Michael Steele's Scarlet R

Republican Senate hopeful Michael Steele let loose a tirade against Bush and the Republicans.

Some highlights:

Iraq: The war "didn't work" because "we didn't prepare for the peace."

Katrina: "A monumental failure of government."

Republicans in Congress: "We've lost our way, we've gone to the well and we drank the water, and we shouldn't have. You don't go to Congress to become the party that you've been fighting for 40 years."

The president: "In 2001, we were attacked and the president is on the ground, on a mound with his arm around the fireman, symbol of America. In Katrina, the president is at 30,000 feet in an airplane looking down at people dying, living on a bridge. And that disconnect, I think, sums up, for me at least, the frustration that Americans feel."

The president's refusal to admit failure in Iraq: "I don't know why the people around him don't see that. It is a frustration, to say the least. I think it is a lost opportunity to bring the American people along on a mission that is incredibly important."

The outlook: Being a Republican now is "an impediment ... a hurdle I have to overcome. I've got an 'R' here, a scarlet letter ... If this race is about Republicans and Democrats, I lose."

All that before his identity was revealed, that is.

Now that he's been unmasked, he says he's only kidding and calls Bush his "homeboy".

If he's only kidding, why didn't he go on record from the beginning?

This is called rowing your boat in two rivers at the same time. He wants to appear independently defiant in his blue state, yet too wimpy to own up to what he said.

Only an amateur like Steele would think such a hypocritical attempt at having it both ways could possibly work.

The Carpetbagger Report says no wonder he's losing.

Tom Schaller at Tapped predicted correctly that Steele will portray himself the victim, this time pointing the finger at "the leak-happy national media".

The Moderate Voice says it's always fun to watch a candidate self-destruct.

And finally, Steve Gillard shows no mercy.

Image: AP.

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