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Glenn Beck
McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate; Honest Questions with Ted Nugent
Aired August 29, 2008 - 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): Well, hello, America, it is Friday.
I saw all the pundits after Obama`s speech last night, raising the hammers to drive the final nail into McCain`s coffin, laughing all the while, because "here`s a candidate who could pack a stadium with 80,000 people while poor John McCain couldn`t even get 10,000 to hear him announce his vice-presidential pick."
Let`s talk about some real change now. There`s real change in the GOP. I want you to know, if you watch this show for ten minutes, you know I am not a fan of John McCain. I -- I just said last night, because I thought it was going to be Romney, I don`t know how I`m going to possibly vote for this guy, even with Romney on the ticket. Well, things may have changed, at least for me.
I said months ago that Alaska`s governor, Sarah Palin, is exactly the kind of person that we need in Washington. I introduced her to you in a story I did about her in April, a small little story that I found. And she intrigued me. It was a story about the birth of her son, Trig, a son that she was blessed to have in her life, all the more so because of his Down`s Syndrome. Doctors said, "Oh, he`s going to be a baby with Down`s Syndrome." And she wouldn`t even allow them to do more testing. She`s like, "OK, I get it. We`re going to have some difficult issues. Good. We`re going to welcome him with open arms."
I wasn`t sure, I told you, back in April that somebody that real would be accepted in Washington. She`s very, very different, especially from what the GOP has transformed itself into.
But I reached out to her, and we had a talk. We had a couple of talks, actually, one about the election and energy policy and the lawsuit that she had just filed on behalf of her state after this Bush administration put the polar bears under protection of the Endangered Species Act.
You know, when Trig was born, she said that she had felt an unspeakable joy. An unspeakable joy had entered her life. I think for the first time in this campaign, some conservatives might finally be able to say the same thing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O`REILLY: I have to ask you, how is Trig, your newborn?
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trig is doing wonderfully. Thank you so much for asking. He`s an awesome bundle of joy. Thank you, Glenn.
O`REILLY: I have to tell you, Governor, I was so impressed with the way your -- your child was born with Down`s Syndrome. And I was just so impressed with the way you and your husband dealt with that and the message you sent. So thank you for that, as a father of a child with special needs.
Tell me about the polar bear lawsuit.
PALIN: Well, we are suing the federal government, recognizing that the Endangered Species Act is not a place to kind of mess around with in terms of listing as threatened a species that right now is very, very healthy. In fact, the number of polar bear has risen dramatically in the last 30 years.
Our fear being that extreme environmentalists will use this tool, the ESA, to eventually just curtail or halt north field (ph) production of very rich resources that America needs. You know, we need that oil; we need that gas. I`m glad you`re fired up about it, Glenn. I appreciated your monologue there.
BECK: I`m so sick of it, Governor. And you know what? Is it true that ANWR, where they want to drill, it is 700 miles away from the closest stream? Is that true?
PALIN: Well, what`s true about ANWR is that it`s about a 2,000-acre plot also, a lock of land that is -- shoot, the footprint is smaller than LAX, for instance, that plot of land that needs to be explored.
And ANWR, it`s ripe for exploration. There`s so many other points of Alaska`s plain also that, again, are very, very rich in reserves. And if we want to become more energy independent, it makes sense, obviously, to be looking domestically. Safe, clean, domestic supplies of energy that Alaska has, and that we`re ready and willing and able to contribute to the rest of the U.S.
It infuriates us also that -- the lock-up of ANWR, but other areas also, is leading to that lack of independence and lack of energy security that we need in America.
BECK: You know, they are suing now in the state of Massachusetts, because what they want to do is they want to build windmills off the coast of Nantucket. And the federal government won`t let them do it. And they`re suing because they say the state has a right to build these windmills if they want to do it. If they win, can you use that legislation to say, "You know what? I don`t care what you say, Washington. We`re drilling. It`s our oil"?
PALIN: It is our oil. It is federal land, though, so we need Congress to see the light and quit relying on unstable and these foreign regimes that aren`t real friendly to America, asking them to increase production for America`s security needs and for our energy needs to be met. That`s ridiculous. It`s nonsensical. Again, when your sister state, the 49th state in the union, Alaska, up here, we have those resources and they`re ready to be tapped.
BECK: What does the average Alaskan say about this?
PALIN: The average Alaskan says, again, we recognize these reserves being ready to be tapped, and we are ready to contribute more to the U.S. There`s really hungry markets here in Alaska, too, though. We`re paying outrageous prices for our oil and our heating fuel.
