RUSH: There’s a story here in the Washington Post. You talk about this program being show prep for the rest of the media: Washington Post — “Why the GOP Cavalry Is Not Coming to Chris Christie’s Rescue.” I mean, that was a major point, a major area of focus on yesterday’s program, and, if you missed it, it’s worth going to RushLimbaugh.com and reading or listening to audio of what I said.

I haven’t read the Post. I just read the headline. That’s what I’m talking about, I just read the headline and now I’ve gotta read the story with you live here. I don’t know what the story says, although I can guess. It’s the Washington Post, it’s the Drive-By Media. It’s basically pointing out that the only people that have come forward to defend Christie are Reince Priebus, Karl Rove, and Rudy. They are the only ones coming forward. I mean, a couple of governors, but the point is there isn’t this massive effort from the Republican Party to defend Christie, and I’m sure the story makes the point. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that. But I bet it references the fact that a lot of Republicans are issuing somewhat timid support of Christie with the caveat of “if he’s telling the truth,” everything’s fine and dandy. (interruption) Yep, that’s in the story, okay, fine.

So here it is: “Chris Christie is one of the GOP’s brightest stars and one of its best hopes for 2016. But during his toughest hour, he simply hasn’t been able to count on a chorus of national GOP support rallying full-bore to his side.” And I’m sure he’s surprised. You know what amazes me about these people? They end up doing things, saying things that they think are gonna make ’em bulletproof, like talking about working with Democrats, and talking about bipartisanship and cooperation and criticizing conservative Republicans. I mean, they do it all and they think that’s gonna make ’em bulletproof.

But, as I said yesterday, this exclusive — remember, we’re bouncing off the John Podhoretz piece yesterday. He had a column telling his readers that the lack of media focus on the IRS scandal — oh, by the way, the FBI says nothing to see there. There’s not gonna be any prosecutions of the IRS thing. Some mismanagement is about all that went on there. Nothing to see here. Just move on. It’s official. And Podhoretz was saying, it’s not media bias, liberal versus conservative that makes the media not probe the IRS. It is that they’re good friends with Obama. They’re in the same club. They’ve got the same pedigree. They have the same education background. They’re in the same club, and they love themselves. And there’s no way, they wouldn’t use the IRS in their minds. They can’t imagine Obama using it.

I don’t think that’s quite accurate. I know what Podhoretz is trying to say. I actually think there is more media bias. There’s no question in my mind that they’ll do anything, take any opportunity to destroy a threat. But see, the problem the Republicans make is they think they can get in that club and make themselves bulletproof. Yeah, the Democrats and the media go after people like Palin and they go after people like Scott Walker, and they go after people like me, but they’re not gonna after us RINOs because we talk bipartisan, we’re with ’em on immigration, and all this other stuff. And then when that doesn’t buy them any insurance, they’re flummoxed. They think they’re bulletproof and they’re not. And it just amazes me that they don’t understand this.

I guarantee you Christie and these guys are shocked that the Democrats, ’cause I guarantee, Rove and these guys all thought that that Christie press conference was a grand-slam home run and that was gonna end it, and it’s not the end. It’s just the beginning. The point is, you cannot admit yourself into this club, no more than you can admit yourself into the local country club, no more than you can admit yourself into Augusta National.

You cannot admit yourself into the liberal Democrat elitist culture of Washington, DC, especially if you are Republican. You have to be invited, and the application is quite lengthy and extensive and requires many, many years of loyalty to the Democrat cause, and it requires a whole lot of time spent criticizing other Republicans. Even McCain, he thought he was in the club, but he wasn’t.

So, anyway, the Washington Post story makes the point here that nobody’s coming forward. McCain even adopted an uncertain tone, even as he praised Christie. McCain said, “Is this a blow to him? Obviously. How permanent it is, I think we will know in the days and weeks ahead.” The Post says here, “The reality is that as 2016 takes shape, potential candidates — and allies of those would-be candidates — need to be very careful what they say. … What’s more, there is uncertainty about the scandal itself. And a cardinal rule of politics is this: Know exactly what you are supporting or opposing before you do it.”

Now, the Post says here, “Christie’s rise in GOP circles is in no small part due to an invisible but immensely powerful donor and power broker class that loves him. This wing of the party tried to woo him to run for president in 2012, even after Mitt Romney was in the race. And they are expected to be there for him in large part come 2016. … For the most part, these are not the folks who are on the front lines of the media battle, making cable news appearances and staging press conferences. Karl Rove, who has defended Christie, is part of this group of behind the scenes players. But his forward-leaning public profile the exception to the rule.”

And then they mention here Priebus and Rudy. The point of the story is there isn’t a whole lot of help. The cavalry hasn’t come to the rescue. The wildebeests are still standing aside while the Feds continue to probe Christie’s use of relief aid for Hurricane Sandy. Now, the story is that the agency wanted Bruce Springsteen or Jon Bon Jovi, and they couldn’t do it. Springsteen was on tour, and Bon Jovi.

Union rules say that you can’t work for free, and so everybody is saying, “Hey, Christie wasn’t the first choice. He wasn’t the first choice.” He did the spot with his family, the tourism spot. So the investigation here is just continuing, and they’re trying to make the point, “Hey, Christie didn’t engineer anything here. We took Christie because Springsteen wasn’t available.”

The polling data on Christie. A majority think that he’s dishonest, but 59% approve of his job performance. It’s a Monmouth University poll reported in the LA Times. So a majority think he’s dishonest and 59% approve of the job performance. You figure that out. Now… (interruption) Well, it did. It did work for the Clintons. Now, in the midst of all this, have you seen that Governor Christie is proposing a longer school day? Did you see that?

He’s not disliked enough? He’s gotta turn a whole generation of school kids against him now by proposing a longer school day?

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Nancy Pelosi. Something called the Independent Journal Review. It’s some obscure website out there, but it’s probably accurate. Nancy Pelosi was asked last week about Governor Christie and the bridge scandal. And you know what she said? She is worried because of what Christie’s aides did, closing three lanes of an on-ramp to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, she’s now worried that Chris Christie could screw up traffic patterns for the Super Bowl on purpose. She actually is concerned that Christie, in a pique of bullyish anger and a desire to get even with people who are trying to harm him, actually screw up traffic patterns at the Super Bowl.

Now, she goes on television in her district and says this kind of stuff. And I guarantee you the lamebrains that vote for this woman that are in her district, hear her say this, and they nod their heads. And, meanwhile, I remind you about the Washington Post story. They can’t find any Republicans, other than Rove and Rudy and Reince Priebus willing to defend Christie. The Democrats think he might try to get even by screwing up the traffic.