Return to Transcripts main page
Glenn Beck
Horrific Details Emerge in Newark Slayings; Mexico Upset with Deportation of Illegal Alien Mom; Rangers Score 30 Runs in One Game
Aired August 23, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, new horrific details emerging about the Newark slayings. Why three savage murders may finally wake up sanctuary cities from their illegal immigration slumber.
Plus, one step forward, two steps Barack. What coal thoons (ph) and arugula have to do with proving Obama is out of touch with middle America.
And 30 runs in one game. I`m told that`s a big deal.
All this, and more, tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Hello, America.
More details have come out now about the Newark schoolyard killings and the animals who authorities believe are responsible. The story gets more and more gruesome. And if you have children in the room, I recommend that you don`t let them hear the next few minutes.
The point tonight is, this wasn`t merely a killing; it was a massacre. And here is how I got there.
Based on a collection of reports now, here`s what we believe happened in that Newark schoolyard just a couple of Saturdays ago. Sometime after 11 p.m. at night, four good kids getting ready to start college in the fall, two boys, two girls, approached by a group of men.
At least one of the suspects is an illegal alien, others, foreign nationals. All of them are alleged to be criminals. It seems that it may have simply started as a robbery. Then there might have been some resistance. Maybe the girls got loud.
Then reports say they tried to shut these people up with an attempted gang rape. Yes, that always does the trick.
As the heat and tensions rose outside the Mount Vernon Elementary School, the vicious assailants upped the ante. They forced four New Jersey kids to their knees, put bullets to the back of their head. Then one of the monsters, overflowing with evil, took a machete and sliced off the face of one of the dead girls and then hacked at the others with the same bloody machete.
Just before midnight, three kids were dead, making it a grand total of 60 murders this year in Newark, a self-proclaimed sanctuary for illegal immigrants.
Tonight, here`s what you need to know. Let me be extraordinarily clear and not because I`m going all PC on you, but because it`s the truth. Not all illegal immigrants are rapists and murderers, but sanctuary makes it hard to figure out who`s who, hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. We don`t know, because we can`t ask.
Newark, you can`t know who`s in your city if you don`t know who`s in your city. Even if you don`t support the idea of national I.D. cards, we the people are entitled to know the immigration status of those people who are arrested.
Anne Milgram, she`s New Jersey`s attorney general, now says she`s going to put that common sense practice into place. Well, that`s great.
Well, guess what, Ms. General, sir, you`re three dead kids too late. We also need to know that one of the alleged Newark killers was out on bail, twice, after allegedly raping a 5-year-old child.
And at least one of the other gang was apparently walking around with a machete. How did that go unnoticed? I mean, are they just looking for those guns from law-abiding citizens? Isn`t a machete hard to conceal?
New Haven, San Francisco and every other bleeding heart town that`s thinking about jumping on the sanctuary bandwagon, I hope you`re paying attention to New Jersey.
You might want to think that you`re offering sanctuary to illegal immigrants, and that is just the thing that Jesus would do. But what you`re really doing is offering your women up for rape, your children possibly up for rape and murder, and you`re making sure the coroner has some overtime in his future.
Security and political correctness cannot peacefully co-exist.
Tom Fitton is the president and chief spokesman of Judicial Watch.
Tom, this kills me about this attorney general. She says now we`re going to get -- quote, "get serious" about the legal status of criminals. Do you think that`s really going to happen?
TOM FITTON, JUDICIAL WATCH: I do. It`s an extraordinary development. Liberal New Jersey is on the cutting edge of immigration enforcement. Because every police officer in New Jersey is directed, once they arrest someone, to make an inquiry as to their immigration status.
BECK: Yes.
FITTON: And if they`re suspected to be illegal, you`re supposed to turn them over to ICE.
BECK: OK.
FITTON: That`s a positive development. The negative development is, they can`t ask anyone else whether they`re illegal or not.
BECK: Thank you. Thank you. That`s exactly right. I`m driving in the car, I`m drunk, I`ve got ten people behind me. We`re all in the car having a party. If I break the law, because I`m DWI, they can ask me. But God forbid we ask anybody else.
FITTON: That`s right. And that`s where it breaks down. But it`s a positive development, nevertheless.
New Jersey needs to get its act together, and it`s a signal to other localities and big cities that this sanctuary city policy where police officials tell the cops, and handcuff the cops they can`t help enforce immigration law and they can`t talk to the feds.
BECK: What is the A.G. doing on child molesters? One of these guys was out on bail twice, and he kept having his bail reduced. What are they doing on that one?
FITTON: Well, presumably that`s part two. And there`s a judge, a senior judge that`s been appointed to -- to investigate how the court system handled those cases.
But, you know, that`s another big problem in New Jersey and other states, where violent criminals are let out on bail, to the surprise of the citizens who are their victims, either from the initial crime or subsequent crimes.
