Michael Savage?

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

I've always wondered about Savage. Most of the radio guys respect each other, but Savage does the opposite - it's a rare show when he isn't running down the competition (the Golfer, Wallbanger, Leprauchaun...), and generally acting loony.
Came across this article:
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/03/05/savage/index.html?pn=2
And this one:
http://article.nationalreview.com/294888/savaged/david-klinghoffer
Apparently I'm not alone in thinking he's an odd duck.

What's your take on the Savage one?

[gunsmith]

he is competitive, a lot of the con radio guys do not help each other out, he is just a little louder about it.
I used to listen all the time but lately I do not drive for a living so my radio listening is down....but I like him as much as i like some of the folks he disparages

[gunsmith]

he is competitive, a lot of the con radio guys do not help each other out, he is just a little louder about it.
I used to listen all the time but lately I do not drive for a living so my radio listening is down....but I like him as much as i like some of the folks he disparages

[Perd Hapley]

He's an anger-fetishist posing as a conservative ideologue.  Or in his other personality, he's a moony old codger nostalgic for the good old days. 

Oh sure, Levine is angry, but his anger accompanies actual conservative principles and policy positions. 

Savage has no principles.*  That would get in the way of screaming that all the red-diaper-doper-baby LAWYERS SHOULD BE DROWNED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN!!  Yeah, that's some real principled conservatism right there.   



*OK, Savage actually has three principles.  Borders, language, culture.  And he's right about those.  Still... 

[Waitone]

Savage is by far the most intelligent of the talkers.  He's also the most damaged.  That said, I think he's got a case against the other talkers because of their lack of support of him in his fight with the British government.

[HankB]

The valid points he frequently makes are overshadowed - and usually lost - by his hyperbole and invective.

[grampster]

He is also right when he says that Liberalism is mental disease (disorder?).  Liberal hypocricy is so evident, especially in government, that it has to be an illness.  He's amusing to listen to once in awhile.  He does have one redeeming feature...he seems to hate everyone, so he's an equal opportunity guy in that regard.

Whether he is the radio equivilent to The Onion, or the allegedly funny guy who has an alleged news show on cable is up for grabs.

[MechAg94]

From my experience trying to listen to him, he actually makes a little sense for about 5 minutes for every 60 minutes of talk.  The rest of the time he is either patting himself on the back or screaming and ranting and raving and being completely irrational.  At one time when I commuted to work, I listened sometimes because there was little else in that time slot.

I used to respect him a bit because he said some pretty smart things in that 5 minutes and he probably still does.  The long minutes of hearing him patting himself on the back for being so brilliant were too much for me.   I also finally figured out that he was lying his ass off.  He was trying to claim he had always said such and such on a particular issue, and it happened to be an issue where I knew for a fact he had said something completely different months or a year before.  He likes to talk about how he was right all along on this or that and I just have to assume he is lying now.

[longeyes]

Where I live, one of the major radio markets, Savage has been "marginalized"--that is to say, silenced.  There's been an aggressive campaign to muzzle him.  Savage, in my view, is a John-the-Baptist type, a wild man who nonetheless has been and is right about many of the deeper things.  It's true he's an angry soul, but then he's got a lot to be angry about--and so do we.  He has touched more than one Third Rail in his career, and they are making him pay for it.  I think he got burned out as it became clear what was about to happen in '08, but I suspect he'll be riding high again when the Dems present their amnesty bill and the Middle East heats up.

[Perd Hapley]

That said, I think he's got a case against the other talkers because of their lack of support of him in his fight with the British government.

Ha!

1.  He attacks the other guys frequently, so no surprise they ignore him.  This raging lunatic has even tried to pillory Ann Coulter for saying offensive things.  If there was ever a case of the singularity calling the nebula a black hole.  

2.  I agree with Savage on the immigration issue, but you can't be Rabid Border Enforcement Guy for years and then complain when the sovereign state of Great Britain decides to shut you out.  Don't get me wrong; the Brits were completely in the wrong there.  But he has no right to enter Great Britain, and they weren't violating his freedom of speech as he so vociferously (and laughably) claims.  


This man is a toxic stain on American conservatism.  He's not doing much good for America.

