Not to be outdone, in response to America electing its first African-American President, on January 30, 2009, the Republican National Committee (RNC) elected Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, as its chairman. It was a long and painful process, but on the sixth and final ballot, for the first time in its history, the Republican Party elected an African-American to manage its affairs.

    During his acceptance speech, Chairman Steele said, "To Americans who believe in the future of this country. To those who stand in difference with us, it's time for something completely different, and we're gonna bring it to them. We're gonna bring this party to every corner, every boardroom, every neighborhood, every community and we're gonna say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of this, we want you to work with us, and for those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over."

    These were very powerful and encouraging words, especially coming from an intelligent African-American man who was speaking to a political party dominated by white men who are not used to African-Americans speaking to them so forcefully and directly. To bring forth "something completely different"; to take the party to "friend and foe alike," to "knock over" decades of neoconservative ideology and racism would take a Superman. Unfortunately, these encouraging and powerful words ring hollow when compared to the reality of Chairman Steele's actions. Michael is no Superman. He's not "The Man of Steele."

    Steele failed to "knock over" conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and get him out of the way. After saying that Limbaugh "is an entertainer ... his whole thing is entertainment. He has this incendiary - yes, it's ugly"; Steele folded like cheap lawn furniture. Instead of standing by his statement, he apologized to Limbaugh, telling him he meant no offense. "My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh, ... I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. ... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."

    This is not the first time Chairman Steele has backed down from his own statements. While running for the US Senate in 2006 as a Republican, Steele agreed to an interview, but only under condition that his statements be attributed generally as a GOP Senate candidate, not to him personally. In this interview, Steele criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and criticized Bush's handling of Katrina, calling it a "monumental failure." When ABC news eventually attributed the comments to him, Steele tried to distance himself from his own remarks, claiming they were nothing more than a joke and insisting that Bush was his "homeboy."

    Steele says that he is going to "... build and grow the party in a way never seen before ... and redefine the conservative movement." Chairman Steele and his Republican supporters feel they have an "image problem" and not a problem resulting from a failure to propose and promote substantive and inclusive policy content. Based upon Steele's rhetoric and the fact that he has failed to offer any significant policy initiatives, one can only conclude that he views the politics of African-Americans and other ethnic groups as devoid of substance, myopic, shallow and emotional; when in fact, their politics is policy focused and born out of a people's historical experience.

    Chairman Steele pledged to bring something completely different to the debate. In his August 24, 2009, op-ed in The Washington Post Steele wrote that the president "and Congressional Democrats are planning to raid, not aid, Medicare ..." Cutting treatment options for seniors and the plan "will give seniors less power to control their own medical decisions and create government boards that would decide what treatments would or would not be funded." None of these statements made by Chairman Steele are correct. End of life care, which Steele and other Republicans refer to as "death panels," is designed to help the elderly and terminally ill maintain their quality of life by keeping them pain-free and comfortable while also providing spiritual, emotional social and physical support. For some reason, the Obama administration's plan to pay for seniors who meet with a doctor to discuss end-of-life care is a problem. This is not honest dialogue and debate. It's the obfuscation of facts and scare tactics.

    Michael Steele is quite familiar with obfuscation. During this same failed Senate bid, The Washington Post reported that the Steele campaign arranged for buses of homeless people from Philadelphia to distribute fliers at polls in majority African-American communities. The flyers contained statements that Steele was endorsed by prominent state Democrats and African-American leaders who had not, in fact, endorsed him. The homeless people were falsely identified as volunteers, although they had been paid, and the campaign funds used for this purpose of hiring the homeless were not timely or properly reported or attributed to the campaign. Lastly, in radio ads played on "urban" radio stations during the campaign, Steele never identified himself as the Republican candidate in what has to be described as an attempt to mask his party affiliation, thinking that African-Americans will vote for him simply because he's "one of them." I think that's fraud.

    When the House passed a "resolution of disapproval" by a 240-179 vote in response to Congressman Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) calling the president a liar on the floor of the House, Chairman Steele said the House Democrats are guilty of "stunning ... hypocrisy." He intentionally ignored the fact that Wilson directly violated the rules of decorum in the House. According to section 370 of the House rules manual, members may not, call the president a "liar."

    In response to former President Jimmy Carter's assessment that some of the most vehement opposition to President Obama is racially motivated, Steele issued the following statement: "Injecting race into the debate over critical issues facing American families doesn't create jobs, reform our health care system or reduce the growing deficit. It only divides Americans rather than uniting us to find solutions to challenges facing our nation."

    When asked on "Face the Nation" for his comments regarding the report that President Obama asked New York Governor Patterson to withdraw from the race for re-election next year, Chairman Steele tried to subtly inject race into the discussion by saying, "I found that to be stunning, that the White House would send word to one of only two black governors in the country not to run for re-election ... yet the president was with Governor Corzine. I don't know if there's been a request for Governor Corzine to step down in New Jersey. So I just find it to be stunning and also rather bold."

    When President Carter gave a direct, honest and accurate assessment of the impact of race on an issue, Steele opined that Carter was being divisive. When Chairman Steele subtly injects race into an issue, according to Steele "it's a curiosity." Now, that is "stunning ... hypocrisy!"

    Chairman Steele promised to bring us something different. He promised to "... be a part of building this party in a way we have never seen before." Steele committed to "... make sure that the values that have made our party the Party of Lincoln, are part of the issues, part of the policies that are reshaping this country."

    President Lincoln was a man of steely character who, in spite of his own prejudices, gave his life attempting to ensure that the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as promised by the Declaration of Independence applied to every one. To bring forth "something completely different"; to take the party to "friend and foe alike"; to "knock over" decades of neoconservative ideology and racism takes a Superman. Unfortunately, these encouraging and powerful words ring hollow when compared to the reality of Chairman Steele's equivocation, pandering and actions. Michael is not "The Man of Steele."