BECK: You know, I have to tell you, this is like the perfect storm of stories for any newsroom in America, and yet they`re not covering it. If this was just a bunch of white kids that were from America, this -- this story would be everywhere.
I mean, look at the outrage of what happened in Cheshire, Connecticut. It`s the same damn story. I mean, you`ve got people who are out on bail...
FITTON: That`s right.
BECK: ... who were supposed to be, you know, in jail. You`ve got people that are illegal immigrants. You`ve got a child predator. This is the perfect storm. Why could you suppose it`s not getting as much coverage even as Cheshire did?
FITTON: Well, because too many in the big media like illegal immigration and stories that undermine the arguments in favor of legalizing illegal immigrants are given short shrift.
Ideology, Glenn, that`s the reason.
BECK: Yes, yes. And good luck with what you`re doing in Los Angeles. All right. Thanks, Tom.
Earlier this week I told you about the illegal immigrant mom who had been hiding out in Chicago in a church for over a year when authorities finally apprehended her and deported her back to Mexico.
On her way out, she chose to leave her 8-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, here rather than be raised by her in Mexico.
Let`s all remember that the blame for this scenario belongs in one place: with her, the illegal alien mom. She made all the bad decisions, including the one to break up her family.
However, the nation of Mexico disagrees. Their Senate has passed a measure urging the Mexican president to send a U.S. diplomatic note protesting the deportation.
On behalf of all sane thinking Americans, let me just say this: Mexico, butt out. And George Bush, don`t you even think about it. Mexico is already such a mess that illegals are escaping into America by half a million a year. We don`t need or want your two pesos` worth of advice. And I don`t give a damn if you protest our decision.
We only need to remind ourselves of the plight of border agents Ramos and Compean to see what happens when Mexico starts sending us little notes.
Duncan Hunter is a Republican congressman from California.
Congressman, she said today, on Mexican television, she said today, "The United States is the one who broke the law first by letting people cross without documents and letting people pay taxes."
And you know what, I`ve got to tell you, she`s right for the wrong reasons. We`re in violation of our own law.
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, Glenn, here`s what we have to do.
You know, we passed my border fence bill last October 26. That`s when the president signed it. Eight hundred and fifty-four miles across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and today the administration`s only done 17.9 miles.
With an enforceable border, problems like this go away.
And you know, obviously politicians in Mexico love the open border, because that`s a pressure release valve for them. When they can`t take care of their people, when they can`t give a modicum of freedom to their people, they want their people to vote with their feet, leave the country and, incidentally, send back some cash every week to help run the -- the economy in Mexico. So...
BECK: But you know, Congressman, as well as I do, I mean, you`re looking at the picture of her on Mexican television today, making these great statements about how evil the U.S. is, et cetera, et cetera. This is not only a P.R. campaign in America; it`s one in Mexico and it`s one worldwide.
HUNTER: Well, and you know, she`s making a case to change the law that says that if you come over here illegally, your children don`t become citizens. And so she`s making a strong case to change that law. So she may get more than she bargained for.
BECK: But you know, Duncan, I know you. You`re a right thinking guy on this particular cause. I mean, I respect you for everything you`ve done. But do you really believe that anymore? That any of these weasels in Washington on both sides of the aisle are actually going to take that route instead of, oh, well, let`s just disregard all of these laws?
HUNTER: But Glenn, here`s what we do have. We do have a law. It`s not a bill that somebody`s got to pass. No senator has to pass muster on it. In fact, it passed the Senate 80-19 to build the double border fence...
BECK: But you know...
HUNTER: ... and stop -- and if that stops smugglings cold in San Diego.
BECK: You know as well as I do that they`re already starting to go for environmental reasons. They`ll coming up with reasons six ways to Sunday to get us to stop building it.
HUNTER: There`s one way -- one way to fix this thing, Glenn. Elect me president of the United States, and I will finish the border fence. All 854 miles.
BECK: I will tell you, sir, I do believe you on that. Let me ask you this. When it comes to the letter from Mexico, are we going to see George Bush and his cronies, you know, rounding up more border agents to, you know, do a little tit for tat to say, oh, Mexico, we`re your friends, really?
HUNTER: No, not if I have anything to say about it, Glenn. This is - - this is outrageous.
On the other hand, this is expected. This is what you -- what you get from the political system south of the border. They lack two things. They lack the cash money that flows back into Mexico`s economy every month, coming from folks that are illegally here.
And they like the pressure release valve of people who -- who can`t make a living in their country, voting with their feet, leaving their country, going north.
BECK: Congressman, thank you very much.
Once again, I ask you to keep our border agents Ramos and Compean and their families in your thoughts and prayers. I believe they are our country`s first political prisoners. And I won`t stop pleading their case, and I know others won`t until they`re finally free from their unlawful imprisonment.
