RNC chief of staff Ken McKay resigned on Monday, because Republicans are not allowed to enjoy simulated lesbian bondage sex on their donors' dime. And yet Michael Steele isn't going anywhere. How does the RNC chair still have a job?

Michael Steele is terrible at his job, unless his job is to be incoherent and awkward. A year ago, after his election, he told the world that he would apply conservative principles to "urban-suburban hip-hop settings." Except instead of doing that—whatever that would mean—he has wasted RNC money, driven away prominent donors, and taken a series of deeply embarrassing photos. So, given that $2,000 of party money being spent at a bondage-themed club marks a new low even for Michael Steele, why have no prominent Republicans called for his resignation? In other words, why does Michael Steele still have a job? Good question. Here are some answers:

He's black. Thanks to decades of pandering to white racists (this is called "the Southern Strategy"), the Republican party has about six black people in it. And one of them is the chairman of the RNC. Firing Michael Steele would result in what irritating people would call "bad optics," which is just an annoying way to say, "would make the Republican party look bad." You might ask: Is it even possible to alienate black voters more than the modern Republican party already has? Probably not! But it is possible to alienate the few remaining white Republicans who haven't figured out that their party is not exactly friendly to black people.

Republicans are still going to do well in the upcoming elections. The RNC's bondage-club enthusiasm aside, minority parties always do well in midterms—and doubly so when the economy is bad. Michael Steele could burn a flag while reciting the Koran at a homo liberal bondage club and Republicans would still clean up in the fall. If the party chair is supposed to win elections, why fix something that's not broken?

It will drag the story out for even longer. Assuming there aren't any other salacious charges to the RNC credit card, Steele's GMA appearance and his chief of staff's resignation probably marks the end of the Great Republican Lesbian Bondage Scandal. Steele resigning, or being called to resign, just brings the story back to life for another news cycle and gives cable news anchors something to talk about besides how awful the job market still is and how the health-care bill will literally require you to get an abortion.

Replacing him would be complicated. Even if Steele did resign, who would take his place? Likely Republican gains this November are masking a divided party caught between populist tea partiers and pro-business establishmentarians. Not to mention: it takes a two-thirds majority to remove a chair and put a new one in place. Good luck getting 112 Republicans to agree on anything right now, besides the fact that Obama is a communist.

[Image via Getty]