Updated

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," September 13, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Hello, America. Welcome to the — welcome to the program.

I want to talk to you about a couple of things, the economy, the media
— the media I like as much as Woodrow Wilson — the Koran burning and then the Beck-Palin thing using 9/11.

I want to make it really clear: I've come to a point this weekend where I don't really even care anymore about what anybody says, what the press says or anything else, it's time to move on. They're in our rearview mirror and it's really becoming — I mean, almost sad. It really is.

I want to start with the Koran burning. I'm on a vacation. I'm in this little town, Driggs Idaho, Huntsman Springs, I'm sitting there and I'm actually going out to fish with my 5-year-old son and a friend of mine.

And I hear a call from the house, "Honey, the Pakistani ambassador wants you to denounce the Koran burnings." I'm like, what? Hello? Well, my response was, "Tell him I already did two days ago. And I'm going fishing now."

It was bizarre. That's one of the only things I commented on on TheBlaze.com, was the Koran burning. I mean, what an idiot. What an idiot. There are things you can do in America, but things you shouldn't do in America.

Well, as it turns out, the idiot down in Florida didn't do it. So, why? Well, because I think, in the end, people are good and people just need an excuse to be good. They just need to be shown how to do good and give them an excuse to do good. I don't know if that guy is any good and I don't know anything about him, quite honestly, other than that was a stupid move.

But who is using that story for political gain, for power and for money? How many stories did the media do on the Koran burning? Probably the same number of stories that they ran on the hatred of 8/28, except that happened over months that they said: Oh, Glenn Beck is going to desecrate the Lincoln Memorial. Glenn Beck is going to stir up hate. There's going to be violence. You know, he's going to desecrate the memory of MLK.

Did anybody notice none of that happened? Did anybody notice that none of the stuff from the Koran burning thing happened?

You know what? I think we should — I think we should just notice here that the media is getting things wrong a lot. I mean, not like kind of wrong, but really wrong, all the time. And I think it's because they're now engaging in future news. You know what I mean? It's "Future News: Here's what's going to happen tomorrow, America."

Why do you — why don't you tell me what just happen? Why don't you get that one right and then maybe tell us what's going to happen?

See, I'm not a journalist. I'm a commentator. I'm telling you my opinion. And it seems to me that that's what media is doing now — telling everybody their opinion.

All right. So, the Koran thing didn't happen. The 8/28 thing, no, that didn't turn into a race riots, it's weird, isn't it?

And then the latest was this weekend, I was up in Alaska, which — I don't know if — I mean, intellectually, you can understand this. But until you've actually flown there, you have no idea how far away Alaska is.

I'm up in Alaska and I've been hired by a company to give a speech and Sarah Palin calls and she says, hey, I'm going to be in town, do you mind if I introduce you? I'm like, no, that'd be great.

She did it because she's a friend. She went and she introduced. She didn't ask for any fee or anything else. I apologized to her because this thing turned into a nightmare — it's me doing my job. I go and I give a speech and people pay me for — I know, it's crazy — people pay me to speak and then people pay to come and hear me speak. It's great. It's nuts, isn't it?

So, first when this was announced I think a couple days before I went on vacation, the media started in that Palin and Beck are going to announce that we're running. Yes. Yes. Don't be afraid, America, me in the Oval Office, things are going to change.

No, we're not running, no. But the media had to run with that. They had all kinds of things that they were saying. Then it was the hate tour. And then they finally found into something, they ran into — oh, my goodness, it's 9/11! It's 9/11! Glenn Beck can't speak on 9/11 — just like I couldn't speak on 8/28.

Can I get a list from the media on exactly what dates I can work? Because I don't know. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

Is Cadbury exploiting Jesus Christ by selling chocolate on Easter? What are we doing? Now, we're exploiting 9/11.

Look, I'm not exploiting 9/11. Sarah Palin wasn't exploiting 9/11. It's 9/11.

