Michael Savage appeals to his Gay & Lesbian viewing audience

[LynneSin]

From IMDB (http://us.imdb.com/StudioBrief/#7)

Savage Given the Boot


Saying that its decision was "an easy one," MSNBC on Monday fired Michael Savage, the firebrand radio personality it had hired four months ago, after he called a quarrelsome gay caller a "sodomite" and told him that he "should only get AIDS and die, you pig!" Savage concluded his harangue Saturday by shouting, "OK, do we have another nice caller who's busy and didn't have a nice night in the bathhouses angry at me today?" Cathy Renna, a spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), commented Monday, "Michael Savage's latest rant made the clearest possible case for why this kind of behavior has no place on any reputable news network. ... And to their credit, MSNBC and NBC News have backed up their promises to hold Savage accountable for his behavior." In a message on his website, Savage said Monday that he had been under the impression that "this was an interchange between me personally and a mean spirited vicious setup caller which I thought was taking place off the air. It was not meant to reflect my views of the terrible tragedy and suffering associated with AIDS. I especially appeal to my many listeners in the gay community to accept my apologies for any inadvertent insults which may have occurred." Savage made no mention of MSNBC's decision to cancel his show.

---

Ok, eliminating the Gays & Lesbians who listened to Savage just to phone in and tell him off or to list the advertisers who sponsered the show so they could boycott it, did Savage actually have Gay & Lesbian fans of his show or is he just fooling himself once again???!!!

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. dear mikey-pooh

kiss my inadvertent gay ass, you unemployed, frothing, hate-mongering ijjit.

[mb_nyc]

6. Sadly, the Savage Weiner is NOT unemployed

He still has a radio program that runs on some 300 radio stations across the country.

[newyawker99]

17. Hi mb_nyc!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Jacobin]

2. "inadvertent?!?!?!?!?"

Just how stupid does he think his listners are???

Ooops, just answered my own question.

[Liberal Veteran]

3. Your topic is nonsensical.....

I recognize all the words but when I put them together, they make no sense.

Please explain.

[LynneSin]

8. I'm still trying to make sense of it

And I wrote it.

But Savage seriously must believe that out there he has a Gay & Lesbian fan club that he somehow offended and wanted to apologize to. I've listened to this guy once, just once. And then I realized he out there waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out there and seriously delusional. I can't imagine even the most conservative gay or lesbian even remotely thinking this guy has a valid voice that needs to be heard in the community. And I'm not even going to comment on the part where Savage thinks he thought he was off-air when he made the comment, that just has stupidity writen all over it!

[LiberalLibra]

4. That is the worst "kiss up" job I've ever seen.

I want to :puke:

[BiggJawn]

5. What a freaking WASTE of Oxygen!

I was thinking that Mikey Weiner could serve as a BAD example, but face it, we're extremely over-stocked on those....

[ibegurpard]

7. There is no emoticon...

...that can truly illustrate how far my jaw just dropped.

:wow:

[Robin Hood]

9. Fuck you Savage you piece of shit.

Wha's with all of these educated morons that are in the media today? I'm from Harvard, I'm from Berkely, I'm from Yale, balh, Blah, blah.... You're all still a bunch of inmature fascist thugs.

[UTUSN]

10. So Is MSRNC Going to Apologize to Ashleigh & Phil?

Ashleigh has a legitimate beef with WIENER/MSRNC, for the name he called her. If only she would channel her pre-9-11 personality.

But what about Don ANUS? This morning, when they BRIEFLY mentioned the WIENER incident, one of ANUS's stooges said, "How is what he said different from what we hear HERE every day?" This was shortly before or after ANUS and company laughing heartily while Charles read the news about the conjoined twins dying. While it was being read, MSRNC ran video of the twins suddenly RUNNING in what seemed like fast forward, which the ANUS gang labelled as Monty Python.

What's different about Don ANUS? What about the collaborators who appear on his show, who wink-wink and consider themselves insiders for appearing there?

[Patriot_Spear]

11. This is a joke , right?

Who's he kidding? What a headcase.

[bobthedrummer]

12. Mind control is real

not perfected, but definitely the biggest taboo subject in the world.

Watch for Savage to come out of the closet soon!

BTW, as a straight person-the gay folks I've met through playing music have helped me overcome a lot of my own prejudices and homophobic tendencies--which are as real as mind control---hope that clears up any confusion about this post:think:

[PaulB]

13. Wimp

If you're going to make statements like that, why wimp out and withdraw them?

[CO Liberal]

14. Savage's Gay Fans Are Also Members of "Lesbians for Buchanan"

:-)

[LynneSin]

15. Is that group bigger than the "Jews for Buchanon" Group in Florida?

Just curious!

[CO Liberal]

28. About the Size of "African-Americans For David Duke"

:-)

[alaine]

16. So if he thought the mike was off then it's okay?

It's okay to say this to one person but not to a community?

Wow, he must think we are all as repressed and closeted as he is to believe he has gay fans. Except maybe is there a log bathhouse faction?

[ProfessorGAC]

18. The Leadership at MSNBC Needs To Be Fired, Too!

Did anyone here at DU NOT know that Savage would eventually say sometinng like this?

How could the leadership at MSNBC no know it? Because they're stupid, that's why.

This is the same network that shifted it's focus to the right, because of Fox News. However, that was a HORRIBLE business strategy.