Now coming up, some of Michael Vick`s supporters have been saying that he`s a victim. You know what? I`m going to go with the dogs on this one. But more insane is why they say he`s taken too much heat. The Reverend Al Sharpton joins me next.
Plus, where do you buy your arugula? Well, I don`t know. Senator Obama`s a Whole Foods man himself. Now all he has to do is explain to his base what arugula is and what Whole Foods is. That`s tonight`s "Real Story".
And we have topless photos. Ooh, of Vladimir Putin. Sexy, sexy man. It`s a disturbing end to the program. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Coming up on the trail of the political base. Why a campaign stop in Iowa left farmers scratching their head just a little bit and presidential hopeful Barack Obama scrambling. I`ll explain in just a minute.
Here in America, we let ourselves off the hook for all kinds of bad behavior and explain it away. Mel Gibson, he`s not an anti-Semite. He`s an alcoholic. Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, they`re not overindulged brats. They`re suffering from exhaustion and ADD.
The newest player in this game is NFL quarterback Michael Vick. He is not entitled -- not an entitled thug who tortures, bets and then murders sports fighting dogs. He`s part of a southern sub culture. Really?
I understand the celebrity spin machine, but I think it may be spinning completely out of control.
Michael Vick has accepted a plea that holds him accountable for training dogs to fight, gambling on the outcome and then destroying the animals through hanging, electrocution and drowning.
Trying to dismiss the behavior by assigning it to a racial or regional subculture, not only adds insult to the injury, but what Michael Vick has done is barbaric and illegal, and there isn`t any disputing that, is there? We can`t allow Vick to escape the severity of his crimes by allowing fancy language to disguise the cruelty to animals as something that we outside the subculture just don`t understand.
I, for one, am glad that we live in a culture that respects the rights of animals, that we love and care and are kind to animals.
Michael, once you`ve been locked up for your inhuman and inhumane actions, I don`t want to hear you complaining about your life in prison. After all, what goes on behind bars, maybe just part of a new subculture for you.
Joined now by Reverend Al Sharpton.
Reverend Sharpton.
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: How do you do?
BECK: Tell me that you don`t agree -- let me -- let me play you something here from the president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
R.L. WHITE, PRESIDENT, ATLANTA CHAPTER, NAACP: We maintain that he is a redeemable human. And as a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Mr. Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Got it. I maintain that he is a redeemable human being, and I hope that he reforms himself, et cetera, et cetera. But how, if you do agree with that, how do you square that with -- with Don Imus?
SHARPTON: First of all, I think Don Imus can be redeemed. He has to go through certain steps to do it. And I think that the courts will give the same to Michael Vick. I don`t see how people can tell me that Don Imus should be given a chance, and he should, but he must prove himself.
And I think Michael Vick must suffer the punishment given, and as long as that punishment is no different than anyone else that had done this deed. And I was one of the first to say I`m against dog fighting. Russell Simmons and I signed the animal rights letter denouncing it. So clearly, I don`t condone what he has now admitted to doing. But I don`t think that we shut the door and say he can`t be redeemed.
BECK: I agree with that. I will agree with that.
SHARPTON: OK.
BECK: If you won`t dismiss -- what`s happening here is cries of racism and cries of a subculture that I just don`t understand. I think that`s one of the most despicable things I`ve ever heard. Is it -- are you -- is somebody trying to convince people that this is an African-American subculture, that dog fighting and dog torturing and killing?
SHARPTON: If they are, then I think that that`s racist. Because first of all, from all the data I`ve seen, most people that are doing dog fighting are white in the south.
I think that dog fighting is barbaric and wrong. I think where there has been some elements raised is some of the -- Vick and the depictions of Vick have been way over the top, accusing African-Americans. And a lot of people feel that that`s where race came in.
But to make dog fighting a black culture is insane.
BECK: I`ve got to tell you something, I don`t care what color he is. I really don`t. I`m so glad to hear you say that, you know -- you know, sometimes I you piss me off because I agree with you. And I don`t want to agree with you.
SHARPTON: Well, get a little P.O.`d today. I agree with you about dog fighting. I don`t -- or however, close the door. I think the president of NAACP is right, he can be redeemed. I think that...
BECK: You say that as a Reverend, and you say -- I mean, I say that as a Christian.
SHARPTON: I say that to people that I -- I mean, the guy that stabbed me for leading a march, I think he`s redeemable. I went to jail and visited him.
BECK: Pope John Paul met with the guy who shot him. I get it. But suffer the consequences first.
SHARPTON: Well, he`s got to suffer the consequences. But the consequences ought to be in line with what he did. What he did, it was barbaric. What others that are convicted of this got, he should get.
BECK: Absolutely.
