Are We Really a "Savage Nation"?

This is a mediation on the politics of hate and the purveyors of it.

Savage bastard: The twisted Michael Savage

By David A. Garrett Jr.
Online Journal Contributing Writer

July 16, 2005—Michael Savage: Libertarian, Democrat or Republican? Nobody knows, certainly not me.

In Knoxville, Tenn., a diverse music station recently changed frequency and NewsTalk 100 took its place. I had never listened to it before and since it came in crystal clear, I began tuning in during work.

There's a show that I find particularly interesting that comes on at 7 p.m. called "The Savage Nation,"—its host, Michael Savage.

The first time I heard him I thought he was Al Franken because they both share that same hardcore Yankee accent, but when I listened to what he had to say I was convinced it was no Al Franken.

Islam is a religion of hate; the terrorists are going to attack us in 90 days; liberalism is a mental disorder; protestors cannot support the troops; and so on, and so on. What are these ridiculous claims I asked myself. And what political affiliation does this man have?
onlinejournal.com...

While I was in Pennyslavania I heard a very similar show. Same old concept, guy gets hold of a radio transmitter and he starts blabbing off extreme political agendas and so forth. To be honest I don't know if it's for real of if it's to attract listeners.

I’ve seen him on TV before. When checking up on him on the web… well it was amazing just how ignorant and ridiculous the kinds of things this guy has said. I don’t know what’s sadder, the fact that people like him exist, or the fact that my aunt and uncle watch him.

He attacts the lowest among us.

Only solid information dissmeniated will stop this crap from spreading.

Michael Weiner/Savage is a nut job.
Salon had a good article on this whacko who seems to be loved by quite a few on the right.

Michael Savage's long, strange trip

For years, he made a name cranking out a pile of books on alternative medicine, recommending bizarre remedies such as using vitamin C to stop AIDS and kicking coc aine with coffee enemas.

These days, Weiner's more interested in purging the body politic. Using the pseudonym Michael Savage, he's launched a one-man mission to save America from its enemies at home and abroad, which on any given day includes liberals, gays, academics, the homeless, the Clintons, immigrants, feminists, CNN, the American Civil Liberties Union, Muslims and other minorities. Broadcasting three hours a day, five afternoons a week, from a rented studio in downtown San Francisco, he gives voice to the right wing's darkest fantasies. He muses about launching preemptive nuclear strikes on the Middle East ("I wish to God the hatches were open and the missiles were flying!"), suggests gunning down illegal immigrants ("If we had a government, we'd blow them out of the desert with airplanes!"), dreams of dispatching with "commies, pinkos and perverts" and other undesirables ("I say round them up and hang 'em high!") and even paraphrases a remark attributed to Nazi leader Hermann Goering ("When I hear someone's in the civil rights business, I oil up my AR-15!")

Thanx for the info AoB.

I love your avatar, btw.

Savage has made plenty of pretty disgraceful quotes in the past. Here are some.

When talking about Arabs:

“Smallpox in a blanket, which the U.S. Army gave to the Cherokee Indians on their long march to the West, was nothing compared to what I'd like to see done to these people.”

“I think these people need to be forcibly converted to Christianity but I'll get here a little later, I'll move up to that. It's the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings.”

“when I see them hanging from lampposts, with their guts hanging out, then I'll believe that there's a difference between radical Islam and the rest of Islam over there. But if I don't see that -- if I don't see the massive uprising against them, I can only assume that they're the shock troops of all of Islam in the Middle East.”

“They should put dynamite in their behinds and drop them from 35,000 feet, the whole pack of scum out of that jail. Thank you CBS. Thank you New Yorker. Thank you Carl Levin. Thank you Ted Kennedy. Thank you Hillary Clinton. I'm sure that Mr. Berg's parents appreciate what you've done for them.”

"I commend" prisoner abuse; "we need more"

On who to blame for Nick Berg’s death:
“you can thank the Democrats, you can thank the Senate Arms Services Committee for their hysterical hearings. You can thank John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, Biden, The New York Times, the alphabet channels and The Washington Post for this atrocity because they caused it.”

On women:
“I'm beginning to think that women should be denied the vote. Their hormones rage; they are too emotional.”

described single career women in their 40's and 50's as, "burnt out liberal hack women", and "human wreckage in high heels."

