Newt Turns Racially Charged Question from Williams into Explanation of Conservatism

RUSH: From the debate last night, here's Frank Luntz. This is with Hannity after the debate last night.

LUNTZ: I've never seen it in a debate, a standing ovation in the middle of a debate. Remember, there's only five candidates up there so you would assume that only 20% would award them their support. Newt Gingrich got a standing ovation, and he did so fighting with your own Juan Williams over the whole welfare issue.

RUSH: Yeah, but Newt did something last night that he's not done before. Juan Williams asked the question, and Newt just answered it as though Juan Williams was a robot. He didn't say, "See, here we have another example of a distorted, biased media, you people trying to get us fighting with one another." He didn't waste any time going after Juan Williams; didn't accuse Juan Williams of ill motives; didn't even acknowledge Juan Williams had a motive, just answered the question. Here is an example. "Speaker Gingrich," it's Juan Williams speaking, "You recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps. You also said that poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools. Can't you see that this is viewed at a minimum as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?"

GINGRICH: No. I don't see that. (applause) New York City pays their janitors an absurd amount of money because of the union. You could take one janitor and hire 30-some kids to work in the school for the price of one janitor, and those 30 kids would be a lot less likely to drop out. They would actually have money in their pocket. They'd learn to show up for work. They could do light janitorial duty. They could work in the cafeteria. They could work in the front office. They could work in the library. They'd be getting money, which is a good thing if you're poor. Only the elites despise earning money. (cheers and applause)

RUSH: As I say, I told Cookie to leave the applause in here. Juan Williams followed up, and he got booed.

WILLIAMS: We saw some of this reaction during your visit to a black church in South Carolina. (booing) We saw some of this during your visit to a black church in South Carolina where a woman asked you why you referred to President Obama as "the food stamp president." It sounds as if you're seeking to belittle people. (booing.)

GINGRICH: The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history. Now, I know among the politically correct you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable. The area that ought to be I-73 was called by Barack Obama a corridor of shame because of unemployment. Has it improved in three years? No. They haven't build the road. They haven't helped the people. They haven't done anything. (cheers and applause) I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their creator with the right to pursue happiness, and if that makes liberals unhappy, I'm gonna continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn someday to own the job. (cheers and applause)

RUSH: Standing O. Remember, this line of questioning was all racially tinted from Juan Williams. Newt Gingrich did not take the bait and answer in a racial context. He answered within the context that we're all people and that we, as conservatives, want the best for everybody. I might say, I felt... no, I'm not gonna say that. Well, okay, now I have to since I can't tease you like that. I actually felt we were getting much the same kind of philosophy I tried to express in my CPAC speech, that we are for everybody doing well, that we conservatives do not see black and white, male, female, gay, straight when we look at people down the line. We see potential. We want the best for everybody.

We know what's holding 'em back, and that's government, government central planners, people like Barack Obama, Pelosi, Reid, who look at people and see them with contempt and condescension, see them being incapable, and they treat them that way and they devise systems to deal with them that way, and they keep them forever dependent, which destroys their humanity, which makes us sick. It breaks our hearts.

What breaks our hearts is to look at conditions in black America and see how they haven't improved under the tutelage of Democrats for 50 years. And it breaks our hearts because there are people who have better ideas for making those people's lives better, and they aren't Democrats. And the sooner the people being subjugated by Democrats break free of them the better off they're gonna be, and that's what Newt was telling them. We want everybody not only to get a job, to learn to do a better job and then someday own the business. In a context of a racially tinted question, Newt Gingrich is essentially saying, "I want black kids to own their own businesses." What in the hell is there to boo about that? What's racist about that? Absolutely nothing. And that's why that audience was standing O. 'Cause this audience, made up of conservatives, is like you and me.

