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Christie Saga Makes Clear Republicans Still Don't Know What They're Up Against
Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | January 13, 2014 | Rush Limbaugh

Posted on 01/13/2014 3:15:11 PM PST by Kaslin

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Can I share with you something? This whole Chris Christie business. I said that when he first got out of trouble, it was noticeable to me that none of the other wildebeests came to his defense, other RINOs. He was just left to sink or swim on his own, and none of the Democrats that supposedly like him and have worked with him and Obama -- nobody -- rushed to his aide. Which is classic, by the way. But there's something else about this.

If you watched the Sunday shows yesterday -- which I didn't. I get reports, transcripts, that kind of thing. I can't watch them anymore. I tried watching cable news the other night and I just went nuts. It just makes me mad. It's so much out of the... It's sophomoric. Anyway, you noticed all of the Republicans who are saying, "Yeah, he's in the clear IF he's telling the truth." The number of Republicans who are saying, "Oh, yeah, everything's cool, man. That was a great press conference -- IF he's telling the truth." What does that tell you? It tells you that there's some doubt.

I mean, all those Republican -- it's a lot of them -- are with that caveat.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We announced on Friday pretty close to the end of the program that there was going to be a release of documents surrounding Bridgegate. It's 907 pages. 907 pages of documents on Bridgegate? What in the name...? I mean, how is that even possible, when nobody knew anything? All there was was that e-mail from the woman, Mary Kay... I keep forgetting her last name. "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," and whoever got the e-mail knew exactly what that meant, and they did it.

There were 907 pages. Now the Feds -- get this, if you haven't heard. The Feds are looking into the money that Christie got in New Jersey for Hurricane Sandy relief to find out if there is a connection between any of that money and Bridgegate or anything else. I sit here and I continue to be really shocked that the Republican Party thought an hour and 45 minute press conference could wipe up a this away.

That's the kind of naivete I had in year two of my program. I actually believed at one time that the media was interested in the truth and that when they were asking me questions it was because they wanted to know what I really thought. Thus, I actually thought I had a chance to persuade them of things, whatever it be, about me or my take on an issue or ideology. I actually thought that, and then when that didn't happen -- when I saw myself misquoted, taken out of context on purpose -- I got mad.

I said, "These people weren't even listening to what I was saying," because I have good manners. I was raised to be polite. I was raised to answer people's questions. It took me awhile to understand that the media don't care what I think or say, that that's not why they want to talk to me. The story's written before the interview. I'll give you example. H.R. can tell you the number of requests from television -- Good Morning America, Today show, you name it, national and local -- about Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims.

"Oh, we would love to talk to Rush about his children's book," and of course the publisher is just dying for me to do it. "You gotta do some TV. I mean, every author does TV. I said, "I am not going to accept any of these." Why not? Because they don't want to talk to me about the book. They want to take the occasion to smear me on other things that they think they haven't had a chance to smear me on. Take your pick. If anything controversial happens.

The book is just what they will tell me they want to talk about, and there might in fact be a couple questions about it. But that's not why they want to talk to me. I learned this 23 years ago. I learned, especially in my case, and I think every Republican ought to have this attitude, is why I'm sharing this. I don't mean to make this about me. But I know for a fact that when the media wants to talk to me about my book, that they don't.

And using experience guided by intelligence, I know what they would love to do, the vast majority of them -- of course there are exceptions. The vast majority would love to do hit pieces, with my participation. So I'm sitting here saying, "Why do these Beltway Republicans not also get this, when they have experienced it themselves, when they have seen how Republicans rebuke conservatives, whoever, are treated?" You know, John Podhoretz in the New York Post over the weekend had a piece.

I think it was Podhoretz. Yeah. It was. It was a piece in which he was attempting to educate his readers into understanding that it was not just media bias that is causing the media to drop everything and try to expose Christie as a crook in Bridgegate and why they left Obama alone in the IRS scandal. Podhoretz says a lot of people don't understand... This is his opinion, by the way, and I don't totally subscribe to it, but there's a couple of elements to it that are correct.

He says the reason why the media is going to the end of the earth to destroy Christie and why the IRS scandal is no big deal is not liberal versus conservative so much. It's personal. They are Obama. I've made this point. They all go to the same schools. They all party together. I mean, when the press looks at Obama, they see themselves. David Gregory sees himself, and he's not a crook. F. Chuck Todd looks at Obama, sees himself. He's a member of the DC establishment in good standing.

