Poor Michael Savage!

-
I was cooking supper up in the kitchen last night. The kitchen is upstairs in this house. I think it was designed for lakeside parties - it's an odd design. Anyway, I forgot to bring up a book on tape, so I flipped on the radio.

The first thing I hear is Michael Savage whining about how none of the big 3 talk show hosts are supporting him since England banned him from the country along with a flock of assorted terrorists, murders and other nasty people.

Don't get me wrong, it was a rotten, politically motivated thing to do, but the British Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, chose her target well. Michael's big complaint is that no one in the conservative community wants to rally behind him in a big way. It's apparent that he thinks he should be the cause celebre' and that he's angry because Rush, Sean, Bill and Glenn aren't sufficiently upset about his unfair banning from the UK.

Well, he's wrong when he says they've totally ignored the issue. I've heard it mentioned on at least two of the three shows and I really haven't had time to listen to them much lately anyway, so I could easily have missed it. It doesn't surprise me, though, that Michael Savage is not the flavor of the hour however.

When Harry Reid and a bunch of Democrat senators wrote a letter that threatened Clear Channel, the network that distributes Limbaugh's radio show - a clear threat to free speech - Savage dismissed it as "No big deal". He consistently misquotes and mischaracterizes his fellow talk show hosts' words and opinions. He seems to believe his is the only true gospel and everyone else is a phoney. And he's not shy about saying so either.

If you can bear to listen to his show, you've no doubt heard him lament that no one wants to support him in his hour of need when the British government is threatening his right to travel to Britain and insult everyone over there.

Savage was an easy target.

The poor man is, of all the right wing talkers, the most obnoxious! It's little wonder few people in the conservative media want to stroke his poor head and feel sorry for him, even though what's being done to him by the Brits is outrageous. There's hardly a conservative talking head that Savage hasn't belittled, berated or taken to task. He won't even speak the names of the Big 3 on his program. He calls them dismissive nicknames like "The Golfer", "The Leprechaun" and such and flings epithets like 'sellout' and 'fraud' at them, accusing conservative media of every crime from being closet liberals to having bad breath. He uses the tactics of the left to try and deliver what he fervently believes is the true gospel of conservatism - The Book of Savage.

It's little wonder he can't get very many interviews. It's kind of like the reluctance you feel to go to the rescue of that yappy little dog of your Aunt Bertha's. You know that evil, hairless little beast that nips at your heels whenever you come to visit. Were he to get waylaid by a pit bull, you'd hesitate to go to his rescue. You know you would. You'd first have to deal with the feeling that he had it coming. I mean you would shoo away the pit bull eventually, but maybe you'd let him get a taste of his own medicine first.

Savage is a contradiction. He can tell lovely and heart breaking stories about family and loved ones and sound rational and reasoned, then he turns around and starts snarling like one of those schizophrenics with the conspiracy thing going. He consistently bites the conservative hand that feeds him, that opened doors for him to do what he does.

He's also a tireless self-promoter and has a wondrously irritating habit of referring to himself in the third person as though he can't quite get enough of hearing his own name, which is actually not Michael Savage. It's Michael Weiner! Maybe he hopes to erase the old name by repeating the new one enough time to blot the old one out.

Enough already, Michael Savage. Michael Savage is a doctor for crying out loud. Michael Savage should buy Michael Savage a personal pronoun once in a while. Michael Savage can afford it. Michael Savage is articulate enough otherwise.

I defy you to listen to his radio program for more than 60 seconds without hearing Michael Savage say Michael Savage's own name, first and last, at least once. Ten minutes and you'll hear Michael Savage tout some book Michael Savage has self-published or a homeopathic remedy Michael Savage has discovered that's been suppressed by evil doctors.

Michael Savage is often dead right in his political take, but Michael Savage can also be dead wrong! There is little kindness in Michael Savage for those who disagree even slightly with Michael Savage and woe to anyone with better ratings. Michael Savage calls them schmucks, idiots and a colorful litany of other dismissive and hateful names. Tom King finds that a useless tactic in civilized discussion and it makes people dislike Michael Savage unless they agree 100% with everything Michael Savage says. Tom King almost put his picture up with this blog entry, but since Tom King is partially disagreeing with Michael Savage here, Tom King decided to avoid a lawsuit and posted this entry unadorned.

Okay, that's enough of that. Blood is starting to shoot out my eyes......

Savage can deliver a rational and reasonable argument, but he has little ability to tolerate other opinions long enough to really hear them. It's little wonder the other guys aren't in a hurry to defend this guy. I suspect they are rather enjoying his discomfiture.

Of the other big talk show guys, my own preferences run in order of politeness. Beck is the one who gets all worked up the most, but he also listens the most to callers who disagree. Rush and Sean can listen if they want to, but they don't always want to. They shout down liberals as effectively as liberals shout down conservatives. Beck, on the other hand, will just sit there and let them talk while he shakes his head and weeps. I like that in a political pundit.

Of course, people don't listen to radio talk shows to hear both sides of the argument. They pretty much want to hear their side. In the case of radio talk shows, that's pretty much the conservative side. Conservatives hear the other side everywhere else in the media. Like Rush says, "I am equal time."

Unfortunately for Savage he comes off kind of like some needy, but ridiculously spoiled brat who is used to getting his way and who thinks if he stamps his feet hard enough and screams, everybody ought to come get him out of the mess he's pretty much gotten himself into by painting such a big target on his own chest that it made it hard for the British Home Office to miss.

We've gotten so used to Savage's self-serving paranoia, that we tend to tune it out. We might fight to the death to preserve Savage's right to say what he says, but forgive us if we're not in that big a hurry to run toward the guns when it was Michael Savage that dared them to shoot at Michael Savage in the first place!

Besides, Michael Savage said that Michael Savage doesn't even like England. Michael Savage hates the food, Michael Savage hates the people and Michael Savage thinks they're all schmucks over there in England!

So, why, exactly, should we care if Britain doesn't want Michael Savage to come for a visit?

For that matter why would Glenn, Rush, Sean, Bill or Mark want to interview Michael Savage anyway, if Michael Savage thinks they're all such frauds and sellouts in the first place!

Me, I'd let him swing in the breeze a bit.

Tom King is just sayin'

Just Tom King's opinion.....

Tom King
.