Hyperbole Alert
A silly closing paragraph to this good-riddance-Michael-Savage column by L.A. Times media writer Tim Rutten:
There is a lingering question about the Savage affair. He may be off TV, but why have he and his ilk ? home-grown rhetorical terrorists ? been allowed to find a secure haven in the electronic Afghanistan of talk radio?
A partial answer: Because there are no laws forbidding it, thankfully.
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notice how the he devalues terms like “terrorism” to snipe at an unemployed blowhard.
sickening.
“? home-grown rhetorical terrorists ?”
WTF? May as well call him a qat-chewing druglord while they’re at it. Gotta love those labels.
So are you a terrorist? IF you had to stop and think about it, then you are.
ya doesn’t have to call me Johnson.
i’m really not sure how insulting gays makes you a “rhetorical terrorist.” It may make you a bigot but tossing around the word terrorist because you don’t like someone’s opinion is just stupid.
I enjoyed the line about the firing, “And one of the things that made it easy was the great national change of heart conclusively ratified two weeks ago, when the U.S. Supreme Court ringingly struck down Texas’ anti-sodomy law.”
Does anyone else think the immediate impact of the Supreme Court decision has been more than a little overblown? There are plenty of folks out there who don’t like homosexuals or homosexuality, and will continue to hold that view regardless of the Supreme Court.
Another partial answer- because there is a demand for the kind of mindless bigotry Savage was peddling.
As for “rhetorical terrorist”- I guess that’s someone who says nasty things to civilians, rather than soldiers.
Terrorist, Treason…. It feels like I don’t even know the english language anymore…
Sir Real,
Wait till the trot out pederast. 🙂
Inability to make conceptual distinctions
Wildly overblown rhetoric
Frequent bouts of paranoid delusion
Propensity to criminalize enemies
from Chapter 2,047 of “Why I Hate the Left”
(be sure to look out for my slightly less voluminous title, “Why I Hate the Right”)
His usage is metaphorical and (I think) quite apt.
Anyone who thinks a radio talk show (Outside of NPR) is a “safe haven” hasn’t a clue about the medium.
Joe, that was funny!
Perhaps “Scalie,” as in “a scaly lizard” or “a scaly snake”?
(Still laughing…)
He basically stole this from Tom Daschle.
WHY MICHAEL SAVAGE CHANGED HIS NAME
As you know, his real name is Michael Weiner, (which can be pronounced “weener.”)
When he was in college, they used to taunt him, “Hey! Weenie!”
Since a weenie is also known as a sausage, it probably evolved into, “What opinions do you have for us today, Sausage Head?” or “So what’s new today, Sausage?”
This teasing stuck with him. So when he graduated (PhD, by the way — gotta give the man some credit) and he went into radio, he knew that “Michael Weiner” didn’t sound too good.
So he began thinking …
“Michael Weenie,” “Michael Sausage,” (Then it hit him.) Michael Sausage? Wait! I’ve got it! If you say it often enough, “Sausage” sounds like “Savage”!
Yeah! Why not!”
The rest is broadcast history.
Imagine for a moment there could somehow be a place where people could say anything they want, and if people didn’t like it they had enough of a life to just ignore them, rather than going Jihad on their ass and demanding they be stripped of their livelyhood, and approximately every other thing they could possibly have.
…yeah, I’m having trouble doing it either.
Curt, I think the SCOTUS decision was more significant culturally than legally. And since the decriminalization of an act is completely irrelevant to the question of gay marriage, I think Scalie agrees with me.
No question that the phrase “rhetorical terrorists” is over the top. But is it any difference than the way right-wingers toss around phrases like “traitor” to label anyone who dares to disagree with the president? Or the way Republicans equated Max Cleland with Osama bin Laden because he had the temerity to vote against their bill?
In fact, if you’re looking to find out why bigots like Savage — whose only skills are being loud and simple-minded — have found a home anywhere, you need look no further than Washington, where shrill partisanship has lowered the level of political discourse past the gutter and run roughshod of quaint notions like civility.
The bitterness here is stark, I must say. I’d argue that MSNBC got exactly what they wanted here. Watching (or listening) to Michael Savage is like observing a train wreck happen. MSNBC got some pub and they canned the guy. They had to know this would happen if they even bothered to listen to the show for 20 minutes. Texas v. Lawrence has nothing to do with it. He’d have been fired for this if it had happened a month ago or six months ago.
“where shrill partisanship has lowered the level of political discourse past the gutter and run roughshod of quaint notions like civility”
…as Hal E. bashed all republicans and wingnuts, saying they all call people “traitors”…
Irony’s right: trying to take boot off your neck is assault, and pointing out that there is a boot on your neck is slander.
I meant to type “Scalia” but “Scalie” does capture something of the man.
i agree with joe! talk radio is a boot! they are nazis! we need the goverment to regulate what they can say, so we have free speech.
…yeah, I’m having trouble doing it also.