He's card-carrying, goes to the right restaurants, goes to the right cocktail parties, knows the right people, went to the same schools. They're one and the same. This is Podhoretz's point, that they can't even conceive that Obama's a crook, 'cause they're not, in their minds. They're all part of the same clique, and Obama happens to be the most popular guy in the clique, and there's no way. So if something happened the IRS, it's 'cause Obama didn't care, or people were doing it without his knowledge, like it woulda happened with them.

Podhoretz's point is there's no ideology to it. There's bias, but it's bias based on the fact that they're friends and associates, and they come from the same place, they go to the same places, and they're the same people. Christie's not one of them. Try as hard as he might by embracing Obama a week before the election and doing this, he's not one of them. A, he's a Republican so he can't be one of them. But B, look at him.

"He's out of control, no discipline, he's a bully, does all this stuff." He's not one of them. Now, the fact that they are all liberals and Christie's not is also a factor, and I think it's more of a factor than Podhoretz does, but Podhoretz still has a point. The purpose of this is not to excuse the media for not going after Obama on the IRS. The point here is, I don't understand why Republicans don't get this. Like, you can look at all these Republican consultants and advisors who thought Christie hit a home run with that press conference.

"Man, he did it right! He came at it, and he didn't hide, and he took it all on himself, and he was factually honest and he was nice and he was forthcoming and he was engaging. He was charismatic." That's not gonna impress them. Christie can't impress them, is the point. No Republican can. We're not one of them -- and the sad thing is, I think that attitude that all you have to do to get the media off your back is please them and it establishes that those people are already occupying a position in their own minds where they're inferior and where they're defensive and where they need to prove themselves and where they need to make the other side like 'em.

I learned two years into my career that doing that's not possible.

You cannot become one of them when you're not one of them, and you can't make them like you. Membership in that club, it's really strict and unique, and you don't get to admit yourself. Did they not see what happened with McCain? McCain was loved and adored until he becomes a candidate, then he becomes a dirty old man kicking kids off his front yard. So that's what amazes me. What amazes me is after all of this, after that hour and a half press conference they thought a home run had been hit and they thought the media minds had been changed.

I'll guarantee you, they're sitting there stunned that this investigation is still underway and that the Feds are now involved, 'cause they thought that Christie had succeeded. They thought Christie knocked it out of the park, when it didn't matter whether he knocked out of the park or not. This is the only guy beating Hillary in the polls, and they're gonna go destroy this guy whatever it takes. No matter what he says he believes, no matter policies of Obama's he signs on to or agrees with or, you know, doesn't join the Obamacare lawsuit, he cannot buy their affection.


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: bridgegate; chrischristie; fortlee; memebuilding; newjersey; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; randsconcerntrolls; tpinos
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To: Kaslin

Christie signed gun control laws in NJ last year. NJ can keep him. Let the left take him ALL THE WAY DOWN. ... so we don’t have to.


41 posted on 01/13/2014 5:47:16 PM PST by laffnatu
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To: Kaslin

“....Republicans Still Don’t Know What They’re Up Against.”

.
That’s why they’re known as the Stupid Party.


42 posted on 01/13/2014 6:00:22 PM PST by 353FMG
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

The GOP wants Christie to run. He is like Romney, but not Mormon.


43 posted on 01/13/2014 6:28:55 PM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: greene66

That makes sense. Surprised that party bigwigs didn’t step in and call off the dogs. Maybe it got away from them.


44 posted on 01/13/2014 7:44:40 PM PST by Defiant (Obama is The Bard of Canard.)
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To: nascarnation

Well, if the left buries Christie, the GOP will just have to come up with someone else to lose the election in 2016.


45 posted on 01/13/2014 8:01:28 PM PST by Chuckster (The longer I live the less I care about what you think.)
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To: redgolum
The GOP wants Christie to run. He is like Romney, but not Mormon.

Sort of. Both GOPe types for sure. At least Romney seemed like a nice guy on a personal level, even though he was a political moron and a spineless loser. In contrast, Crispy is a vindictive fat-@ss, and even MORE of a suck-up to the libs. The only thing he ever had going for him was his anti-union stance. Beyond that, he's a tried & true GOPe loser like Romney. I hope his new buddies in the LSM and D party take him out.

46 posted on 01/13/2014 8:13:32 PM PST by MCH
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To: Kaslin

Don’t worry about him, he wasn’t going to win the nomination anyway. Now he can be a diversion.


47 posted on 01/13/2014 8:30:37 PM PST by 38special (For real, y'all.)
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To: Chuckster

If the Left is smart, they’ll pull back, leave him to think everything is ok, then destroy him after the Primaries.


