Listen To Michael Savage, Then Grow Up

A Bumper Sticker Blog ^ | 11/04/04 | Red Fox

[conservativeimage]

George Bush has been reelected, no thanks to Michael Savage. Through all the very not niceness of the Kerry campaign, the last thing I needed to hear was Michael Savage (on Conservative News Radio) bad mouthing the president. The Savage Nation use to be my favorite political news show. But then the election got closer and the influence of Michael became very sour to me. One day he would be saying he's not voting for Bush because he's not tough enough on gay marriage. The next day he would say he'll never vote for the Democrats because what they said or did that day against Bush was horrible. Another day he would say that he's not gonna vote at all because both candidates are indistinguishable. Then he complained that if he heard the president say, "bring them to justice" one more time, he would loose it. He didn't think Bush was strong enough on the war. More than once he called Bush a bumbling fool who can't go a sentence without tripping over his own tongue.

Coping with the liberals attacking Bush and conservativism was hard enough. But then the Savage Nation became another unnecessary source of frustration for me. It's ok to press the president on issues you disagree with, but it is strategically unintelligent during an election to continually attack one candidate who you have a problem with who would keep the worse candidate out of office. If Michael didn't want Kerry as president, then he should have supported Bush and stayed off the negative side until after reelection.

Michael Savage is unrelenting on his positions and demands on government leaders. But he offered no solution in this election. Bush, he said, is not conservative enough, or not even a real conservative. And Kerry was out of the question. He balked at suggestions that he should run for president. I agree with the goals of the Paul Revere Society. But all Michael accomplished in this election was to deter conservatives from George Bush, or cause people like me to grow up and turn his show off. Michael Savage's take on liberalism is invaluable. It actually helped me in interpreting my ballot. But once you learn what the liberal agenda is and how to identify a liberal idea, there's no where else to grow in the Savage Nation. Michael is emotionally unstable by evidence of his outbursts and shifting voting positions. His passion and righteous anger is attractive, but it is not healthy to stay angry. And it is irresponsible to project that instability and anger onto a nation wide audience.

I also was upset for some time about the lack of strong response from the Bush Administration to accusations made by John Kerry and amplified by TV news. But then I figured it out. George Bush and his administration were setting a historical example of moral character, leadership and class. Bush even treated Bill Clinton with kindness when they visited earlier this year in the White House. George Bush didn't return the vicious undermining that the previous administration has given him. It was perceived by Michael Savage and by most of the nation as weakness, because it is behavior foreign to this generation. It is conduct seemingly lost to history, but it is being displayed before us now. I came to understand this not from listening to the Savage Nation, but from listening to the Hugh Hewitt show. Hugh never explained this directly. He showed it through example; by how he controls himself and operates his show with integrity. The Hugh Hewitt Show is much more desirable with it's academic approach to law and the political process.

Another thing that the Hugh Hewitt show cleared up for me was confusion over how the war was being fought in Falluja and Najaf; a subject that Savage is rabid over with Bush. Michael thinks that Falluja and Najaf should have been wiped out within 78 hours of warning those cities that we would bomb them. However, Hugh Hewitt said a few months ago when those conflicts were brewing that Bush isn't fighting a "sensitive war", but that the shrine that Al Sadr was hiding in was a sensitive target in a brutal war. I now understand that the tactic of the U.S. was to destroy everything outside of the shrine and grave yard one day, then let the Iraqis move into the sensitive areas the next day and clean up the rest. Then the Iraqis can deal with Sadr themselves. The same approach was used with Falluja. We didn't wipe the town out after they mutilated four U.S. noncombatants. We decided to leave the city alone until the new Iraqi government could decide what to do themselves. Don't you see that this way Muslims can't argue that America is fighting a war against all Islam? Now I understand Bush's position of cooperation with progressive, non-militant Islamic groups. I realize that if the War Against Islamic Terrorism would be fought the Savage way, America probably wouldn’t survive. It is in America's best interest to work with progressive Muslims against terrorism. Bush is fighting the war in a sensitive manner.