Fox News may be #1 in cable news, but their audience is still miniscule on an absolute scale. So, these geniuses decided to target the hard core right audience that already established brand loyalty with Fox, completely missing the fact that there was a huge audience left of center (20% of the population) that was underserved.

So, they got rid of Phil, hired Joe (Hey, there's a dead body in your office) Scarborough and Savage to compete for a small, but already devoted audience, when good business would have been to be the anti-Fox.

I think if MSNBC wants to be saved, they need to fire the top 10% in the company. They're all incompetent.
The Professor

[DrGonzoLives]

19. Any professional DJ

that doesn't know the difference between on/off the air needs to be fired because of general stupidity.

[Creamed Corn]

20. Hold on...

"I especially appeal to my many listeners in the gay community to accept my apologies for any inadvertent insults which may have occurred."

Shouldn't that be "sodomite" community?

[SoCalDem]

21. BOO-HOO you P.O.S. bigot

:waaaaaaaa::waaaaaaa:

[trumad]

22. Savage who?

:shrug:

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LynneSin]

24. Dixie Chicks never used racist, sexists or homophobic comments

They expressed their displeasure in the decisions that Bush was making in regards to war.

Michael Savage suggested to one of his callers, a homosexual, that he "Hoped he get AIDS and die"

I can appreciate where you are coming from on the free speech, but when the Dixie Chicks are pulled for making racist, sexist and/or homophobic comments then I could agree with you. But there comment was none of those. YOu cannot compare Savage's firing with the Dixie Chicks being pulled from Clear Channel.

[sendero]

25. you don't see the difference...

... between a commentator engaging in hate speech (his *job* is what he *says* keep in mind) and a musician expressing a political opinion?

You really don't see the difference? Too bad.

[ibegurpard]

27. Rush Limbaugh is still on the air

After 8 years of non-stop President Clinton bashing. THAT is what you can compare to the Dixie Chicks comment...not Savage's despicable remarks. Your statement is typical of the whining of the right wing...trying to equate things that aren't the same.

[DrGonzoLives]

30. Oh, please

The Dixie Chicks did not engage in hate speech, did they?

There's a difference between criticizing the president (regardless of party) and calling some a sodomite who should die of AIDS soon. It's very telling about you that you can't even tell the difference.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

34. If you can't distinguish speech which can incite violence from political

dissent then you have no business discussing the issues of censorship, free SPEECH or other matters involving the constitution. Savage revealed himself for the liability he was to MSNBC with his hairtrigger comments. Interesting that just a day later a racist takes a gun and shoots up his co-workers in a job environment. Do you suppose that might have a bit to do with making hatred fashionable?

The Dixie Chicks were DEMONSTRATING the VERY purpose of the 1st amendment..the right to political dissent. Savage while not quite meeting the bar of yelling fire in a crowded theater did demonstrate he was capable of that thereby more likely than not having the legal dept of MSN"BS" rethink his employment (and this I suggest is the more likely than not reason for his dismissal with decent ratings)

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[davidinalameda]

36. I fail to see the connection between the two

what the Dixie Chick said was that she was ashamed that Bush was from Texas.

What Savage said was that he hoped that the called died from AIDS.

There is a small difference

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

37. There is anecdotal evidence for both of our positions but SPEECH

which incites violence whether it be out of Al Sharpton's or Micheal Savage's mouth has no place in the news media. Savage was on a 24 hour NEWS channel which is afforded credibility by virtue of the word NEWS.

I think that FREEDOM is not all about people taking their property and using it to harm others. IF your interpretation is true then how can it be freedom in reality since it will impinge on more than it will provide freedom for?

Again, the Savage episode and the Dixie chicks are distinct. Michael Savage was hosting a program on a NEWS medium and advocated an opinion which opinion as expressed in the past in hateful terms has actually has resulted in HARM to a community. The Dixie Chicks were taken off the air by a mega corp who used their wholesale PURCHASE of the FCC in order to PROHIBIT free speech by concentrating the radio market. Again, the 1st amendment SPECIFICALLY provides for POLITICAL speech. Were it not for the media seducing congress to trade the electromagnetic feild out from under the public, Clear Channel would not have the power to censor that they do with over 1200 stations.

Secondly, the BUSINESS decision to cut off someone who is a tort liability on your station cannot compare with the business decision to create a boycott of music because you disagree.

Please demonstrate how the Dixie Chicks created a LIABILITY for Clear Channel from a legal perspective the way Savage created a a liability for MSN"BS" from a legal perspective.

As far as the correlation I was drawing between Savage and the Mississippi shooting, I was not intending to assign cause but to comment on the condition created when one sanctions speech that incites violence. Even the courts are torn on this one so it is an issue.

[mumon]

31. If Savage had said this about conservative fundamentalist "Christians"

he wouldn't have gotten on the air at all.

Now when you can cite media that is as caustic against conservative fundamentalist "Christians," then get back to us.

Frankly, I found the Dixie Chicks apology overly debasing, but at least I can understand why they did that.

Savage's "apology" is just weird and twisted.

Then again, his relationship with Roy Masters (working out of his "Talk Radio Network") is equally bizarre.

I can't speak for all DU'ers here, but to me, it's like watching a car accident.

[Droopy]

26. Yeah, right, Savage

I'm looking forward to the demise of your radio program as well!

[jonnyblitz]

29. Right!! I was a HUGE fan til this.....(sarcasm alert)

:puke:

[Generic Other]

33. Gay and Lesbian masochists for Savage?

Think his lawsuits will be dismissed as frivolous now? Anyone hear from Symbolman?