GLENN BECK PROGRAM
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

GLENN: There's also another book that has come out from Ben Stein. It's called The Real Stars and I talked to him just a bit about this, about this last night and, you know, he lives part time in Malibu. I don't know if you know who Ben Stein is. I mean, you know him if you hear him or you see him. You know, he's, "Bueller, Bueller," probably his most famous line. Really off the charts smart guy. Can he hear me now?

STEIN: I can hear you well.

GLENN: Oh, boy. I better continue to say nice things about you, Ben. How are you, sir?

STEIN: I'm great, how are you, Glenn?

GLENN: Very good. I just have to tell my producers because they didn't watch the show because they never do watch my show. But last night I thought it was just so funny. Tell the guys what you said to me last night when you got on the set, when you got on the set.

The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who Are the True Heroes? by Ben Stein

STEIN: Well, I said when I first saw you on CNN Headline I thought, this guy is doing an incredibly good parody of a conservative but then I realized you were real and I was so excited. I was at the airport VIP lounge somewhere in a small city and I thought, my God, I could watch this guy for the rest of my life. He's fabulous.

GLENN: I mean, that's so funny that you would -- in the media you would just assume somebody's mocking a conservative.

STEIN: On CNN, absolutely I would assume someone's mocking. But you were the real McCoy and I am obsessed and addicted to your show now.

GLENN: Oh, thank you very much. So Ben, last night we didn't have a chance to talk about your book, The Real Stars. This comes from you living in Malibu.

STEIN: Right. I live in Malibu with a modest house that has a very good view but it's in a neighborhood where I live --

GLENN: Hold just a second. What's a modest house with an ocean view in Malibu go for?

STEIN: Maybe $2 million. So I lived there by Barbra Streisand and Emilio Estevez and Nick Nolte and people say to me all the time what's it like living near the stars and I always say to them, I don't live near the real stars. These people are actors and they are singers, they get paid a lot but they are not the real stars. The real stars are putting on battle dress uniform or wear body armor in Baghdad or Ramadi, Kirkuk and all over Afghanistan, they are risking their lives, they do it for $1500 a month plus $150 a month combat pay. They leave their wives and children behind and they risk everything for our freedom and they are the real stars. And my book is essays about those people. And every dime I make of it goes to a great organization called Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors which helps, it's TAPS.org which helps the families of those killed in the fight for freedom.

GLENN: That's fantastic. So do you ever watch the TV show Heroes?

STEIN: I think I have actually.

GLENN: Okay. There's this new character on this year that, she kills people. But when she does, it's like she's in excruciating pain and it's like black blood starts running out of her eyes. I think if I lived in Malibu, I think that's what I would look like all the time. I think it would be like black blood would be running out of my eyes.

STEIN: No, you wouldn't feel that way at all, believe me.

GLENN: Really?

STEIN: First I'll tell you why, because you rarely see the real stars. The real stars -- well, the real stars are up front, they are at Mugu Naval Air Station. You rarely see the TV stars and the movie stars. The big, big TV and movie stars rarely leave their compounds. If they do, they go to other parties given by other multimillionaires and billionaires. They don't at all associate with the ordinary citizen, with the exception of Martin Sheen who on the extreme left is an incredibly nice guy.

GLENN: Yeah, I have heard that about him and I --

STEIN: He is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. I would give my right eye to have him become a good conservative because he is the nicest guy on the planet.

GLENN: Really? You know, that's nice to hear.

STEIN: He is a great, great guy. Can't -- Martin Sheen is a great guy beyond words. His son, Charlie.

GLENN: The opposite.

STEIN: But he's a great guy, too.

GLENN: Let me ask you this. What the heck happened to him? How do you go that far left?

STEIN: I don't know what happens to these people. I do not know what gets in their brain. Hollywood is just a far left town. It started out being dominated on the one side by very rich producers who are extremely conservative. All those guys like Jack Warner and they were big, big conservatives and right-wingers. The writers were all communists, and they sort of came to dominate the town and the sort of extreme left wing ethos and the extreme left wing view of the world which is, we're all just working stiffs struggling against the bosses. Even as they drive around in their Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Maseratis, that is still the dominating ethos of the town.

GLENN: So how did you get there because aren't you from the East?

STEIN: I am from Washington, D.C. and I like to say -- people say why are you Republican and I say, well, my parents and grandparents are Republican. So that's a good enough reason by itself. My sister's a Democrat. But anyway, I got there because I wanted to -- I was hired to be a consultant on a show by Norman Lear about a conservative columnist, a sort of symbolic or what should I say, sort of like Bill Buckley who falls in love with a character sort of like Jane Fonda, and I liked it there. I liked the climate. I liked being away from the humidity.

GLENN: California's great.

STEIN: So I stayed there.

GLENN: So Ben, let me talk to you because not a lot of people know that -- well, they do now. But I guess when you were on, you know, Ferris Bueller and making the run on just being a great character guy, a lot of people didn't know how unbelievably smart you are.

STEIN: I'm not that unbelievably smart. If I were unbelievably smart, I'd be called Glenn Beck.

GLENN: If you were unbelievably smart you might have a throwaway house that you visit from time to time looking at the ocean in Malibu. But anyway, that's a different story.