BECK: Aren`t you paying the most in the country? I mean, you`re paying over $4 a gallon in Alaska.
PALIN: Yes, isn`t that ridiculous? We are. And Alaskans collectively, we own these resources underground. We want them to be tapped. And, again, we`re ready to contribute more to the U.S. in terms of resources that can lead to a safer nation. And I say this, you know, while our nation is at war, while we`re fighting, in some sense, over energy supplies. It`s ridiculous. We do have the resources here.
BECK: Have you -- have you considered or have you been talked to or anybody said anything about you running with John McCain?
PALIN: There`s a lot of the rumor and speculation about it, not just me, though, a lot of the governors who may be tapped, at least for consideration. The rumor is out there.
BECK: Well, would you -- would you go to -- I hate to ask you this, would you go to that den of vipers in Washington if you were asked?
PALIN: You know, if I had to make such a decision today, it would be no. There is a lot that Alaska could be, should be doing to contribute more to the U.S., and I think that I can help do that as governor of the state, staying here.
BECK: You know, I don`t mean to be rude, because I mean, I grew up in Washington state. Alaska is spectacular in its beauty. My father worked up in Alaska for a while when they were building the pipeline and everything else. I have to tell you something. We brought Alaska into the union, if I`m not mistaken, with an eye to the future of its reserves. Why would we not tap the Alaskan reserves right now?
PALIN: That is exactly why we became a state 50 years ago. We struck deals with the federal government, saying that we wanted to be let into the union and we`d be as self-sufficient as possible. We`d do that by developing our God-given resources up there, and we would contribute to the federal government. And now, though, we`re not allowed to do that.
So the federal government and, again, the extreme environmentalists, they`re not allowing us to uphold our end of the bargain when we became a state. We are so rich with millions and millions and millions of barrels of oil still sitting underground, trillions and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, clean, stable supply that`s not allowed to be tapped.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Joining me now is CNN political analyst Amy Holmes.
Hello, Amy.
AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hello.
BECK: I don`t know anything about, for instance, foreign policy -- does she even -- can she find her end on the map? I don`t know that yet. But my initial reaction is this is a great pick.
HOLMES: I thought it was a bold choice. I think that it gives McCain that maverick imprimatur all over again. And I thought it was fun. If you watched that today in Dayton, John McCain was beaming ear to ear. And that`s not easy for John McCain to do.
BECK: Yes.
HOLMES: And as I was watching her, Glenn, I couldn`t agree more. I felt like I was watching -- this is real authenticity as opposed to the Joe Biden, you know, kid from Scranton, Scrappy Joe thing...
BECK: Oh, yes.
HOLMES: ... that we`ve been hearing all week long.
BECK: If I hear one more time about how he loves Amtrak and rides Amtrak. Nobody`s riding Amtrak that`s, you know, Joe Lunch Bucket. It`s $97.
HOLMES: I was going to say, Amtrak is expensive. Have you been on it lately? Yes.
BECK: It`s one way -- one way from Delaware to New York, it`s $97. Oh, yes, he`s Mr. Joe Lunch Bucket.
HOLMES: Right.
BECK: Here`s the -- here`s the thing. Let`s just go through some of her qualifications quickly. What I like about her and why I think that this is somebody that I can actually back is she is truly a reformer, not just of Washington, but her own party. She busted the head of the GOP.
I think the governor there in Alaska tried to kind of buy her off with the seat on an ethics committee, sitting right next to the head of the GOP. She busted them and filed -- and filed paperwork and an official complaint on the ethics with the GOP. I think that`s fantastic.
HOLMES: She sure did. And she also opposed that Bridge to Nowhere. You heard her say it today. She said, "Thanks, but no thanks. We are not going to be wasting the taxpayers` money." And guess what? She`s going up against these powerful Republican senators, Ted Stevens, when he does that.
BECK: Yes.
HOLMES: So she`s been willing to buck the party line.
BECK: Right.
HOLMES: To do, as she says, what she sees right. I thought it was very powerful today.
BECK: Yes.
HOLMES: She said the reason to go into public service is to do the right thing.
BECK: The experience thing isn`t what bothers me as much as it is somebody with judgment, somebody with real judgment and has not been tainted by the system yet. And somebody -- and I think this is why I like her so much. She is someone who is willing to torpedo her -- and I think you got this feeling from her -- she doesn`t want it that bad. She`d like it. It would be nice. She`ll do the job.
