Michael Savage defends autism remarks: I'm just "defending the defenseless!"
By SilentPatriot Monday Jul 21, 2008 11:00am
When I heard Michael Wiener Savage was going to appear on "Larry King Live" Monday night (with Glenn Beck guest-hosting) to "defend" his horrific remarks about children with autism -- "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." -- I knew to expect at least two things: (a) he would claim that he was "taken out of context", and (b) he would attack MediaMatters for bringing it to the public's attention. What I didn't expect, however, is that he would attempt the PR equivalent of a quadruple axel.
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Beck: It seems pretty clear that you don't really believe autism exists.
Savage: No, no, no, no, no. Again, you took what they gave you. But you didn't take the entire preceding material. [...] This was in the broader context of the overmedicalization, the over-diagnosis of disease, using our children as profit centers. I've spent all day saying what a shame it is that I -- as a man who has spent his entire life defending the defenseless, mainly children -- should have to defend myself from charges leveled at me from men who specialize in hating families and children, namely MediaMatters -- who probably come after you as well -- by ripping things out of context and making me look like the monster that they are.
You see, Michael Savage is a humanitarian who's always looking out for the kids! When he says children diagnosed with autism are "brats" who just need a father to smack some sense into them, he's actually defending them. How dare anyone "take him out of context" when all he's trying to do is speak candidly about the epidemic of over-medicating children?! What do those so-called "experts" know about autism, anyway?
Here are a few other examples of Savage's humanitarianism and "defense of the defenseless":
Savage: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. ... [T]hey never assimilate. And then their children become gang-bangers."
Savage accused former page of "gay-baiting" Foley and added: "Maybe he's a Democrat."
Savage advocated "militarization of our children" to respond to terror threat.
You can use MM's form to find your local Savage station and make your voice heard. AFLAC has already decided to pull their ads.
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PIG.
Turd.
And an asshat too! Michael Savage=LOSER
Weiner
I really, REALLY hope every autism group in the nation goes after this typical right-wing arsehole.
I have been a long-time advocate of the fairness doctrine. The argument is always the "freedom of speech" The rebuttal is that all freedoms can and will be abused with out any laws governing them. The jails are full of freedom abusers. Hate speech is an abuse of freedom. Reagan gave talk radio hacks like Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and Savage a platform for blatant hate speech. Hitler would be proud of Ol' Ronnie RIP.
Must one be heartless to have a right leaning radio show? It surely seems that way. They seem to enjoy seeing how cruel and hurtful they can be. You have to wonder, does their audience share this ugliness?
This guy only does this for attention. Sadly, he gets it everytime. Most people have no clue who he is, until the media give him attention for his latest batch of stupidity.
Is this what happens when Larry King is gone? I wonder if they had Savage invited prior to King's day off or after Beck was assigned to fill in for him? I realize LK has a lot of fluff interviews but having Beck fill in for him interviewing Savage is just Dumb interviewing Dumber. Go to Mediamatters.org and look at each's entries. CNN- Please send Beck back to Headline News where I do not have to see or hear him.
Didn't you know??
AUTISM = DEMOCRATS!
everyone's a tough guy on the phone or on radio.
weiner has definitely insulted the wrong group this time. don't fuck with the mothers of autistic children.
i hope jenny mccarthy kicks his fat, flabby ass.
Autism shares many commonalities with what was once called window-gazing or wool gathering in it's lighter forms.
That doesn't deny the reality of autism, it just makes you wonder how often it's underdiagnosed.
And there are problems with the over-medication of children. Just recently it's emerged that certain anti-depressants in adolescents can cause suicide or suicidal thoughts.
These caveats aside I still think mikey is a weiner.
Remember, the only reason that this douchebag is on the air is because he has an audience. A very
large audience.
Day-dreaming was the other term I was looking for instead of window-gazing.
Spock @ 14:
Logically, it's just one guy who eats a lot.
pissed off patricia @ 7:
IMHO, yes.