SHARPTON: No more or no less.
BECK: Got it. NAACP President White also said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITE: We further ask the NFL, the Falcons and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Got to ask you again, can you square that with Don Imus?
SHARPTON: The last time...
BECK: You said and others said, "I`m going after the guests. I`m going after the sponsors. I`m going after any company that hires him."
SHARPTON: And we did. And we said now, like the last time I was on this show a couple of weeks ago, that people can hire him if he has in fact redeemed, if the advertisers can make sure he does not do the same thing.
Don Imus is the perfect defense for Michael Vick. You can`t say that Don Imus can be reformed, who did this on the air for decades. But you`re not going to give -- you`re going to end Michael Vick`s career.
BECK: All I want is -- all I want is consistency. That`s all I want. That`s all I want -- now...
SHARPTON: Michael Vick should not be permanently barred if, in fact, he can be redeemed.
BECK: But the problem is, redemption starts -- as a reverend, what`s the first step to redemption?
SHARPTON: Repentance.
BECK: "I`m sorry." You`re exactly right: "I`m sorry I did this. I did it, and I`m sorry." Sounds like a bunch of excuses happening in Michael Vick`s camp.
SHARPTON: No. Michael Vick -- I don`t know if that`s Michael Vick`s camp. That`s somebody else.
BECK: No, no, I didn`t mean to...
SHARPTON: Michael Vick has pled guilty. He`s sorry. And he`s going to face whatever he faces when he goes to court.
It seems to me that the Don Imus crowd says, "He`s been off four months. We don`t want any contractual obligation. Don`t tell us what to do." That sounds to me like a lot of excuses.
BECK: Reverend Al Sharpton, thank you very much.
SHARPTON: All right, Brother Beck.
BECK: Back in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: In case you don`t know, I may be the least sports-minded man on God`s green earth. Since the passing of Rip Taylor, I believe I am that guy now.
But I was even interested last night when the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 30-3. That`s more runs that has been scored in any game for 110 years.
Not a lot of joy in Maryland tonight. But in Boston, that`s another story.
According to "USA Today", one of my favorite newspapers because of all the pictures, you know, and the colorful stuff going on -- I`m a conservative, I don`t read well -- the Red Sox are the biggest attraction in baseball, America`s team now.
Joining me now, an expert on all things baseball, ESPN`s Tim Kurkjian.
Tim, what was the reaction last night at the game? I mean, I think if I were sitting there, and I was an O`s fan, I`d be rooting for the Rangers.
TIM KURKJIAN, SENIOR WRITER, ESPN: It was complete disbelief. Anyone who`s been covering for baseball for a living, like myself, looks at a team that scores 30 runs in a game and says, how in the world can this possibly happen? This is impossible. It`s been 110 years since a team scored 30 runs in a game. Ad the important part...
BECK: So -- so what happened?
KURKJIAN: What happened is, it`s baseball. This is the ultimate beauty of the game. Every night you go to the ballpark, there`s a chance you`re going to see something you`ve never seen before in your life. And most of the time it`s inexplicable why it happened.
But this is the best part. The history of the game is so rich and so thick, that things that happened 100 years ago in baseball, and only in baseball, have significance today.
So looking at that box score, like I look at every morning of my entire life, that will be a box score that will live for the rest of time. That`s how important in the baseball scale that was.
BECK: OK. You can tell it`s a slow news today when "USA Today" is leading with America`s team, the Red Sox on the front page above the fold. It`s this new wave, I guess, that`s sweeping -- really, it`s anti- Yankeeism, which my family now in Connecticut wants to hang me. There will be torches and pitch forks around my house. But I`m a Red Sox fan, not a Yankees fan. And it`s ugly when you even suggest that anywhere in my neighborhood.
But America is starting to turn to the Red Sox. Why?
KURKJIAN: Well, probably because they were and still are the lovable Red Sox, as opposed to the enemy, for most people, and that`s the Yankees. Everybody hates the team that makes the most money. Everybody -- or some people hate the team that`s won the most championships. In this case, 26.
The Red Sox have a very interesting team. They have a very good team. They have a very diverse team. One of their best players, David Ortiz, is from the Dominican Republic. They have a Japanese player. They have American players. They`re a very interesting club. And they`re not -- and they`re lovable compared to the Yankees. Most teams are.
BECK: You know, here`s the thing. I mean, you see the Yankees, and it`s appropriate they`re all wearing pin stripes, man, because it`s like playing IBM. It`s just this big corporate machine.
And I know the Red Sox are, as well. But maybe it`s just that the Yankees are a place where I can deposit all of my disgust with people who don`t seem to be in it for the love of the game anymore; they`re just in it for the love of money.