But she`s not going to sell her soul to the devil. She`d be more apt just to walk away and then walk right to a TV camera and say, "This is why I`m walking away, guys."
HOLMES: Well, and you know, Glenn, honestly, I was moved. I mean, I felt myself getting kind of choked up when I saw her turn to Senator McCain and tell him -- thank him for this honor, that this is a deep honor. And that was real sincere emotion.
I loved her line when she said, you know, that with Hillary, that she had made those 18 [SIC] cracks in the glass ceiling but women aren`t through yet. They`re going to break on through. I thought that was a great line.
BECK: Next week, we`re going to bring a lot more about her, because you need to -- you need to meet her. I don`t know how she`s going to weather under the storm here, you know, with the press and everything else. But she has the right vibe to her. She`s done the right things in her life. She`s exactly what...
HOLMES: She`s a real person.
BECK: She`s what I`ve been looking for. Amy, thank you very much.
HOLMES: Thank you.
BECK: Now, coming up, the outspoken, gun-toting rocker Ted Nugent. He`ll join me for the rest of the hour. Hang on, we go 0 to 95, when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRAPHIC: How many concerts has The Nuge performed? A, 3,000; B, 4,500; C, 6,000; D, 7,000.
C, 6,000.
BECK: He`s going to be 60 -- wow -- in, what, December? Is it December? You -- I have to tell you. I mean, I`m not hitting on you or anything. I don`t swing that way. But you -- you look young.
TED NUGENT, ROCK MUSICIAN: Well, I`d look younger if I had some sleep. But we just do, I think, 70 concerts in 78 days, so I`m just a puddle of my former self. But venison, the hunting lifestyle, clean and sober, I`m telling you, the healthiest food in the world makes the healthiest body in the world.
BECK: I love this. You`re in New York. You`re like, "I`m just going to go shoot some deer."
NUGENT: But New York has so many deer. You guys are using tax dollars to shoot your deer for you.
BECK: No.
NUGENT: Absolutely.
BECK: No. Come on! No. Jeez.
Let me try out something common sense, because that is common sense, you know? I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. And I remember my grandfather telling me that these environmentalists that won`t let clear- cutting -- or won`t let clearing out the underbrush are going to burn down all of Yellowstone. I remember my uncle and my grandfather sitting around the table, saying, "What, are these people crazy that want to take the wolves out of the wildlife to protect the other animals?" There`s no common sense anymore.
NUGENT: Well, there is, but it`s being pounded and attacked from the bureaucrats from hell.
BECK: Do you know the -- do you know now the -- have you heard about the wind turbine problem?
NUGENT: Which one? There`s a whole bunch of them.
BECK: OK. A -- yes, A, you can`t put any of the power lines, the transmission lines across any park, so now we can`t get the power from the middle of the country.
NUGENT: So let me guess. Let me see if I get this right, if I can...
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: So we, the people, who own the park, because national and state parks belong to we, the people.
BECK: Well, some places...
NUGENT: And we, the people, are looking for energy, but we, the people, have some punk interfering with the production of our clean, environmentally-friendly energy over our ground to our family.
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: I`m going to find this punk and I want to beat him up.
BECK: Now let me tell you -- let me tell you this. Here`s the problem.
NUGENT: Can I borrow a pitchfork?
BECK: Yes, you may, sir. Here`s the -- here`s the thing that -- the new thing is it`s not just a parks now. It`s the bats are dying, because the -- because the wind turbines changed the air pressure, and it collapses the lung of a bat. And so now you can`t use wind turbines because bats are in danger.
NUGENT: Glenn, you want to write this down?
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: No, it`s not. It`s not true. Just like the spotted owl need "X" habitats to produce in. Lie. That`s a dirty lie. And if a few bats blow up, have at it. I`ve got some garlic and butter if you`re interested. The bottom line is, that that`s driving me batty, if I may.
BECK: Yes. It`s crazy. It`s absolutely crazy.
NUGENT: What you`re talking about is Fedzilla. You`re talking about the boated, gluttonous, slovenly, irresponsible, excuse-mongering Fedzilla.
BECK: OK.
NUGENT: It`s out of control and spitting in the face of people in rush hour. You know who people in rush hour are? People who have an alarm clock, people who are productive, people that bust their ass to be the best that they can be. And they`re getting up early and they`re groggy, but they`ll get in that car and they`ll go into rush hour, because they`re going to work.
