his master's voice

white house chief of staff rahm emanuel shoots ... and scores!

(okay ... i'll admit it, this one was a gimmie, big time.)

rnc chairman michael steele, yesterday:

hughley:	you know what we do, we talk like we’re talking now. you have your view. i have mine. we don’t need incendiary rhetoric.
steele:	exactly.
hughley:	like rush limbaugh, who is the de facto leader of the republican party.
steele:	no, he’s not.... i’m the de facto leader of the republican party.
hughley:	you know what? i can appreciate that. but no one will actually decry down some of the things he says. [ ... ]
steele:	... let’s put it into context here. rush limbaugh is an entertainer. rush limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. yes, it’s incendiary. yes, it’s ugly.

emanuel, yesterday:

schieffer:	we talked about newt gingrich a lot this morning and now you bring up rush limbaugh. who do you think now speaks for the republican party?
emanuel:	you just named him: it is rush limbaugh. he has laid out his vision, in my view. and he said it clearly. ... and whenever a republican criticizes him, they have to run back and apologize to him and say they were misunderstood. he is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the republican party.

limbaugh, today:

so i am an entertainer and i have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine ... michael steele, you are head of the republican national committee. you are not head of the republican party. tens of millions of conservatives and republicans have nothing to do with the republican national committee ... and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you!

steele, today:

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. ... i went back at that tape and i realized words that i said weren't what i was thinking ... it was one of those things where i thinking i was saying one thing, and it came out differently. what i was trying to say was a lot of people ... want to make rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he's not.