KURKJIAN: Well, again, every sport, every situation needs a villain. And the Yankees are the best villain in the whole world. They play in New York. They`re run by George Steinbrenner. They make more money than anybody else. They`ve won more championships than anybody else. And that`s why they serve a really good purpose for baseball.
BECK: OK. Thanks a lot, Tim.
Up next, why Barack`s inability to become a man of the people may cost him some trouble on election time. Don`t miss tonight`s "Real Story", next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, coming up in just a second -- I mean, do we have to run that? That`s my magazine, "Fusion." And if you subscribe to it, you`ve already seen that like six months ago, and it horrifies my kids. It is 100 percent fabricated. I clearly asked our producers to have a picture of President Putin without a shirt, not me. You want to see him topless? Oh, keep watching. It`s coming up, presidential pinups.
But first, the real story. Tonight, for the last couple of days, I`ve been telling you the FBI has been trying to identify two men who have repeatedly observed suspicious activity on board Seattle ferry boats. Along with that report, I have been showing you this picture. They both have their shirts on, which is nice. This was released by the FBI only after weeks of showing it privately to ferry employees and turning up nothing. Sounds reasonable, right? I mean, I`m no FBI investigator, but I am a thinker.
Isn`t a picture a little more helpful to help people search than saying, "Yes, we`re looking for a couple of guys, and they`re both wearing jackets"? You know, that`s why we put pictures of missing children on the back of milk cartons instead of just describing them. Right? is that right? Don`t answer. Don`t answer, actually.
The "Real Story" is, common sense has won again, passed on in Seattle. And it`s a result of politics, profiling, and wait for it, wait for it, yes, Islamophobia. One newspaper which shall remain nameless -- OK, you twisted my arm, "The Seattle Post-Intelligencer," decided to take a stand and not publish the FBI photo, because, according to the paper`s managing editor, showing it could, quote, "forever taint the men by associating them with terrorism."
Well, we invited Mr. Managing Editor David McCumber on the program today by e-mailing him at davidmccumber@seattlepi.com, but he politely declined, probably because he realized he was going to have a pretty tough time explaining how his paper`s righteous little stand would make any difference, considering the picture`s already been shown by virtually every other major media outlet.
You know, how about just being honest for a change? This has nothing to do with civil rights or privacy. It`s about your far-left-leaning newspaper taking a stand against the big, bad government that`s coming to get us all.
But this just isn`t just politics; it`s also about profiling. Even though we have absolutely no idea what nationality or religion these guys are, some Arab and Muslim leaders in Seattle are already taking offense. They say investigators should come to them first with the pictures so they could just go around in the community and ask themselves. And they believe they`re owed an apology from the FBI. Wow, I am sorry, I guess I missed the day in civics class when we learned that our government consults with every minority and special interest group before they launch an investigation. I`ll have to read up on that one.
Listen up, Muslim leaders. We are not Great Britain, at least not yet.
Steve Emerson is the executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Steve, I`ve got to tell you, this is like Jack McClellan saying, you know, "How dare you put that picture out there." No, better yet, NAMBLA coming to the paper and saying, "Don`t put his picture up there. You should come to us first and we`ll ask around for it."
STEVE EMERSON, TERRORISM EXPERT: Well, what`s even more outrageous is that one of the groups that`s asking for the apology, the Arab American Community Coalition of Washington State, issued on their Web site a directive that says, "You do not have to talk to the FBI." And they explicitly give instructions why anybody who`s contacted by the FBI should keep their mouth shut. These are the very same people that say they should have been contacted first so they could find the suspects?
BECK: What is their legitimate reason for saying, in their view, of saying you don`t have to talk to the FBI? What are they afraid of?
EMERSON: Well, according to the ACLU, they`re saying do not say anything without a lawyer. It`s very important that you have a lawyer. You do not have to permit FBI or a police officer to enter your home.
They don`t like the FBI. They put out, not this group necessarily, but many Islamic groups put out the word that the FBI, the Justice Department are out to get you, that there`s a war against Islam. They put out the most conspiratorial illusion to the government`s intentions possible. And therefore, they`re not the agencies or the institutions by which we should ferret out suspects. They`re the ones in which encourage suspects to become suspects.
BECK: But, Steve, you know, I said in the opening monologue here that, you know, we`re not Great Britain, yet, but we`re sure headed that way. I mean, when you`ve got the "Seattle P.I." -- I grew up reading the "Seattle P.I." for the love of Pete. That`s my hometown of Seattle.
When you`ve got Seattle coming out and saying, "No, no, no, let`s not profile," since when don`t we publish pictures -- with the "Seattle P.I.," are they going to stop doing it for child molesters, are they going to stop looking for robbers? Are they going to stop printing anything else that the FBI is saying, "Look out for this guy"?
EMERSON: Well, those surveillance photos in convenience stores that people suspected of holdups, are they going to stop putting up tip lines? No, they`re doing this selectively because of political correctness that`s designed basically to protect radical Islam. They`re joining forces with radical Islamic groups.