Fedzilla doesn`t like those people. Barack Obama doesn`t like those people, because we want you to be the best you can be, but if you get too good, we`ll take your profits. So we`ve got to -- I`m waiting for Barack to tell me where the ceiling is about excellence. Where does my excellence stop before you start taking my profits?
BECK: Everyone -- everyone knows. Everyone. They just came out with a deal this week that Medicare, it has 31 percent fraud. Thirty-one percent.
NUGENT: Wow.
BECK: I can`t tell you one thing that the United States, the citizens think the government does better than the private sector. Not one damn thing.
NUGENT: It doesn`t exist.
BECK: It doesn`t exist. Everybody knows.
NUGENT: Thirty-one percent fraud in my guitar tour, I`d go to jail.
BECK: Yes. You`d go to jail. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows that there`s a problem with -- our budgets are too blown out. Everybody...
NUGENT: In my book, that I talk all about living within your means. I mean, but...
BECK: But nobody wants to.
NUGENT: I think you`re right. The credit card debt. I mean, I`ve got to tell you, I`m a -- I`m a frugal guy. I work really hard and make a good living, and I always have. But I teach my children, you don`t buy that. You don`t get bling-bling until you take care of basics.
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: You don`t get stuff until -- you don`t buy food and then let it go bad and throw it away. You don`t let the water run. I mean, I`m an old-guard guy. You leave the room, you turn the lights off. When you leave the house, you turn the water heater off and you turn the temperature down.
And during the springtime, you plant trees so this winter we can cut wood. I literally have a forest. I`m the only real environmentalist who will ever sit at this table with you. These ten digits of rhythm and blues doom have planted over 100,000 trees. I was a conservationist...
BECK: Why do you hate trees so much you cut them down to burn them?
NUGENT: I love heat in December. And guess what? I produced it. So what is my carbon footprint? I`m so into the positive you can`t even measure it. Because I balance the deer herd. I minimize the agra-orgy out there. You know, that`s why I wrote this book. If I can be an asset to you. I`m an asset to you. I`ve never taken -- I`m giving.
I`m an asset to my neighbors. I`m always there fore them. I`m an asset to America. The tax bill, if that ain`t an asset, I don`t know what is. I`m an asset to the environment. I plant trees every spring. I manage wildlife habitat, and I reduce the deer herd.
Do you know that botanists from the university come to my fen. I own a fen. I fen is like a swamp, but it`s cuter. And a fen has endangered flora and fauna. But my fen doesn`t, because I kill a number of -- adequate number of deer every year and fowl and different wild game, so that the fen, the Christmas tree fern can produce habitat (ph) for butterflies.
BECK: All right. Hang on just a second. But you`ve got -- you say - - you say you`re the savior, but I know you feed the homeless.
NUGENT: Yes.
BECK: But you feed them deer.
NUGENT: Perfect.
BECK: There has to be -- there has to be people that have come to your -- come to your doorstep and said, "That`s an outrage. How dare you slaughter deer?"
NUGENT: They come to my doorstep. They write about it on the Internet, but they never confront me. One guy confronted me in San Francisco a few years ago. I arrested him. I took him into custody.
BECK: Citizen`s arrest?
NUGENT: Well, not really. I`m a sheriff`s deputy. So...
BECK: So wait a minute. How did you -- what did you arrest him for?
NUGENT: I arrested him. He told me that next hunting season, he would be there to kill my family and I, and you can see how that feels like. Thump. He wasn`t even touching the ground. I introduced him to Mr. Wall.
BECK: Hang on just a second.
(to camera) If that was you, you`re dumb as a box of rocks. Do it to me, not to him. What?
NUGENT: All my cynics (ph) are stoned or deranged. It was just beautiful. And they look like Michael Moore, or smell like him.
So I got things under control. That`s why people call me an extremist. I`m autonomous. I understand that I declare my independence every day.
BECK: They don`t like that.
NUGENT: They don`t like that. And you know what? The more they don`t like it, the more I do it, because what I do is the right thing.
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: And anybody has a problem with that, will be hurting tonight.
BECK: OK. Coming up, more with Ted Nugent and a look at his new book, "Ted, White and Blue." Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: This is quite possibly my favorite hour of television I`ve ever done. Ted Nugent is with us.
Let`s talk a little bit about politics. You been watching the politicians?
NUGENT: I do. I can put up with almost anything. That`s proof of it. It`s bizarro. It is such deceit. You look at a person`s track record, and then you hear their fantasy dream speech. And you go, wait, that doesn`t -- which one are you? What are you? And are people that dumb? And the horrible answer is yes.
