RUSH: No, we don’t have the audio of what Herman Cain said to Christiane Amanpour. I just want to tell you what he said ’cause I got some e-mails, “Why are you getting so exorcised about this?” The reason I’m getting so exorcised about it is — and I will admit I’m exorcised about it — is not to criticize Herman Cain. Our guys are gonna have to learn at some point how to deal with these people. We’re gonna have to stop going on their shows if we’re not gonna know how to deal with them. When you are a Republican presidential candidate, I understand, they call from you ABC, the Sunday show, you go, you don’t say no. You better figure out what they’re trying to do by having you on.

It’s just like I told the Republican freshmen back in 1994. Cokie Roberts is gonna call you, she’s gonna bat her eyes at you, but she’s ticked off that you’re there. The media is not happy that you are gonna be running Congress. Their objective is gonna be to get rid of you. They’re never gonna treat you like the winners. Their buddies, their friends are the Democrats. They invite you on these shows and every moment is a “gotcha.” And our people are gonna have to learn to figure this out if they’re gonna go on these shows. What Herman Cain said, the question about the rock at Perry’s family hunting ground that they leased in ’83 I think. They started leasing it and the name on the rock identifying this hunting ground, the N-word. And so the Perry family painted over the rock, and then they eventually turned the rock over. It embarrassed ’em. The Washington Post has this story about just the opposite. No sources, no named sources, no evidence whatsoever.

The point of the Washington Post story is that Rick Perry’s a racist because he chose a place that was named with the N-word in it to go hunting. Now, how stupid and absurd is the allegation? Here it is 2011 and the media still think that they can convince readers that Republicans are institutional racists. Imagine, Rick Perry and his family went to a place to hunt in Texas in the early eighties, had the N-word in it, and that’s why they chose it. Yeah, ’cause they’re racists. It’s laughable that they think this is 30 years ago, and people are automatically gonna believe this stuff. So Herman Cain said, “My reaction is that it’s very insensitive. There are some words that do not basically inspire the kind of negativity like that particular word. I know that you are refraining from saying that word so I’m going to say what the word was on the rock — the name of the place was called…” I’m not gonna say it. It was the N-word followed by the word “head.”

Herman Cain says, “That is very insensitive and since Gov. Perry has been going there for years to hunt, I think it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time not taking that word off of that rock and renaming the place. It’s just basically a case of insensitivity.” Well, Perry did. They tried to paint over it; they turned the rock upside down. Perry had taken the name off the rock, or his father had, back in 1983, if not earlier, and Christiane Amanpour knew that since it was in the Washington Post story. Here was the question that she asked to Herman Cain that resulted in the answer I just read you. “And it’s been — it’s been painted over. But the report raises questions about whether this rock, this stone, with that word on it, was still on display even quite recently in the last several years. What is your reaction to that?”

Now, I understand Cain wants to beat Perry in the Republican presidential primary, and I understand how he might have interpreted the question as an opportunity to nail Perry. But wasn’t it just last week that somebody called Herman Cain some epithet? I forget what it was, but he was called a name along the lines of an Uncle Tom because he’s a Republican black. But what was obvious was that Christiane Amanpour was unable to figure out the Washington Post had no evidence whatsoever to make the claim that the name had been on display on that rock over the last several years because no one whatsoever except for a bunch of anonymous sources who the Washington Post claims, by the way, were big Perry supporters who just worried about this hurting him, but nobody will go on record.

Now, the reason for harping on this is that it’s time now that every Republican running for the presidency know what they’re dealing with when they go on ABC, CBS, or NBC. And it’s about time they understand one thing. They are not being invited on these shows to be assisted. They are not being invited on these shows because these shows are interested in them. They’re not being invited on these shows because anybody related to this show wants to see them succeed. They’re being invited on these shows so that perhaps the media can destroy any and all of the Republican nominees or candidates for the nomination. So I cringe when a Republican candidate falls prey to this.

