Talk Radio Network refuse to punish Savage for saying autism is "a phony disease".

This is extraordinary. Talk Radio Network have refused to censor or fire Michael Savage for saying that children with autism are "faking it" and have instead chosen to describe this despicable outburst as "his brief 84 seconds of commentary concerning autism."

This is obviously Talk Radio Network's version of Bush's 16 words. If you only use 16 words then you obviously can't be lying, just as if you only talk for a "brief 84 seconds" then there's no way that you can possibly be offensive.

Talk Radio Network have justified not firing or suspending him by claiming:

Dr. Savage has clarified that his July 16th statements concerning autism were not directed at those who are in fact challenged by this horrible affliction, but were instead addressing efforts to broaden the concept of autism beyond those who truly are autistic to a broader "autistic spectrum" of behavioral symptoms which are also manifested by persons who do not suffer from autism, and his concern that many children are being misdiagnosed as autistic due to the subjective nature of autism diagnosis (due to the lack of known biomedical indicators, such as blood tests, to definitively confirm or deny the actual existence of autism).

This is what he actually said:

Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? 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.' Autism—everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said—'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men.

Call me a cynic, but that doesn't sound like someone who is worried that many children are being misdiagnosed, that's someone who feels that autism is "a phony disease", which was exactly what Savage referred to it as on a previous show.

Talk Radio Network have issued a statement and included 20 clips of Savage discussing autism which they claim will put his comments of 16th July "in true context". However, as Media Matters have found:

all 20 of those audio clips are from the July 21 and 22 broadcasts of Savage's show, during which Savage misrepresented his July 16 remarks; they are not "context" for the July 16 remarks.

Savage is squirming; claiming, as all foul right wing morons do when advertisers threaten to pull the plug, that he has been taken "out of context". This is bullshit. You can't say, "You know what autism is? 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...." and then claim that your comment has been taken out of context.

There is simply no other context in which to view such a foul comment.

Savage should be fired and Talk Radio Network should be ashamed that they are airing the views of such a foul mouthed pseudo Nazi. They certainly shouldn't be attempting to justify holding on to such a person on the grounds that we are looking at this "out of context".

He's attacking autistic children for God's sake. That's the context. He's claiming that they are "faking it". If that's not a firing offense then there really isn't a way to be fired from right wing talk radio.

Contact information:

Michael Savage
michaelsavage@paulreveresociety.com

Talk Radio Network
Talk Radio Network
Talk Radio Network
P.O. Box 3755
Central Point, Oregon 97502
Phone: 541-664-8827
Fax: 541-664-6250

The Savage Nation
The Savage Nation
The Paul Revere Society
150 Shoreline Hwy, Bldge E
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Fax: 415-339-9383

When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.

Click title for Talk Radio Network's feeble justification.

Tags: Michael Savage, Autism, Talk Radio Network, Right Wing Morons