BECK: Do you really think so? Do you think so, or do you think they`ve just given up?
NUGENT: Well, too many are.
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: Too many are that dumb. I hope it`s not too many.
BECK: You know...
NUGENT: Of course, the number is too many, no matter how you gauge it. But I hope it`s not too many to vote for the wrong guy.
BECK: Yes. I have to tell you. Is there a right guy?
NUGENT: Well, there`s -- considering that this boat is full of holes and this one, I can at least stick my thumb in and make it across the bay. I think John McCain has shown new greatness lately, far exceeding his track record.
BECK: They just put -- they just put a new platform in the Republican Party platform. There`s a new plank.
NUGENT: I don`t know if I want to hear this.
BECK: You don`t. You don`t. Global warming has to be fought. I mean, how do you pull the lever for somebody who is going to go for cap and trade? The person that was for cap and trade, the company that was -- they were -- they were salivating at cap and trade was Enron.
NUGENT: Was this the same global warming that canceled my Colorado concert last week because of the snowstorm?
BECK: Yes. Yes. The one that`s building up ice on the South Pole but melting on the North Pole.
NUGENT: The same one that is forbidding the hunting of polar bears, but the Inuits were issued 25 percent more polar bear permits this year?
BECK: Yes. Same one. Same one. So how do you vote for this party? This Republican Party has lost its way so much. I am usually a guy that can compromise. I can`t -- I think we`ve compromised ourselves into oblivion.
NUGENT: But it is a good metaphor. The Barack boat is going to sink. He is about the most outrageous, gluttonous Fedzilla fantasy. What Barack Obama stands for -- and God bless him and God bless his family. He`s an American, and he is trying. But he is so the wrong guy.
He wants to continue feeding Fedzilla, improving guaranteed gluttonous behavior that is like a family that is already $100,000 of credit-card debt and they`re still going out to dinner. And they weight 400 pounds each. And they smoke and they drink, but they want health care. "Give me some health care. Somebody get me something."
Shouldn`t you care about your health before you gripe about health care?
BECK: This is who I want to get the news from every night. I mean, on a news show. All right.
NUGENT: So I am heartbroken like you, but at this point in time, I`m ready to admit on your show that I was not a McCain supporter even three months ago, and I`m not satisfied.
BECK: OK.
NUGENT: I thought Huckabee was a greater man.
BECK: Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
NUGENT: Greater than McCain and Obama...
BECK: No, no. Please, hang on. More in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC: "Cat Scratch Fever")
GLENN BECK, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Back with legendary musician and conservative, value activist, Ted Nugent. Ted, personally, you just have to say hi to my brother-in-law, Rich.
TED NUGENT, SINGER: Rich?
BECK: Yes, just say hi.
NUGENT: Rich, God bless you Rich. I love you.
BECK: That`s for you.
NUGENT: Live it up.
BECK: He`ll be on his phone, he`ll be on his computer, and everything else. I suddenly am popular in the family because I know you.
NUGENT: You feel the love, don`t you?
BECK: Yes, I do.
Okay. We were talking about Obama and McCain. I want to go down a couple of roads. First of all, with a Congress, we`ve only had Congress with no filibusters two times in our history. First one, we got the new deal, the second one, we got the great society after Kennedy`s assassination.
NUGENT: Oh, my goodness.
BECK: I know. Can you even imagine what`s coming our way this time? It will -- do you believe that it is the death knell of America as we know it with an extremist progressive in the Oval Office and a progressive Congress without any stoppage on filibustering?
NUGENT: All indications are, every word out of the Democrats mouths and way too many words out of Republican mouths is indeed the death knell of America as we know it. It is about punishing excellence and rewarding blood-sucking.
I have a chapter in my book that is the answer and I work with the Governor Thompson and Governor Engler on welfare reform, critically needed at welfare reform. My idea of welfare reform is, it`s over. If you`re hungry, the church has got $8 trillion in golden jewelry. They can make you a sandwich.
No more welfare. Welfare is slavery. I only have welfare for one segment of society and one segment only. The heroes of the military who sacrificed and no need a good wheelchair, that`s who I would help out which isn`t welfare, it`s paying off a due debt to heroes.
Welfare is slavery. And I have to tell, I saw 37.8 million Americans living under poverty.
BECK: Really.
NUGENT: They`re smoking. They`re drinking. They got the bling-bling. They got the cell phones. The children got the iPods. They get their hair done. I don`t get my hair done.
