TNI author on "The Glenn Beck Show" tonight (Feb. 11)

[Bidinotto]

I'm pleased to announce that tonight (Monday, Feb. 11), at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern, "The Glenn Beck Show" on CNN's Headline News national cable TV network will host an interview spot with author Gen LaGreca. The subject will be Gen's amusing and provocative article in the March issue of The New Individualist, "The Self-Help Guide to Living in a Free Society." (Check your local listings for the time of the show in your area.)

If you would like a free complimentary copy of the March issue of the magazine -- also featuring an interview with bestselling thriller author Vince Flynn -- just go here to request a copy.

See what everyone has been talking about -- and what you've been missing -- in the pages of The New Individualist.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Robert,

I just saw Gen's interview on Glenn Beck (11:00 pm Central Standard Time repeat). I had a previous mental impression of a very young woman from her publicity photo, so she was not what I expected (but she was nothing negative, either). I think she was absolutely brilliant, especially her remark about the American eagle soaring independently being replaced in people's minds by a chicken locked up and fed because of encroaching dependence on government handouts. I loved the way Beck was enthralled with Gen's suggestions from the article.

I just now tried to access the TAS site (right after the airing), but the plug for the magazine was so well placed (including the quip by Beck about this turning into an infomercial for TNI) that TAS's bandwidth got shot to pieces (meaning a humongous Internet traffic jam).

I am very proud of you guys. Glenn Beck even talked about Atlas Shrugged.

Wonderful job.

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

Michael; Thanks for clearing up why I couldn't get on the TAS web site last night.

I missed the program so thinks for the review.

[Bidinotto]

If you want to read CNN's transcript of the interview segment, go here and scroll about 3/4's down the transcript.

The cold print of the transcript can't begin to capture Glenn Beck's manic enthusiasm for the article and the magazine, and of course it doesn't show all the references to The New Individualist that appeared at the bottom of the screen. Also, the transcript has some typos.

But it was definitely a home run for TNI, TAS, and Objectivism. The show aired four times throughout the night, and we've been inundated with email inquiries for copies of the magazine...so many, in fact, that they temporarily crashed our server!

[Robert Campbell]

Robert B,

I missed the show last night. But it comes through loud and clear in the transcript.

Kudos to Gen, her article, and TNI.

Robert C

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is the interview from the CNN transcript of the show (which I believe is short enough for fair use):

BECK: You know, we do a lot of segments on what`s wrong with America, but not enough on how to fix them. So, tonight I want to bring a few great ideas from a magazine article I just read called "Self-Help Guide to Living in a Free Society". They list a total of 18 tips. It could have been written by my grandfather.

Here`s a couple of my favorites. No. 9 is: "If you default on a loan, accept the consequences, lick your wounds and avoid making the same mistakes again. Don`t expect the government to bail you out with money fleeced from the taxpayers who made a more prudent lending and borrowing decision." And I would like to ad, here, don`t expect the government to bail you out with money it`s borrowing from China.

Here`s No. 2 on the list: "Don`t expect others to pay for your foolishness. If you spill hot coffee on yourself, be more careful next time, don`t sue the restaurant that served you or push for a law to regulate the temperature of coffee. And if you`re and a jury, don`t award huge sums for being irresponsible."

I can`t help but think, if we would teach our kids things like this instead of multi variable calculus that they`ll never use, maybe we wouldn`t be quite as far down the welfare avenue that we currently are.

Gen LaGreca is the author of this piece that appeared in a magazine, "The New Individualist," I had never heard of, but what a great magazine this is. She is also the author of "Noble Vision."

And I have to tell you, if -- your book, is it a novel, what is it?

GEN LAGRECA, AUTHOR: Glenn, it is a novel. But it is coming true, unfortunately. It`s a story about liberty and it covers some of the same issues that the article does.

BECK: I have to buy it, because if it`s as common sense as these 18 tips. Here`s one. I read this on the plane on Friday or Saturday, I said, "Yes!" This one: "If you choose to live in a hurricane zone, then buy insurance and take your chances." I look at this all the time and say, you`re dumb enough to build your house on the side of a hill in California. What do you think was going to happen, boo-boo? I mean, what brought you to writing this?

LAGRECA: Well, you know, as America is losing our basic foundation, our basic principle that we were a society of people who took care of themselves and the government did not interfere with our lives, and so our fellow citizens are becoming more and more dependent on the government to provide for their needs, to fulfill every need and to give them things and so I wanted to make clear what our founding principle is.

BECK: This is -- I mean, I`ve been reading this series of books called "The Real," it`s the real George Washington, the real Thomas Jefferson, the real Ben Franklin. All this stuff is founding father stuff, all of this stuff. I mean, look at some of this, 17: "Don`t campaign for the government to give you things for free." No. 15: "Don`t expect any guarantees in life, there are none." "Don`t support laws that control your employers, they`re covered by the constitution, too." How did we get here?

LAGRECA: Well, you know, Ben Franklin said that if the taxpayers know they can vote themselves the taxpayers money, other taxpayers money, it`s going to be the end of the Republic and I think that`s what`s happening today. And unfortunately a lot of politicians like to develop special interest groups and voting bases, so it`s to their benefit to promise things.

BECK: Do you see any way, Gen, because I read these -- and in America, I don`t even know where you get "The New Individualist." I`ve never heard of it. Is it a new magazine?

LAGRECA: Yes, it is. It`s published by the Atlas Society, which promotes the ideas of Ayn Rand.

BECK: Ah, that`s why. OK.

LAGRECA: And they`re offering a free copy, if you like the magazine and you can read the article for yourself.

BECK: I may have to -- I may have to charge you. This has turned into an infomercial. Now how much would you pay? So anyway, I read this and it`s such common sense, but it`s what my grandfather used to say as we would walk in the back of his raspberry field, he would say these things to me. How do you get dummy Americans who haven`t, you know, grown up with my grandfather, to get these?

LAGRECA: Well, the self-help guide talks about how the welfare state is really destroying us, not just politically, which is bad enough, it`s bringing us to Socialism, but it`s destroying us psychologically and that`s important for everyone to realize, because if we don`t control our own lives and expect the government to do everything for us, then where`s our independence, where is our self-esteem? We`re replacing the American eagle flying proud and free with a chicken penned in a coop waiting to be fed.

BECK: You ain`t kidding. Gen, I appreciate it. Thank you very much, it`s a great article. I tell you, I have had a problem with Ayn Rand for a long time because of her godlessness. But I have to tell you, lately I`ve been thinking about "Atlas Shrugged" a lot. I`d like to go find a place where I could just go live with other people who are like-minded. Oh, and you`d like to send me there, wouldn`t you?

I don't know if the phrase: "We're replacing the American eagle flying proud and free with a chicken penned in a coop waiting to be fed" is original with Gen, but it is a classic.

Once again, congratulations to all.

Michael