The correct answer would have been to tell Christiane Amanpour it’s a nonstory and can we talk about the loss of jobs in this country and the attack on the private sector. This is a nonstory. The Washington Post has no evidence for it and it’s time you people stopped in the media, it’s time you stopped with your little template here of trying to tag every one of us racist, sexist, bigoted homophobes. It’s called offense. But, folks, I’m telling you our side is still deathly afraid of making those people mad. They’re just deathly afraid of it. “Mr. Limbaugh, they’re deathly afraid of making you mad, too, it said so right there in the Associated Press.” Well, yeah, but that’s for good reason. No reason to be afraid of these people. These people in the media are one-third as smart. They’re not the wizards of smart, they’re not the grand pooh-bahs. They could be easily outrun or outsmarted here.

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RUSH: Who’s next? Susie in Pittsburgh, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. I’m so excited. You have no idea how long I’ve been listening to you and I’m one of your biggest fans and I’m just so excited to talk to you. I wanted to talk about the incident at the debate where the soldier was supposedly booed. I don’t think that he was booed. I think it was the question that was booed. Being a Pennsylvanian and knowing what Senator Santorum has had to put up with when he was up for reelection for the Senate, I think it might have been too frustrated Pennsylvanian supporters of his in the audience who heard this question and just knew they’re just trying to stick it to him once again and were upset about the question aimed at the Senator. And I mean in Pennsylvania he was just constantly pilloried by the left on —

RUSH: Sadly, it worked.

CALLER: Oh, it did. I mean they were just brutal to him, and he’s one of the most honest, respectable men, and truly a statesman, and this brings me to a question I have for you, too, is that I’ve noticed that Senator Santorum and Newt Gingrich have been just so marginalized in these debates, and they’re two of the smartest people up there. I mean they have done so much already in the Congress and the Senate —

RUSH: All right, what’s the question?

CALLER: Well, I’m just wondering why they’re being so marginalized even by the Fox people with questions and why they just aren’t being heard?

RUSH: Look, I don’t pretend to understand how the host or the moderators go about deciding who’s gonna be asked what. They don’t consult me on that. But I can explain, I think, why both of those guys are having trouble getting traction. You’re not gonna like it, but you call me and you ask a question and I think I can answer it. In the case of Rick Santorum — I don’t know this, I’m gonna tell you what I think it is, two things. The endorsement — remember, we’re talking about Republican primary vote, the endorsement of Senator Specter and the fact — and Susie, you may think this is fleeting but it’s not, it’s really important. It’s not just that Senator Santorum lost his reelection bid. He lost it by 20 points. People remember that.

It may be unfair, but you’re asking me for reasons why no traction. And I need to tell you, I love Rick Santorum, he’s a friend of mine, and my comment here has nothing to do with whether or not he’d be a good president. I think he’d be a great one, in fact. You ask me why he’s not getting traction. Tell you what I think. With Newt, the same thing. You’re dealing with 80% of the time a genius. But in that other 20% you get TV commercials on a couch with Nancy Pelosi on climate change, and then you get a joint appearance with Hillary Clinton on health care which kind of dilutes the 80%. His numbers are coming up. Newt’s in double digits now, which means that his performances in these debates have been consistent enough and powerful enough that people are focusing on the 80% or 90% that’s Newt genius.

I’m fairly confident that my answers to you are correct, but I can’t say it with ontological certitude. But as to why the Fox people structure the debate the way they do and who gets questions and how much time, not my job and they have yet to consult me at Fox on this. All I can tell you is they’re not debates. They are enlarged press conferences with time limits, and so the skills required here — that’s why Romney’s doing well. He’s done this for two or three cycles now. You get good at it with practice. I’ve told you, brevity is the soul of wit. These people are gonna have to learn to say what they think with persuasion and convincibility in 30 seconds. If they can’t they’re gonna come off as looking incoherent. It’s the nature of the beast.

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RUSH: I think what’s going on here, folks, is the regime and the State-Controlled Media want Romney to be our nominee. That’s what they want. They think Romney is beatable. This Perry stuff… You should read this Washington Post story. We’ll have it linked to at RushLimbaugh.com. It’s written as though Rick Perry painted the N-word on the rock himself, and I will bet you that a Democrat put that word on this rock way back then.

I’ll bet you that a Democrat named this hunting place that name. So what you have in the Washington Post story is they’re trying to shape the field, they’re trying to pick our nominee. Michele Bachmann: disabling migraines! Sarah Palin: stupid! Paul Ryan: pushed grandmother off a cliff in a wheelchair! And take your pick if any other nominees fit the bill. That’s why I think our people either need to be schooled how to behave when they go on these shows or punt and just don’t go on these shows.