We're sick and tired of being called racists and bigots and sexists, when all we want is the best for everybody. We are sick and tired of this categorization, when in fact it is the people leveling the charge who are the racists; who look at these people and see no possibility; who see no potential; who see them only as voters; who want to dumb them down; who want to keep them poor; who want to keep them dependent. It's not us that want to perpetuate the misery of people who vote Democrat, continue to exist in their lives.

If you look at the entire Democrat constituency except for Hollywood and Wall Street, it is a never-ending sea of human misery. And we hate that, and we despise it, and we want it to end because we want a great country, and we know that a great country is made up of great individuals. Another reason the standing O occurred there, the reason for it, was that a media member got smacked down without being directly spoken to. In fact, when they went to the after-debate analysis, of course everybody knew that Juan would have his take on it, and he did, and he admitted to being shocked. He was shocked at the audience reaction to his questions, just as he was shocked when he found out that there were educated people who did not believe that man was behind global warming. When he first came across Lord Monckton, he'd never heard it before.

He was shocked that the audience had the reaction they had. He said, I'm paraphrasing, "This tonight is gonna open the eyes of a lot of people and a lot of Democrats 'cause this crowd clearly loved what Newt said." Groupthink on display. There's only one way of looking at people in poverty. There's only one way of looking at people of color, it's the Juan Williams way, it is a liberal Democrat way, and that it's a lifetime condition they've been born into and it's somebody else's fault and there's no way we can get out of it so we gotta do what little we can to make their lives somewhat passable.

There's no attempt to improve those people's lives. If there were an attempt to improve those people's lives it would be to get government out of their lives. Government doesn't improve anybody's life, other than if you own Solyndra or if you're a big donor to a Democrat and they pay you back with government money, but that's it. Average, ordinary Americans do not do anything but get harmed by a central planning, big government that thinks it's got all the answers rooted in its phony, fake compassion.

So what we had last night in the Newt portion of the debate alone was the pure and simple, forceful, passionate articulation of conservative principle and belief that before last night was missing, for whatever reason. People afraid to express it. The candidates really aren't conservative enough to have it in their hearts. We know now that it's in Newt's heart. It's there. Sometimes I think Newt ought to try his job like I do: Half his brain tied behind my back; get rid of the other half that thinks all those liberal thoughts. You know, get the Eisenhower part of his brain lobotomized. (interruption) What divide? (interruption) Oh, no, the divide can't be overcome. I don't think the divide can be. That's why Juan Williams...

We're not here to persuade Juan Williams. We're here to make Juan Williams a member of the permanent minority. He can think whatever he wants to think. We just need to be a people who think differently than him and a majority of people think differently. Bridge the divide, the cultural divide? I don't think we can bridge the cultural divide. Not in this election, maybe not in a generation. It's too deep. It's too entrenched. The pop culture alone, we don't have any entree into it. Pop culture alone is as much responsible for the cultural divide as politics is, and we're not there. We don't have anybody in pop culture.

The Twitter thing after the Fox debate last night was a clear illustration, so bridging the cultural divide? Nah. The cultural divide is as much a matter of principle to the left as anything else. They're not gonna give up their principle on this. They believe people are inferior. They believe people are incompetent. (interruption) Oh, yeah, the headline. There's a headline that I saw, some guy named Jason Easley: "The Republican Debate Audience Hits A New Low By Cheering Child Labor." That's how Newt's answer is portrayed in the media today! "The Republican Debate Audience Hits A New Low By Cheering Child Labor." (interruption) No, it's totally believable. That's who they are. Now, nobody sane thinks Newt Gingrich was "promoting child labor."

