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Glenn Beck

Controversial Pastor Takes Political Spotlight; Time to Stock up on Food Staples

Aired April 28, 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): Tonight, Barack Obama`s controversial former pastor throws himself back into the spotlight.

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, FORMER PASTOR, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: This most recent attack on the black church, it`s not an attack on Jeremiah Wright. It is an attack on the black church.

BECK: He says that he`s just being descriptive, not divisive.

WRIGHT: No, no, no, not God bless America, God damn America. That`s in the Bible.

BECK: Yes. Not so much.

Plus, it`s time to start stocking up the pantry. I`ve been saying it for a while now. But now with food shortages growing and prices starting to spike even "The Wall Street Journal" has my back.

And an intelligent conversation with an intelligent man who asks, is there an intelligent designer. Ben Stein on his controversial new film, "Expelled."

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America.

He`s back! Barack Obama`s 20-year pastor/spiritual adviser Jeremiah Wright is back in the news, and his message is just as angry and prejudiced as ever. America, you should be afraid, honestly.

Here`s "The Point" tonight. Reverend Jeremiah Wright is Ward Churchill. And here`s how I got there.

If I may refresh your memory on who Ward Churchill is, he`s that crazy professor who wrote that essay that compared the innocent thousands who were killed on 9/11 in the attacks to the Nazis. He called them, quote, "little Eichmanns."

In a past sermon Jeremiah Wright said the 9/11 attacks were, quote, "American chickens coming home to roost." Both of these ideas are shameful and absurd. The men who said them, you know what? You can say whatever you want; it`s America. God bless freedom of speech, huh? But you need to be held accountable. You can say things like this, but when you start preaching or teaching it, especially to a possible president, I`ve got a little problem with that. Maybe it`s just me.

I`m drawing the comparison to Ward Churchill to illustrate a simple point. Jeremiah Wright is a dangerous man, and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin or the color of his church. I`m not even talking about his church. I`m talking about him.

He is possibly sitting there and talking and whispering into the ear of the next president of the United States. I want to keep Reverend Wright as a part of this election conversation for the same reasons that I railed against Ward Churchill, who I believe is a white man, even though he claims to be an Indian, for spreading his leftist opinions to his college students.

You know, when people use their public platform to spread their personal message of hatred, you`ve got to expose that person or discredit them or let them discredit themselves. I`m sorry to say it, but there are more people like this in this country every single day, and we`ve got to call bull crap when we see it.

Ward Churchill painted his ultra liberal, leftist, Marxist agenda as academic freedom. Using the same tactic now, Reverend Wright`s black liberation theology is nothing more than a fancy name for Marxism, America bashing and racism against whites.

Remember, in a past sermon, Reverend Wright said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: We say that God will bless the shock and awe as we take over, unilaterally, another country; calling it a coalition because we`ve got three guys from Australia, going against the United Nations, going against the majority of Christians, Muslims and Jews throughout the world, making a preemptive strike in the name of God. We cannot see how what we are doing is the same thing al Qaeda is doing under a different color flag, calling on the name of a different God to sanction and approve our murder and our mayhem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Would you be sitting in that church for 20 years? My goodness!

Last night Reverend Wright spoke to the NAACP in Detroit. He told them -- he was their key note speaker -- that he is descriptive, not divisive when he speaks about racial injustices. Well, then why would you refer to America, again in a church sermon, as, quote, the U.S. of KKK A? Why would he attack prominent black Republicans calling them sellouts that, quote, "live below sea level. They live below the level of Clarence Colon and Con-dam-dinesia."

These are divisive statements. That`s exactly what Reverend Jeremiah Wright wants to do: divide black Americans against white Americans or black Americans who aren`t black enough, I guess. You don`t need to read between the lines. I don`t need to listen to your whole speech to hear the hatred, Reverend.

So tonight here`s what you need to know, America. Bullies like Reverend Wright and Churchill are their own worst enemies. Ward Churchill`s words said everything we needed to know about him. It didn`t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. And since he`s been found guilty of academic misconduct and fired.

So now that Reverend Wright continues to make his appearances and let his words speak for themselves, you do have to wonder just how much is Barack listening now? And what if Obama is elected president? What does that mean? What then?

Richard Thompson Ford is a law professor at Stanford University, author of "The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse." And Jim Geraghty writes "The Campaign Spot." It`s a blog for the "National Review" online.