It`s the same reason why the prime minister of Great Britain says, "I`m not going to use the word Islamic terrorist when I want to describe terrorism." And it`s the same reason why members of Congress today are saying, "We don`t want to use the word Islamic terrorists, because it sort of denigrates Muslims." That`s a racist reaction. We should be using the word Islamic terrorists, because it informs us about the very nature of what describes the activities of these terrorists.
BECK: The whole world is upside down. Thanks, Steve.
Next, a lot of people think that Barack Obama`s appeal is a result of how down-to-earth and Middle America he seems. Key word: seems. As the campaign goes on, the "Real Story" is, Obama`s relatability may actually turn out to be his downfall. I mean, who`s he relatable to so far? The elitist.
At a campaign stop in Iowa last month, Obama tried to give the old "I`m just like you" speech. He was talking to farmers about, you know, how much he understood their frustration with sluggish crop prices. And he said, quote, "Has anybody gone to Whole Foods lately and seen what they charged for arugula?"
No, I haven`t, lovey, you`ll have to excuse me. I`ve been preoccupied in mourning with Leona Helmsley all week. I mean, come on. Considering that there`s no Whole Foods in the entire state of Iowa that and arugula isn`t exactly a household vegetable, most of the farmers in the audience had no clue at all what he was talking about.
But the better question is whether anyone in the country knows what he`s really talking about when you actually listen to him. I mean, the audacity of hope? Am I the only one that doesn`t really know what that is, really?
Peter Fenn, you`re a Democratic strategist. I mean, does he turn into Dennis Miller, Peter?
PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you`re trying to turn him into Dennis Miller.
BECK: No, I`m not.
FENN: Listen, I`ll tell you, don`t you remember Michael Dukakis was in Iowa, he talked about Belgian endives?
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Exactly my point.
FENN: We had President Bush I who didn`t know what a scanner at a grocery store was. I`ll tell you, I think one of the things that when candidates try to be a little too down-to-earth, it doesn`t come off very well. Actually I think that Barack Obama probably does relate to folks. I think you`re going to see it in these upcoming primaries.
BECK: But here`s the thing, Peter. I mean, I actually -- I don`t agree with a thing Barack Obama says, but I actually like him. I do think that he`s a -- he doesn`t mind being himself. But you hit the nail right on the head: Stop trying to be everyman. First of all, do you really think that Barack Obama, like three weeks ago was, "Hey, honey, I`ll stop by and get some arugula at Whole Foods," and then last week was standing there at the arugula going, "Oh, my gosh, look at the price"?
FENN: I mean, I have trouble knowing what the price of milk is, so let alone the price of arugula. And I`m an iceberg lettuce with Roquefort kind of guy, you know, blue cheese is my thing.
But, you know, I think the interesting thing about Obama is, when he gives speeches, whether it`s the Veterans of Foreign Wars or whether it`s a group of young people, he can connect. He works a crowd pretty darn well. He has something going for him. But, you know, I think that you`re right: I mean, the whole point of this is, you`ve got to relate to people where they are, where they live.
BECK: Sure. Peter, I just have to tell you that I was looking at all of the candidates, and I think the Democrats, as a whole, the party, so far off-base, and I think the Republicans are so far off-base with their base that this is really -- this has the potential of becoming just a popularity contest, because you have Giuliani, who doesn`t really appeal to his base, and he`s got a pretty good shot. Thompson, I don`t know what`s going to happen with Thompson. Romney, probably the closest with the base, but he`s got the Mormon thing. You`ve got Clinton, who I think is unelectable. She`s not in-step with her base.
The rest of them don`t have a prayer. Obama could be just the guy who`s just the most popular, because that`s how people usually vote on, "I`d hang out with that guy. He seems normal."
FENN: You know, I think the one point you`re making which is critical here is that voters really do care about having a three-dimensional sense of their candidates. They want to know about their faith and their family. They want to know what makes them tick. They want to know more about them than their positions on a yellow pad on issues.
And, you know, some people say it`s the most personal vote you`ll ever cast, more personal than any state legislator, mayor, local official, and I think that`s really true. One of the problems I think Giuliani has...
BECK: Hang on. Hang on.
FENN: Giuliani, you know, he says I`m not answering questions about my faith and family. Well, pal, you had an ad when you first ran for mayor where you used your wife then, Donna Hanover, and used your son, who now won`t talk to you, playing catch with him, and you were giving a bottle to your daughter who now supports Barack Obama. So, you know, you liked it when you were talking about family at one point, but now you don`t like talking about your family? Big problem.
BECK: I have to tell you, Peter, you took what I said about the voters -- I love what you`ve done with it. I just meant that most voters are stupid.