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RUSH: Lance, Gulf Breeze, Florida, you’re next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi, sir.

CALLER: How you doing, Rush?

RUSH: Very well. Actually I’m ticked off here. I’ve been doing a slow burn all day, but —

CALLER: So am I.

RUSH: — you wouldn’t have known it had I not told you, right?

CALLER: (chuckling) Well, I’m angry, too. I’m an asthmatic, an inhaler-using asthmatic. So dittos.

RUSH: You use Primatene Mist?

CALLER: No, I have an albuterol inhaler.

RUSH: Oh.

CALLER: I don’t know what the difference is, but, you know, if that —

RUSH: Well, I don’t know about albuterol, but Primatene with epinephrine is gonna be banned in January and you’re gonna be wheezing out there unless you cough up prescription inhalers for three times the money. Is that what’s got you ticked off?

CALLER: No. (chuckles) I just heard that when I was waiting to get on the phone here.

RUSH: Everyday. Everyday the regime is launching assaults on public freedom, privacy, you name it.

CALLER: Yeah, I know, it’s a new thing every day. What I was really calling about to start with was this soldier asking the question at the convention down in Orlando. I was a delegate down there last weekend, not this last but the weekend before last, and during the debate when this happened, everything I’ve heard about it since then is totally distorted. Of course, I’m not surprised by what Obama is saying. He distorts everything anyway. But what happened was two or three people — I can’t be sure exactly and nobody knows; but it wasn’t many, just two or three people out of about 5,500 people —

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: — who were in that auditorium booed, but they didn’t boo — like your audiotape showed — ’til after the guy finished asking the question and they weren’t really… So obviously they weren’t booing him and nobody around me thought that. What they were booing about was the fact that that was a loaded question, and everybody there knew that it was a loaded question, and anybody who listens to that sound bite knows it’s a loaded question for a GOP candidate, and that’s what they were booing about. You know, two or three people. The rest of the people just sat there and were silent. That’s what bothers me. They mischaracterized it.

RUSH: Yeah, no matter how you slice it they’re booing the question.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: They were not booing the guy because he was gay.

CALLER: Right. They weren’t. They were booing the question because it was a loaded question and they didn’t like it.

RUSH: Right. Well, I’m gonna tell you what this is. This is no different than the Duke lacrosse case. You have stereotypes that fit in liberal holes. In the Duke lacrosse case you had “a poor, out of luck, put upon, disadvantaged, bright, intelligent young African-American woman so victimized (growing angry) by the unfairness of this country that she had to trick, she had to show up and do parties taking her clothes off and act like a slut in order to earn a living in this unfair, rotten-to-the-core country — and who hired her? Oh-ho, yeah! A bunch of rich, white lacrosse players. Lacrosse! An elite sport! Rich white parents and rich white guys hiring this poor, brilliant single mother who’s victimized by this country! So whatever she says happened had to be the truth. If she says they raped her, then the seriousness of the charge is all we need. We don’t need any evidence!”

Same thing here. What do you have?

A gay soldier stands up, asks a question about “don’t ask, don’t tell,” two people in an audience of 5,000 boo. The liberal stereotypes kick into gear, full speed: “Republicans, who are homophobes, were booing this brave, courageous soldier who showed up in the midst of the enemy — the Republican Party, at a Republican Party debate! Yeah. They were booing him because they’re a bunch of homophobes.” So that’s exactly what’s happening here. “Nature of the evidence? Irrelevant. Seriousness of the charge, all we need!” They are doing essentially the same thing with Rick Perry and this death penalty question at the CNN debate.

They were claiming out there that the Republican Party, “The audience was bloodthirsty — practically a bunch of vampires! The Republican audience is bloodthirsty and want the killing! They love state executions! They love putting to death innocent minority people — the greatest people on earth, never did a thing wrong except be born in this country and they’re victimized by the white-run world!” So all they’re doing there is claiming that the Republican — a bunch of bloodthirsty killers reveling in the death of others when in fact they were supporting Texas enforcing its laws. That was the reason there was cheering in that debate for Perry.