I decided to stop listening to the Savage Nation a couple months ago. My little brother asked me what took me so long. Listening to Michael Savage makes people mad. It causes family members to become worried for the one who's listening to that show. On top of the overwhelming Bush / Christian hate from the hippy news channels, Michael just makes people madder. I want to be happy. So I don't listen to him any more.

Every once in a while I will tune Savage in to make sure my opinion of him is correct; and I am always reconvinced. I rechecked again tonight, November third. Savage was saying that his show actually helped reelect Bush. I got angry and turned him off. Michael Savage is no role model. He was no help for the Christian agenda in this election. He needs to go up on a mountain and get himself focused. If he wants to be a prophet, he needs to get filled with the Holy Ghost and get balanced.

[conservativeimage]

Stop terrorism, save a Muslim. http://www.prophetofdoom.net/

[Darkwolf377]

Extraordinary post. Your points about Savage and especially how Bush doesn't answer the unfair attacks on him by stooping to their level.

Savage may have a MORAL point of view but to me doesn't seem to have an ETHICAL point of view to go along with it.

[BlacKnight]

You have to understand Savage's history. His whole focus is that he fears "the Death of the White Male"!!

[SpaceBar]

It's pretty obvious that the author of this rant, despite their claims, doesn't listen to Savage, or it just goes in one ear and out the other. He championed the Swiftvets when no one would touch them, said that despite his foibles GW was head and shoulders above his opponent, and talks about the real issues like rampant illegal immigration and security. Just a hit piece in my opinion.

[ConservChristian]

Savage makes me cringe. Even when he's right his anger and hostility just poison his opinions. How are we supposed to win converts in the arena of ideas with this kind of "talker." He seems like a parody of an angry talk show host to me.

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

I think Mike's problem is he gets filled often with the spirit, but its liquid in nature.

[Flyer]

I find Savage very depressing to listen to.

And I don't care if he has a headache.

[cmurphy]

For a few weeks there he did get more negative than usual towards Bush. In fact, he was getting so bad, that my wife was making me turn him off. Savage makes great points, and is incredibly entertaining. However, he sometimes can be a little too doom and gloom. After getting depressed from listening to him, you have to listen to Sean Hannity to get your spirits back up.

[Rocketman]

I agree with many of your observations I have had the displeasure to listen to him for hours almost every day of the week at my current job. Michael Savage has greatly changed over the last 5-6 years. When Clinton was in office Savage would melt the paint off the walls letting him and other liberals have it with both barrels. These days he has made a cult of himself and spends a lot of time these days boasting how smart he is, and his personal pet peaves.

I am very disappointed in his behavior -- he is acting like a roman senator and his sevile audiance is their for his personal entertainment.

I suspect that he has been so vain and bombastic in times past that he has few friends left -- and so he is clinging to all he has left -- his radio audiance

[beaversmom]

but it is strategically unintelligent during an election to continually attack one candidate who you have a problem with who would keep the worse candidate out of office

You are right about this and I made that same point not so long ago to a friend. The closer it got to the election, the more I turned him off. I'll still listen to his show, but the attacks on the President even with all the President's flaws was over the top.

[APFel]

I know Savage has a lot of loyal listeners here on FR, but as far as I'm concerned, he is the bottom of the conservative talk radio barrel (followed by that blustering fool Gallagher). These guys hand the ammo to the enemy and show them how to shoot. I wish they both would get off our side.

APf

[coconutt2000]

I like Savage, even though I tend to disagree with his tendency toward vehemence and bomb-first-ask-questions-later mentality. He runs with issues other people ignore, and sure he criticized the President, but I think he did so quite fairly most of the time.

The President is a cultural conservative, but politically, he is a mix between a conservative and classic FDR liberal. To be any more conservative than that is asking to sacrifice the White House, just as the Democrats have moved so far left that they've abandoned their moderate and conservative constituents... Which, based on the map from Hannity.com that shows the county breakdown of the election, is why the Democrats are losing power all over the country.