Jim, let me start with you. Is it fair? I mean, Barack Obama says he`s a spiritual adviser. Jeremiah Wright says he`s the guy who brought him to Jesus, baptized him. They`ve been friends for 20 years. Can you learn anything about Barack Obama by listening to Jeremiah Wright?

JIM GERAGHTY, "NATIONAL REVIEW" ONLINE: I think so. And I think what`s interesting is when the first Wright videos came to light, I think a lot of Americans said this wasn`t a deal-breaker, but they really wanted to know how you could get such a pleasant-sounding, moderate-sounding, seemingly normal person like Barack Obama could be the student of a radical and such a divisive figure like Jeremiah Wright.

In response to this, Obama gives this very eloquent speech on race relations that never quite addresses how he ended up -- you know, what he learned from him, what he heard, what he thought of it, what it would have taken to get him to leave that church, where Obama`s, you know, red line was.

And so now we see this, and we see that, wow, nothing has changed for -- for Jeremiah Wright. He hasn`t -- he doesn`t feel rebuked by this. And in fact, he kind of suggested that Obama didn`t really mean it when he disavowed him...

BECK: He didn`t suggest it. I said he said it. He says, "He says what he has to say; he`s a politician." We have some amazing clips from his appearance today at the National Press Club that we`re going to play here a little later in the program. I`m going to play something that Jeremiah Wright said today at the press club about attacking the black church. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you speaking out now?

WRIGHT: On November the 5th and on January 21st, I`ll still be a pastor. As I said, this is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright. It has nothing to do with Senator Obama. It is an attack on the black church, launched by people who know nothing about the African-American religious tradition.

And why am I speaking out now? In our community we have something called playing the dozens. If you think I`m going to let you talk about my momma and her religious tradition and my daddy and his religious tradition and my grandma, you got another think coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Richard, I have to tell you, I`m not speaking out about the black church. I am speaking about black liberation theology, which is clearing Marxism. How do you -- how do you read this?

RICHARD THOMPSON FORD, AUTHOR, "THE RACE CARD": Well, I wonder whether the Reverend Wright has decided to work for the Clinton campaign. This has got to be very bad news for Barack Obama.

I think -- it`s not true that the things that Jeremiah Wright has said are representative of the views of most African-Americans or most black churches. Liberation theology is a minority part of the black church community. It`s a significant minority but a minority -- in most black churches, you certainly do not hear things like that.

BECK: I have to tell you, Richard, I mean, it`s not the majority view. I mean, I think it`s right up there with 9/11 conspiracies. I mean, here`s -- here he is. He`s saying the government made AIDS, we`re the same as al Qaeda, we are -- we are terrorists and we -- basically, we started it. That is clearly not.

But here`s what`s frightening about it, is here is a religious extremist that the media is giving a pass to and the left is giving a pass to. I don`t understand how you cannot see that this is the same kind of dangerous stuff that is happening in the Middle East. You`re mixing politics with religion, and you`re putting them together as one.

FORD: Well, I agree that the mix of religion and politics is volatile and that the things that Reverend Wright has said are quite divisive and destructive. I think it`s -- you know, particularly some of these conspiracy theories which have obviously no basis, in fact.

I do think that we could -- there are real racial injustices in -- that plague our inner cities, and we need to talk about those. And we need to talk about constructive solutions. And the things that Reverend Wright are saying are leading us in the wrong direction.

BECK: I have to tell you, I love the premise of your book because it`s -- I`ve been saying it for years now with political correctness. What are you doing? You cry racism when there is no racism. It hurts it down the road.

Jim, let me -- let me play another piece from the speech today. And I want you to listen and watch for his arrogance here. This guy is so unbelievably arrogant. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some critics have said that your sermons are unpatriotic. How do you feel about America and being an American?

WRIGHT: I served six years in the military. Does that make me patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Watch this. Now, watch him stand behind her. I mean, the guy -- he`s not humble at all. There is -- there is an elitism. There is a cockiness that goes right into Obama, as well.

GERAGHTY: I would note, Glenn, that Timothy McVeigh served in the military, too. And I think it`s OK to question his patriotism.

The thing that -- the thing that kind of really stood out at me, not about this speech today but about his speech at the NAACP yesterday in Detroit, was that he argued that black brains and white brains are wired differently, that black children have a different way of learning. He said this in front of the NAACP. As near as I could tell there was no objection to this.

In other words, now the racially-unifying position is that biologically the brains are different and that they learn differently. I keep waiting for Rod Serling to come out spoke smoking a cigarette and explain that we`re in "The Twilight Zone."

