BECK: Now joining me on the phone is radio talk show host Mr. Rush Limbaugh. Rush?
RUSH: Glenn Beck. How are you, sir?
BECK: Very good, sir. I want to play something for you. I don’t know if you just saw it, but I want to play it again. This is the new diversity officer for the FCC, a newly created position. This is what he said at a speech or talk he was giving about Chavez’s Venezuela and how the media work down there. Watch this.
MARK LLOYD: In Venezuela, with Chavez, you really had an incredible revolution — democratic revolution — to begin to put in place things that were going to have impact on the people of Venezuela. The property owners and the folks who were then controlling the media in Venezuela rebelled — worked, frankly, with folks here in the US government — worked to oust him. He came back and had another revolution, and Chavez then started to take the media very seriously in his country.
BECK: Rush, I find that breathtaking.
RUSH: I find the whole administration breathtaking, Glenn. You’re doing great job this whole week. I mean I saw Sarah Palin even ‘tweeted’ about what you’re doing, urging people to watch. This whole administration is as radical and far left as any that the country has ever had, and what they’re trying to do here to communications is simply stifle dissenting voices. They’re trying to wipe out any opposition. If you look at Barack Obama and his track record as a politician, it is to clear the playing field. He doesn’t even like debating his opponents. He just wants to get rid of them. And this ‘diversity czar’ comes from a fringe, radical, Saul Alinsky-type of background; and the things that he’s talking about doing — and I watched your show for the first half hour today — but the things he’s talking about doing to shut down radio are simply un-American. It’s not enough to say that it’s not constitutional.
It’s simply un-American, and make no bones about it, folks, Glenn is right — and I think he’s maybe underselling a little bit about as far as their intentions are concerned. The stimulus plan! Glenn, look at what they’re doing to the US economy. Anybody with a sense of economic literacy would know this is not how you create jobs. You do not rebuild the private sector. This is being done on purpose. All of these disasters are exactly what Obama wants. The more crises, the better. The more opportunity for government to say, ‘Let us come in and fix the problem.’ His number one opposition is on radio and Fox News. His number one opposition is on radio. They can’t go Fairness Doctrine because it’s too obvious. So they’re trying to do this backdoor route with ‘diversity’ and ownership, a 100% tax on operating in order to pay public radio because they’re supposedly fair. It’s insidious. But I don’t think it’s gonna work in the end because the American people are too informed, Glenn. They’re too aware of it. Their radio means too much to them. Their free speech — freedom in general — means way too much to them. And just as they’re fighting back on health care and a number of other things, so will they fight back on this.
BECK: Rush, tomorrow on this program I’m going to lay out the case of the army that they are building right underneath our nose, an army that he spoke about on the campaign trail. If you watch what could only be called the organizations — or the administration’s organ — anything involved with GE or NBC; you’ve got now Jeffrey Immelt on the board of the Federal Reserve, you have in the Oval Office consulting not only on health care but the financial situation, and they are an organ. If you watch MSNBC, I contend that you will see the future, because they are laying the ground for a horrible event that will be… What they’re laying the ground for, anything from the right some awful event — and I fear this government, this administration, has so much framework already prepared that they will seize power overnight before anybody even gives it a second thought.
RUSH: Well, I think because of what you’re doing with your television show, your radio show — what we’re all doing here — I don’t think they’re going to be able to seize it overnight without anybody knowing about it. You talk about the organized groups that they’ve got. Let’s look at the health care situation, what’s happening right now. The genuine passion, the real passion is in individual Americans’ hearts and minds. Individuals are showing up. They may be going to the Web to find out where these town halls are, but they’re showing up because individually they don’t want any part of this. The Obama army has to be bought and paid for. The Obama army has to be given marching orders.
BECK: Right.
RUSH: The Obama army is not showing up with any passion for Obama’s issue, which is health care. They’re showing up because they’ve been instructed to by bosses. Now, this army that you’re going to reveal tomorrow is probably going to be much the same way — and I’m going to tell you something, Glenn. Passion, love of country —
BECK: I know.
RUSH: — truth is going to outmaneuver and overpower fake passion, trumped-up people who are just given marching orders and sent out to act in a certain way. You know, we may be looking at Barack Obama destroying the Democrat Party. It’s too soon to say that now, but we may be looking at that happen. There are reasons for optimism, but you are right: It is a dangerous time. It’s the most dangerous time in my life for freedom and liberty in this country.
BECK: I will tell you, a lot of people would say, ‘Well, that’s Rush Limbaugh. He’s… You know, this is hyperbole,’ et cetera, et cetera. Would you agree with me, Rush, that this is not conservatives or Republicans or independents talking about this because they don’t like Rush — they don’t like Barack Obama. These are Americans. I’m an American. I’m speaking to you as an American. This is bad for anyone unless you’re in the power circle. You don’t want to go down this road with what they’re proposing with the FCC.
