# Hey! Michael Savage! Fuck You! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013 "2008-07-19T01:50:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/41 "2008-07-19T22:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Yeah, I found the article about how he was [fired for it](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-07-07-talk-host-fired_x.htm). To be fair, the guy later turned out to be a prank caller, but Savage was unaware of that at the time. Dude’s a homophobic, racist, nutbag who should rot in hell. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that’s right. I think I recall actually watching that episode and Savage afterwards saying that the guy is a guy that calls his radio show often. But it was quite a while ago. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/42 "2008-07-19T22:53:40Z")
Asthma in minority children, while we’re at it: [http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/122/1/e217](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/122/1/e217) ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/43 "2008-07-19T22:54:13Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] First of all, Savage was born “Michael Weiner.” He never talks about it, but his silence about his Jewish origins strike me as shame and self-loathing. [/QUOTE] I’ve probably heard his radio show a total of twelve times when I used to commute down to Silicon Valley. I’d say about half those instances he talked about being brought up Jewish in Brooklyn. In fact, he romanticizes it. And, of course, anyone is very outspoken about homosexuality is a closet homosexual. And anyone who skinny-dipped with others, some of whom were gay, IS gay. Just like anyone, like Abe Lincoln, who shared a bed with another man is gay. Sigh. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/44 "2008-07-19T23:08:42Z")
OK, first I have to say, I’m not one of those guys who immediately accuses anyone who’s anti-gay of being gay. There are people like that, I know, and I think it’s stupid. But nevertheless, Savage certainly has a lot of…creativity…when it comes to talking about homosexual acts. Here is a verbatim quote from [this](http://youtube.com/watch?v=g5kfU_L-JEY&feature=related) clip, which is him talking about Brokeback Mountain, which he calls “Bareback Mountain” (or maybe that’s "Bareback Mountin’.) “What was Roy Rogers’ secret? What did Roy and Gabby Hayes do in the chuck wagon, huh? What did Trigger see that night that forever changed him? I mean they may as well throw that it. What is it that turned Trigger into that wild stallion? What is that triggered Trigger into that wild horse that we all know and love?” Savage himself has said that he always wanted to be a cowboy when he was a kid, so it’s particularly funny in that context. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/45 "2008-07-20T01:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] OK, first I have to say, I’m not one of those guys who immediately accuses anyone who’s anti-gay of being gay. There are people like that, I know, and I think it’s stupid. But nevertheless, Savage certainly has a lot of…creativity…when it comes to talking about homosexual acts. Here is a verbatim quote from [this](http://youtube.com/watch?v=g5kfU_L-JEY&feature=related) clip, which is him talking about Brokeback Mountain, which he calls “Bareback Mountain” (or maybe that’s "Bareback Mountin’.) “What was Roy Rogers’ secret? What did Roy and Gabby Hayes do in the chuck wagon, huh? What did Trigger see that night that forever changed him? I mean they may as well throw that it. What is it that turned Trigger into that wild stallion? What is that triggered Trigger into that wild horse that we all know and love?” Savage himself has said that he always wanted to be a cowboy when he was a kid, so it’s particularly funny in that context. [/QUOTE] Well, I didn’t say he LIKED gays. But I think you get my point. And I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a kid raised in America in the 50s who didn’t dream bout being a cowboy. Or a baseball player. Or a fireman. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/46 "2008-07-20T01:24:04Z")
The amount of people nowadays who say they have a touch of Asperger’s is bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/47 "2008-07-20T01:53:53Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Well, I didn’t say he LIKED gays. But I think you get my point. And I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a kid raised in America in the 50s who didn’t dream bout being a cowboy. Or a baseball player. Or a fireman. [/QUOTE] Or a construction worker. Or a police officer. Or an army guy. Or an indian. 😃 I guess saying that a kid raised in America in the 50s would dream about being a leatherman would be taking it a bit too far. I just wanted to clear up a few things here. I do realize that Savage might (and I repeat MIGHT) have a small point about the overdiagnosis of autism. But to simply give a blanket statement that 99% of the cases are a matter of bad discipline is an affront to those of us who work with autistic children and adults. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/48 "2008-07-20T04:05:20Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] I wonder, if his fans knew of the Jewish hippie beatnik new-age herbalist Mikey Weiner, who used to swim nude with other men and gaze upon their weinerschnitzels with great glee, if they would still like him as much, or if they’d suspect him a charlatan. [/QUOTE] Weinerschnitzel is a breaded veal cutlet. I think your looking for something in the wurst family. The “weiner” in weinerschnitzel is just a way of saying from Vienna. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/49 "2008-07-20T05:48:50Z")