BECK: I have to tell you, you know, I don`t remember which one. Was it you, Richard? Was it you that said you thought the Clintons are behind this or, you know, it must be working for Clinton? I don`t think so. I think that this is so Clintonian, that Obama is really adopting -- I think, get it out now. The media is excusing it. And by the time it comes around November, people just say, "Oh, that`s old news." Is there a chance?

FORD: I don`t know about that. Well, I think that this is bad news for Obama. I really think that if -- the best thing that could happen for the Obama campaign would be for Reverend Wright to take a long vacation. Every time he opens his mouth, it`s bad.

And, you know, I don`t think it`s a fair to attribute all of Wright`s views to Obama. But it does -- you know, it is going to make people concerned. And it keeps it...

BECK: Richard let me ask you this...

FORD: ... front and center...

BECK: Would you be 20 years and call this man your spiritual advisor? Would you be 20 years in that church with him?

FORD: Well, no, I don`t think so. I do think that -- my sense is that Barack Obama went to Reverend Wright when he was trying to get a connection to a community in the South Side of Chicago and...

BECK: You know what? Watch his wife. I think his wife says it all. You watch her. She believes it, I think, more than he does.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

Coming up, I`ve got a good investment for you. You don`t have to be rich. You don`t have to, you know, go to a broker to get it. You just go to the supermarket. I`ll explain in just a second.

Plus, oil prices continue to spike as labor problems hit Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Find what the soaring prices are all about in tonight`s "Real Story." Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, depending on what part of the country you`re driving in, gas is either approaching or has already breached the $4 mark. With the price of oil nearing $120 and people saying, oh, it could go up to $200 a barrel, you`ve got to ask yourself, what are we going to be paying in about a year from now and at what price do, you know, all of us here in America say, "I think that`s enough. Let`s go to Alaska and drill the crap out of it?" Find out in tonight`s "Real Story."

Now, a lot of people will tell you the way to make money is to invest in the stock market. No, no, I think we should invest in the supermarket. We`re paying high prices for just damn near everything, and "The Wall Street Journal" makes the same case. Oh, it`s nice not to be so crazy and alone.

The reason it couldn`t be simpler, it`s not that America is going to run out of food, because we`re not. It`s that food is going to get a lot more expensive, so now is the time to stock up, you know, before the prices rise even more.

Brett Arends is the personal finance columnist for "The Wall Street Journal."

Brett, I want to start with this. This is what I said on January 9, 2008 [SIC]. And you`ve got to watch the face of the guest that was in the other box. He thought I was crazy. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You go out and you buy a coat. You buy shoes for what your kids are going to need two years down the road, because if this continues, the dollar is going to continue to fall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: The guy was like, no, this guy is so stupid. This is the case you`re making in your column for "The Wall Street Journal."

BRETT ARENDS, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": That`s exactly right. People have got to do the math. Listen, food prices are going up by 5, 10, 15 percent, in some cases even more. You keep your money in the bank you`re getting 2 percent after tax.

One of the smartest things you can do right now in American households is basically buy in bulk, buy things ahead of time. People have got to get ready for the fact that we`ve got rising inflation. We`ve seen it in gasoline and oil in the last few years. It`s getting going in food. I don`t think it`s going to go -- going to reverse itself.

BECK: OK. You know, we talked about this on the radio show today. And I want you to explain a little bit about inflation, because everyone on television will say, "Oh, inflation is only 4 percent," but that`s bull crap! The country has changed. The government is trying to dupe us and be able to claim, "Oh, inflation is under control." How did they change the inflation rate?

ARENDS: Yes, the inflation numbers are a statistical thing put out by the government, and, you know, they`re not the whole story. The first thing is they`ve changed them in a number of ways over the last 20 years.

What they`ve done is, for example, they said, "Well, you know, if the same computer -- if you spend $1,000 on a computer and two years later, you know, you get a much better computer for the same amount of money, then that means computer prices are falling." So they factored this into the inflation figures. They`ve used things called hedonics (ph), various other statistical measures.

Now I`m not necessarily saying the government was wrong to do these things, but what I am saying is that today`s inflation figures cannot be compared, like for like, with the inflation figures of 20 years ago.

If you measure inflation today the way we did it when Jimmy Carter was president, inflation today would be pretty similar to what it was when Jimmy Carter was president. Inflation would be 10 or 11 percent.