FENN: Is that what you said?
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Let`s go with your answer. Peter, thanks a lot. That`s the "Real Story" tonight.
FENN: Thanks.
BECK: Up next, actor and comedian Bob Saget joins me. Don`t miss a second of it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I just have to finish this Deion Sanders article. It came out a couple of weeks ago. He said, "I would have never thought Michael Vick would even be indicted for crimes against man`s best friends. The potential impact could be devastating. He could lose millions of dollars worth of endorsements."
Listen to this. "What a dog means to Vick might be a lot different than what he means to you or I." Moral relativism, I love it. I mean, I was just telling my friend, I had a hamburger on the barbecue, and he was barbecuing a dog, and we were saying, "You know, I would never barbecue and eat my dog." But he said, "Well, we`re just different people, and we view dogs differently." And I said, "How true it is."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: A few years back, I decided to stop watching Rated-R movies. I mean, XXX, I can`t get enough of them, but no more Rs. I made the decision for myself. I didn`t want to put that crap into my head, but mostly because I also didn`t want my kids to see them. And that`s one of the reasons why my next guest is fascinating to me.
Bob Saget is well-known for his family-friendly shows like "Full House," "America`s Funniest Home Videos." Honestly, and I`ll ask him here in a minute, shows that I think made him want to put a gun in his mouth, but I could be wrong.
He is really known for his filthy stand-up act. I have heard from people over and over and over again how funny he is and how filthy he is. We have the DVD of his HBO comedy special. This literally is the cleanest part we could find.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB SAGET, COMEDIAN: Don`t you dare laugh and mock my grandmother. I loved her. And that is (bleep), dude. I will slap the (bleep) the back of your head right onto his (bleep) and it (bleep) and you will be cockeyed. Oh, that was from (bleep) all to hell. But my dad, I`ll go back to him from six minutes ago. You have Tivo, you can fix (bleep).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: So, Bob, welcome to the program, first of all.
SAGET: Thank you. It`s a pleasure. There has to be something cleaner than that.
BECK: No, there wasn`t really, 15 seconds, that`s all we needed.
SAGET: I`m ashamed, and I apologize to America and the world.
BECK: No, you don`t. No, you don`t. You were a very funny comedian before you allowed somebody to suck the very soul out of you.
SAGET: Well, I was lucky to get the gig. I had a baby, and I got fired from a show over at the CBS network. And I played the anal-retentive father of three daughters on a sitcom for eight years.
BECK: You know what? That wasn`t as bad as "America`s Home Videos."
SAGET: Where the jokes were groaners, and I looked like I was in pain.
BECK: Yes, did you ever think to yourself, "I`ve got to kill myself"?
SAGET: No, because life goes on.
BECK: You knew you could be filthy onstage?
SAGET: Not only that, if I ever intended to hurt myself, someone would get it on tape, and I would...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Right, so now you are...
SAGET: Have I said anything wrong yet?
BECK: No, not yet. That was a little borderline, sketchy.
SAGET: Are we close? Are we near a button? Are we OK? I`m not going to go near anything anymore. I`m frightened of the clip you showed.
BECK: Everybody has told me for years that you are great on stage.
SAGET: In my live shows?
BECK: Yes, the live shows. Why are you -- why do you go this far? Why do you feel you have to go that far?
SAGET: I think there`s a glitch. I think I just finally got to the point -- you know what it is? I`ve always loved...
BECK: Were you this way before?
SAGET: Yes. My act was -- when I was 17, I started doing standup. And I used to come into New York City and I`d wait in line and go on at the Improv or Catch a Rising Star. And my act was always strange. I had odd, quirky humor. I had a joke which is airable, completely.
BECK: Stand by. Control room, stand by.
SAGET: It`s all good. Nothing to worry about. I used to say, "I have the brain of a German shepherd and the body of a 16-year-old, and they`re both in my car, and I want you to see them." That was the joke, so that`s an odd -- that`s an odd thing to write down.
BECK: Sure.
SAGET: So I wasn`t quite as lewd as I have been lately because I`ve kind of doing the 180 on those characters that I played that -- but it wasn`t like a giant mission statement. You know, I`ve been performing at a lot of colleges and a lot of theaters, and that`s my audience. My audience grew up watching those shows.
BECK: So it wasn`t, "I`ve got to shake this"?
SAGET: A little bit of it. It was 12 years ago, 13 years ago those shows went off, but 15 years ago, 17 years ago.
BECK: It doesn`t really matter.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: It`s still on the air, isn`t it?
SAGET: It will run forever for other planets. And that`s why I can`t -- you know, "America`s Funniest Home Videos," I wrote it with two guys, Todd and Dick and Bob Arnott (ph), very nice guys.
