Savage Calls Autistic Children 'Brats-

mimivan

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 6:48 pm

GR wrote:

mimivan wrote:

'gr:

I have no doubt they might have twisted his words...I am not a big fan of these guys though, although they warm my heart when they talk about shleimus haAaretz (and it is hard for me to swallow the fact that Rush Limbaugh has ever warmed my heart, given the fact my favorite book once upon a time was "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot, by Al Franken)

Okay, so he might have some good points and respect Orthodox Jews...but a talk radio figure should be careful about his words.

BTW I can't believe you mention Dr. Laura, GR...don't you know she converted to Judaism and then trashed Judaism on her show when she went off the derech? I consider her a complete traitor...

Shleimus Ha'aretz is a big one. But there's more about Savage that the others are missing. Savage will stand up to any anti-semite and call him out on it. He has said thing no other public figure would say about supporting religious life. He reads from the Old Testament in English and instead of people turning him off, they're craving more. He has opened up the siddur and read the morning blessings in English and begged people out there to start their day off on the right foot with prayer at the 100 mark and not with a lower activity at the 50 or 20 mark. He tells stories he definitely could have only heard at a farbrengen such as a story from the Freidiker Rebbe in prison. And more. He writes in one of his books of his experience in 770 and seeing the Rebbe. The description is awesome and breathtaking.

I obviously don't look to him for religious inspiration, he is mistaken many times when he starts philosophizing about creation, etc. But I admire the type of message he is putting out there. The same for Dr. Laura. It's obviously not the religious aspect (or lack of) I like about her, but the message she is sending, and her affect on the world out there, making it a better place by encouraging people to live moral lives.

I just turned him on and he has dedicated his show to his handicapped brother who died at 21. It's bound to be an interesting show.

I don't have time to listen to him every day, nor do I need to, because I've heard him so much I've basically heard what he has to say. He still has nice new tidbits I enjoy but I don't get to listen often. When he starts talking about how great he is or when he makes fun of the immoral behavior out there, I turn him off because I don't need to hear it and he can get a bit too descriptive for my liking. And I turn him off when he starts some of his Bible/philosophy talk because I consider it apikorsus.

It seems he is now interviewing parents of autistic children and professionals who agree with him on the overdiagnosing.

okay, fair enough...I don't get to listen to him, so I don't know...
I have no problem with people saying this might be overdiagnosed, ADD certainly was and the problems caused by ritalin, in many cases, were dire. It isn't clear to me from teh quote that he was talking about overdiagnosis (the original quote) but perhaps it was taken out of context. As I said, I didnt' hear it.
Resting my case...sounds like Dr. Laura isn't as bad as she was in 2003 either..

octopus

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 6:57 pm

Well, clarissa, if you are a liberal (I don't know if you are or not), then it makes sense if you don't like savage.
and yes, I like him b/c he is pro-israel- which seems rare nowadays.
same way I like george w.bush- b/c he really is a friend to israel- more so than clinton or bush senior.
so don't like him. don't listen.
this is not a communist country.

Clarissa

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 7:00 pm

I have no opinion of his show, as I've never heard it and generally don't listen to talk radio. I don't like what he said about autism. If he were a bleeding-heart liberal, I wouldn't like what he said and I would say so. Being for or against Israel, being liberal or Conservative, those things don't matter. I'm commenting about one broadcast.

octopus

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 7:06 pm

well, unless you heard the whole show, I think it is unfair to comment.

gryp

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 7:10 pm

happy2BaMommy wrote:

GR, again, I think you have written rather eloquently on this topic.

I don't always agree with savage, but I have to say, there are those that say much, much, worse in public forums. I remember a saturday night live piece that once really made fun of jewish ppl (sure the writers are jewish- but there audience isn't all jewish).
Much worse things are on tv that make fun of ppl.
so michael savage says s/t derogatory. as usual.
why should he get taken off the air?
it's the left wing liberal agenda. again.

Do you by chance remember the name of the TV host who had autistic and mentally handicapped people as part of his show- making fun of them, making them out to be idiots? Savage screamed about that but no one else seemed to mind.
Savage isn't so much pro-Israel as he is anti-antisemitism. And he sees through the situation there, and agrees that Israel must be forceful against the terrorists and not give in an inch to the Palestinians and the Arabs who surround them.

It was reported that 15 people demonstrated outside the WOR building today.

In one line Savage said it just now better than I did in my posts. He said: "I've spent my entire life in defense of the defenseless."

Clarissa

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 7:23 pm

happy2BaMommy wrote:

well, unless you heard the whole show, I think it is unfair to comment.

That's interesting. I've seen countless comments about quotes, statements and speeches of all kinds, and the people with opinions have often not heard or seen the entire speech or statement, yet feel comfortable commenting. Is this an across-the-board rule? For example, are the people here who commented on Obama's ex-minister going to tell me they heard all of his sermons? Or even one entire sermon? Frankly, if that's a new rule, I'll follow it, but only if EVERYBODY else does.