BECK: Right. They said it is 11 percent now. Do you remember the number that -- during stagflation, how horrible things were? Do you remember that number?

ARENDS: I don`t remember the all-time peak, but I have a pretty good memory of the time.

BECK: We`re close. Yes, we`re close. Do people -- because I said this -- and I said, you know, just go out and -- you see a coat on sale for your kids and you know it`s a size for your kids next year or shoes, buy them now because the dollar is falling. Inflation is going through the roof. Money is going to be tighter next year. Buy it.

You`re saying the same thing with food. Do people think -- do people think you`re nuts?

ARENDS: Yes, they do. A lot of people do. I focused really very narrowly on food. That is an area where we`ve seen prices rise 5, 10, 15 percent. But the raw materials, particularly things like wheat and rice, have gone through the roof. They`ve doubled or trebled in the last couple of years, and there`s a lot of skepticism around.

But you know what? I remember three, four years ago, there was a lot of skepticism when oil started going through the roof.

BECK: Right.

ARENDS: People said, oh, that`s just a temporary thing. It isn`t temporary. What`s happening is real. There`s a good part of this, which is hundreds of millions of people across Asia are moving from poverty to the middle class. They`re moving from the middle ages to the middle class. And they want to eat better food, just as they want to drive cars, they want to heat their homes in the winter and they want to air-condition them in the summer.

But this is a huge shift, for which frankly the world is unprepared. We didn`t have enough fuel on-hand and enough fuel sources. And we don`t have enough food.

Now, there`s a bull market in agricultural products, and I don`t see that ending any time soon. It is putting upward pressure on prices in the -- on the shelves. And even though, you know, the companies have not passed too many price increases on so far, they`re going to. That`s my prediction.

BECK: All right, Brett, thanks a lot.

ARENDS: My pleasure.

BECK: All right. Coming up, a special commentary on the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama`s former spiritual adviser. That`s coming up next. You have to see the words from himself. It`s amazing.

And 15-year-old Miley Cyrus says she`s embarrassed by photographs taken for "Vanity Fair." I`ve got to ask the question: when did it become acceptable in our nation to sexualize a 15-year-old child? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: You know, I think the handling of this whole Jeremiah Wright scandal is total Clintonian. Barack Obama is either freaking out or he`s OK with it, because it`s a tactic that Bill and Hillary love to use. They expose the issue now with a friendly media. I mean, have you seen the media making excuses for Jeremiah Wright left and right?

It comes now. And then when the fall election happens, they can bat it away and say, "Oh, that`s old news. Everybody`s already talked about that."

Reverend Wright`s comments will never be old news, especially since he can`t stop talking. This morning he spoke to the National Press Club. And here`s his unique point of view on AIDS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In your sermon, you said the government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. So I ask you, do you honestly believe your statement and those words?

WRIGHT: Have you read Horowitz`s book, "Emerging Viruses: AIDS and Ebola"? I read different things, as I said to my members. If you haven`t read things and you can`t -- yes, yes, based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: That`s amazing! Now let`s see what Reverend has to say about America as the new Roman Empire. He compares our soldiers to the Roman legionnaires that killed Jesus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you elaborate on your comparison of the Roman soldiers who killed Jesus to the U.S. Marine Corps? Do you still believe that is an appropriate comparison and why?

WRIGHT: In biblical history, there`s not one word written in the Bible between Genesis and Revelation that was not written under one of six different kinds of oppression.

The Roman oppression is the period in which Jesus was born. And comparing imperialism that was going on in Luke, imperialism was going on when Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that the whole world should be taxed -- they were in charge of the world. Sounds like some other governments I know. Yes, I can compare that.

We have troops stationed all over the world, just like Rome had troops stationed all over the world, because we run the world. That notion of imperialism is not the message of the gospel of the Prince of Peace, nor God who loves the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Oh, I don`t want this guy to be the spiritual adviser to my president. I don`t know about you.

Finally, here`s Wright`s thoughts on the biblical principle of terrorism, whatever that means.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have said that the media have taken you out of context. Can you explain what you meant in the sermon shortly after 9/11 when you said the United States had brought the terrorist attacks on itself, quote, "America`s chickens are coming home to roost"?

WRIGHT: Have you heard the whole sermon? Have you heard the whole sermon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I -- most...

WRIGHT: No, no, the whole sermon, yes or no. No, you haven`t heard the whole sermon? That nullifies that question.

