'Glenn Beck': Mainstream Media Have Gone From Watchdogs to Lapdogs

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," August 3, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: If you have been watching the show for any length of time, I've been telling you that Congress is in trouble. Congress is in trouble because they've made themselves irrelevant.

And I believe the same can be said, if not now, very soon with the mainstream media. The media's job is to be the watchdogs of the republic, not the lapdogs of any administration, but that's exactly what they've become.

So as a direct result of their not doing their own job, the federal government has been able to slip little things like this into the new financial reform bill. The SEC no longer has to comply with freedom of information requests. That is huge.

The law exempts the SEC from providing information derived from, quote, "surveillance risk assessments or other regulatory and oversight activities." Wow, that's kind of broad, huh?

So now when the media is troubled by or curious about something that the SEC is doing, you're just going to have to wonder or hope. There's a change. Even lawmakers are saying this is a big deal, like the Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman who is calling for it now to be rewritten. It won't be, but he is calling for it. Maybe he should have done it before it was passed.

Kauffman said, quote, "This provision is overly broad. Freedom of Information Act already has exemptions in it to deal with such concerns. If those exemptions needed to be broadened, we should have done so with a scalpel." Another wonderful development. Yes, it is.

Now, here's yet another, this one from media outlet, Huffington Post, fair and balanced. They teamed up with far left think tank, the Tides Foundation. Well, they're going to produce The Huffington Post investigative fund. Oh, I wonder what they'll be looking into.

It's going to be objective. Sure. Sure. Tides is linked to Wade Rathke, founder and chief organizer of ACORN International and founder and chief organizer of Local 100 SEIU, and, of course, board members of the Tides Foundation, you know, and a well-known left supporter of Barack Obama.

And that is just him. Don't worry about it. This alliance is yet another example of the media gladly going beyond lapdog for the administration. I am telling you, The Huffington Post is going to be Pravda. Now, it's also being the attack dog, the media in general. They're fulfilling that role of being attack dog.

Last week, I didn't hear anybody really go into this at all. When the president was on "The View," here is what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Length to Fox News and other outlets. They seem to be hijacking the narrative. Where, on your side, is the narrative? Where is your attack dog to come out and tell the American people, "Listen, this is what we did?"

BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Wait. That's your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: And she said yes. You notice that Joy, who I believe the most misnamed person on planet earth — Joy is troubled by the lone media outlet, Fox. She can only name one and other outlets. Really? What other outlets? Talk radio? The outlets that dare tell the other side.

And he says that's your job to be the attack dog. Meanwhile, Congress is also being tossed in the scrap heap of history. Between all the executive orders and regulatory powers executive branch has now amassed in a very short time, soon Congress may be able just to go home. Don't worry about it.

The latest grab by the president is an internal memo prepared for the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that says it is possible to provide green cards or delay deportation for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are now living and working in the United States without papers or permanent residence

Remember, that's what we tried to solve and swore we would after 9/11. Who needs Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform? You don't. The White House can just, quote, "offer administrative relief options to promote family unity, foster economic growth."

Oh, these sound so — don't they all sound so warm? "Achieve significant progress, improvements and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization." They don't need Congress. What did I tell you a year ago, Congress? You're irrelevant.

Don't worry. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service released a statement on this memo because talk radio got their hands on it, "Nobody should mistake deliberation and exchange of ideas," it's all academic, "for final decision. To be clear, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation's entire illegal immigrant population."

What a relief! Not the entire — what is it ten or, now, are we up to 20? Who is counting anymore? Million illegal aliens. They're not — not the entire — they're not going to be able to say. No. Maybe just a million — maybe five. Maybe 500,000. Who knows? It's all academic.

Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. The White House will take care of it. By the way, that 10.7 million is the estimated number from DHS. Who knows what the real number is? Maybe we'll know soon because ACORN was counting recently.

All of this goes back to the very early stages of American progressives. You have seen the movie before if you know history. I told you about it earlier. Woodrow Wilson wrote back in his book in 1885 about Congress' time being much better spent, not with legislation but in the instruction and guidance of political affairs of the nation.

Really? Isn't that great? Now, when he got into office — he wrote that in 1885. That is ancient history. Pay no attention, as he did exactly what Barack Obama is doing now. Wilson didn't want Congress sticking their nose into legislation too much. He wanted that authority.

He hated the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He wanted specifically those powers given to him that are given to the Congress by the Constitution. The American people understood back there. They knew — they knew, as I think they're beginning to now.

What these progressives are trying to do is to circumvent or co-opt, not just the media or Congress, but the entire United States Constitution and anyone who stands with it, because they know better.

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