Glenn Beck wants you to think that he is on your side. His attacks on progressivism and the policies it produces are based on the idea that he is fighting on behalf of the average American and against the faceless government bureaucrats who threaten their liberty and livelihood. To bolster this idea, he presents his ideas as mainstream. He advocates for what the majority of the country theoretically believes in -- a no-longer silent majority that is finally standing up at tea parties across the nation against a relentless liberal assault.

But the truth is something different. Beck routinely advocates for positions that would be widely unpopular with a clear majority of the country -- and envisions a nation few would support -- if his designs were fully understood.

Monday provided a case-in-point. On the day after the House passed the health care reform legislation signed into law today by President Obama, Beck played a clip of Obama noting that “the naysayers said that Social Security would lead to socialism. But the men and women of Congress stood fast and created that program that lifted millions out of poverty.”

“Ain't it great?” Beck said facetiously. “And it's working out so well.”

Later on in the broadcast, he chided the idea that the legislation was historic. “They say this bill is historic...But you know other days that were historic?” After showing images of some of history's greatest disasters, including Neville Chamberlain meeting with Hitler and the collapsed World Trade Centers on 9/11, he showed a picture of the Hindenburg burning, adding, “This is the picture of Medicare and Medicaid.”

One could say that Beck was simply voicing concern about the stability of the programs. But that's doubtful, considering his past. On January 27, Beck unambiguously said the following about the core programs of the New Deal (emphasis added):

BECK: Now, do I think the Constitution -- yes. Do you think programs like social security and Medicare represent socialism and should have never been created in the first place? Oh, Gosh, Democrats, this is a scary question. Another trap. You know what? It's only scary if you don't know who you are or what you believe in.

I'm an American. I read. I believe in the Constitution. And, of course, Social Security and Medicare represent socialism and should have never been created. Since FDR and his progressive buddies started social security, not our Founding Fathers, that should be fairly obvious to people.

In October of 2005, a Harris Interactive poll found that 96% per adults “strongly” or “somewhat” favored Medicare, while 91% supported Medicaid. A 2007 study conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that 86% of Medicare Advantage recipients, 84% of regular Medicare recipients, and 79% of Medicaid subscribers were happy or extremely happy with the benefits they were getting. Similarly, a Bloomberg poll taken in 2009 found that 79% of respondents had a favorable view of Medicare.

And what about Social Security? A study done this past February by the National Academy of Social Insurance found that 88% of respondents felt that Social Security “is more important than ever.” Back in 2005, a CBS/New York Times poll found that 80% of Americans believed that it should “be the government's responsibility to provide a decent standard of living for the elderly.” No wonder that in those days, George W. Bush's plan to privatize the benefit plan was unpopular around the country, leading to its eventual abandonment.

On Monday, a significant portion of Glenn Beck's audience was 55 and older Undoubtedly, many of the 2.4 million individuals who watched him were recipients of the very programs he once again attacked -- programs Beck argues are both unsustainable and unconstitutional.

The question goes to them: do they want to live in Glenn Beck's America?