BECK: And it shows.
NUGENT: My hair`s done.
But you see what I mean? They think that making ends meet includes movies and pets and collectible dishes on the wall. It`s not universal, but it`s so corrupt, it`s so over the top. It is what the Democrats and too many of the Republicans represent. Is an orgy of unaccountability.
BECK: Ok, with that being said because I agree with you. I believe that John McCain and whoever he picks as his running mate is going to be the candidate and the party that my grandfather and my grandmother would have voted for and they were Democrats. They would have campaigned hard for John McCain hard, and said that`s the guy.
This is the old Democratic Party. So what we have Marxists, Socialists, absolute Communism without the guns, yet and then, you have the Democratic Party. There is no real option for a Conservative that believes, stand up. Take it yourself. Logic doesn`t play a role.
NUGENT: Accountability -- cause and effect.
BECK: Why would you continue to play the same card and play the lesser of two evils when it is still evil? It is still going in that direction, just slower.
NUGENT: I`m just a guitar player, but I take my duties as a we, the people participant in this experience of self-government to heart. I believe that`s my responsibility as an American is to be involved.
I communicate with elected officials in every state I go to because I`m going to rock and roll there; I`m going to go hunting there. And I want to know where the regulations and the laws are logical and sensible and productive.
I believe that in the last few months, beyond McCain-Feingold, the horrible plan that he had.
BECK: Global warming.
NUGENT: Even still, some of that clings on. I believe that I have seen indicators that John McCain understands he is here to serve we the people. I believe that he shows signals of substance, that he does respect the Constitution and Bill of rights. Not perfect and that`s what you`re talking about. We need to find someone perfect.
BECK: No, I`m not. I just need somebody who will not throw Karl Marx down on the rug and French kiss him for four hours. That`s what I need. I need somebody who says "Oh, kissing Karl Marks -- bad idea."
NUGENT: He is doing that, isn`t he?
BECK: He is. They all are.
NUGENT: But I believe that he is open to communication, where I don`t believe Obama is open to communication whatsoever. He`s locked in. I believe we have to have some kind of dialogue with our elected officials.
I`m going to tell you right now, Glenn. It isn`t even McCain and it isn`t Obama, the real curse in America is the abject apathy of a we, the people who don`t even know they are the people. They have no connection as long as they have a six pack and a ball game to watch, they could give a rat`s ass what`s going on out there. As long as I can live with the pay check, They haven`t taken it all yet.
It`s unbelievable what I see now. Not in my family, not in my crew, not in my band, not in my buddies, but outside, still people are still looking for an excuse. I can tell you so many examples of that.
BECK: Tell me this. I go to Texas and I have said this, I`ve said this now for the last couple of years. Two years ago I went down to Texas. I lived in Texas for a while; it`s great.
NUGENT: I love Texas.
BECK: It`s a republic. They understand a republic. I went down there two years ago and for the first time I had people, suits, normal people; people that you would scare.
They walk up to me and they said, Glenn, it`s time to get our guns back and take our country back. That was two years ago. I believe Texas has had it up to here.
You tell me how much longer the people that do get it, the people who are paying attention, how much longer are they going to be taking, and they`re face pushed down in the dirt and said, hey, racist, hate mongering, want to starve children to death. How much longer are they going to take that?
NUGENT: I`m not giving you a date.
BECK: But there is a date?
NUGENT: Texans are easy going. They are ruggedly individual. They understand the Constitution, why our founding fathers wrote self-evident truths in case anybody had any tyrant aspirations.
BECK: Right.
NUGENT: It`s not just Texas. My buddies in Michigan, my buddies in Utah, my buddies in Florida, my buddies in New York. I play every state. I`m doing the New York state fair, and back stage I got law enforcement and teachers and ranchers and farmers and entrepreneurs and dry clean operators; everybody is, number one, they`re not angry yet. They`re really hurt. But anger is ready; it`s on the precipice from hurt and let down and offended by bureaucrat pigs. And the hurt is ready to bubble over and the anger.
BECK: Here`s what I said. I said, I had this conversation with my producer on the radio show. Before September 11, this was about 2000. I said you cannot give this kind of power to the government. You can`t do it.
And he responded and listeners called and said, things will never go bad in America. And I said, you do two things; you introduce fear which we now have, total fear, and then introduce hunger and people will follow either Jesus or Hitler. Anyone who will look him in the eye and say, I can solve this problem. They will follow that person.
NUGENT: Identify the offenders and identify the victims of the offenders and I would love to see a gung ho, full on voting revolution.
