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GLENN: From Rockefeller center in Midtown Manhattan, this is the third most listened to show in all of America. Hello, you sick twisted freak. My name is Glenn Beck. I'm glad you're here. It's Monday. I was up late last night. I was watching 24. There's a great, great piece from Jack Bauer. Are we ready with that or should we play that later? -- of Jack Bauer when he was testifying in front of congress, and I'm telling you this is all Americans want to hear from our public servants. This is it. Listen. He's testifying in front of congress. They are trying to, you know, nail him for torture and everything else and here's the exchange.
VOICE: Will the witness please state his name.
BAUER: Jack Bauer.
VOICE: Mr. Bauer, I don't see your counsel present. Or is he or she not aware we're about to start?
BAUER: I've chosen not to retain counsel.
VOICE: Mr. Bauer, I have to advise you that many of the questions we're about to pose to you are of a legal nature and might result in answers that could incriminate you.
BAUER: I understand that, Senator.
VOICE: We can postpone your testimony until this afternoon if you'd like to bring in representation, something that I would strongly advise.
BAUER: What is the first question, sir?
VOICE: All right then.
GLENN: Okay, I like that because I think the first question should be: All right then, can somebody please ask the Senate chamber next door to turn down the spooky mood music? So no counsel. Can you imagine if somebody -- suicide to do it, but can you imagine if somebody stood in front of those people and said, I don't need any counsel, I don't want any counsel. Did I torture people? Yep, I sure did. Here's the second part of it.
VOICE: And isn't it true that you detained Mr. Haddad without due process and that you used extreme interrogation methods on him until he answered your request he is?
BAUER: Yes, sir.
VOICE: Would you say that you broke procedure with this interrogation?
BAUER: Probably.
VOICE: Probably? Well, that's a very cavalier answer. You don't seem to care about the implications here. Well, Mr. Bauer?
BAUER: I'm sorry, Senator. I didn't hear a question.
VOICE: All right then. Did you torture Mr. Haddad?
BAUER: According to the definitions set forth by the Geneva Convention, yes, I did. Senator, why don't I save you some time. It's obvious that your agenda is to discredit and generate a series of --
VOICE: My only agenda is to get to the truth.
BAUER: I don't think it is, sir.
VOICE: Excuse me.
BAUER: Abraham Haddad had targeted a bus train of 45 people, 10 of which were children. The truth, Senator, is I stopped that attack from happening.
VOICE: By torturing Mr. Haddad.
BAUER: By doing what I deemed necessary to protect innocent lives.
VOICE: So basically what you're saying, Mr. Bauer, is that the ends justify the means and that you are above the law.
BAUER: When I am activated, when I am brought into a situation, there is a reason and that reason is to complete the objectives of my mission at all costs.
VOICE: Even if it means breaking the law?
BAUER: For a combat soldier the difference between success and failure is your ability to adapt to your enemy. The people that I deal with, they don't care about your rules. All they care about is a result. My job is to stop them from accomplishing their objectives. I simply adapt it. In answer to your question, am I above the law? No, sir. I am more than willing to be judged by the people you claim to represent. I will let them decide what price I should pay. Now please do not sit there with that smug look on your face and expect me to regret the decisions that I have made because, sir, the truth is I don't.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GLENN: Okay. So that is the speech I think that people want to hear. They want to hear not necessarily about torture but everything: Look, I don't need an attorney; I'm going to tell you the truth. Did you do this? Yes, I did. Why did you do it? Well, because I was stupid, because I was wrong, or because I believed it. And I'm willing to have the American people listen to me and look me in the eye and I'll tell you exactly why I did it. I think one of these days I think we're going to -- we're entering a McCarthy era again and I don't mean a McCarthy era where we're looking for communists. I think we're going to enter a McCarthy era where we're looking for people who have common sense, that just don't happen to agree with what the government is doing. And it's going to end the same way that it did the last time, which is somebody is going to say, "Have you no shame, Senator. Have you no shame." Barney Frank. "Yes?" "Have you no shame?" "No, I try to avoid all words with S's in it. So shame I got nothing -- listen to me. I say shame." "Shame, say it, Senator, shame." "Shame." "Shame." Close enough. That's the way it's going to end. Because once somebody connects with the American people, once somebody is there that people can trust, everything will change. Barack Obama right now is running everything through focus groups. He is running everything through dial testing. That's not what we're looking for. Now, that may be what we get for a while but we're not looking for focus groups. We're not looking for the way to package anything. We are looking for the truth.