For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession
of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than
the citizens of America.
There's been a lot of back and forth between the Obama and Clinton
campaigns about accusations of "surrogate" insults. Recently John
McCain jumped into the fray by demanding that Obama apologize because progressive
talk show host Ed Schultz called McCain "a warmonger." So, we're
now at the point that people have to apologize for third parties unrelated
to them telling the truth!
But all of these minor slings and arrows pale by comparison with what many
right-wing radio talk show hosts spew out as vile filth on a daily basis.
Few, even Rush Limbaugh, get down as deep in the manure pile as Michael Savage
(born Michael Alan Weiner). Savage was nominated by Jon Nilsen of Windsor,
California.
Savage is the kind of guy who gets tossed out
of a restaurant for launching an offensive, vituperative rant that
offends just about everybody -- and starts pushing and shoving the manager
when
asked to leave the premises. But, of course, there are those
haters who revel in Savage's cesspool of bigotry. They are his audience.
One Web site offers
a sampling of Savage's milder slime:
On the air, he says that Latinos "breed like rabbits",
and that America's public schools are "teaching kids in the third grade
how to put a condom on a cucumber." He explains that civil rights are
a "racket" that is "used to steal only from the white male
-- no one else pays the price." He is worried about "degenerates
on the left who want to sell Americans on the idea that homosexuality, bisexuality,
transsexuality, even sex with animals is normal." He demonizes pot smokers,
refers to third-world nations as "turd world nations", and strongly
opposes abortion (although his first wife had two while they were married).
After the Dixie Chicks spoke ill of President George W. Bush, Savage inexplicably
suggested they should be jailed as traitors. "We've all been warned
about the dangers of a theocracy", says Savage, "where religious
zealots rule. Today in America, we have a she-ocracy where a minority of
feminist zealots rule the culture."
Savage was kicked off of MSNBC television for engaging in this exchange:
SAVAGE: Alright, so you're one of those sodomists? Are you a sodomite?
CALLER: Yes, I am.
SAVAGE: Oh, you're one of the sodomites! You should only get AIDS and die,
you pig! How's that? [off-screen crew can be heard shouting 'Whoa!'] Why
don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better than to
put me down, you piece of garbage? You got nothing to do today? Go eat a
sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis. OK, do we have another nice caller
who's busy and didn't have a nice night in the bathhouses, angry at me today?
Huh? Get me another one, put another sodomite on! No more calls? I don't
care. Let's go to the next scene. I don't care about these bums, they mean
nothing to me. They're all sausages. Next scene; onto the next scene on the
'Savage Nation.'
Gee, can you imagine all his homophobic, xenophobic, sexist white male
listeners getting worked up into an erotic lather while tuning into Savage?
We can, and it's scary that in our society, Savage is paid to be on the
airwaves. He's an affront to a civilized society. His radio program appeals
to our worst instincts as Americans. After each broadcast, he leaves the
world a little more barbaric.
The trouble with "shock" talk show hosts such as Savage is
that they sanction our most base feelings and legitimatize them. He has
a First
Amendment right to state his foul views, but that doesn't mean that a
broadcasting network, using the public airwaves, is justified in making
a profit off
of his aggressively vicious demagoguery.
Savage is the BuzzFlash Media Putz of the Week, but his employers and listeners
share the award with him.
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