Well, let me try to respond in a non-bombastic way. If you heard the whole sermon, first of all, you heard that I was quoting the ambassador from Iraq. That`s No. 1.

But No. 2, to quote the Bible. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever you sow, that you also shall...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reap.

WRIGHT: Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Unfortunately, that assumes that we believe we have been conducting terrorism.

Be afraid, America. Very afraid. This guy has the ear of the possible next president. He ain`t speaking to himself. He`s talking to a possible president.

Back in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: The very funny, very, very intelligent Ben Stein, his latest entertainment endeavor is a documentary called "Expelled." It`s got a few people at the "New York Times" really upset, so you know it must be good. I`ll speak to Ben later in the show to find out what all the fuss is about coming up.

But first, welcome to the "Real Story." Another day, another all-time record high for oil. It is now near $120 a barrel. This time, I think it was a strike at a refinery in the U.K. and an attack on a pipeline in Nigeria that is to blame, which makes me wonder, gosh, what would it be like if somebody, like, oh, I don`t know, let`s just say, Iran, ever decided to use oil as an actual weapon against us?

You think? Most people, including our politicians, find it pretty convenient to blame the high price of oil on the usual suspects -- you know, OPEC or Exxon, that evil corporation. But the "Real Story" is there`s another group of elitist men who lock themselves in a room every month and make decisions that impact what Americans will pay for oil far more than virtually anybody else. They`re called the Fed.

It seems counter intuitive that our own federal reserve bank would have anything to do with oil but actually it`s pretty simple. The Fed controls interest rates. Interest rates impact the value of our dollar. Oil priced in dollars. In other words, when the Fed cuts our interest rates, as they`ve been doing relentlessly here, the real price of oil for Americans goes up. Just today the head of OPEC came out and warned that the price of oil may go up to $200 a barrel. And there`s nothing they can do about it.

Listen to what he said. Quote, "Prices are high due to the fact of the recession in the United States, a situation which has an effect on the devaluation of the dollar and, therefore, each time the dollar falls 1 percent, the price of a barrel rises by $4."

There it is, right from the horse`s mouth. But if you need, you know, more evidence, just look what`s happened since the summer of 2001. If you measure it in Euros, the price of oil is up 129 percent. Measured in dollars, oil is up 321 percent.

Later this week, our federal reserve meets again to talk about yet another interest rate cut. Oh, keep `em coming, boys! If that happens, hopefully they will say that this is the last, but if it happens, you`ll probably see Wall Street and the markets cheer over all the cheap money and the fast profits. But for those of us who are just trying to drive to the market, the only thing it will mean is more expensive gas.

John Tamny is a senior economist at Wainwright and the editor of "Real Clear Markets." John, explain the link to the dollar to oil. I have to tell you for, oh, I think six months I`ve been reading books that make blood shoot out of my eyes trying to understand the dollar and the Fed and everything else. It`s complex but, really, in this case, it`s not.

JOHN TAMNY, REAL CLEAR MARKETS: No, it`s not. There`s all this talk about expensive oil and oil isn`t really all that expensive. What`s in fact the case is the dollar is cheap. And as you pointed out, when the dollar falls in value, this immediately shows up in commodities, most specifically the oil price. Oil does not get expensive because of OPEC. It doesn`t get expensive because of Russian machinations. It gets expensive and it bounces around when the dollar`s value bounces around. We`ve had lots of weakness in recent years, hence, the high oil price.

BECK: OK. But it also bounces around not just because of the falling dollar but because things are uncertain and so people, big giant hedge funds, et cetera, et cetera, take their money out of the stock market and say, ah, you know what, commodities, I can make so much more money over here than in treasuries or anything else, and so they -- they bet, if you will, on commodities. No?

TAMNY: Yeah, they do to some degree. But I`m always skeptical of the speculation argument for the simple reason that if hedge funds had that kind of control over any commodities price, why not jack it up to $200 tomorrow? Furthermore, back when it was at $10 in 1998, were they feeling benevolent at the time, I think the hedge funds` role is very much overrated in this. This is a dollar phenomenon. It always has been. And if we fix the dollar`s value, what you`ll find is that the oil price will very quickly -

BECK: Go down?

TAMNY: -- drop and it will become very stable over time.

BECK: Can you explain one more thing for me, because I don`t get this. How does -- how does devaluing the dollar help us on our future obligations lowering the cost of things like social security or lowering that debt? Do you understand what I`m saying?