WHAT AN HOUR OF COMEDY...last night's Larry King was...now, I'm a huge fan of THE CLOSER so clicked back and forth but could hear my husband move between laughing out loud and shouting A**hole at the TV...Michael Savage should have come down on his head all of what he wishes on others...now that would be KARMA!!! And, could there be a bigger joke than Glenn Beck as a "host"...YEGODS...are them priming him to take over for Larry? Good old CNN always looking for the prime talent...UGH
What a sad, pathetic man this Michael Savage is.
There are wonderfully effective medications he could be taking.
Why did you give Michael Savage publicity by reporting what he said -- again?
I recommend that everyone ignore him and he'll just fade away along with his calculated and intentionally offensive remarks.
Omg.. Weiner is a... well weiner.. for sure. But come on! Are you seriously saying kids who day-dream are autistic!?
Expect the "Don Imus" treatment... a lot of self-indignation, then business back as usual, with more sponsors than before.
Can anyone find a list of sponsors? I'd really like to make sure I wasn't doing business with those who pay for time on this asshole's show.
Liberal AND Proud @ 19:
Marijuana would make him want to be everybody's buddy
But watch your Twinkies.
Who else sponsors this guy? Besides AFLAC, which wisely pulled out. I haven't found anything on the net about boycotting the sponsors or urging them to stop ads.
Eat your own shit with a tooth pick Savage. And that career asshole Beck made a complete dick out of himself last night subbing for Larry King. In trying to justify Bush's and McStupid's speech impediments and endless dumb ass comments, Beck shockingly lied and said "Abraham Lincoln was a terrible public speaker too". The reaction from the panel was classic. David Gergen all but told Glen boy to shut up.
I may be taking him out of context but did he say "I Michael Wiener Savage like having sex with small children and have been doing it my whole life"
richmanpoorman @ 21:
It all depends on whether they can stop it on their own volition.
Accordiing to what I've learned autism is caused by some malfunction or lack of development in what are termed mirror glands in the brain. Other primates have it too. These glands are involved with empathy which aids in learning by imitation. The malfunction creates those who have difficulty in forming empathy and become detached, and unable to observe social cues.
In the last week, there was a story in the Dallas Morning Nudes on how dogs are find useful not in just drawing out the autistic person, but they are trained to keep the autistic child from wondering off. Right now that's all they're used for, the autistic child, not the adult.
condour @ 25:
I can't vouch for this, because I haven't done any research to verify, but a quick google of "Michael Savage Sponsors" leads me to this page.
These damned conservatives....seems as if everything is always taken "out of context." Well, context this. Wiener's a pitiful excuse for a human being; Beck is an idiot for even having the jerk on the show. Larry King....he's lost it, having Beck fill in for him.
26 Left&Left
Winston Churchill had to train himself not to stutter.
King George VI had to control a tendency to stammer when he addressed the nation on the BBC.
Whoa..hopefully he screwed up enough this time to lose his show.
We shall see...but I doubt it.
What does it say about Larry King that he would allow someone as insane as Beck to host his show? Has he no idea what Beck is all about? Larry must be looking for shock value for his aging show.
Gretchen @ 23:
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Digital Media Inc., U.S.A.: http://dmiusa.com/
Nevada State Corporate Network, Inc.: http://www.nscn.com/
Roger Schlesinger, the Mortgage Minute Guy:[Not a sponsor See this comment-Sitemonitor]
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Effectur: http://www.effectur.com/landing.aspx?id=436&gclid=COv8oen-ypQCFQ4RnQodqE...
Geico: http://www.geico.com/
Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Contac...
Wachovia: http://www.wachovia.com/
Gold Bond: http://www.goldbond.com/
FreshStart America: http://www.freshstartamerica.com/
Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org/
Breakpoint: http://www.breakpoint.org/site_hmpg.asp
Debt Consultants of America (snail mail and phone number listings): http://www.dallas.com/debt-consultants-of-america-incorporated-b23046351
DirectBuy: http://www.directbuy.com/
WebEx: http://www.webex.com/
Savage - stumbled into one of his own leg-traps. I just didn't see that coming..