I do expect to see more conservative politics this next term. Bush, and the Republican Congress, will seek to make deeper cuts in government spending. Based on an analysis of what they've managed to do so far, in keeping discretionary spending growth down (non-defense/security related discretionary spending), I expect we'll see a demand for more fiscal responsibility in all departments starting now. Bush is a CEO with an MBA, and I bet the deficit is irking him more than he is letting on.

[Daner313]

I think Mr. Savage's problem is that in his never-ending quest to portray himself as an independent conservative, he bashes Bush hard when he disagrees with him. Many conservatives disagree with some Bush policies, but they don't do what he does. As the piece stated, one day he likes him and one day he does not. His maniacal rants are funny and entertaining which is why he's so successful. While I admire his honesty, he's too inconsistent on his support for W and he rips people when he shouldn't and comes off too extreme.

[beaversmom]

Medved is another good one that takes a practical but positive view of things. Plus his brain is huge.

I don't listen to him much these days, but Rush ain't no slouch when it comes to practical but positive talk either.

Savage has his moments--like when you are feeling rage over the latest beheading video he's the guy to go to but for uplifting talk about GWB, you won't find it there. Maybe once in a blue moon.

[diss-a-lib]

My bug-a-boo with Savage is when he says "am i the only one in America who sees this" I love to listen to Savage, but his ego is getting to be as big as O'Reilly's. He is correct in pointing out many things and I agree with him on most of them, but when he makes that statement it drives me up a wall, and I have e-mailed him to let him know about it, I want to tell him Michael, 59 million voted for Bush, I believe most of them are capable of making an astute observation of what is happening in the Country.

[beaversmom]

I'm listening to a replay of Gallagher right now. He's not my favorite but he's all that is on now. He used to drive me nuts with his Sea Silver promotion--they played it every two minutes. Thank goodness I'm not hearing that anymore.

[itsinthebag]

Mike can be depressing at times, and his Bush-bashing is at most times rather rough. But I really like his positions on terrorism and what should be done with the Islmafacists.

[beaversmom]

"am i the only one in America who sees this"

I agree with you there. He talks down to his audience at times. Conservatives aren't stupid--that's why we are conservatives. Another thing that he does is that he cuts people off rather rudely even when they agree with him and are in the middle of making a point--"thanks for the call" but he says it with no thanks in his voice.

[The Duke]

I stopped listening to Savage when I heard him describe the need for a movement that was quite obviously a perfect description of Free Republic, and then go on to start his "Paul Revere Society".

Of course the difference was that he was in charge of the Paul Revere Scoiety. So, it was pretty obvious to me that the man was more interested in promoting himself than anything ideological.

[weegee]

I like Michael Savage. I understand he has frustrations.

Sometimes he gets so frustrated that he will even stop talking about politics altogether.

It gives a hint at the other kinds of programming that he could excel at. He will discuss food (both cooking and health). He will discuss lessons and conversations in his old neighborhood growing up. And occasionally he will fall back upon the radio DJ concept playing early hits of rock and roll/doo wop (or even opera).

Much like the quandary he was in admitting that he hates the New York Times but thinks that they do a fabulous job with obituaries of figures from New York (case in point the recent opera singer).

It would not be that unusual for him to drop 90% of the political content and continue to have a show. There was a local host in Houston who preceded Rush's days (Alvin Van Black) who would be obnoxious and hang up on callers while talking politics and ranting about the days events (I couldn't even tell you which side of the aisle he was on today). He eventually went into tv hosting the nightly entertainment segment on the 6pm and 10pm news. And people LOVED him. Prior to that many thought he was a big jerk. He's dead now but he went out on a high note.

I like to hear Mike's opinions. I certainly enjoy the broadcasts more than some of the other hosts on the dial.

I would prefer Michael Medved over all but Rush and Laura Ingrahm (who took awhile to grow on my too) but Savage would be in the top 5 I hear/know. I also liked GG Liddy's commentary on news articles (used to be an hour long segment of his show). Now I use FR and get the same exposure (he would read an article/editorial and comment on it; this was an hour of his broadcast).