You are really, really tied in to the economy and you are a guy who believes we are, we are totally fine. You told me last night I think on the set during a commercial break, you're high on the stock market right now.

STEIN: Well, I wouldn't say I'm high on it moment by moment, Glenn. I believe in the long run it's an incredibly great investment. I think that we're in a state where the fear mongers on Wall Street and the fear mongers at MSNBC and CNBC are trying to scare us.

GLENN: Wait, wait, wait. Ben, I've got to tell you something. You watch my show, right?

STEIN: Of course.

GLENN: So how can you say they are a fearmonger when I'm saying, they are not telling you the truth, this is how bad it is.

STEIN: Well, I'm not going to make a serious answer to that. You basically are very, very positive on America.

GLENN: Yes.

STEIN: And that's the sort of short answer to that question.

GLENN: I'm positive, I'm positive on the American people. I think the American people can do anything they set their mind to and, you know, I'm a guy who was worried about making rent eight years ago, and I just signed, just a God Bless America contract recently. If I can do it, I believe anybody can. Where do you see the real strengths and where do you see the negatives, Ben?

STEIN: The American worker is about the hardest worker in the world still. We have by far the most capital in the world. We have the most advanced industries in the world. I mean, people say, oh, China, China, China. China has one fifth the GDP of the United States with three times -- sorry, with four times the population. So basically the Chinese per capita income is 1/20th that of the United States. They are a poor country compared with us. We are a very, very rich country. We're getting rich rapidly, richer rapidly. The sky's the limit with this country.

GLENN: Okay. But -- I agree with you, but I was just talking to a guy who is a titan of a major industry and he said, Glenn, you can't tell me -- we were talking about fuel. He said, unleash the American people and ingenuity. You can't tell me that we can't solve this energy thing. We can. The problem is the government just keeps tying people down.

STEIN: It's the government and the environmentalists.

GLENN: Yeah.

STEIN: The environmentalists basically want to keep America as if it were all their backyard. They don't -- and their garden in their backyard. They don't understand you cannot have both energy independence and pristine conservation anywhere you want it.

GLENN: So are you worried at all, you know, if Hillary Clinton got in with just ginormous taxes and corporate taxes and taking the profits from --

STEIN: I'm not anywhere near as worried about her as I am about Barack Obama and Mr. Edwards, but I'm worried about all the Democrats. I do not want them running taxes up. I do not want them running up the white flag of surrender in Iraq. I do not want them about how long and kowtowing to the terrorists. I'm very worried about that. I'm very worried about their views that America is a dying force. I want a President who believes that it's always morning in America. I loved it when Ronald Reagan's campaign in '84 said it's morning in America. I think as long as we believe in the American people, it's always morning in America.

GLENN: Okay, Ben Stein, hang on just a second. Can you hold for just a second? We'll take a break and we'll be right back. I have to ask him if he sees a candidate that he likes out on the horizon.

(break transcript)

GLENN: Talking to an all around general, smart guy and conservative Ben Stein. Ben, I just wanted to ask you because I -- you know, there's two things that I just won't compromise on and I don't think any American should and that is you've got to have a President that will call evil by its name and not compromise with it, just shoot the bad guys in the head. And the second thing is you've got to have somebody that understands that socialism and any road to socialism is a bad idea.

STEIN: I couldn't agree more.

GLENN: Give me the number one candidate for Ben Stein, the guy you say, I like this guy but maybe this guy.

STEIN: I like Giuliani the most because he's the most electable. He has a down home style. I heard him giving a talk about foreign affairs. He said I'm not going to back down one inch in the face of Islamic terrorism. He dares call a spade a spade. You know, not once has any Democrat mentioned the word Islamic or Muslim in any debate.

GLENN: It's amazing.

STEIN: It's amazing. They are already appeasing the worst killers in the history, our world. It's breathtaking. I think it's time to say Mr. Giuliani, you've had experience dealing with terrorism, you kept the city together. Now keep the nation together as we prosecute the war on terrorism. If he can't win in the primaries, I think Romney is fine. He's a little too good looking for my taste but then so are you, Glenn. I also -- I think McCain is a genuine superstar hero. I just question whether his health is good enough. I love McCain. I contributed to him. I've contributed to Giuliani.

GLENN: Oh, man, and I thought you were smart. What are you doing? He's been wrong on so much.

STEIN: I disagree with him about campaign finance and about immigration.

GLENN: Oh, well, only those two things.

STEIN: I cannot take away from those years he spent in the Hanoi Hilton. I completely love him.

GLENN: Nobody can do that. I mean, the guy is a genuine hero but, jeez, campaign finance reform, kind of a huge mistake.

STEIN: I agree it was a disaster. I couldn't agree more. I agree he kisses up to the liberals and he is too friendly to Ted Kennedy but he is a genuine hero and I cannot but love him for that.

GLENN: Name of your book again, sir.

STEIN: The name of my book is the real stars who are the true heroes in America's world and it is homage to the men and women in America's uniform.

GLENN: It is really something you should pass on to your kids and give them perspective on who the real stars and real heroes are in our country. Ben Stein, it's always nice to have you on the program.

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