On gay rights:
"I'm not going to roll over to the pink swastika; I will not bow down to the pink swastika."

Handicapped:
"Wheelchair mafia."



On a group of girls who were part of a school program through which students volunteer to distribute sandwiches to the homeless in San Francisco:
"You can get the kids from Marin to go in there with them at night," Savage said during the Sept. 21 broadcast. "The girls from Branson can go in and maybe get raped ... because they seem to like the excitement of it. There's always the thrill and possibility they'll be raped in a Dumpster while giving out a turkey sandwich."

Calls third world countries "Turd World Countries."

He has also feels we should incarcerate homeless people.

This is only a small portion of the things he has said.

Hold on a sec. Now that I think about it that desciption perfectly matches the guy on the radio I heard on my trip to Pennsylavania. And yeah, this guy is a complete nutjob. He rants on about liberalism like it's a mental disorder or like all liberals are terrorists. The crazy thing is he doesn't support anything he says. Basically he sounds something like this;
"Liberals are terrorists cuz they're liberals"

Sounds like my step dad at times.

Warning: Micheal Savage probably can't be sued if your ignorance levels dramatically rise after listening to his facist program.

EastCoast.. I think yes. We are a savage nation. We kill hurt and maime. Some of us do not so nice things to our Ladies. and some of us do worse.

But some us grow up and learned through time that being kind and honestly warm is where men be most adantages.

Dallas

He claims he is an independent.

Though he does seem to more frequently support the Republicans. He seems to especially hate the leading Democratic Senators. He is one of the few 'conservative' talk show guys that doesn't march in lockstep with the Republican talking points of the day.

Though I often disagree with him, I personally like him, thinks he brings a certain passion that makes him more interesting.

He often makes a lot of good points...

He feels the Islamofascists are one of the real threats to the USA. He seems to especially have problems with how the networks sanitize the news, such as during the 9/11 attack not showing any of the people jumping to their deaths from the towers...

He seems to feel in the end that their really isn't much difference between Blue/Red, Democrats/Republicans. That it's mostly just a lot of hype aimed to keep the public busy and divided.

He is probably the smartest of the talking heads I've listened to... But he seems to have many personality quirks that often makes me think he is hiding something personal from the public. A look at his publicity shoots will give you a better idea of what I'm saying...

Sometimes when he goes off on one of his more vehement tirades, you just have to change the station...

Well, Mr. Savage will one day be judged according to his words, as well as his deeds. I wouldn't want to be him on that day or any other. And I bet something, as tough as that guy talks, I bet he'd never go to Iraq or any other Muslim country, out of total fear. His suspicion and fear would be very well-grounded, too. I think he, and people like him are cowards. Just my opinion.

For some reason when I read his retarded opinions, I think of the leader of the White Supremists in American History X.





[edit on 17-7-2005 by NoJustice]

I used to listen to Savage on my rather short drive home from work. He was more entertaining than the usual afternoon crap. Some of what he says is offensive, but often with a kernel of truth to it.

But - idiocy is not a monopoly of Savage's or any other conservative commentator. Check out the following gem spewed by former Clinton advisor Paul Begala:

A panel discussion entitled "Winning the War of Ideas" centered on topics discussed in the book "What's the Matter with Kansas" by Thomas Frank and detailed the challenges that Democrats face in persuading voters in the American heartland and elsewhere to embrace their agenda and support their candidates.

Begala's presence on the panel created a stir when he declared that Republicans had "done a p***-poor job of defending" the U.S.

Republicans, he said, "want to kill us.

"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said.

"They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."

www.cnsnews.com...\Politics\archive\200507\POL20050715a.html

Sure Savage acts like a clown sometimes, but the thing that people need to realize is that he is there to entertain. Begala, on the other hand, was the guy whispering into the ear of the most powerful leader in the world and still a trusted advisor within the DNC. If by some strange set of circumstances Hillary becomes the president in 2008, he could find himself in a position of power again.

All this talk of Savage inspired me to run to the local Barnes & Noble and pick up his latest book, "Liberalism is a Mental Dissorder." I haven't started reading yet, but I certainly agree with the title! I won't need any convincing of that! lol

The problem with Savage is not his opinions. You can have your opinions for all I care, so long as you don't force them on people. The problem with Savage is that he has absolutlely no respect for other people's opinions. It's one thing if he wants to disagree with liberals on issues, but it is not right to call liberalism a "mental dissorder".

