. Take that pressure off of them. Let’s — let’s eliminate the capital gains tax. Let’s reduce the unemployment tax.

They have much more on why this is a terrible idea. Tax cuts and more tax cuts and the working class be damned. That's all these guys have got.

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Harry Reid appears not to be backing down in the face of fake Republican outrage over his comparison of conservatives' behavior 150 years ago to that of today. Good on him.

This, of course, has RNC chairman Michael Steele, who denounced the remarks initially, in quite a tizzy now. He went on Morning Joe this morning and slagged Reid viciously:

Steele: I still say Harry Reid is out of touch, he's clueless. And he can't help himself. I don't think he should be in the leadership, responsible role right now. I don't think if you're going into something as important as the debate on health care, that you have to reach back into one of the darkest parts of our nation's history and to belittle that time and that experience for generations of African Americans, uh, to put it in comparison to a political dispute on health care. To me, it's just plain ignorant.

But then Donny Deutsch chimed in and pointed out that, historically speaking, there's nothing at all inapt about the analogy:

Deutsch: Yeah, I'm still trying to understand why the analogies he's made are wrong. Obviously the issue here is that any great change throughout history, has the naysayers saying, 'It's not time, it's not time.' So why was that an irrelevant analogy?

Steele: I won't even dignify that with a response. This is -- next question. Next question.

Deutsch: What do you mean dignify? It's a genuine question. It's a genuine question.

Steele: I'm sorry, sir, I'm not going to sit here and say that it's an appropriate comparison to slavery.

Deutsch: He's not -- he's comparing it to dramatic change, and the naysayers to change.

Steele: OK, whatever. Whatever. Next question.

Deutsch: That's a great response. That's a very, very intelligent and brave response.

Steele: It is, as was your question.

As if this weren't enough buffoonery, Steele then had an exchange with Mike Barnicle in which Steele became upset when Barnicle asked him: "What are you people for?"

Steele: You people? Who are you people?

Barnicle: The Republicans, what are you for?

Steele: Mike, I just wanted to you define the pronoun, baby, that’s all.

Barnicle: Oh, come on.

As if Barnicle could have been asking anything else. Because Michael Steele is all about racial sensitivity, you see.

Isn't this the very kind of self-martyrdom that right-wingers always accuse liberal minorities of indulging?

SHORTER Fred Hiatt:

"There is no difference between GW Bush's Iraq surge in 2007 and Barack Obama's Afghan surge in 2010. Only silly Democrats could object to one but support the other."

Actually, Fred, there's a big difference between the two. The Bush administration and its supporters saw (continue to see?) Teh Surge 1.0 as essential to "winning" in Iraq, while most left-of-center military analysts saw it as a measure to protecting US troops but not really the central or sole contributer to stabilizing the country. With Teh Surge 2.0, once again, it isn't that this troop increase will allow the US government to "win" but it might be (again) one measure among many needed to stabilize Afghanistan. (no, Karl, it isn't to "fight terrorists." ).

But nuanced arguments about the reality of military operations aren't what Fred's all about. He'd rather continue his man-crush on GW and dream about the "success" that Iraq has become. And when the RNC supports the Afghan surge, you can be sure that it's more because they are still defending Teh Surge 1.0 of Iraq and not really thinking about how to finish operations in Afghanistan after Teh Surge 2.0.

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From AC360, Mary Matalin does her best to spin the GOP's new purity test as a good thing for the party and not a move by the RNC to drag the Republican Party even further to the right.

HILL: In "Raw Politics" tonight, the GOP's purity test. A group of conservative Republican National Committee members is working on a resolution that could radically alter the party's look and its message and also risk to drive out moderates.

The proposal sent out new rules, a checklist really, that candidates must meet in order to secure both support and funding from the GOP.

Now many are expected here: smaller government, a smaller national debt. The checklist also includes opposition to the president's stimulus and health plan, as well as opposition to gun control, cap-and-trade-based energy reform, same-sex marriage, and amnesty for illegal immigrants.

It also mandates support for troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the containment of Iran and North Korea. So what does this list say about the party, and most importantly, perhaps, about its future direction? We're going to talk about that now with Democratic strategist Paul Begala and Republican strategist Mary Matalin. Both, of course, are CNN political contributors.

Good to have you both with us.

And Mary, I want to start with you, because this is your party here. The draft resolution written, basically, as a tribute to President Reagan. But frankly, even he wouldn't meet all these qualifications. He raised taxes. He grew the deficit. And he really was the big-tent guy who grew the Republican Party.

Is it wise at this point for the RNC to be in the business of potentially excluding people in what seems like a categorical way?

MARY MATALIN: Not excluding anybody, except Nancy Pelosi Democrats. I applaud these members who have taken the initiative to come up with these ten points, all of which -- and I defy my friend Paul to find me any blue dog Democrat that wouldn't agree with at least eight out of ten of these mainstream principles.

And if you look at your own -- our own CNN polls, all of these issues and these policies are received majority mainstream support. So there's not -- they're not going to move out any moderates. It's going to pull back in people who left the party because we became liberal light.

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