Anybody with a brain, a thinking brain had to realize that Newt Gingrich only wants the best in terms of possibility for poor people, and he thinks that food stamps are not the best. He thinks work is. Work is a good thing! Getting paid for doing work is a good thing. The lessons learned are a good thing. Mr. Snerdley, the Democrats have spent 60 years building the cultural divide. It's the Berlin Wall of our country. Cultural divide is the Berlin Wall. It's their Berlin Wall. They have built the Berlin Wall as the cultural divide to keep their people in it. We are the people on the free side of the Berlin Wall in this country. Juan Williams and his bunch are the East Germans. Newt was the West Germans last night. Newt wants to tear down the wall. Look what had to happen for that to happen. They build their wall, cultural divide, to keep their people in -- and it's worked, by the way. Now they want to add the Hispanics to it and the illegal immigrants to it.

RUSH: There was no fear in Newt Gingrich's answer. He did not preface his answer with any politically correct excuse. He just launched. Now, Snerdley asked me, "Does this mean we're gonna bridge the culture divide?" Who asked the question? Juan Williams. And what was his question? "Don't you understand, Mr. Speaker? Don't you have the slightest idea...?" Let me get the question exactly: "You also said poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools. Can't you see that this is viewed, at a minimum, as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?" This is the guy who got fired from NPR because of "insensitive comments" about Muslims.

Now, you would think that after having gone through that, Juan Williams would have a different perspective. NPR cans him because he said he admitted on an airplane flight, I think it was, that something made him nervous. A couple Muslims on an airplane flight made him nervous. Then he found out that they also fired him because they had a prejudice against Fox. So Juan Williams was fired by the liberal NPR for insensitivity remarks about Muslims getting on an airplane, and then getting fired for working at Fox -- and then gets hired full time by Fox, a conservative bunch, with a salary increase and becomes the NPR guy asking the same questions that got him fired; and you ask me if we're gonna bridge the cultural divide? (interruption)

Yeah, but not in the same way. When I'm shocked by something I think about it, but Juan Williams is not thinking about, "Gosh, what did I miss here?" He's not thinking that. He's thinking, "My God, we don't understand how crazy these people are. They're even nuttier than we think. They're more racist than we believe! Democrats are gonna be shocked." That's what he's thinking. It never comes back to them. They're never doing anything wrong. They've never hold the wrong view. My gosh, these people are the biggest superiorists you've ever run into. Juan Williams said he gets nervous if he's in an airport and sees people in Muslim garb. Bam! He's gone. (paraphrased exchange)

"Mr. Speaker, don't you see this is viewed as insulting to all Americans, particularly the black Americans."

"Wow, he doesn't see how this is insulting! His audience doesn't see it, either. Man, these people are even worse than we thought!"

Snerdley, we're talking the news media! It's the only business where the customer's always wrong. Customer of a newspaper complains about bias, what do they say? "Well, you're too stupid to understand how we do our business. Go ahead and cancel your subscription. We don't give a damn!" So people cancel their subscriptions, and the journalist wears it as a badge of honor. "We got fewer and fewer readers, fewer and fewer people sophisticated enough to understand what we're doing." Their owners look at the bleeding ink and the red ink and say, "Oh, my God." Journalists decry the fact they have to have fealty to the bottom line. "Fewer but better readers." Readers that are not gonna send 'em complaints.

Readers that are not gonna question how they do their job, readers that aren't gonna question their judgment. The news business: The only business where the customer is always wrong, by definition. Yeah, a lot of stuff was illustrated last night and we're focusing on Newt here because Newt did get the standing O. Newt was the unchallenged leader last night in the articulation of pure, simple conservatism. Santorum was also great last night. Rick Perry may have had his finest moments in the debate last night. Romney is a good debater. He makes good points. He deflects arguments well. He tends not to make any unforced errors. But he never wins debates outright. He survives them well enough that he comes out with hardly any scars.

RUSH: By the way, Newt also, as a prelude to his answer on young kids starting off as janitors in the schools that they attend, mentioned that his daughter did just that. That mighta given him some credibility in the answer, although I don't think any credibility was needed. We all have stories like that. My first job was shining shoes in a barber shop at age 13. I made 50 bucks when I was 13 years old. My parents thought I was too young to go to work but I did it. I loved it.