That and well, he has no respect for anybody but white heterosexual christian men.

I have had the deep misfortune, on several occasions, to be stuck in a cab whose driver listens to the "Savage Nation" show. I think you'd have to listen to shortwave to hear more of a nutjob speak on the radio, yet oddly enough, he's apparently popular. He's one of those people that I have to believe is acting for the benefit of a stupid audience, which makes it almost worse...

When I listen to, say, NPR, I admit that there's a "liberal" bias in many of the shows, but at least these shows expound on the views they present, they give background and have lengthy interviews. This is what talk radio should be about. But "Savage Nation" is just listening to a jerk rant and rave about whatever pisses him off, without providing anything in that could possibly improve the mental state of the listener... I mean, even Bill O'Reilly watchers get to hear an opposing point of view, or see a relatively educated guest support O'Reilly's opinions.

I don't know. I listen to some radio that could be considered left-wing nutty, but the difference is it comes on listener sponsored stations, not channeled into over 350 stations on the talk radio network for any rube to pick up and take as truth.

Here's the wikipedia article on Michael Savage: click here.

-koji K.


[edit on 17-7-2005 by koji_K]

He's a nutcase.

MSNBC gave him a show for about a week, trying to capitalize on the whole Fox right wing talk show thing. He started randomly abusing callers and calling people "sodomites", they yanked him off the air pretty quickly.

I've heard it it claimed that he's actually a far-leftie who started out doing a parody of far-right talk shows, then realized he could make lots of money at it.

Originally posted by Rasputin13
All this talk of Savage inspired me to run to the local Barnes & Noble and pick up his latest book, "Liberalism is a Mental Dissorder." I haven't started reading yet, but I certainly agree with the title!

Maybe that's because you can relate.

How is calling a broad range of political views a mental disorder going to help anything? Or would you rather just continue to be part of the dividing cause in our country?

I don't really expect or want an answer from you, I just want to point how illogical, immature, and unamusing this whole name-calling crap on both sides is. It's like you people are looking to start a civil war or something similar to it.

Michael Savage is one of the worst things to happen to conservatives and Christians. He's on when I'm driving home from work, which is usually around 5:30 pr so. Every once in a while, I switch over to him accidently. The other people on the station, 560 AM, are interesting, though a little extreme. I like hos some of them explain their political viewpoints through a religious filter, even if I don't agree with them. However, Savage is awful. I can usually take him for about 45 seconds before I switch to K-Love or the commercials on Hannity that made me switch stations. Yep, I would prefer to listen to commercials.

This guy is one of the most viceral, hate filled people I've ever heard. Anyone who disagrees with him is one of the worst, stupidest, most evil people on the planet, according to him. As I told my small group at church, he is deserving of his name. He is truely savage.

The worst part about it, though, is that he professes that he's a Christian. Christianity is a religion of love; it was through Jesus's words that the golden rule was adapted. Do unto others as you'd have them do to you. If Savage is doing that, he must really be a masochist. He has no love for anyone who disagrees with him, and if he were to see this post, he would probably assume I'm an idiot, psychotic liberal athiest. The man has no room in his life for other beliefs, and thinks of himself as an intellectual God. I'm sorry, Mr. Savage, but you're wrong, and you need to learn humility.

EDIT: The worst part about it, though, is during that 45 seconds I listen to him, I usually agree with his stance. Yet, as soon as I hear this filth coming out of his decrepid mouth, I start to question myself. It's amazing what a little bit of pure hate will do to an otherwise good idea.

[edit on 7-17-2005 by junglejake]

Originally posted by junglejake
The worst part about it, though, is that he professes that he's a Christian. Christianity is a religion of love; it was through Jesus's words that the golden rule was adapted. Do unto others as you'd have them do to you. If Savage is doing that, he must really be a masochist. He has no love for anyone who disagrees with him, and if he were to see this post, he would probably assume I'm an idiot, psychotic liberal athiest. The man has no room in his life for other beliefs, and thinks of himself as an intellectual God. I'm sorry, Mr. Savage, but you're wrong, and you need to learn humility.

He was born and raised Jewish.
Does he claim to be Christian on his show?