May I ask the newspapers, did they return — I was going to ask them if they returned the profits they made on the newspapers that they sold on 9/11, but then again, it's a newspaper or the magazine or the mainstream media and there are no profits anymore because you suck.

Exploiting 9/11. OK. I want to set a few things straight here and then we are going to move on. And this isn't — don't flatter yourself, media, that I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to the American people here because this really hacked me off.

We have to set things right in this country. We have to — we have to continue as a country, isn't that our goal? Continue as a country, and there's a lot of us that don't think we will very much longer. Did you see the national debt?

We have to ring the bell, but we have to ring it equally, equally, on all issues. No matter who is in office, we have to ring the bell. But it is important to meet on the battlefield of ideas and engage with each other, actually have a dialogue — not between one personality and another, but American citizens having a dialogue. You wait until I show you what's happening later on the program.

Look, I don't have a side. My side is the idea of what was called the American experiment. It was an experiment. Now, are we going to move past it and say, yes, it failed? Or are we going to take the things that we learned, take the best of those ideas and continue to go forward for our next great leap for our children and our grandchildren?

Well, the ideas that built America are being lost and perverted. One of them is the free market system. Do I make money? Yes, I do. Am I ashamed of it? No, I'm not. Are you ashamed of it?

I think the media and the celebrities — I think they are ashamed of the money. They can give up all the money they want. But I'm not ashamed of it and you shouldn't either.

I'm going to have a conversation with you here for about three minutes on this and I'm not saying this for any other reason other than to make sure that you understand what you're up against.

There is an effort in this country to dismantle the free market system. Well, I believe in the free market system and I think you do, too.

You give a man a chance to better himself and his children and he will push himself. He will work day and night. He will have sleepless nights. He will do everything we can, especially if he has an idea and something in his heart that he believes in. He will work tirelessly because he believes in it and it will do great things for him and his family and his community.

Why did people come here? Did they come on boats because — oh, it's just like every place else! No. They came here for opportunity. It's the land of opportunity — not guarantees, opportunity. To keep the bread earned through the sweat of your brow.

What was the civil rights movement about? The dream was about giving everybody a chance — a chance. Give me a shot, man. Don't judge me on the color of my skin, but on the content of my character. Give me a chance. Everywhere else, you needed to be in a gild, you needed to be in a special union, you have to be a part of special interest, you had to know somebody. Not here.

Do not be shamed into thinking that the American idea is bad, that you can better yourself. It transformed the world in under a hundred years.

And here is the basic concept behind it: Time is money.

Why is it money? Because money, we attach value. Your time is of value, so is mine.

What was — I think it was on the first show, what was one of the promises I made to you? I told you that this show would be different because I would never waste your time. We have tried really hard not to do that. One time I know we violated, do you remember the slumber party guy? Do you remember the — why, I was in a tickle-fest — yes, that clown. OK.

What did I say after that show? Do you have the tape? What did I say on that show? This is what I said. Watch:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: America, I'm going to shoot straight with you. I think I've wasted your time. I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time and I apologize for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK, why would I do that? I heard from so many people: I've never seen anybody do that on TV. Why? Why? It shocked me that people would say, "I can't believe he said that."

I respect you. I respect the value of an hour. You can choose to do a lot of things in an hour. So can I. I choose to do with my time what I want to do.

Well, I'm on vacation and first, I hear: "The Pakistani ambassador —" How does the Pakistani ambassador even — how does he even know who I am?

Then I hear that my P.R. firm, because I ain't answering the phone because I'm fly fishing — my P.R. firm releases information that said Glenn Beck's going to donate his money for this speech.

I was smoked that they said that. Not because it's true — it's absolutely true — but it's none of their business. And the more I thought of it, the more it made me angry because of what you might think.

I wanted to have this chat with you today and I want to tell you, I am not ashamed of the free market system. I am not ashamed that I was poor and now I am not. I was poor; I was rich; I screwed my life up; I was poor again and I built it from scratch.