TAMNY: Yeah. It`s a good question. The figure the government can tax us two ways. It can raise the penalty on our work with an income tax rate, or it can just devalue its future obligations by devaluing the dollar. So the Fed can tax us with a dollar devaluation and it also lowers the cost of all the things that you mentioned, from Social Security to Medicare. This is a great way to reduce its debt.

BECK: Do you think that is an intentional thing that they`ve been doing, trying to get that debt down like that?

TAMNY: I think there`s something to it. Look at historically, there are very few deflations throughout economic history whereby a government raises the value of its currency persistently. But there are numerous instances of inflations throughout history as that`s a way to lower your debt. So I do think there is an inclination to devalue the currency because it also reduces --

BECK: Last question real quick, 10 seconds. Are we going to get another Fed cut and how much -- do you really think we could hit $200 a barrel?

TAMNY: I don`t think we`ll hit $200 a barrel because I think ultimately there is institutional knowledge at the Fed that when gold and oil get this high this is inflationary. Eventually the Treasury will come in, define the dollar and I think we`ll solve this problem. So I don`t see $200 a barrel.

BECK: All right John, thanks.

Now, I have a column up at CNN.com today about America being a suicidal superpower. I know, I`m thinking the same thing. I can`t believe CNN.com keeps posting this stuff but they do. The point is actually pretty simple. We don`t control our future because we don`t control our energy supply. Read the whole column on the Web site but if you`re like me and you pass on the book because the movie is coming out soon, let me give you the real story right now.

$120 a barrel oil has given America the opportunity of a lifetime. Every company knows maintaining control over the price you charge for your customers is essential to staying in business, right? But as you just heard from the president of OPEC in our first story, OPEC has no control over their prices anymore. So while that may mean $200 oil and, get this, $7 to $10 a gallon gasoline, it also means that, you know, they won`t be able to collapse the price of oil, you know, whenever a real alternative is trying to get off the ground.

And here`s what I mean by that. Comparatively speaking oil has been so cheap for so long, that it just drove every other competitor out of business. For example, back in 1980 the U.S. invested billions in a synthetic oil initiative. OPEC saw how serious we were about actually putting these guys out of business so they put our initiative out of business by bringing the price of oil from over $39 a barrel to $8 a barrel.

Not surprisingly kind of worked, put us out of business. OPEC has controlled us ever since. But things are different now. According to the state of Montana, which has been called the Saudi Arabia of America because they have so much coal, it costs $55 a barrel -- costs $55 to make a barrel of oil synthetically. That`s a 50 percent discount from what it costs to buy it from OPEC so why wouldn`t we do it?

Oh, and as a small side bonus, we`re in bed with heartland ranchers and coal miners instead of slimy Middle East dictators who hate us. Yeah, I can see why we`re not doing that, huh? What`s the holdup?

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is with us now. You know, you and I talked about this, I don`t even know, four years ago. And I was talking about it on the radio and you heard about it. You called up and you said, Glenn, we`re doing it right now. Because I had found - I had been reading history. I found the Nazis were doing it and that`s what kept Hitler in business for so long. Why hasn`t this gotten off the ground yet, governor?

GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER (D), MONTANA: As you know, oil has been cheap. And of course the South Africans, they picked up the technology from the Germans. And for the last 50 years, the South Africans have been going it alone. They didn`t have oil but they didn`t want to be dependent on the rest of the world. They did have coal. So they`ve been making their own liquid fuel and as you said, the fuel corporations at the end of the 1980s, we were going to build 100 of these synthetic fuel plants, but we only built one. One has been completed at Beulah, North Dakota.

And they`ve been gasifying coal since 1984. And of course what`s more important here is that they separate the CO2 and it`s actually being pumped to oil fields increasing our oil production.

Glenn, we have a lot of coal. America has about 400 billion ton of coal. Now, if we were to convert it to a liquid fuel, that`s about 800 billion barrels. We only import 400 billion barrels. That`s a 200-year supply. What we need -- we have to break that addiction to foreign oil. And we break it in several different ways. We use American ingenuity. We need to have a diversity of fuel supplies. Yes, wind power, solar power, coal gasification, more domestic drilling of oil. We`ve got to protect the environment. But we have the energy supply here.

BECK: You`re a Democrat. I told you when you were on the program, you know, god bless you, man. I don`t care what party you`re from. Just use some common sense. You`re known as a green governor. And you`re talking about using coal. Again, what has stopped you from doing it? Why don`t you take your state and just say, we`re going! Can you get investors? Or what`s the problem?

