Posted on 07/09/2003 8:17:37 AM PDT by republicofdavis
Bob Foster, the rural Yolo County man who has taken to terrorizing TV and radio shows with prank phone calls, says his hobby "is all about getting a reaction."
But this may be more than he bargained for. On Saturday, Foster called Michael Savage's live MSNBC show to mention a favorite radio duo, Don and Mike.
Savage was apparently not amused and made a series of homophobic comments to Foster on the air.
On Monday, news broke that the controversial broadcast personality had been fired by MSNBC. And it wasn't long before Foster began to feel the wrath of Savage fans, who have taken to the Internet to spew invective his way.
"I've been getting so much hate e-mail from the Savage Nation," Foster says. "It's kind of frightening, actually. People are saying, 'Look behind your back.' And they're making anti-gay statements.
"I'm not gay. But they're calling me derogatory gay names. It goes on and on. They're disregarding what Savage said and putting the blame on me for him losing his job. It's ridiculous.
"I don't like to see a guy lose his job. But he made a mistake. His comments were way out of line."
The comments in question came after Foster called and began telling Savage about a flight he took from New York.
"Half-hour into the flight," Foster is heard saying on a tape of the incident, "I need to suggest that Don and Mike take your (inaudible) ... 'cause your teeth are real bad."
Savage fumes at the remarks and says:
"Oh, you're one of the sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You've got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis."
Savage then asks to speak to a caller who "didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today. These bums mean nothing to me."
During the exchange, somebody off-camera in Savage's studio can be heard gasping.
MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines says Savage was fired immediately after the broadcast.
"In reaction to a hostile caller, Savage made an extremely inappropriate comment," Gaines says. "The decision to cancel the program ('Savage Nation') was not difficult."
Savage remains on the radio, where his show is syndicated in more than 200 markets -- including Sacramento, where it airs on KSTE (650 AM).
KSTE's operations manager, Ken Kohl, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Savage, too, has been unavailable for comment.
But Foster was readily available to talk about Savage, whose TV show he'd phoned once before.
"I called him a racist that time, and he went off," Foster says. "It was such an overwhelming reaction, I had to do it again.
"Some people think I was out to get him. But I wasn't. I'm a talk-radio fan. I appreciate what he does, despite his opinions. But he was taking phone calls on national TV, and I wanted to mention Don and Mike."
Foster, who has prank-called everybody from Larry King to Don Imus, says while the response from Savage fans has been brutal ("They hate me," he says), he's also received more than a few words of support.
"I've actually gotten more mail in favor of what I did," he says. "I've been getting a lot of thank-you mail from gay-rights advocates.
"Savage definitely has issues with the gay-rights movement. What I said had nothing to do with gays. He just interjected that. He has a lot of gay protesters, and I think that was on his mind."
Cathy Renna of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation says that with gay issues in the forefront of the national news, "Savage's behavior and his attacks violate even the minimal journalistic standards and have no place on a reputable news network like MSNBC."
Savage was hired by MSNBC in early March. His Saturday talk show boosted MSNBC's ratings marginally in the 2 p.m. time slot, but in 14 outings it still ran a distant third to shows on Fox News and CNN.
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About the Writer ---------------------------
The Bee's J. Freedom du Lac can be reached at (916) 321-1115 or jdulac@sacbee.com. USA Today contributed to this report.
I agree. His caller segments are annoying to me, but when he does his rambling commentary, it can get pretty funny. He just says whatever he wants, and has to stop and laugh at his own comments sometimes.
I didn't know that. Who needs a safe haven? I want the world be safe for freedom again. I WANT to hear what the leftists have to say. I WANT to know what they plan to do. I don't want to have someone wrap me in cotton and chew my food for me.
This attitude is rather patronizing and also the reason that he cuts people off so readily.
Agree. And I got tired of hearing, "You don't know this, but..." or "You'll only hear this from me. I'm the only talk show host with this issue" - a day or two after we've put up 300 posts on FR on the same subject.
That is a major reason I don't listen. I want to hear more than the surface of an issue, and I don't want to hear him take credit for something that's been posted here first. We deserve a lot better than that.
Freedom of speech means you can say what you want (short of libel or slander) and the government is prohibited by the First Amendment from stopping you. It doesn't prohibit a private entity from throwing you off it's privately owned broadcast facilities, or from you, for instance, from throwing someone out of your house for what they say. It also means that there are consequences - people angry that Savage has been fired from MSNBC are free to boycot MSNBC, and all of their corporate sponsors.
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