BECK: Yes.
NUGENT: But we`re not going to vote for Bob Barr. And Bob Barr is a dear friend and I love him dearly.
BECK: So who is it?
NUGENT: The answer, here`s how I see it. The answer is to vote for John McCain and stay on his ass and stay on your Senators` asses, stay in you Congressman`s ass and start scolding people and going, what do you do with my tax dollars? What do you mean 31 percent fraud? Who`s going to jail? I want somebody going to jail?
Glenn has got some pitchforks, let`s get him.
I want citizens to sit down, like I do, I sit down, I`m a polite guy. I see my tax bill and I`d like to know if you could tell me where some of that went. If you can`t right now, how about I call you back on Thursday? Thursday at two? Ok. And I do.
I`ve raised enough hell in my own home state of Michigan, who I love dearly, and we have some great people still hanging on there, trying to upgrade. But now I work closely with Governor Perry and the elected officials in Texas and there`s incremental upgrade taking at least being threatened by new we, the people activists. The answer is activism.
BECK: Ok, hang on just a second. Let me -- I want to go there next. I want to go to your Rick here. You know I want to go to your home state of Michigan, and Detroit.
We`ll do that in a second
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Back with Ted Nugent. We were talking just a second ago about two places and two styles of government. First of all --
NUGENT: Extreme differences.
BECK: Let`s start with Rick Perry, Governor of Texas.
NUGENT: Great man.
BECK: Texas is great but you know what? But where is he on the border, the biggest thing that is --
NUGENT: I know. I`ve almost come to fisticuffs over that one. The Texas border, there`s a military term, it`s a cluster. It`s a wreck. In my book, "Ted, White, Blue" I elaborate.
I don`t have a border problem. There`s no invaders on my property. The message is clear. Invade my property, I`ll kill you. You invade my home, I`ll kill you. Nobody invades my home and nobody`s getting killed. That`s pretty much the style of the message in Texas, but we have not done it as a nation.
I believe that Rick did increase the border security. He called the National Guard. He`s got more and more Texas ranges. He`s got more and more law enforcement down there.
But the two agents, Ramos and Compean, they`re still in jail is an indictment to the flagrant, not injustice, anti-justice and I got to tell you, I wish that Rick Perry and all the governors along the border would come up and go, wait a second.
We like drug runners getting shot. We like drug runners scared. We don`t like drug runners rewarded and used as state witness. This is planet of the apes personified. It is upside down.
BECK: I head a theory. The only thing that makes sense is either we`re in bed for some MexAmeriCanada or, try this one, that Bush has made a deal with Mexico and says we`ve got problems.
We`ve got problems down in your country and South America with real terrorists. We`ll turn a blind eye. You let one guy across the border. We need you to go kill some people down there because we can`t do it. You go take care of some messes for us and we`ll turn a blind eye. You think there`s a chance that`s true?
NUGENT: Yes. Clear and present danger; there`s a lot of manipulation going on down there. But just that our masters, our trained commanders of law and order, all the different divisions of law enforcement, their hands are tied. It`s a horrible message.
BECK: Everybody says they support our troops, but those guys are just as much troops than anybody else.
NUGENT: And they`re ready. They`re ready, willing and able.
BECK: I can`t even imagine what their morale is.
Okay, now, let me take you to Detroit.
NUGENT: God bless Detroit.
BECK: Where they just sold a house for a dollar. A dollar.
NUGENT: Well, here it is. I give you the mayor of Detroit and the corresponding tragedy of one out of four children graduation. We have a gangster mayor, just the lowest form of life, who celebrates all the wrong things about society.
And in the shadow of that mindset and modus operandi, one out of four kids graduate. I want to cry right here on your TV show.
What a great city growing up in Detroit. The Motown Funk Brothers to this day, their work ethic, their spirit, their goodwill and decency as gentlemen that inspired me as a guitar player in the 50s. They`re with me every night on stage.
Then I go back to Detroit and the same buildings that were boarded up in 1967 are still boarded up.
BECK: It`s amazing.
NUGENT: It`s a beautiful river. The number one fishery on the planet. You`ve got the people catching these wonderful fish. It`s cleaned up and wonderful. Then you have this big scab, this self-inflicted scab that people choose to keep that way. It`s a choice. Those are choices.
BECK: This is where I come back to Americans will only take it so long because, we are splitting. I think humanity is splitting. You`re splitting to, you know, I believe in me, I believe in you. I believe in anybody who wants to get in there.