Oh, you mean freedom dogs! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/50 "2008-07-20T17:55:40Z")
W **ie** ner (sausage) German _‘W **ie** ner’ (Würstchen)_ (which looks like and lent its name to the American hot dog), is sausage from the Austrian city of W **ie** n (English Vienna). A _w **ei** ner_ would be a person who indulged in _w **ei** n_ (which is cognate to and rhymes with the English word wine). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/51 "2008-07-20T18:11:27Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] A _w **ei** ner_ would be a person who indulged in _w **ei** n_ [/QUOTE] Or Principal Skinner. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/52 "2008-07-20T19:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] The amount of people nowadays who say they have a touch of Asperger’s is bizarre. [/QUOTE] But my Autistic cousin can’t say anything. He never became verbal. Born about 1950, the doctors thought he was deaf. Then, that he was retarded. Then the autism diagnosis was mentioned–back when the cause was thought to be cold, unfeeling parents. (All his four siblings are “normal.”) Behavioral treatments can help some autistic kids now. But my cousin has been in an institution most of his life–because he seems to be “happier” there. I, myself, took the popular online Asperger’s test. The results made me go “hmm.” My teachers & my mother might have helped me do better in school–although I always tested really well. Don’t know the cause of my problems, but yelling at me surely didn’t help. However I’ve been a grownup for many years. I was never a kid who wouldn’t stop screaming. And I didn’t bash my head against the wall until I bled. Autism is real. Savage is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/53 "2008-07-20T19:54:29Z")
Ah I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. I only was commenting on the fact that Autism/depression/OCD/Asperger’s etc. enter popular parlance and tend to become diluted by self-diagnosing navelgazers. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/54 "2008-07-20T20:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] First of all, Savage was born “Michael Weiner.” He never talks about it … [/QUOTE] For which many of us who are Jewish are quite grateful. C’mon boys and girls, he’s a conservative shock jock. Saying offensive things is his job. It’s what he passes off as entertainment and even I in moments of car driving boredom will stop on that station for a minute or two just to chuckle at his idiocy. Does he really believe his own crap? I don’t know and don’t care but it doesn’t matter. His main intention is to say things that will get a rise. To address the actual serious subject obliquely grazed by his idiocy: The fact is that there is no clear line between typical autism, “autistic spectrum disorder”, “odd”, and many normal math nerds with poor eye contact. A significant percentage of my med school class could be squeezed into Asperger’s if you wanted to. The broadening of the use of the label is indeed a large, if not the main or perhaps even only, cause of the apparent “epidemic” of autism. Pediatricians are looking to identify kids early as we have become convinced that early identification and consequent early intervention lessens the severity later on. Having the label opens doors to services that might not otherwise be available. Because of a heightened awareness every odd child with any social dysfunction is going to have that label bandied about. And parents often have the magical thinking that naming something gives us power over it. They want things named. Lorna Wing first introduced the concept of an “autistic spectrum” and then described several subtypes of patterns, her subtypes were not widely accepted but the concept of a spectrum was widely accepted. Subsequently she has become [aware](http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/312/7027/327) that application of the term to those with more subtle deficits and higher IQ may have led to an apparent increase in prevalence. > [@](#): > > Thus there is no firm evidence for or against a general rise in the prevalence of “typical autism” or other autistic spectrum disorders. The impression that there is a rise could be due to a change in referral patterns, widening of diagnostic criteria for typical autism (which are difficult to apply with precision anyway), and increased awareness of the varied manifestations of disorders in the autistic spectrum (especially those associated with higher IQ). Savage minimally at least plays the part of the idiot with no savant. But the current breadth and lack of a clear cut off point for the label of autistic spectrum disorders is a real issue nevertheless. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/55 "2008-07-20T20:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] I was never a kid who wouldn’t stop screaming. And I didn’t bash my head against the wall until I bled. [/QUOTE] Most autistic kids don’t, either. Scary stereotypes like that don’t really help. A “popular online Asperger’s test?” What the fuck? It’s not online dating, it’s a developmental disorder. Jesus fucking Christ… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/56 "2008-07-21T17:55:36Z")