Romney will lose in November. With Gingrich the country is offered a clear choice...Newt will slaughter Obama in the debates. Have you heard The One off his teleprompter...the guy is an empty suit.

Sure they will hammer Newt over his personal past...but they will do the same with Romney...and Mittens will not fight back.

I’ll take the fighter.

I was thrilled with Newt. But there is one thing I wish he had added. I wish he would have also said that giving school kids a job, so they can actually EARN money is a far superior idea than Obama's pleas to the teens to do volunteer jobs in their cities and work for FREE.

At least if they are working they end up with something in their pockets. Obama just wants to use them as "slaves" for his community organizing schemes and as pawns in obtaining the black vote. Again, proving, he does not care about their plight...only his own motives to retain power.

I don’t think any other candidate could have answered the question like Newt did, except a true conservative like Rush or Palin.

I also don’t think any of the other candidates would be comfortable going to a black church. Think about that for a second. The guy is fighting for his life in SC, and he goes to a black church? Only 2% of the pop is black?

I knew right then that this guy is not phoney.

I also hope he picks up on what Rush said. Newt did not go after the questioner, I think he was ready for the question, in fact, I predicted this would happen, and he slugged it out of the park as he was ready for the question, hoping for it.

Thanks Rush...now let’s hear more about how Newt sounds like Occupy Wall Street in decrying Romney’s corporatism and defilement of “capitalism”.

Newt, with all his flaws, is the Real Deal.
NOBODY still standing in this GOP field has either the nerve or the rhetorical wherewithal
to answer these obviously hostile questions the way he did.
I never liked Juan Williams, and like him even less now.
The way he lost his job at NPR because he violated their PC codes, caused everyone on FOX to come to his aid, and give him an even more secure home in the Land of Fair and Balanced.
This is the way he repays them: by asking
EXACTLY the kind of question, and phrasing it in the same demagogic way that someone on the far Left or NPR would.
This man is NOT to be trusted.

Newt has annoyed me to no end in this campaign . . . but . . . that was an absolutely brilliant answer. I wish he could see his way clear to sticking to that sort of campaigning that inspires and rouses the audience instead of mucking about insulting Romney’s career.

I also don’t think any of the other candidates would be comfortable going to a black church.

I remember way back when. NG had gone to a black church in Wash. D.C. and was asked a tough question: Why should we trust you? His answer: (paraphrased) You shouldn't! And you shouldn't trust any other politician either. You should basically verify me by my actions.

I think maybe Rush has had time to sort things out. I really thought that somebody’s suggestion - maybe it was yours? - that Rush had just gone into a poorly or non-thought-out rant with the silly “attacking capitalism” stuff and then didn’t want to back down was probably accurate.

Plus I bet he heard from a lot of people who were pretty angry about his off-the-wall comments and the amount of damage they had done. I was pretty sure Rush was in the Romney column, but this gives me hope that maybe he’s not.

I had my first baby sitting jobs at 12. By the time I was sixteen, I had no life outside school, sports, church and baby sitting. I had parents working to outbid each other.

I told my mom and dad at the dinner table my problem and my dad started clapping. He did not want me to have a personal teenage life. What a cad! :)

Liv- I heard Laura Ingramn (sp)today. They’re all backtracking and praising Newt. But the damage has been done. Until I hear Rush et al repudiate the liberal Romney, I’m not buying anything they say.

I was listening to Rush today as he played Newt’s answers to liberal Juan William’s racist tainted questions.

Newt ROCKED!!!

We lived in a small town & I started babysitting at 12 also. I also had a paper route. I had things on layaway all over town! It felt so good to buy my own things. I cannot imagine being given freebies.

To this day I take good care of everything I buy w/ money I earn.

A whole group of kids & teens have no concept of working for what they want. I find that horrifying.

I missed the debate, but heard these highlights and this is what I wished Newt had started with and kept on this whole time. It is awesome.

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