SCHWEITZER: Here`s the deal. There`s going to be a new carbon law. You know, every single ton of this coal when you burn it emits about two ton ever CO2. And whether you`re talking about the Warner-Lieberman bill or the Bingaman-Specter bill, Republicans and Democrats both working in Congress, there`s going to be a significant cost to emissions of CO2.

Now all the coal companies I`m talking to and I`ve talked to some of the biggest they say sure, we`re ready to go. The technology companies are ready to go. But we need Congress to tell us what the rules are. We don`t know if the cost of that CO2 is going to be $10, $20, $30, whether the money is going to go into a technology fund or if they`re just going to put it into the general fund, whether they`re going to invest in carbon sequestration technology, whether we`re going to pass laws to store the CO2.

You know, in a state like Montana, we can only move so far before we break into the interstate commerce clauses. We`ve got to have a national carbon law.

BECK: This is why -- no, we don`t! This is why -- this is what happened to us in the depression. Business couldn`t do business because the state kept putting more and more regulation. They kept changing their mind, going back and forth. That`s why we had a 10-year depression. It is time to tell Congress, you know what, we`re doing it, man! We need the oil. We need the energy. Governor, I`m sorry to rant on you.

SCHWEITZER: We`ve actually got a few companies that are coalescing around projects in Montana and other places to gasify this coal, either make electricity or liquid fuels. We could be energy independent, but we need to use American innovation to get there.

BECK: Well the military is already doing it. The military thinks it`s important enough to run our ships and our planes and everything else. Governor, stay in touch. Thanks. That`s the "Real Story" tonight.

Don`t forget the only way you can get your tickets to the Glenn Beck summer political comedy tour this week is to become a Glenn Beck insider. Chote for hange. That`s right, we`ll be heading to Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Harrisburg, Portland, Maine, Syracuse, Springfield, Massachusetts, Akron, Houston, Columbia. You want to see why I shouldn`t run for elected office and have a lot of laughs, become an insider at GlennBeck.com and get your tickets today. Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, if you live by the rule as I do that, you know -- if "The New York Times" hates a movie, you`re going to love it? Oh, well let me tell you something. I`ve got a movie that "The New York Times" hates. It`s called "Expelled." So you know it`s got to be good. The man behind it, the man who intelligently designed it is Ben Stein, who is also the co- author of a book "Yes, you can supercharge your portfolio." You are like the smartest guy I know.

BEN STEIN, AUTHOR: No, I`m not. I`m very stupid compared with you.

BECK: Yeah, right.

STEIN: I am.

BECK: All right. Let me just -- because I watched this movie last night and America, let me tell you something. Go see this movie. It`s in theaters now. If you have a daughter or a son like I do that`s going to college and blood is about to shoot out of your eyes, go see it. "The New York Times" says, if I may quote -- because you`re busy drinking.

STEIN: I would rather you didn`t but it will probably make me sick on the air but go ahead.

BECK: "This is one of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time. `Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed` is a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry. `Expelled` is an unprincipled propaganda piece that insults believers and nonbelievers alike."

Let me tell you something. If you`re a believer in God, you`ve got to go -- get your church together and go see this movie. You`ll cheer. You`re saying getting standing ovations.

STEIN: This movie played on a thousand screens the first weekend. We got reports from almost every theater owner that people were standing and cheering so long that they couldn`t get the next crowd in.

Like as with all movies, the crowd has fallen off somewhat but people still cheer. People come back to se it. We had an incredible family that drove all the way from a small town in Kansas to Pueblo, Colorado, 230 miles each way to see it, then came back the next day to see it again.

BECK: Let me just play a couple of clips from it. I just want you to explain it. This is towards the end where you`ve got a real heavy hitter - -

STEIN: The heaviest hitter, heaviest atheist hitter.

BECK: Discussing who created the original cell. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look at the -- at the details of chemistry molecular biology you might find a signature of some sort of designer.

STEIN: Wait a second. Richard Dawkins thought intelligent design might be a legitimate pursuit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that designer could well be a higher intelligence from elsewhere in the universe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: But you`re crazy to say it`s god.

STEIN: Heavy, heavy, heavy. Yes, you can say it`s anything you want, men from outer space, martians, anything you want, but not God. It cannot be God. It`s not allowed to be God.

BECK: Right. He -- tell me about him.