The hypocrisy of media regulation continues unabated. In the same manner that the MPAA relegates explicit sexual content to adults yet finds gratuitous gore and violence acceptable for all ages so long as a parent is present, the FCC finds it necessary to crack down on Howard Stern for toilet and boob humor yet sees no problem with people like Michael Savage advocating capital punishment for children who won't "cut the act out."
because outrage sells. Look at this site for example. :D
It is amazing what you can get away with on the air if you are a right wing Korporate media shill.
Randi Rhoads ended up out of a job on Air America after making crude remarks during a comedy show. Those remarks were not made on the air and she was not representing Air America at the show she was doing.
Mann Coulter, Nuts Limpballs and others of their ilke have made far worse comments on the air including Coulter advocating the death of a federal judge! After a large outcry from the left, she was invited right back onto all the right wing nut shows to continue her agenda. It's almost as though right wingers say "take that!"
This Twit will still be ranting away on the airwaves tomorrow. He probably will be given interviews on all the right wing media shows just to show us who runs things!
........And I keep hearing the media is liberal!!
Bring back the fairness doctrine!
who's the next guest host going to be cnn, david duke?
I really want my own radio show. That way, I can sit there all day, everyday, and report on how all Republicans sacrifice babies to the Alter of the All-Mighty Dollar (that's why they oppose abortion and access to birth control) and have Dorian Grey-like portraits hidden in their attics (I'm looking at you, Cindy McCain), while pretending to be oh-so-Christian. Further, they will rob, lie, cheat, rape and murder in order to gain a dollar, a stock or a stick of gum from a poor or middle-class person, thinking nothing of the destruction they leave in the never-ending quest to be JUST that much richer.
Also, they smell.
Then, I will protect myself behind the "It is free speech" meme and rake in a cool $200 Million since I'm at least twice as smart as Sean Hannity.
This slime will be OFF the air by the end of the week. He will be fired. Going going gone.
And they have another slime Beck doing the interview? Screw CNN.
Not that I've ever considered Larry 'the batman' King a real journalist, but Glenn Beck interviewing Michael Weiner "Savage"??? WTF!?!?!?!?! Did I slip through a portal into bizzarro world? THIS is what passes for mainstream now??? What's next Rush Limbaugh filling in for Charlie Rose spending an hour with Sean Hannity????
Michael Savage sounds like a prime contender from the program of the Franklin Cover-Up.
I think it's pretty clear by now that Michael Savage Weiner is an emotionally ill man who projects his damage on the world and then yells at it.
TakeOurCountryBack @ 38:
There are totally different standards for right wing nuts like Savage and progressives like Randi Rhodes. Same in the presidency. Bill Clinton impeached for enjoying sex vs. George W. getting by with tyranny. I wonder why the different standards exist so strongly.
And we're supposed to get upset about attention whores who create meaningless controversies?
Jeez where is the FCC ? I mean I would rather hear dick jokes and fart noises than this ignorant hurtful spew..
Sounds to me like every right-wing radio jerks like Savage, Beck and Limbaugh were all autistic youths that never got the counseling and treatment. Perhaps it's because it wasn't recognized back then, but they sure seem to be classic examples of what they are so vehemently denouncing.
pissed off patricia @ 33:
Larry King is a media whore. Have you seen the way he sucks up to people like Liddy Dole? Disgusting. Glad I got out of the tv habit.
Samson- @ 34:
Great research. It's too bad the old www.buyblue.org got bought up and buried. That was a great resource for taking back the country through the dollars we spend.
Savage is a brat because he cannot control his tongue from using for the purpose of what is called "Verbal attack."
You can interpret the statement from Savage as he might call the drug companies "brat," rather than the autistic children.
In my view, autism has created business and employment. Similarly, drugs, alcohol has created substance abuse centers. U.S. thrives on opening businesses at the expense of poor souls, lol.
mikey weener had a tough life... aphsical coward, he was ALWAYS getting pushed around.
so he stayed around home...
but his mother's friends thought he was a 'dirty little creep' for the way he was always trying to see up their skirts
poor mikey weener
As the adoptive parent of a seriously abused child suffering from PTSD, and who is thankfully medicated to some level of normalcy, I find Michael Wiener's remarks threatening to my child's well-being.