Crayon210

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 7:39 pm

happy2BaMommy wrote:

I'm not a liberal at all, and I do not like Savage at all. He makes me ill, he's full of himself, he often doesn't make any sense, he gets hung up on one or two stupid minute details and misses the big picture.

gryp

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 9:03 pm

A great example of what I was talking about, why Savage is so unique, comes from his show a few minutes ago. He said he woke up at 3 AM last night and had learned of this whole controversy brewing and was thinking about how it would turn out. Finally he said, "It's all in G-d's hands anyway," and fell back asleep.

You don't hear that from anyone else.

Clarissa

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 9:10 pm

GR wrote:

You don't hear that from anyone else.

Really? I thought there were plenty of controversial blow-hards who believe in God. On all of the teams -- Christian, Jewish, Conservative, Liberal. What most don't do is mention God right after they've started something that people find so offensive. I guess Jerry Falwell used to, and some others, but I don't find it all that startling. Maybe the point is that even God can't control our impulse to say and do really dumb or insensitive things sometimes. Some might agree with that, some might disagree, as they believe God has a hand in everything.

peach

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 9:12 pm

Clarissa wrote:

I have no opinion of his show, as I've never heard it and generally don't listen to talk radio.

Well, autism issue aside, I have no doubt that you wouldn't like his show, as he is way too right-wing for you, Clarissa!

gryp

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 9:16 pm

To clarify again, in case it hasn't been understood, Savage's remarks were directed at children who were/are misdiagnosed. Taken out of context, it's hard to see that.

mama-star

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 9:36 pm

crayon, all the talk show hosts get caught up in the sound bytes and miss the bigger picture, it's not a unique problem. as for savage. I heard his "autism comment" and read his statement. it sounds like the statement he made, about poor children being pawns of the pharmacology industry, is just a case of him covering his tuchas. while I DO agree that children are often the victims of big pharma, that sentiment does not line up with his radio comments.

Clarissa

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 9:44 pm

peach wrote:

Clarissa wrote:

I have no opinion of his show, as I've never heard it and generally don't listen to talk radio.

Well, autism issue aside, I have no doubt that you wouldn't like his show, as he is way too right-wing for you, Clarissa!

Honestly, I've listened to left-wing talk radio (mostly in cabs), and it's not my thing, either. I'm just really surprised at the fact that companies will pay for advertising and give a forum to people who just talk and talk, without seeming all that brilliant or even making much sense. Listening is like getting stuck next to the wrong person at a dinner party, where you sit there and agonize over how to extricate yourself from the conversation. I'd rather have music on.

peach

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 10:07 pm

Clarissa wrote:

peach wrote:

Clarissa wrote:

I have no opinion of his show, as I've never heard it and generally don't listen to talk radio.

Well, autism issue aside, I have no doubt that you wouldn't like his show, as he is way too right-wing for you, Clarissa!

The difference is that here you can switch the talker off without offending him/her!! Don't we wish we can do that with other people sometimes?

Clarissa

Mon, Jul 21 2008, 10:16 pm

Absolutely. As I said earlier, my husband wishes that mute button worked on people, namely me.

TziporahD

Tue, Jul 22 2008, 12:09 am

Clarissa wrote:

- quoting Savage:

I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.'

I'm conservative, and I believe in free speech. I couldn't imagine a context in which that statement would be acceptable. Just in case there was a context in which they would be acceptable that I just couldn't think of, I listened to the broadcast. I disagree very strongly with those who are claiming he was taken out of context. He wasn't. He claims autism is a fraud and a racket, claims 99% of austism cases are misdiagnosed, and the problem is fathers aren't screaming at their children enough. Savage should have taken his father's advice of "don't be an idiot" because he certainly was behaving like an idiot when he made these remarks.

I think it is becoming too common for these shock jocks and other similar pundits from the left and the right to say very offensive things and then whine about their free speech rights being infringed when their comments anger others. Everyone has the right to say what they want, even if it is as ignorant and offensive as what Savage said, but when you exercise that right, you have the responsibility to accept the consequences. That's what grown ups are supposed to do. Too bad Savage's father didn't impart that lesson during one of his screaming sessions.

TziporahD

Tue, Jul 22 2008, 12:11 am

Clarissa wrote:

Absolutely. As I said earlier, my husband wishes that mute button worked on people, namely me.

We don't have a TV, but my parents do, and they're always trying to mute each other with the remote.

Crayon210

Tue, Jul 22 2008, 12:19 am

mama-star wrote:

crayon, all the talk show hosts get caught up in the sound bytes and miss the bigger picture, it's not a unique problem.

He has it much worse than others.

TziporahD

Tue, Jul 22 2008, 12:23 am

Crayon210 wrote:

mama-star wrote:

crayon, all the talk show hosts get caught up in the sound bytes and miss the bigger picture, it's not a unique problem.

He has it much worse than others.

Was this broadcast typical of Savage? He sounds so angry, even just the tone of his voice.

Crayon210

Tue, Jul 22 2008, 12:32 am

That's how he is. He puts me in a bad mood.