Posted by
Dennis Pemberton on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 6:09:11 PM
There is a scene in "Grand Torino" where the Hmong girl's white boyfriend tries to ingratiate himself to some black fellows. He has his hat on sideways, his pants are loose, he drops the "hey bro's" and flicks his hand around with a ghetto salute. And he just looks stupid.
That white guy is Michael Steele. His urbanized patois is inauthentic, and his glib, easy manner betrays a lack of substance. He's a black guy trying really hard to be a black guy, and it comes off lame. He's a dork, uncomfortable in either world he wants to inhabit, and he is ineffective as a result. We don't need a spokesman for the conservative message who doesn't even know himself.