Brush Up On Your Resume, Michael Steele.

Awhile back, I promised I'd stop piling on Michael Steele, even though his tenure as head of the GOP has been shaky at best. Since my decision, he's gone on a commit even more silly media gaffes, and it's been increasingly difficult for me to abstain, but I did it. My rationale was simple: I want the guy to succeed, because if he's somehow able to get the GOP to change its despicable messengers, perhaps we'll all give them the benefit of listening to their message. As I see it, having two viable parties to consider voting for can't possibly be a bad thing. Having one definitely is.

Sadly, it seems like Magic Mike has been living too high on the hog, and let the HNIC title go to his head. And just like the GOP, the good ole' boys are quick to step in and put him back in his rightful place.

Capitulating to critics on the Republican National Committee, embattled Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele has signed a secret pact agreeing to controls and restraints on how he spends hundreds of millions of dollars in party funds and contracts, The Washington Times has learned.

The "good governance" agreement revives checks and balances Mr. Steele resisted implementing for RNC contracts, fees for legal work and other expenditures that were not renewed after the 2008 presidential nominating contest.

The agreement, proposed by several current and former RNC officials, goes further, making 33-year RNC veteran Jay Banning, who was fired by Mr. Steele along with his deputy last month, an on-call adviser to the RNC treasurer. Mr. Banning was seen as a trusted liaison to RNC members critical of Mr. Steele's tenure and financial management.

"I regard them - the Steele administration - bound by it," former Republican National Committee General Counsel David Norcross told The Times on Tuesday.

Under nearly constant fire from conservatives since his Jan. 30 election, Mr. Steele last Wednesday accused the resolution's proponents of a power grab "scheme." It looked like an impasse, with a showdown - and a possible no-confidence vote in Mr. Steele - coming at a special meeting called for May 20.

But closed-door negotiations between Mr. Steele and his representatives and Mr. Pullen and the dissident group reached an accord. It represents the first time in memory that rebel members of the Republican Party's national governing body have successfully taken on the party's historically powerful national chairman and his loyalists.

But here's the really sick part.

The funding fight intensified the open challenge to Mr. Steele's authority. Unhappy RNC conservatives secured the signatures needed to force the committee to convene next month's special meeting to vote on a resolution labeling Democrats as "socialists," despite the chairman's reservations about the political wisdom of the move.

Critics said the "socialist" resolution battle was a sign of Mr. Steele's rocky start as RNC chairman and his continuing struggle to assert control of the party's message since his election in January.

Seriously, these folks are busy infighting over whether or not to label the Democrats "socialists"? Between this, and that pathetic "pizza party" last weekend in Northern Virginia, it's amazing that these ingrates can tie their own shoes, let alone devise an original idea. Sheesh.

Anyways, if you can't read between the lines here, Steele has essentially just had ultimate decision-making power usurped by the real RNC puppetmasters, who clearly weren't happy with his election win, and would likely be trying to undermine him even if he'd been doing a good job. Basically, the Head Negro isn't In Charge of very much anymore. Not that he ever was anyway.

As a guy with some modicum of dignity, it's sad to see Steele go out like this, even if his demise is largely his own doing. For those of us that saw his ascent as a sign that the GOP was finally open to diverse faces (not to be confused with diverse opinions), this is little more than a reminder that the party clearly wasn't ready. Much like JC Watts' very sad, very public divorce from the party when he had the unmitigated gall to demand some real power, this only goes to show why the GOP stays losin' with Black folks, and prolly will for some time. I predict that Steele will quietly leave the party sometime this Fall, trailed shortly thereafter by a barrage of insults and half-baked rumors at the hands of the very people who sang his praises as a post-racial savior merely months ago. They only love you when you can help them. Otherwise, kick rocks. Sad, but so predictable.

Pull out your best Steve Harvey Collection zoot suit and brush up on that resume, Mike. We're still in a recession.

Question: Did the GOP hand Steele a raw deal or did he dig his own grave with this media grandstanding?

Steele yields powers to foes in RNC [WashTimes]