Corporate America on Road to Fascism?

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," June 1, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Let's go over to Jonah Goldberg, syndicated columnist and author of the book "Liberal Fascism" that is out in paperback tomorrow.

I'm telling you, America, this is a must-read. If you want to understand the real cancer that is in our system and has destroyed our country, it is progressivism and this is the — this is the book that began to open my eyes. I have done an awful lot of research after this. But if it wasn't for Jonah Goldberg's book, "Liberal Fascism," I probably wouldn't understand what the sickness is in this country. Read this book.

All right, Jonah...

JONAH GOLDBERG, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Thank you, Glenn.

BECK: What a nightmare this is. Can you give me any example in history where this kind of stuff has happened — what's happening today — and what does it lead to?

GOLDBERG: Well, I mean, we saw — I mean, it's funny. I mean, again, you know, I'm not calling Barack Obama a Hitler and I'm not calling him Nazis and all the rest. But, you know, in fascism, we saw the people's car. We call it the Volkswagen, where the state said what we're going to do is we're going to take over the auto industry — government and business and unions are going to get together and we're going to create cars to fill a political need rather than a market need and give people these cars.

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Now, we've got Barack Obama saying that GM is going to make these affordable fuel-efficient cars — i.e., cars that Washington and the political planners in Washington want made rather than the cars that the market and the consumer are demanding.

And somehow they think this is all just going to just work out because they're going to will into existence these cars that some people want out there and it's going to get ugly.

I mean, I don't know if you remember, when the initial bailout argument — the TARP argument — came in September, you had me on the show, and John Boehner had said, you know, I think this thing is a crap sandwich, but I'm going to eat it anyway. And you asked me what I thought about all of it and I said, "Look, I think it's a crap sandwich for as far as the eye can see."

And I think what we're seeing now has proven that to be true. The moral hazards here are enormous and incalculable. And they go all over the place and you see bond markets freak out. It's just a nightmare.

BECK: If they're going to freak out, you know they're going to freak out. Let me take you back in history.

GOLDBERG: No. They are going to freak out.

BECK: Jonah — yes, they are. Let me take you back in history. I said last week that I believe that China is America in 1950 and 1980, we are England in 1918.

GOLDBERG: Right.

BECK: And everybody went over — England came over to us, borrowed all this money so they could fight a war, they could finance everything, then we dictated the rules on what they were going to do with the war machine and everything, we said reduce the size of your navy. We dismantled England.

And then after World War II — nobody woke up until after World War II — that the power had shifted to us. We were already a superpower in the 1920s. But the power — nobody really noticed it until after the war.

After the war, that's when the progressives who had been doing a number in England for a very long time, that's when they said, "We've got to take over the Jaguar." I mean, I was talking about it on the radio today, and I said, "When did the Jaguar not suck?" It sucked ever since I can remember.

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: And yet it's one — it's known as one of the greatest race cars around and everything else. It didn't suck before the government took it over. That's where we're headed now, doing the same thing that England did.

GOLDBERG: I think that's — I think that's partially right. And I think — I mean, I think that we still have the ability to project force and influence the world in a way that, you know, England, when it was on the ropes, didn't.

But, you know, you look at Tim Geithner going over to China, and you just watch him and, you know, the most telling moment was when the audience of economic students at Beijing university laughed when Geithner started talking about what great shape we're in and how we're going to be able to fix our problems. And I think this gets to the point you made earlier about Obama talking about GM.

What Geithner said over there was absolutely fine. He was saying the right things and all of the rest, but there is no credibility in terms of what we are doing. And until the administration starts doing the things about getting our fiscal house in order, they can say all the right flowery words they want.

BECK: Yes. Let me ask you — did we get — did we get the information or the audio of them laughing at Timothy Geithner? We didn't get it? We're working on it.

We have to get this for you, America. I have to tell you, that's not — it's being reported that they're skeptical. You don't laugh when somebody says, "No, your money is safe," if you're skeptical. They're laughing at us because they know what we won't admit. We're out of control and we will collapse, and we will inflate our dollar beyond recognition if we don't stop this soon.

Thanks, Jonah. I appreciate it.

And, America, I mean every word of it. Get Jonah's book.

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