There`s a majority of us who are willing to do, we try to do the right thing. We try to be there and then everybody else, who`s just like give it to me for free.
NUGENT: Not everybody; the good, bad and the ugly.
BECK: I`m saying the other side.
NUGENT: And it`s a growing other side; that`s the tragedy. It`s increasing. The entitlement mentality is that I can get the welfare.
BECK: I can`t do it anymore. I can`t fight against it anymore because no matter where I go --
NUGENT: I`m still fighting. I fight it every day. It`s 2008. I`m with you. All your observations are accurate and demand action. And I`m demanding action of myself.
And thank God for you, but there`s a lot of us. You go to my Website, have a talk back at tednugent.com. You should see these people, you can hear sleeves getting rolled up and shaking hands turning into fists. They`re really getting fed up, but they`re channeling it properly finally in activism.
It`s 2008. We have a lot of problems. There is good, bad and ugly. I fight to optimize the good and Glenn, I got to tell you. I`m having the best tour of my life.
My band is so good, Mick Brown and Greg Smith. My crew, my management, everybody involved with me. This is the best tour of my life. And it`s going to be the best hunting season of my life.
All my hunters, I still hunt every year. They`re all sold out. We have more deer than I can shake a machine gun at. We have lots of game, wildlife is thriving, but I optimize the good while fighting to reduce if not eliminate the bad and the ugly.
Unfortunately there`s a metastizing of that entitlement mentality. And here it is. I hate to say this, but it`s so true. I and all my friends, everybody I know, every walk of life, they don`t want the country to do squat for them. They want to get up and do everything they can for their country.
Yet I`m watching the Democrat convention and I`m going, what happened to what can I do for my country? These people are going, I`m not doing it for my country and here`s a list of stuff you got to do for me.
I want -- you pay for my kids education. I`m not going to make my kid get a job because you are. I want you to take care of my health even though I smoke and drink and weigh 350 pounds.
BECK: This is not going to stop.
Back with "Rapid Fire" in just a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: All right, back for our final segment with the author of the upcoming book "Ted White and Blue," Ted Nugent.
NUGENT: Yes.
BECK: Answer as fast as you can. Here we go. Your nicknames, The Nuge, Uncle Ted, Motor City Madman, what`s your favorite?
NUGENT: [bleep].
BECK: Okay. Don`t think --
I respond quickest to that one.
BECK: Okay. I`m afraid to let you nickname me.
We do both answer to that one. Yes, yes. Favorite thing to kill.
NUGENT: Whatever`s broadside is standing right there.
BECK: You should duck.
NUGENT: Duck would be fine.
BECK: Favorite thing to eat.
NUGENT: Dead stuff.
BECK: Okay. Would you cut your hair if you were governor, if you ran for governor?
NUGENT: I don`t think that would be a requirement. I would cut my hair if I felt like cutting my hair. But, no, I like to let my freak flag fly, baby.
BECK: Do you -- you would be the most entertaining governor.
NUGENT: I promise you that.
BECK: The -- will you run for governor? There`s a rumor you might run for governor in Michigan.
NUGENT: I threatened to do so, and I was sincere. I currently am serving the nation as a participating we the people guy, which I think is very effective. But I`ll check with my campaign manager, Mrs. Nugent for the final decision.
BECK: Yes, that`s what I thought. Who would make a better hunting partner, me or Dick Cheney?
NUGENT: I think Dick is better trained, regardless of the accident. But I`d rather have you, because you need me.
BECK: You know what, why do you say that?
NUGENT: Because you are so busy, I cannot adequately impress upon you the soul-cleansing, battery-charging dynamic of the outdoor lifestyle.
BECK: Can I tell you something? He was on the air with me on the radio and we`ve got like 350 stations all across the country and I think it was like the first day in Los Angeles or something. And you get on. I have you on. And you start talking about the cleansing of actually smelling the blood --
NUGENT: That`s true. That, too. There`s an aboriginal primal scream that`s inside of all of us. Not only that but so many deer you have to kill them and eat them. It`s the healthiest food in the world. That higher level of awareness that is the hunting lifestyle will help you in any endeavor, I promise you.
BECK: "Ted, White and Blue" is the name of the book. Comes out when?
NUGENT: Early October I believe.
BECK: Ok. Ted Nugent. Always a pleasure.
NUGENT: God bless you, sir.
BECK: Come back, come back.
NUGENT: God bless America.
BECK: From New York, good night, America.
END
