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RUSH: We’d like to welcome to the microphone Georgia congressman Phil Gingrey, who ended up being quoted yesterday by Jonathan Martin and somebody else at Politico.com.  Congressman Gingrey asked to come on the program today to address that and we are happy to have him here.  Congressman, welcome to the program, sir.

GINGREY:  Rush, thank you so much.  I thank you for the opportunity. Of course, it’s not exactly the way I wanted to come on, but I appreciate you giving me the opportunity.  Mainly, I want to express to you and all your listeners my very sincere regret for those comments I made yesterday to Politico.  Basically the intent of my words to them was to discuss the unique position of congressional Republicans and our leadership, particularly John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.  I clearly ended up putting my foot in my mouth on some of those comments (laughs) and I just wanted to tell you, Rush, and — and all our conservative giants who help us so much to maintain our base and grow it and get back this majority that I regret those stupid comments.

He must’ve said something really bad to be grovelling like that.

“I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach,” Gingrey said. “I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don’t have to try to do what’s best for your people and your party. You know you’re just on these talk shows and you’re living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn’t be or wouldn’t be good leaders, they’re not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell.”

See what David Frum has to say at his shiny new website.

Rush and Hannity and O’Reilly and Ann Coulter and the others have their place and their role. They spoke for an important section of public opinion, and it is a section our party needs. But it is only a section, and not the whole. The more our party allows them to become our public face, the more embattled and endangered our party becomes.