48 posted on 01/13/2014 9:26:53 PM PST by Hoosier-Daddy ( "It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of ingtheir political choices.")
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To: 38special

They could also be trolling for the early other runners, so they have enough time to get dirt on them in order to destroy them.


49 posted on 01/13/2014 9:28:21 PM PST by Hoosier-Daddy ( "It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of ingtheir political choices.")
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To: bigbob
Bridge-gate just gave them an opportunity. If not this, it would have been something else, but this is perfect for them because it reinforces the “bully” image they’d already started to develop.

That image didn't come out of nowhere any more than Romney being a flip-flopper or McCain being a crazy old man did. If the shoe fits...

50 posted on 01/13/2014 9:43:28 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: GeronL
Come on Rush, do not pretend Christie is not a leftist So is Hillary, but that didn't stop the media from backing the even leftier Obama in the primary.
51 posted on 01/13/2014 9:44:35 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: Defiant
So, the thing that doesn't make sense to me is why they are going after him now. With McCain and Romney, they were all lovey dovey at this stage. They didn't turn on them until after they had locked up the nomination. Why? Is it just a crime of opportunity? Or does someone really fear Christie? If so, I don't know why.

Part of it is defining him in the eyes of the public early on. Romney lost because he's a weak candidate, but the media still needs to do their part to shatter the glass jaw that's handed to them. They may be assuming Krispy's got the nomination locked up already, because even though the base hated Romney, he had the support of the party bosses and all the big money donors, and he won the nom. Christie already has that locked up too, in theory. So why not start smearing him now when they have the chance? Plus in the media's eyes, the conservative Republicans are so off-putting, they can't envision any of them winning the nomination at this point.

52 posted on 01/13/2014 9:48:38 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: SamAdams76

Krispy needed Obama to win so he could run for prez in 2016. Otherwise he’d be facing off against an 8-year V.P. in 2020 in the primary in the best case scenario. Krispy is all about one thing, whatever gets himself ahead in life quicker.


53 posted on 01/13/2014 9:50:25 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: JediJones

Your scenario - which is correct - begs the question of how the LSM plans to attack Cruz. And now Sarah is hinting at going up against Hillary!, perhaps running interference by going Independent.


54 posted on 01/13/2014 10:16:44 PM PST by txhurl
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To: txhurl

We got a hint of that last year...Cruz looks like McCarthy, he’s a terrorist like Bin Laden who wants to send in suicide bombers to blow up the government, they found a creepy pic of him smoking a cigar in college...

One reason I could lean towards supporting Huckabee is that it seems awfully hard to come up with negative smears on him, unless it’s the same stuff they tried on Phil Robertson, which backlashed on them. But Cruz has my vote.


55 posted on 01/13/2014 10:28:32 PM PST by JediJones (The #1 Must-see Filibuster of the Year: TEXAS TED AND THE CONSERVATIVE CRUZ-ADE)
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To: JediJones

Cruz has my vote, in fact, if I could figure out a way to quit my job to work for him I would.

Cruz is brilliantly only attacking zero, while castigating the rats who have enabled him and are facing re-election.

True Statesmanship.


56 posted on 01/13/2014 10:33:42 PM PST by txhurl
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To: Kaslin

No democrat would defend a Republican in normal circumstances and the media will attack any Republican scandal, that is a no-brainer.

Even fellow RINOs hate Chrissy cause his ego is 5 times the size of his fat @$$ so that’s why not many people on the right are falling over themselves to defend him.


57 posted on 01/13/2014 10:49:13 PM PST by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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To: TexasGator

1. Christy is a textbook example of how Democrates Fast and Furious the idiot GOPe to carry illegaly their dirty business like a spouse dragged around by a criminal spouse

2. The T Party is no embarassment. The Democrats are.

3. Nincompoop Bob Doles and Christy Rinos are the ones makingnthe right look bad and autodestroying single handedly the party.


58 posted on 01/14/2014 1:30:01 AM PST by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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To: detective

Corpulous Christy got fast furioused. So what if Obama encourages or approves his ads? THEY ARE ILLEGAL, at east in the media eye. GOPe is a moron. He is a sick fat tub in the media eye. He is the perfect Bush derangement syndrome set up.


59 posted on 01/14/2014 1:40:30 AM PST by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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To: txhurl

Cruz can win if he does not get suckered in bipartisan fix disasters the left will try to bait.

Never ever marry a liberal. They will demonically seeth and call you racist and hater what not, BUT it is a trick for little girls.


60 posted on 01/14/2014 1:43:57 AM PST by lavaroise (A well regulated gun being necessary to the state, the rights of the militia shall not be infringed)
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