Michael Steele Was For Thurgood Marshall Before He Was Against Him

Mother Jones:

During confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, it almost seemed as if the late and legendary Justice Thurgood Marshall was the one being vetted--rather than Kagan, who once clerked for him. Republicans on the Senate judiciary committee have tried to turn the civil rights icon into ammo for their assault on Kagan, attacking Marshall as a "judicial activist" and suggesting that the same could be expected of Kagan. This wasn't a surprise. Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, kick-started this bash-Marshall campaign last month by pouncing on Kagan for praising a 1987 Marshall speech in which the ex-justice said the Constitution, "as originally drafted and conceived," was "defective." Marshall had been referring to the Constitution's definition of slaves as three-fifths of "free persons." But Steele's oppo gang at the RNC seized on this and zapped out a memo hammering Kagan: "Does Kagan Still View Constitution 'As Originally Drafted And Conceived' As 'Defective'?"

Choosing to go after the country's first black Supreme Court justice is an iffy strategy for the GOPers. But it's an especially strange line of attack for Steele--formerly Maryland's first black lieutenant governor--who used to laud Marshall as a hero.

Read the whole story: Mother Jones

Comments

[DHK]

02:04 PM on 07/03/2010

Mr Steele have you thought of coming across the isle and joining with progressives and liberals??? You seem to have more sense than the idealogue Republicans...Afghanistan has buried a number of Countries including the Soviet Union.

[jamie461]

02:05 PM on 07/02/2010

Between Steele and Sessions, it's hard to figure out who the bigger cluebag is. Trashing Thurgood Marshall is simply unconscionable, really jaw-dropping.

[johnfoirdfw]

11:29 PM on 07/01/2010

Poor Mikey. He thinks they wil let him into their club. In hopes of that, he will do or say anything they tell him. He will do anything to gain power. Puts Uncle Tom to shame.

[imsosure]

08:26 PM on 07/01/2010

Do you think Steele genuinely thinks many people actually believe much of anything he says?

[eeasyrider]

09:53 PM on 07/01/2010

No. Steele knows he is selling his soul.

[mjl422]

12:15 AM on 07/07/2010

I hope he's saving his money because his career is over.

[Tywon Rogers]

07:49 PM on 07/01/2010

Look, it's Clayton Bigsby!

[GAPeach99]

10:12 PM on 07/01/2010

LOL! Fan #7

[oldguru]

07:18 PM on 07/01/2010

Who in the world is still listening to anything Steele says? He has made a fool of himself more times than the Keystone Kops.

[dcjdjay]

05:58 PM on 07/01/2010

As soon as his masters kick this Uncle Tom off the stage, fewer people will remember him than they do Milli Vannilli.

Thurgood Marshall? He's one for the history books. Well, except the ones in Texas.

[DaBluAce]

05:13 PM on 07/01/2010

i sure wish they would stop referring to mike and Maryland in the same sentence! we(maryland) don't own that knuckle head anymore...he is not our hometown "boy"! I don't know what we were thinking when we put that fool in office but he thought he had it going on and got slap back when he wasn't elected to be our Senator! He really thought he was a shoe in!! NOT

[Lab Sharpei]

04:50 PM on 07/01/2010

Is this Headline secretly mocking John Kerry?

[mad lib]

11:52 AM on 07/03/2010

Glad you brought it up. I don't think it's purposeful but yes- EVERY time that phrase is used, it seems to subconsciously reinforce the swift-boaters claims about Kerry.

[libwithaclue]

04:41 PM on 07/01/2010

No pride, no shame, no admission that he would be working at a McDonald's if it had not been for Thurgood Marshall and courageous people like him. He's such a despicable fraud and shameful sellout. It would actually be sad to see if he weren't so reprehensible.

[eeasyrider]

09:48 PM on 07/01/2010

Nice. I'm your 14th fan.

[jamie461]

02:06 PM on 07/02/2010

Amen!!

[desertdweller]

04:38 PM on 07/01/2010

My always-hip, African-American high school classmates back in the late 60s would likey have referred to Steele as "Uncle Tom."

[Badger84]

05:42 PM on 07/01/2010

It's now his job title.

[OmniDude]

08:01 PM on 07/01/2010

Thought his job title was the GOP's "Garden Tool" or Chamberboy

[eeasyrider]

09:48 PM on 07/01/2010

All of you are too funny. LMAO

[livefrmbrooklyn]

04:27 PM on 07/01/2010

Steele is the gift that keeps on giving, I guess his mission is to be the only African-American in the republican party. If that's the case he is doing a damn good job.

[eeasyrider]

09:50 PM on 07/01/2010

Yep. Nothing like selling out all of your people, as Jon Stewart would say. I'm your 6th fan.

[den1953]

03:52 PM on 07/01/2010

You can always tell when Sarah Palin isn't in the media cycle for a day you see Mike Steele being Mike Steele, either Mike wants to be like Sarah or Sarah wants to be like Mike i can't tell!

[Enock Zamora]

03:51 PM on 07/01/2010

Michael Steele should take the lead from the President, and go out to the golf course. He needs to threw his balls down on the green, and take a few swings. I want to see if he can make the girls smile, or turn away. :)

[take10]

03:50 PM on 07/01/2010

The Buck Wheat of rethug politics. Or should I say, poly ticks!