But he is a coward. Instead of spouting his hateful speech in public where sensible people like myself can walk up and punch him in the nose, he isolates himself in a soundproof booth where the negative affects of the vile he expresses can't be felt.
Come on out Mikey. Let me give you a taste of the corporal punishment you so sincerely think our damaged children need. Coward!
Interesting. Michael Savage has spewed hate of humans for years, even wishing for more terrorist attacks. But he smacks kids diagnosed with autism and it's over.
ysbaddaden @ 31:
I don't know where you are going with this...Beck's analogy was criminally stupid....period.
Savage probably mixed up autism with ADD where there is some controversy about over-medicating kids. But even if that's true, it's still a terrible thing to say and he makes it worse by claiming he was taken out of context.
In the original context he went on to say that he was raised by being told "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."
A lot good it did him.
Yea, and Limpballs is a sympathetic spokesperson for Parkinson's Disease http://youtube.com/watch?v=0o6yrdInw6s
I was wondering why Beck, a conservative insensitive cretin himself, was sympathetic to autism and calling Savage to the carpet. Then Beck mentioned he had a kid with special needs and I got it, a selfish conservative is only sympathetic towards the needs of others and the underprivileged only when they experience it first hand. Beck has a dog in this fight which is the only reason he gives a shit and coming to the defense of autism victims.
He should be made to repeat those remarks in a meeting with the parents of autistic children!
@ 53 Dhalgren Says:
Interesting. Michael Savage has spewed hate of humans for years, even wishing for more terrorist attacks. But he smacks kids diagnosed with autism and it’s over.
his beeeg mistake: dissing WHITE people's kids...if he coulda kept it in the minority, he'da been cool.
Autism and ADD/ADHD afflict every group, but since there are more (still) non-minorities, there are therefore MORE "majority" kids with the disorders.
In Murka, on Rightard Talk Radio, you can do anything you want... BUT diss white people's children...
What a disgusting human being. I am sure the parents of autistic kids will be outraged at the comments he made
He needs to be fired and should never be on the Air again.
Mike the Riverine @ 48:
Ever hear of "ants in your pants"? That's the term my parents & grandparents used. A few years back kids were called "hyper". Wonder whatever happened to those sayings? Autism?
What an absolute scumbag.
See Post #34.
Contact his sponsors. I think that's the only way to get this turd canned.
Where does this prick broadcast from? Why aren't there protesters there DAILY burning him in effigy?
I have a brother with Aspergers Syndrome, so I understand that autism is a viable disability.
I do however agree with this guy to a point in that there is an overdiagnosis of the problem in order to sell medications. When I was in junior high I was diagnosed with ADD and prescribed ritalin. What a joke, I just didn't like following the rules or focusing on the boring material. If it interested me I would have paid more attention as my grades show in the classes. Now this has evolved to ADHD and new drugs have been introduced.
With that being said parents are diagnosing their children as autistic and telling the doctors this is the problem. The issue comes down to the doctor not digging further and verifying that this is the problem. Some cases of autism are obvious, and there is no question. But there are many where the children just need structure and their parents to be more active in their lives. TV and video games have introduced a whole new mental state that is not so easily categorized. That's the extent that I agree with him.
bert @ 62:
Hehehehe, canned turd...avaialable in Beck, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and now Weiner!
Mockael Savage is NUTS.
Savage perfers the old methods for treating autism, like locking autistic kids in the root cellar until they snap out of it.
ysbaddaden @ 13:
Full blown autism (not counting aspergers, add, pdd-nos) is said to be at a rate of 1 in 150. Seriously, if "better diagnosing" were true. Where are the 1 in 150 adults with full blown autism and not the "milder forms"?
As both a doctoral-level epidemiologist and an uncle of an autistic child, I found Savage's comments beyond inaccurate, disrespectful, hurtful, and damaging. I sent a letter to AFLAC thanking them for their decision not to support such commentary, and to GEICO, a company that has my family's business (for now), requesting the same. I really hope this is Savage's swan song - a hole he can't "out of context" himself out of.
