This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," September 17, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "At Your Beck and Call" segment tonight: The Beckmeister has been watching the political landscape in America. He's also been reading my book, "Pinheads & Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama." I talked with Beck last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'REILLY: So here's Beck, and you're not a real political guy. But you did cover the election this week a little bit, right?
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes. I think the -- I think the Tea Party needs to understand that they have arrived. They have -- my favorite headline of maybe the last two years is: "Establishment Freaked."
O'REILLY: Freaked out.
BECK: Freaked out.
O'REILLY: They freaked out.
BECK: Absolutely, because they've been dismissing and belittling these people. And it doesn't matter what anybody says, they're changing things.
O'REILLY: There's no doubt. And here's what Beck said on his program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: The establishment GOP, and they're just the beginning, really. It's not just the GOP. The Democrats are freaking as well. The media is freaking out. They've got to figure out a way to stop the Tea Partygoers because you're winning. They have all the power, or so they thought. Well, the establishment GOP, being the elitists that they have become, underestimated their -- their power against the Tea Parties. And here's the great news: So do the Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: OK. I'm not freaking out. I like the Tea Parties. I said that from the jump. I mean, I think they're patriots.
BECK: Yes, yes, yes.
O'REILLY: I don't think that Karl Rove, for example, is this establishment guy who's looking down on the Tea Parties. I think he's a realistic guy who wants to win and get the Senate back in Republican hands.
BECK: But win for what? I mean, you know, there has to be values and principles. Win for what? For more spending, for another -- another prescription drug program, for more bailouts?
O'REILLY: No, but it's basically you win when you take control of the Senate and you are able to flock for…
BECK: For what? For what?
O'REILLY: I think the prevailing position on the Republican side is the conservative -- return to conservative values.
BECK: You know what I don't -- you know what I don't like? Is the people who say this person can't win so we shouldn't help them at all. They can't win. Well, they said that about Mark Rubio. What is he, 15 points ahead? I mean, it's for the people to decide who can win.
O'REILLY: It is for the people to decide, but I think Charles Krauthammer yesterday, Rove earlier today on this program, they are concerned that candidates like Ms. O'Donnell, all right, Paladino in New York are so out there that the independents will simply say, "I'm going to stay at home."
BECK: Let me talk to you. Let's not talk about O'Donnell. Let's talk about the challenger, the Democratic challenger.
O'REILLY: He's a loon.
BECK: He's a Marxist.
O'REILLY: Right. He admitted it.
BECK: Yes, he admitted it.
O'REILLY: I can't even make fun of you for calling him that.
BECK: You're telling me that she's unelectable but a Marxist is?
O'REILLY: You know and Delaware, it's a tiny state.
BECK: Come on.
O'REILLY: There might be people from Romania.
BECK: The people of Romania would never vote for a Marxist.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: They already know. I said that in the "Talking Points Memo." I said here are your choices: a woman who isn't really distinguished herself in any way or a guy who is so far out there.
BECK: You know why they're in this problem? They're in this problem because the Republicans refuse to look at small government options. They can find qualified people that believe in small government, but they don't believe in small government. At least they're beginning to.
O'REILLY: I don't know. I don't follow the parties at all. They bore me. Maybe that's true. But they could have gotten somebody else. But they thought they had a winner in Castle, who was a liberal Republican.
BECK: Yes, who voted for TARP, who voted for -- I mean, everything. Everything. You got it.
O'REILLY: All right. Now, I gave Beck an assignment this week.
BECK: Yes.
O'REILLY: And since school is open, he had to look -- he had to look at "Pinheads & Patriots: Your Place in the Age of Obama." And you come up with some critiques, have you not?
BECK: Yes, I did. Don't even get me started on the Soros is just a pinhead thing.
O'REILLY: I agree with you that. What do you want me to call him, uber-pinhead? Pinhead of the year?
BECK: I'm just saying. "Pinhead & Patriots"…
O'REILLY: Right.
BECK: If you're going to do one with George Soros, maybe "Angels & Demons."
O'REILLY: You and I are simpatico. I went on your radio program. We actually agree that Soros is a big threat.
BECK: All right. Here's one.
O'REILLY: Yes.
BECK: "Led by Fox News commentator and radio talk show host Glenn Beck"…
O'REILLY: Who -- who's that? Oh, that's you!
BECK: I didn't know if I was a pinhead or a patriot. "...the so-called Tea Party movement blasted into the national consciousness." I'm not leading it.
O'REILLY: No. You're not leading it as far as you signed up, but in the hearts and minds, you're one of the leaders, along with Sarah Palin.
BECK: I don't think so.
O'REILLY: Beck, I was in Oklahoma. I saw it. I saw the Tea Party and how they reacted to you, all right? I saw it with my own eyes. Yes. I saw it. I was there in Tulsa when you were there and the Tea Party.
BECK: I had a blackout.
O'REILLY: Yes, you did have a blackout.
BECK: You mean in San Antonio in Texas?
O'REILLY: No, no. In Oklahoma, in Tulsa. You've gone so many places you don't even know where you are, OK? Those people love you. And by example, not by signing up, by example, you and Sarah Palin have stimulated the Tea Party.
BECK: See, here's the thing. Here is the thing: I think people have to stop looking for leaders of the Tea Party.
O'REILLY: That's fine. I just reported what happened.
BECK: Let me just -- this is an important distinction. If I said to you, who's the leader of the United States of America?
O'REILLY: Barack Obama.
BECK: Wrong. By definition, it should be "we, the people."
O'REILLY: All right. Now, by definition. I'm a simple man.
BECK: America, how am I wrong on this one?
O'REILLY: You're way too complicated for me, OK? You live in this world.
BECK: That's what that is; it's a collection of people.
O'REILLY: OK. You, for better or for worse -- and I think it's for better, because I like the Tea Party -- have stimulated them, and so has Sarah Palin, to go out and to say what they believe in and to try to get those things enacted. Be proud of it, Beck. That's one of the few things you can be proud of. Be proud of it.
BECK: I don't know why he's so hostile. I read his book. I read it.
O'REILLY: Live it, learn it, love it.
BECK: Thank you, sir.
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