[Balog]

Yeah, saying "Language Borders Culture" and then bitching when another country shuts it's border to you because you offend their culture is pretty funny.

I tried to listen to him a few times. Whiny one minute, deranged the next, and he said something (dang if I remember what) that greatly vexed me one time. Not worth the time imho.

[Perd Hapley]

Then you're just a checked-pants Republican. 

[thebaldguy]

Sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I don't. It's pretty much like that for most talk show hosts.

[RocketMan]

I find that, whether I agree with him or not, he's just too disturbed to listen to.

[Jocassee]

I find that, whether I agree with him or not, he's just too disturbed to listen to.

"Unhinged" is my assessment.

[RocketMan]

"Unhinged" is my assessment.

I can go with that.

[longeyes]

He may be "unhinged," but funny how right he's been on so many issues--let's take illegal immigration, just to cite one.  I agree he goes off the tracks on personal manias now and then, but he scores other talk show hosts for not walking the walk.  People like O'Reilly, who loves "the folks" and is sworn to "look after them" but wobbles on any number of critical issues so he can be loved by all.

[MechAg94]

That is about the only issue I can think of that he has been consistent with.  Even if he was right a lot more, he is too unhinged and deranged for me to enjoy listening to him.

[Perd Hapley]

He may be "unhinged," but funny how right he's been on so many issues--let's take illegal immigration, just to cite one.  I agree he goes off the tracks on personal manias now and then, but he scores other talk show hosts for not walking the walk.  People like O'Reilly, who loves "the folks" and is sworn to "look after them" but wobbles on any number of critical issues so he can be loved by all.

I don't see what O'Reilly has to do with it, other than Savage should follow his example by getting off the air.

Plenty of half-wits and crazies are conservative - Sean Hannity for one.

[Bigjake]

Annoyingly over the top.. 

That doesn't make him wrong on everything, I just can't listen to him.

[longeyes]

What O'Reilly has to do with it is that he is one of the people Savage has gone off on, and I'm telling you why.  O'Reilly wants to play both sides and be loved by "the folks."  Savage, hinged or unhinged, has always said exactly what he believes and let the chips fall.  That he's antagonized a lot of people isn't surprising, but in these times if you aren't pissing a lot of people off, you are probably part of the Mendacity Culture.  

[Perd Hapley]

What O'Reilly has to do with it is that he is one of the people Savage has gone off on, and I'm telling you why.  O'Reilly wants to play both sides and be loved by "the folks."  Savage, hinged or unhinged, has always said exactly what he believes and let the chips fall.  That he's antagonized a lot of people isn't surprising, but in these times if you aren't pissing a lot of people off, you are probably be of the Mendacity Culture.

You really don't understand Savage.

Savage doesn't need a reason to go off on conservative pundits.  Like I said, he's also gone off on real conservatives that say exactly what they believe and let the chips fall.  If anyone matches that description, it's Coulter, who he's also attacked.  Ditto for Mark Levin. 

For the record, though, I have no interest in defending O'Reilly.  Politically, he doesn't get it, and personally he seems like an arrogant jerk.  I know the type.   

[longeyes]

Let's agree to disagree.  I am very familiar with Savage.   I'm not arguing that Savage is always right or that I agree with him on everything, just that he has thrown down the gauntlet with other conservative talkers for other than petty, personal reasons.  Savage is an egomaniac, true enough, but he is not afraid to take his crusades where they have to go rather than aborting them, as so many of his competitors often do.

[Perd Hapley]

he is not afraid to talk his crusades where they have to go rather than aborting them, as so many of his competitors often do.

Examples?    I'm not sure what you mean. 

[longeyes]

Illegal immigration is the prime example, but we could talk about radical Islamic influence in America's political and cultural life or maybe about the politicizing of the U.S. military (hanging them out to dry as fallguys).  On the first topic O'Reilly can't dance fast enough as witness his samba with turncoat Lou Dobbs recently.  Then there's Hannity, who can only see illegals in terms of "national security."  Guys like Medved and Hewitt, highly intelligent both, also stop short when any serious solutions are floated by callers.  I've listened to all of these guys, and the fix is in.  As for topic number two, the old adage applies: follow the money.