Hmm, how about that first wife of his who divorced his ass only after 3 years? Nothing funnier than these "family values" hypocrites...
Thanks to SilentPatriot for bringing this to others attention
if you want to know more about children with autism rights and political action see
http://www.a-champ.org
Let me start by saying that I think Savage is a moron and his calling Media Matters "men who specialize in hating families and children" is ridiculous. Kind of like the grand wizard of the KKK calling a jewish or gay rights advocate intolerant. But its worth listening to that whole video clip. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day and even though he expressed it in his usual moronic manner I think Savage had a point. What he was saying is that, as with a lot of childhood mental health diseases such as ADD and depression, Autism is getting over diagnosed and doctors are putting kids on drugs at a very early age without proper clinical trials that evaluate the potential long term harmful effects. I used to work at a psych hospital in the early 80's. Autism then was very rare but when you saw a child that had it there was no mistaking them with a "window gazer". They were heart breaking kids trapped in their own world that it was almost impossible to reach. They would sit rocking or try to bang their heads for hours. Now autism is getting diagnosed for children who have serious behavior problems but are nothing like those extreme cases. Of course saying “In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out." is stupid. However, I do think he has a point that autism is now over diagnosed and as a result many kids are over medicated.
"When I heard Michael Wiener Savage.." AKA, "The Savage Weiner".
Send a message to Savage’s broadcasters, syndicators and commercial sponsors :
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Email through their site:
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Finally, to thank the good folks at AFLAC:
1-800-99-AFLAC (1-800-992-3522)
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1-706-243-8004
news@aflac.com
Also, I would suggest anyone even remotely agreeing with Savage to do some research on autism and "autism spectrum disorders" and "pervasive developmental disorder." The term "autism" is often used to include a wide-range of developmental disabilities - not just what is considered "classic autism." Know and understand what the statistics are referring to before crying foul or conspiracy.
MikeD @ 72:
As are most of the adult population. Watch the commercials on any socalled news channel.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0721-02.htm
National Autism Group and Angry Parents to hold Press Conference Today in Manhattan to Announce Rally and Protest in City of San Francisco for July 23, 2008
Obviously, a guy who changes his last name from Weiner to Savage has some serious manhood issues.
goldenjoe @ 68:
They are all around you. An autistic person stands out by their behaviors. Its not as obvious as, say, Downs Syndrome.
Savage needs to be talked to by a very large mob.
Oh, yeah, my nephew is not over-medicated. He takes no medication at all, as many kids diagnosed with autism. Savage obviously has already influened some to think that any kid diagnosed with autism is loaded up with meds - not the case at all. However, as epilepsy and other SEIZURE (hard to fake and/or misdiagnose, that, eh?) conditions are associated with autism, obviously, medication can be very beneficial.
MikeD @ 72:
Mike, the diagnosis of autism falls along a spectrum. That's why you're seeing so many more diagnoses, because we have a better understanding of it. There are children with developmental issues like Sensory Intergration Dysfunction (which is on the low end of the autism spectrum) that may seem like "brats" but are truly unable to process sensory information and require therapy to control it. My best friend's daughter has SID and has issues with her sense of touch. She cannot stand the feel of elastic on her body and will compulsively remove clothes because it tortures her to feel that constriction. She is not a brat, although this compulsion was driving her parents nuts until it was diagnosed. It is not a lack of discipline that put her in this condition. It requires discipline of her parents to spend hours doing touch therapy to inure her to wearing her clothes.
Only in america can you insult, degrade and attack a disabled group of people and their families and the result is you get MORE media time and become more famous.
Will he be receiving one of those special reich wing "purple hearts" for all his hate on behalf of neocon assholes everywhere?
Anyone who has anything to say on autism without personal first hand experience is welcome to come over and change 6 year old nephew's diapers any time and also to STFU.
Winston Churchill had to train himself not to stutter.
King George VI had to control a tendency to stammer when he addressed the nation on the BBC.
It's not the stuttering re: Bush and McCain and their hate talk lackeys, it's the cruel, thoughtless, arrogant and stupid things that constantly come out of their mouths that make me wish no one would ever turn a camera on them again.