Friday, November 16, 2007

The Delusions of KRMG's Michael Savage, Part 112

One of our favorite conservative blabbers is reliably hyperbolic Michael Savage, heard locally on Tulsa's KRMG AM 740. Savage is a textbook example of the old notion that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," which means he's wildly mistaken or misinformed on a huge range of political and policy issues.

On the plus side, Savage is often hilarious, though most of his humor is unintentional.

Yet even in the overheated world of conservative talk, Savage can sometimes blunder into completely uncharted territory. This week, for example, he fired two empty barrels at Media Matters, a website that has the inconvenient habit of pointing out Savage's reign of misinformation.

Here's how Media Matters summed up its latest run-in with Savage:
On the November 14 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage referred to Media Matters for America as a "fascist front group." As Media Matters has documented, on the September 26 edition of his radio show, while discussing Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's controversial comments on his own radio show about his visit to Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem, Savage called Media Matters for America a "gay, fascist website." Savage has also labeled the organization a "hate group," a "group of gay Mafioso," "the homosexual Mafia," and "a gay smear sheet." On the January 30 broadcast of his show, Savage called Media Matters a "little website" and claimed, "I'm not even going to read its name anymore."

On his November 14 show, Savage later added: "Media Matters was created by Hillary Clinton, and they're after Michael Savage. They're after Bill O'Reilly. They're after anybody that doesn't toe the Hillary, left-wing party line." As it has repeatedly noted, Media Matters is a progressive nonprofit organization and is not affiliated with any candidate or political party.

Let's review, shall we? Media Matters, Savage says, is (1) "fascist," (2) "gay," a (3) "hate group," part of the (4) "gay Mafioso," and part of the (5) "homosexual Mafia." Even worse (by Savage's lights), it was (6) "created by Hillary Clinton."

That's an amazingly bizarre bit of name-calling, though it's remarkably free of evidence. But as the cynical old cigar-chomping reporters used to say: Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Savage" is merely an unscrupulous opportunist. That doesn't say a lot positive about his audience.

Savage Baptist said...

I don't know about everything else Savage said--I don't listen to him--but it didn't take ten seconds googling to find audio and video of Hillary saying

We are certainly better prepared and more focused on, you know, taking our arguments, and making them effective, and disseminating them widely, and really putting together a network, uh, in the blogosphere, in a lot of the new progressive infrastructure, institutions that I helped to start and support like Media Matters and Center for American Progress.

Which kind of makes it look like she either had a hand in its creation or wanted to make it sound like she did. Out of the horse's mouth, as they say, it looks like Media Matters just might be affiliated with a particular candidate and party, despite their disclaimer. Certainly, one can hardly be blamed for thinking so.

Here's the audio, and this is the YouTube video.

Anonymous said...

The Center for American Progress was started by former (Bill) Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, so I could see her having some input there.

Media Matters was founded by David Brock, a former right-wing attack dog who had written the Richard Mellon Scaife-bankrolled and directed "Troopergate" stories about Bill (ultimately uncorroborated).

When Brock handed in his next assignment, a hatchet job book on Hillary, it was deemed insufficiently vicious, he and the right-wing began to part ways.

She (and any other Democrat) would have been nuts not to support MM as one factual counter to all the shrill propaganda put out by the likes of "Michael Savage" and his legion of right-wing compadres.

The charges AltTulsa listed from "Savage" are about as accurate as Dick Cheney's aim after knocking back a few brewskis and beta blockers.

By the way, "Creflo Dollar" (Mike Smith) isn't the only charlatan to sex up his name for the simple-minded. "Michael Savage" is really Michael Alan Weiner.

Savage Baptist said...

By the way, "Creflo Dollar" (Mike Smith) isn't the only charlatan to sex up his name for the simple-minded. "Michael Savage" is really Michael Alan Weiner.

You have to wonder who "tulsan" is, or who "AltTulsa" are. But we simple-minded folks sure appreciate the way y'all sex your names up for us. :)

Anonymous said...

I thought and thought, and finally came up the straight-up hot handle, "Tulsan." Muy caliente!

Anonymous said...

It's interesting that the monikers "Creflo Dollar" and "Michael Savage" relate directly to their on-the-air personas.

"Creflo Dollar" = dollar flow (hence my joke name, "Rev. Enue Stream") for someone preaching the "prosperity gospel."

"Michael Savage" as in a savage attack, which is his stock in trade. Now if he had been a porn star, he wouldn't have had to change a thing.

Anonymous said...

And that's all they are, personas. Both are mainly out to make a buck, in my opinion.

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