RUSH: No. Well, I don’t want to go down the road with anything they’re proposing on anything, Glenn. But you ask an interesting question. You know are people going to react to me simply because, ‘Well, it’s hyperbole. It’s what these guys do’? My first hour yesterday was chronicling how this man is systematically dismantling our ability to gather intelligence to protect ourselves against an attack. He is purposely using his attorney general to make the United States the villain of the world — and I’m going to tell you, folks: from the bottom of my heart, I am uncomfortable thinking and saying these things about a man who’s been elected president of the United States. It is terribly upsetting and disconcerting, and I wish I didn’t think it and I wish I didn’t have to say it. But there’s no way to sugarcoat it. This is not politics as usual. This is not left versus right. This is not Republican versus Democrat. This is statism, totalitarianism versus freedom. And if these people are allowed to go where they want to go unchecked, then some people, a lot of people — I don’t think half the country, but close — will wake up one day and find, ‘My God, what the hell happened?’ Because this is not what they voted for. They had no intention of this. They thought they were getting something entirely different and it is a responsibility that we all have being honest and earnest to inform people of what these possibilities are because they are very real.
BECK: More with Rush Limbaugh next.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
LLOYD: In Venezuela, with Chavez, you really have an incredible revolution — democratic revolution — to begin to put in place things that were going to have impact on the people of Venezuela. The property owners and the folks who were then controlling the media in Venezuela rebelled — worked, frankly, with folks here in the US government — worked to oust him. He came back and had another revolution, and Chavez then started to take the media very seriously in his country.
BECK: America, I want to… First of all I want to thank the watchdog for bringing that video to my attention. You can be a watchdog. Just tweet me whenever you see things like this. But I have to ask you an honest effort here. I need you to scour the Internet and look for all the people involved with this government giving speeches and listen to them, and then pull them off and archive them yourself. Pull them off onto your own computer, because I think things could get scrubbed quickly. We’re back with radio talk show host Mr. Rush Limbaugh. Rush, when I see this comment from him — and yesterday, we were, you know, all on Van Jones — an avowed communist, self-avowed communist, Marxist, revolutionary —
RUSH: Right.
BECK: — advising the president of the United States. [John] Holdren, our science czar. He comes out and he says that you don’t have a right to, you know, a number of children. If you want to have three children, there’s no right in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence if the government says there’s only two children. Where is the true outrage from anyone in the media? Why are these things not grabbing traction at this point?
RUSH: Well, that doesn’t surprise me at all. I think the whole concept of reporting has gone out the window. I call them the State-Controlled Media because it’s what they are. They’re just repeaters. They take dictation from Rahm Emanuel for the most part, and they simply run with it. It’s who they are, too. They think, Glenn, at the end of all this that they are going to be in the elite circle. They think they’re going to be untouched by any of this. They think the Fairness Doctrine attack, or the attack on radio, is going to leave them alone. My father used to tell me when I was growing up and my brother when he was trying to warn me of the threat posed by Soviet communism and he told me about the media, he said, ‘These people are such fools. Don’t they understand they’re going to be the first ones shut up if this kind of thing ever happens in this country?’ I think it’s just hero worship. I think these people, a lot of people come out of the civil rights era. This presidency is symbolic to them; it’s historical. They’re not reporting — in fact, Glenn, this is a great point. How is it that people know what’s in the health care bill? The press isn’t telling them. How is it that people know some of the plans the administration has? The Drive-By Media is not telling anybody anything — and they are discombobulated. I saw Chuck Todd the other day go ballistic because too many people are doing news now that are not journalists, that are not qualified and they’re reflecting people’s opinions on the media and so forth. These people, it’s embarrassing. I think they’ve met their Waterloo and their Waterloo is Obama.
BECK: When I warned on the Patriot Act — which I was for as long as it had serious sunsets and as many booby traps in that thing as possible. I warned at the time I was really conflicted because you don’t want to give a government this kind of power. The kind of power that this government has right now is staggering! Rush, they tried to go after you with Timothy McVeigh and tried to enact all of these things. Is it different now? Are you at all fearful or do you have any fear that these things will come to pass?
RUSH: Well, I do, and I take it seriously that they’re going to try. But, you know, Glenn, they’ve tried a number of things with me over the years. You mentioned McVeigh. They tried to blame me, Clinton did, for the Oklahoma City bombing. They’ve routinely gone after me but they haven’t been able to shake anything away and the reason is the bond of loyalty that I have with my audience.
BECK: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: I have total credibility with the audience. It’s an audience that continues to grow despite all of the new conservative shows on radio and television, and all of us in conservative media have that bond with our audience. The effort to discredit us is always going to fail. It will always fail as long as we remain true to who we are and don’t disappoint our audiences in any way in terms of substance and being serious about what we really believe. So I’m confident that this can be beaten back. If I weren’t, you know what, Glenn? I’d pack it all in and I’d spend my money before they take it and I’d go enjoy the rest of what my life is gonna be, but I —
BECK: That’s quite a shopping spree. Can I come with you? (laughing)
RUSH: (laughing)
BECK: All right.
RUSH: There’s plenty of room.
BECK: Mr. Limbaugh, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
RUSH: It’s always a pleasure, Glenn. Thanks for having me.
BECK: Thank you.
RUSH: And one of these days we gotta do this on camera. I lost all this weight. I gotta show the people.
BECK: I… I would… I think he’s hitting on me!
RUSH: (laughing)
BECK: I think he’s saying, ‘I’m a sexy, sexy man.’ Rush, thank you very much. We’ll talk to you again.