You have no idea what kind of a status symbol it is among certain geek sets to “have a touch of Asperger’s”. Just one more “I’m different” lodge pin to some people. Having known a guy with Asperger’s Sydrome, I don’t like the trend. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/57 "2008-07-21T18:21:55Z")
[QUOTE=Zeriel] You have no idea what kind of a status symbol it is among certain geek sets to “have a touch of Asperger’s”. Just one more “I’m different” lodge pin to some people. Having known a guy with Asperger’s Sydrome, I don’t like the trend. [/QUOTE] That is, unfortunately, the popular alternative to actually admitting that they have no social skills because they never bothered to develop them. It’s easier to continue being a socially-backward dork (with a “diagnosis” to support it) than to actually attempt to overcome it. I have personally gone through that phase of trying to fit the published symptoms of Asperger’s around my personal shyness and social anxiety, but that only lasted a couple of months until I realized that, no, I’m just a shy, socially-awkward nerd/geek. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/58 "2008-07-21T19:14:38Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Ah I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. I only was commenting on the fact that Autism/depression/OCD/Asperger’s etc. enter popular parlance and tend to become diluted by self-diagnosing navelgazers. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget ADD/ADHD/Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Again, legit disorders that may get overdiagnosed. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/59 "2008-07-21T20:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Don’t forget ADD/ADHD/Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Again, legit disorders that may get overdiagnosed. [/QUOTE] Savage is probably mixing all of the above - from ADHD to ADD to ODD to Aspergers to Autism. That is the typical shock jock game of lack of analysis and education. There IS a benefit in some school districts to getting your kid diagnosed. The goal is to have your kid be challenging enough to get them special treatment (like taxpayer provided private tutoring, or extra time on standardized tests) while not getting them diagnosed as so far off the scale that they are taken out of regular classrooms. The perfect diagnosis gets your kid extra time, extra attention and extra leeway in behavior. There ARE parents who seek that - they want not only a biological reason for their kid not behaving and learning - but they also want to squeeze the district for every possible extra bit that they can get. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013/60 "2008-07-21T20:35:45Z")
Just for the sake of clarity and you know, actual facts… Autism is only part of something called Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. ASD also includes ADD/ADHD, Asperger’s, and PDD-NOS, which stands for Pervasive Developmental Delay – Not Otherwise Specified. Even with a diagnosis of true (or classic) autism, there are varying degrees of functioning and development. Autism was only added to the DSM in 1980, hence a huge increase in diagnoses. (Hard to diagnose something that has no defined diagnostic criteria, I guess.) Regardless of what some moron thinks, bad parenting does not cause children to flap their hands or line up their toys or spin the wheels on their toy cars or rock back and forth or spin in circles or pound their head against the floor or wall. Bad parenting does not cause children to have uncontrollable tics, or to refuse to make or maintain eye contact. As **EJsGirl** said so concisely, nobody wants their kid to have autism or ASD. I would give anything in the world for my son not to have it; I hate it. He can’t talk to me, and he can barely stand to let me hug him, let alone pick him up. He’s a happy kid, but he is locked away in his own little world and doesn’t know how to get out or how to let me in. But without a diagnosis, he couldn’t receive any services, like speech, occupational, and physical therapy. He would be in a class for mentally retarded students (and was, last year), which is inappropriate for him. He’s quite intelligent, but lacks the interpersonal, social and communication skills that come more naturally to most people. According to the DSM-IV, there are specific criteria for ADD/ADHD, PDD-NOS, and autism (possibly Asperger’s, also, but I know less about it). I suppose there are some people who disbelieve the DSM-IV, too. I don’t know who this Savage guy is; when I first read about this, I thought it was that guy who writes some relationship advice column, but it obviously isn’t. Either this clown is a complete idiot, or he’s being deliberately inflammatory and offensive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-michael-savage-fuck-you/457013.md?page=4)