STEIN: A very smart guy. I`m not a judge of male beauty as much as I am of female beauty but a very good looking guy.

BECK: You`re good with the ladies --

STEIN: I`m pretty good with the ladies. Self confident guy. But thinks -- in my humble opinion, thinks he knows a lot more than he does. Darwinism cannot explain gravity, cannot explain thermodynamics. Most of all, it cannot explain how life began. That`s what we`re trying to get in the movie, how did life began and why should we close our eyes to the possibility that God did it, there is an intelligent creator and his name is G-O-D.

BECK: It amazed me to see the arrogance and honestly the misery that these people live in.

STEIN: I think they live in a little, teeny box. They`re surrounded like a little teeny box protecting themselves and their theory. They cannot look outside that box for the giant spacelessness of time and the giant spacelessness of God. And that`s -- that makes me feel bad for them. They`re famous within their circles but they don`t have God in their lives and that makes me sad for them.

BECK: They are -- they are so closed-minded --

STEIN: Yes.

BECK: And it was -- I really -- I got the feeling from the movie that it`s really not about science.

STEIN: No, it`s about them.

BECK: It`s anti-God. They cannot allow God to be a part of anything.

STEIN: Right, because if there is a God, then they might be judged. If there`s a God who holds you accountable for your actions you`re in a lot of trouble.

Now, I`m going to be the first to agree I`m in a lot of trouble, too, but there`s -- they cannot admit that there`s a possibility of sin or a possibility of morality. And they can agree on this basic thing. If man is just a speck of dust struck by lightning and then turned into a human being, then he has no moral responsibility. If we`re all children of God, then we have some moral responsibility because we all have some little piece of God in us. That scares them to death.

BECK: OK, listen, America, I`m tells you, first of all, go see the movie. It is called "Exposed."

STEIN: "Expelled."

BECK: Sorry, "Expelled." It`s in theaters right now. Then this Friday, we`re spending a full hour with Ben. We`ll be talking about everything from the food prices to the economy to what it`s like to appear in "Seinfeld," "MacGyver" and let`s not forget "Duck Man."

STEIN: I`m just saying.

BECK: Ben Stein full hour this Friday 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Eastern and go see "Expelled." More in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREKA)

BECK: Well, Miley Cyrus is in the news today because of a recent photo shoot with "Vanity Fair." In one picture, she`s only half covered by a sheet. Cyrus, in case you don`t know -- God bless you if you don`t -- she`s an actress that plays "Hannah Montana." She`s 15-years-old. I`m not going to show you the picture on the cover because that`s what "Vanity Fair" wants and there`s more than that.

Cyrus says in a statement, "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be artistic and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

I don`t know if I buy that entirely, but a Disney spokesperson also chimed in saying, quote, "A situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

You think so? And what are you doing, Disney? Remember, this is not "Tiger Beat." What 15-year-old do you know reads "Vanity Fair?" Oh, I`ve got to see what`s in the latest "Vanity?"

Come on, who is this targeting? The bottom line is, this isn`t a Miley Cyrus problem. It`s not really even a "Vanity Fair" problem. This is a societal problem. At some point shouldn`t we decide as a nation whether or not we think 15-year-olds are hot?

I`m going to vote no on that one. But can we please make up our mind? Can we stop glorifying half-naked preteens and acting horrified when their behavior in our kids change when somebody is out molesting 15-year-olds? I`m voting that we don`t sexualize a 15-year-old in any circumstance.

Call me crazy. Call me wacky. Call me completely out of control. I don`t care. There are plenty of countries that allow kids as young as 12 and 13 to consent to sex. To see a partial list just look at John Mark Karr`s passport. If you want that debate, fine, I`m OK with that debate. Let`s go for it. You know, I don`t know how we`re going to fall on this. America has become somewhat unpredictable to me lately but I hope we`d still reject that.

I ask as the father of three daughters, can`t we just wait? Can`t we just teach our kids to be responsible and, yeah, sometimes they`re not going to listen to us? And there`s nothing we can do about that. But we can single-handedly stop sexualizing our children in the media until, I don`t know, at least until they`re old enough to vote or, in "Vanity Fair`s" case, maybe just old enough to drive.

Is that too much to ask? Don`t forget, we have an exclusive article all week from our very own public viewer Brian Sack about what message you want to leave behind to your kids when you`re gone. I know it sounds really depressing but it`s really very funny and really, really smart stuff. Sign up for the free newsletter at GlennBeck.com. From New York, good night, America.

END