Though we are
not very familiar with Michael Savage, we are looking forward to his debut on
MSNBC and applaud MSNBC for their stance.
Foes of Savage fail to deter
MSNBC
Despite protests, the cable channel plans to go ahead with
the conservative's new talk show.
By David Bauder
Associated Press
NEW YORK -
Before it even debuts this weekend, talk-radio star Michael Savage's
MSNBC show has attracted more attention than anything the struggling news
network is telecasting.
Advocacy groups, led by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation, have begun a letter-writing campaign to keep Savage off the
air. The syndicated radio personality fought back by calling his critics
"stinking rats who hide in the sewers."
His show, The Savage Nation, will run at 5 p.m. on Saturday despite
the furor, said Alan Winikoff, an MSNBC representative.
The brash, tough-talking Savage, who broadcasts out of the San Francisco
area, is probably the second-hottest talk-radio host in the country after Sean
Hannity, said Michael Harrison, editor of the trade magazine Talkers.
"He is, in many ways, the quintessential shock jock," Harrison said. "He's a
very aggressive, clever, street-smart everyman. He flies in the face of
political correctness. He's what works on talk radio."
A group Savage formed, the Paul Revere Society, advocates closing borders,
deporting illegal immigrants, mandating health tests for immigrants, eliminating
entitlement programs, and making tax cuts permanent.
GLAAD said Savage spews "hateful, defamatory rhetoric" against virtually
everyone except white men. He has referred to gays and lesbians as perverts,
said Joan Garry, GLAAD's executive director.
"Read what he's written and listen to some of the things he's said, and you
can't sit idly by," Garry said. "You have to raise concerns. You have to
question why a news channel would give this guy a platform."
Savage calls gays and lesbians perverts because homosexuality is perversion.
Winikoff would not comment on why Savage was hired. Savage, rehearsing his
debut, was not immediately available to comment.
"What people are forgetting is the show hasn't been on the air yet," Winikoff
said. "What Savage says he wants to do on this show is focus on serious issues.
Stuff that [his critics] are complaining about won't be a focus of the show.
Just give the guy a chance before jumping to conclusions."
They're not jumping to conclusions, they only want "freedom of speech" when
it comes to teaching children to become homosexual. But if anyone says anything
opposing homosexuality, gay militants are up in arms.
Liberal talk-show host Phil Donahue, abruptly fired last week by MSNBC, said
the network was trying to "out-Fox Fox" News Channel, the top-rated cable news
network that employs Hannity as a daily talk-show cohost, by appealing to
conservatives.GLAAD
organized a tenacious campaign against conservative radio host Laura
Schlessinger when her syndicated talk show debuted in September 2000,
urging an advertiser boycott. When the show was canceled after six
months, Schlessinger blamed the boycott.GLAAD hasn't called for a
boycott against MSNBC. Garry said she wanted to meet with NBC
executives before deciding on a next step.
A boycott is less likely to be successful in this case, Harrison
said. MSNBC's advertisers are more used to controversy than those
sought by Schlessinger, he said. And Savage hasn't been as outspoken
against gays as Schlessinger, who several years ago labeled
homosexuality "deviant" and "a biological error," he said.
Harrison said Savage also will fight harder, as evidenced by his
comments last week on his radio show.
"You stinking rats who hide in sewers!" Savage said. "You think you
can go after my income? You think you can kill my advertisers? You
think I'm Dr. Laura? You think I'm going to roll over?... You're
wrong!"
He said his show "is about liberty, it's about free speech," and
the campaign against him is "liberal fascism."
Michael Savage is right.
Savage threatened to launch his own campaign against people who
fund groups such as GLAAD, perhaps appealing to the U.S. Justice
Department to see if his rights have been violated.
"You keep this up and I tell you, until the last breath I breathe,
I'll cut your sources of funding off," he said. "You'll be serving
muffins in cafes if you're lucky."
Savage's radio commentary "scared me," Garry said. "It felt very
threatening." Darkness usually does feel threatened by the
truth.
Garry said she did not dispute Savage's free-speech rights, (ha!)
but said "MSNBC has a responsibility because there are and should be
boundaries to what you can and can't say on television. Savage has a
history of crossing those boundaries."
Garry has crossed boundaries by trying to censor someone just
because they believe differently. Freedom of speech is not limited to
deviant gay militants.
Michael Savage Under Fire on MSNBC
----------------------------------------------
Michael Savage, a brash, highly opinionated, syndicated radio
personality and best selling author of "The Savage Nation" is under
attack by 'gay' activists.
Savage, outspoken against 'gay' activism, has a new weekend television
program on MSNBC. While Bennett not may agree with all of Savage's
remarks and views, Bennett is showing his support for the talk show
host in the 'nasty' campaign being waged against him.
'Gay' activists are trying to pressure MSNBC to "can" the Savage show
and are contacting the network's advertisers to boycott the program.
So far, Proctor & Gamble and Kraft Foods have caved in and given their
"pro-gay" support by refusing to advertise.
Stephen Bennett has been in contact with Savage's producer and has
offered to share his story and the real truth about homosexuality and
militant 'gay' activism in America. We'll keep you updated of a
possible radio/television interview with Stephen by Michael Savage.
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