Michael Savage under Fire (again)

[Toolboxnj]

Interestingly, on the date in question Michael Savage compared himself to Atlas, the man who was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He said he couldn't stand the pressures anymore and was thinking about "shrugging". Just thought it was an interesting reference.

[KevinDW78]

I have actually never listened to him. So I don't know anything about him. I used to Like Sean Hannity but he's just turned into an obsessive "nut". I still listen to Rush regularly and like Bill O'Reilly.

[K-Mac]

Even with the context I still don't agree there was any merit to his point. Autism is a very serious disorder...

I'm not sure why some people are so eager to explain away Savage's comments just because he is a conservative talk show host...

No one, including Savage, has said that autism isn't serious. All that Savage and some others here have been saying is that it's over diagnosed. Some of us said that with lot more couth than Savage, but nevertheless, that's what his point was.

I don't think you understand what I wrote, first of all, and second, I'm not "explaining away" his comments, and third, I'm not "explaining away" his comments BECAUSE he's a conservative. That's ridiculous and I challenge anyone to point out where I said that. All I am saying is, these guys are taken out of context nearly every single time they're mentioned in the press, and that's awful journalism.

It's really irrelevant who is being quoted, what political party they belong to, what their philosophy is, etc. The point is, if you're going to write an article about someone and intentionally misquote, misinterpret and/or intentionally leave out pertinent information, what is the point of commenting on what they said? Context is very important.

Because conservative talk show hosts ...

Just because some of you have a chip on your shoulder about conservative talk show hosts and those that listen to them, doesn't mean that they deserve to be misrepresented in the press. And just because some of us listen to them, it doesn't mean we necessarily agree with everything they say. I get emails from all kinds of think tanks, both conservative and liberal, because I want to know what the enemy is thinking and what they're up to.

[Mammon]

No one, including Savage, has said that autism isn't serious. All that Savage and some others here have been saying is that it's over diagnosed. Some of us said that with lot more couth than Savage, but nevertheless, that's what his point was.

I don't think you understand what I wrote, first of all, and second, I'm not "explaining away" his comments, and third, I'm not "explaining away" his comments BECAUSE he's a conservative. That's ridiculous and I challenge anyone to point out where I said that. All I am saying is, these guys are taken out of context nearly every single time they're mentioned in the press, and that's awful journalism.

It's really irrelevant who is being quoted, what political party they belong to, what their philosophy is, etc. The point is, if you're going to write an article about someone and intentionally misquote, misinterpret and/or intentionally leave out pertinent information, what is the point of commenting on what they said? Context is very important.

I went and listened to the radio show when he uttered the comments. He utters them about 100 minutes in and starts out with "You know what I think about Autism?!" No one lead in either, it seemed very sudden and random. He proceeded to say the following.

SAVAGE: Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism, since I'm not talking about autism? A fraud, a racket. For a long while, we were hearing that every minority child had asthma. Why did they sudden -- why was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], "When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], 'I don't know, the dust got me.' " See, everyone had asthma from the minority community. That was number one.

Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is.

What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."

Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool." The worst thing he said -- "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have.

After which he goes on a rant about old italian restaurants. So, what you are seeing, is the exact quote from the Media Matters website, which is the full context... all of it. Everything he said on the subject that day, and he was bouncing from unrelated topic to unrelated topic. So context itself was a blur. In that entire quote the misdiagnosis issue wasn't even clearly addressed, the casual connection he was making was people scamming asthma welfare programs and relating that too autism; calling both rackets. His "explanation" came several days after the fact, after controversy began to grow and I'm willing to bet, pressure as well. Plus, it's after the effect. The context is related to what the man actually said. And what he said was beyond stupid.

As for the rest of his show...

Just because some of you have a chip on your shoulder about conservative talk show hosts and those that listen to them, doesn't mean that they deserve to be misrepresented in the press. And just because some of us listen to them, it doesn't mean we necessarily agree with everything they say. I get emails from all kinds of think tanks, both conservative and liberal, because I want to know what the enemy is thinking and what they're up to.

If this was a liberal talk show host, the majority of this site wouldn't let it down. If this was Barak Obamas pastor, or someone remotely associated with him, the majority of currently posting members wouldn't let it down.

Are they misrepresented in the press? Sure. But the "right" throughs an equal quantity and quality of mud. I pity neither. Savage, judging from my recent position as a listener of his, is by all means a fool. He utters the occasional truth, but then again, many people do. It's his idiotic ranting that bothers me and this autism thing is a prime example.

[K-Mac]

Well that is odd, indeed. As I already stated, I have listened to his show on occasion and there is usually some rhyme or reason to his madness. (Although I usually disagree with that reason.) For him to just go off on a tangent, suddenly and without reason surely doesn't make sense, but I suppose not everyone makes sense 100% of the time. There's certainly no good reason why he couldn't have made his point clearly the first time, other than he gets really upset and goes on these rants frequently on his show. These rants certainly do not lend him any credibility.

Conservative radio talk show hosts are frequently a target for inaccurate reporting, as with the Rush Limbaugh example I already gave, so when I hear stories of this nature, I am highly skeptical. (I guess the press has cried wolf with me too many times.) I am not trying to solicit pity for anyone, but rather to point out that the press is frequently inaccurate and they should be held accountable for such inaccuracies. We all should hold them to a higher standard since they are our source for information much of the time.