Shortly after being elected RNC chairman on Friday, Michael Steele declared, “We want you to work with us, and for those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over.” Today on Fox News, Steele elaborated on these comments:

And for those Democrats and others who just want to put up roadblocks and do the crazy typical play that they normally do — the name-calling, the obfuscation, and the sleight-of-hand — I don’t have time for it. Because there are important issues we have to face on the economy, the war, and issues that affect the poor, and I want to have this party in a position to move on those issues.

Ironically, what he described is exactly what House Republicans have been doing over the past week on the economic recovery package. President Obama repeatedly met with Republicans to get their input on the bill, but instead of working with him on “the economy…and issues that affect the poor,” they made a pact to all vote “nay.”

When host Chris Wallace pointed out to Steele that conservatives may come off looking like obstructionists, Steele simply replied, “I think you propose something that is not in my best interest, why am I an obstructionist if I don’t agree with it?” Watch it:

The point is not simply disagreeing or holding out for better provisions. What conservatives did over the past week is obstruction for anticipated political gain. In fact, they were “delighted” and “celebrating” the fact that they all did nothing to help the struggling economy after Wednesday’s vote, hoping the bill failed so that Democrats would be blamed.

Steele repeatedly said that conservatives have all these new ideas to offer to the public. But what are they? So far, they seem to be a recycling of failed, rejected ideas. House conservatives have advocated a return to Bushonomics, even though those policies helped the country reach the condition it’s currently in.

Today, Steele also said that he wanted to use the “Contract With America” — a 1994 document created by Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich — as a model. But as Judd Legum notes, “polls showed the vast majority Americans had never heard of it. Of the few that did know, half said it made them less likely to vote Republican.”

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At last night’s black-tie dinner at Washington’s Alfalfa Club, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) couldn’t resist cracking a joke about torture. Politico’s Mike Allen reports:

More from Senator Lieberman: ‘We had hoped Vice President Cheney would be here tonight. I hope it’s not his back injury that’s keeping him away. Apparently, he hurt it moving some things out of his office. Personally, I had no idea that waterboards were so heavy.

Last year, Lieberman, who has voted against banning waterboarding, “reluctantly acknowledged” that he doesn’t believe that waterboarding is torture. “It is not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological,” he said.

Introducing a segment on Fox News Sunday this morning, host Chris Wallace began, “President Bush makes a big push for GOP support,” but then he caught himself, saying “Did I say President Bush? President Obama.” “Old habits die hard,” added Wallace, commenting on his mistake. Watch it:

Iraqis selected among 14,500 candidates for 440 seats in their provinicial elections yesterday. The elections were “almost completely free of violence, with just two incidents, and no deaths, reported nationwide.” The only major glitch appeared to be that “thousands of Iraqis were unable to vote because their names were inexplicably missing from voter lists.” Nationwide turnout was 51 percent. The New York Times reports:

[R]egardless of the outcome it is clear that the Americans are already drifting offstage — and that most Iraqis are ready to see them go. [...]

“The American military presence brought nothing to our streets but destruction and chaos,” said Omar al-Dulaimi, 57, a government employee who lives near the Um al-Khoura mosque, one of the largest Sunni places of worship in the capital. “We had nothing from them but tension and confusion. It’s much better for us and for them if they stay in their bases now.”

President Obama said, “This important step forward should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future.”