(CROSSTALK)
SAGET: And I can`t be -- I don`t think I should be -- I was very hard on myself. But for that kind of television, it was a blooper show, and for who I was at the time, that`s what it was.
BECK: You know what? For a family hour on a Sunday night, it was perfectly fine.
SAGET: People loved it. They get to watch it with their kids. And I didn`t want to kill myself. I wanted to be on medication.
BECK: Lots and lots of medication.
SAGET: Stuff that just...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: I`m an alcoholic. I understand. You know, you`ve got to do what you`ve got to do.
SAGET: What makes you an alcoholic, drinking all the time?
BECK: Drinking all the time, yes.
SAGET: All right, I`ve got to think about it. Do you want to go to a program?
BECK: I`m just saying, we could help each other out. I could teach you how to drink.
SAGET: Why don`t we go to a bar, talk about going to a program?
BECK: Do you realize that "America`s Funniest Home Videos" are to comedy what this show is to cable news?
SAGET: Yes.
BECK: Do you realize that?
SAGET: Yes.
BECK: You do? And you still agreed to be on it?
SAGET: I like this show, and I like you. And I mean that.
BECK: You never watch this show.
SAGET: I have seen you.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
SAGET: Because I`ve been following you. I`ve been following you, and I saw you in a one-way mirror at the Gap. No, actually I have seen you on your show.
BECK: You`re lying.
SAGET: I`m not lying.
BECK: America knows you`re lying.
SAGET: I`ve seen you. I have not watched this show.
BECK: Like a billboard?
SAGET: I`ve seen it somewhere. I know you.
BECK: There you go.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: No, I haven`t. No, I haven`t.
SAGET: It looks like I`ve seen you before.
BECK: And I`ve seen you, too.
SAGET: Is this not even on television, is that what you`re telling me?
BECK: It`s really not. It`s really not.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Yours is on HBO.
SAGET: It is.
BECK: It is.
SAGET: And everybody`s going to see that. Wait a minute. We`ve got to talk when this thing`s over. You`ve got me very confused.
(CROSSTALK)
SAGET: Wait until you see -- when this is over, we`re going to talk, and you`re going to be shocked.
BECK: We`re going to rehearse. We`re going to rehearse. It will go like this. Bob, thanks a lot.
SAGET: Great to see you. I`ve got to go.
BECK: Good to see you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, there is a huge uproar in Russia right now, I mean, not about the fact that they seem to be getting ready to fight the Cold War all over again, or, you know, that it seems like everyone is saying something negative about Vladimir Putin, and, you know, they`re finding themselves suddenly coming down with a case of the radiological flu. No, no, it`s that Vladimir Putin wasn`t wearing a shirt.
I mean, why worry about your crumbling remnants of your pseudo- democracy when your president is topless? Here, I warn you, are the pictures. Oh, you`re never going to be able to get that out of your head. Apparently the Russian media is buzzing about him, like, you know, Tara Reid just fell out of her dress on TMZ.com, which I`m sure is true or not. I have to go check.
The Russian media is using these pictures to promote healthy eating habits. I think bulimia comes to mind, at least in my case. The real story is that ladies just love the Vlad. They do. I think it`s time actually we start, you know, the forces of capitalism, which Russia doesn`t really understand, and I say we launch a new shirtless world leader calendar.
You know, we`ve got Vladimir, maybe he can be our May pinup, you know? Imagine celebrating May Day looking at that dreamy physique, mmm, mmm! Then there`s the new French president, Sarkozy. We could have him in for February. Oh, that`s hot. And then BBC reported today in a French magazine that they`ve retouched the photo to get rid of the pesky love handles. You know, here`s the side by side that you can see. Until we get that magic fat pill we`ve been promised, thank God for Photoshopping.
That`s exactly what happened here to Angela Merkel. She`s on the cover of some magazine I couldn`t even begin to pronounce, and she`s also our August pinup girl, which is great. Nothing -- seriously, I mean it, nothing sexier than those sultry German leaders. Yum, yum, give me some.
And let`s not forget about this guy. And really, when I say the kind of Swaziland is a world leader, that might be a bit of a stretch. But, you know, he has to be the king that spends most of his time shirtless. And you might say, he doesn`t really look like a man who`s a lady man, but you`d be dead wrong. First of all, he has 13 wives, the 13th of which he married after he had outlawed sex with anyone under 18. The problem is, she was 17. But he paid his debt to society. He did fine himself a cow. Also wasn`t quite as prolific as his dad, who had 70 wives and over 200 children. But, hey, you know, it`s almost Friday, and Monday`s right around the corner. He`s got all next week.
On that disturbing note, if you`d like a little more in-depth commentary on the news of the day, you could sign up for my free daily e- mail newsletter at glennbeck.com. Do it right now. I mean it. Do it not, or I`ll fine you a cow. From New York, good night, America.
END