The reason why I tell you that is not to boast, but to convince you that you, too, can do it. See, this is the game we're playing now. You can't do that. Oh, the system is set up against you? Bull crap! You can do it.

Let me tell you what happened. I made a promise to myself — myself — when I made a promise to you on the radio about a year ago. I was going to do 8/28 and I said: I promise you that I will not gouge your eyes out. I promise you that I won't spend things frivolously. I know the value of your time and I know the value of your money.

8/28 was paid for by donation. I showed you somebody that gave me 8 cents. Do you think I hold 8 cents in my hand and know what that meant and then just go, spend it frivolously?

I never told you this because quite honestly, it was a promise to myself, but I'm telling you this now for the only reason — the only reason — to make sure you understand I am not ashamed of making money.

When I made my promise to you — when I asked my radio audience to help pay for 8/28, I told you I wouldn't waste your time. I told you you would experience, you would never — I told you that in the beginning of real change and miracles would happen. But I also told you I would not waste your money.

Well, when I asked Sarah Palin, the press ripped her apart for a year. How much is Sarah Palin being paid to speak? Zero is the answer — zero. She never even asked. Zero.

Well, who's paying for her airfare? I did. I paid for the airfare, I paid for the security. Do you know — do you have any idea what security costs for 8/28, for three people who could have lost their lives? There were 10 hotels that I personally, out of my pocket — I'm not saying this to boast — I'm telling you the facts. Let's just say, I just got the American Express bill that I'm gladly paying for, I think I could buy a small country with the points.

Why did I do it? Because I'm not going to waste your money on that. I'm not going to ask you to give 8 cents and then put people up with those
8 cents in hotel rooms that you couldn't stay in.

But I can't ask Sarah Palin to fly from Alaska — did I mention how far away it is? Fly from Alaska and then not have a great place for her to come and just relax, because she's not getting paid for it. I'm not going to do that. I paid for it.

But I'm not a charitable organization. I spend more on research — you know, this program, I bet I lose money personally on this program because I pay for research. Fox pays for research, but I hire people myself. I spend more on research on my radio show, more than anybody else in the history of broadcast radio — history.

I employ 40 people in New York City. I have the best health insurance for everybody — nobody pays a deductible. It's the best that money can buy. I'm told that the insurance that I pay for my employees is actually — I'm the only one in New York still buying it because it's too expensive.

But I believe in treating people right. My choice.

I never intended on telling you any of these things, but I want you to know. It's none of their business — quite honestly, it's none of yours.

My financial advisers tell me I'm stupid to put — honestly, they have said to me all the time: Glenn, you're going to live under a bridge. Fine. Fine. It's not true.

You know why they say I'm going to live under a bridge? Because I treat my employees right, which is why my company has gone from, what, six employees three years ago to 40 employees, because I treat them right. I give charity and my CEO of my company, he thinks I'm nuts. He's like: Glenn, you're going to live under a bridge. No, I'm not.

To those who have been given much, much is required. I take that admonishment at face value. Not out of fear, but with joy, with confidence. And that you need to understand that, not about me, but let my little example inspire you to do the same thing.

I want to give. It's my privilege. It's my honor. It's my responsibility.

But I also believe in what I call the bucket theory, and I never heard anybody say this theory before, but I think we're all given buckets and we all start with the same size bucket. And what do people do, if you're collecting rain water — because you're thirsty — you're collecting rain water people have a tendency of doing this, they will cover their bucket to protect it.

I believe, take your bucket — blessings rain down on you all the time
— take your bucket. And if you see somebody who needs water, there's more, it's raining all the time: Empty it. Eventually, somebody who's handing out the buckets is going to go: You know what, get that guy more buckets, get him a bigger bucket.

Stop protecting it. Give it and more will come.

— Watch "Glenn Beck" weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel

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