Did you not listen today? He was defending him left and right. He played soudbytes of Nancy Reagan praising Newt, he talked about his own experiences learning about Newt, he quoted Reagan officials who liked Newt, and so on... He may not have used the exact words you wanted, but the overall theme today was defense of unwarranted attacks.
He was NOT defending Newt. He reported the Reagan soundbite. Rush, himself, did not defend Newt. He triangulated on the Romney-Newt attacks by underplaying the Newt assault when he tried show them as equal, the equalizer, being that Romney is being attacked too, from some lefty organizations, AS IF THEY WERE of THE SAME MAGNITUDE. Nope, Rush is triangulating at a crucial time, and it will not be found helping Newt if today’s program is an example. IMHO. I am just disagreeing with the premise, but not you and altura.