# Tell me about Michael Savage **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 6, 2009, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526 "2009-05-06T10:10:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/41 "2009-05-07T10:29:58Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > Why? What do you think would happen to him? > > What impression do you guys have of the East End of London? > > This sounds like there might be some ignorance to be fought! Dot would take him in and offer him a nice cup of tea and Nick would steal his wallet of course. \ ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/42 "2009-05-07T10:32:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Oh, I know British cities are safer and more law-abiding than American, generally. I was wondering where an American **RW bigoted asstard talkshow screamer** is most likely to get a stomping. Nobody would know who the hell he is anyway. We don’t have any equivalents and they don’t feature on our TV. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/43 "2009-05-07T11:16:01Z")
Bradford, maybe. In Brixton he’d probably be too frightened of the locals to open his mouth. Nearest equivalent is [Nick Griffin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Griffin), chair of the BNP and similar RW bigoted asstard (albeit one which doesn’t get much airtime). ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/44 "2009-05-07T11:44:34Z")
I believe I once said he is probably the closest thing to an actual Fascist in the public view today. Focus on a minority to stir up the majority? check Demonizing that minority? check Believe in military power over all others? check Fetishizing nationalism? check (note: I am just as proud of the US as anyone else, I think it’s a great place, but I don’t hold the US above all other nations and am not blind to it’s faults) I don’t recall how that idea panned out, but I still stand by it. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/45 "2009-05-07T13:09:47Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > I believe I once said he is probably the closest thing to an actual Fascist in the public view today. > > Focus on a minority to stir up the majority? check > Demonizing that minority? check > Believe in military power over all others? check > Fetishizing nationalism? check > > (note: I am just as proud of the US as anyone else, I think it’s a great place, but I don’t hold the US above all other nations and am not blind to it’s faults) > > I don’t recall how that idea panned out, but I still stand by it. The irony, of course, being that he’s Jewish (though I don’t think he really publicizes that) and his real name is Michael Wiener. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/46 "2009-05-07T13:43:49Z")
It can’t be any worse than a certain country denying entry to Yusuf Islam (previously Cat Stevens). ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/47 "2009-05-07T14:40:16Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > They are usually more law abiding than the native populace and are certainly not going to attack a septic for no reason. Haha, “a septic”. This may or may not be intentional, but it is a lovely epithet for Savage. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/48 "2009-05-07T14:41:42Z")
Wait- “septic” is rhyming slang for “Yank”? Even awesomer. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/49 "2009-05-07T14:51:05Z")
Loathsome as Savage is I can’t see why he is on the list - in fact I can’t see any logic behind the list at all. Of all the 6 billion people in the world why pick on these 22? It’s not as though most of them have expressed any wish to come to this country. Several of them have encouraged violence and it probably makes sense to stop them if they try to come, but why pick on those particular ones in advance. There are probably thousands of Muslim preachers and radicals who have called for the violent overthrow of the West - including Britain - so why not list all of them? The whole business is what we have come to expect from this government - and Jacqui Smith’s Home Office in particular - dictatorial tendancies combined with incompetence. I hope he does sue and win - Jacqui Smith can pay out of the second home allowance she’s been claiming. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/50 "2009-05-07T14:52:46Z")
> [@stolichnaya](#): > > Wait- “septic” is rhyming slang for “Yank”? Even awesomer. septic tank = Yank - Although I have never actually heard anyone use it in conversation :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/51 "2009-05-07T14:57:46Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > The irony, of course, being that he’s Jewish (though I don’t think he really publicizes that) and his real name is Michael Wiener. I thought the irony was that someone who wants to close our borders considers it defamation when another country closes its borders to him. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/52 "2009-05-07T15:13:01Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > septic tank = Yank - Although I have never actually heard anyone use it in conversation :dubious: I have, in the context of someone claiming that they weren’t “antiseptic” (anti-American). ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/53 "2009-05-07T15:28:42Z")
Limbaugh and Beck are making a killing. There is a lot of money to be mined from strident right wing howlings. It seems the louder and more outrageous you are, the more money you make. I suspect Savage is following the money. It requires him to say outrageous things that he may not even believe. So .he has to pay for it a little. What, he should get no blowback at all? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/54 "2009-05-07T15:37:13Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > The whole business is what we have come to expect from this government - and Jacqui Smith’s Home Office in particular - dictatorial tendancies combined with incompetence. Hijack: From what I read on this board, Brits are sick to death of the Blair-Brown government, but the Tories have no message to offer but “We’re Not Labour!” So why don’t the LibDems do better at the polls? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/55 "2009-05-07T16:05:46Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought the irony was that someone who wants to close our borders considers it defamation when another country closes its borders to him. He’s not claiming defamation because they won’t let him in the country but because they put him on the list with the other people. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/56 "2009-05-07T16:45:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Hijack: From what I read on this board, Brits are sick to death of the Blair-Brown government, but the Tories have no message to offer but “We’re Not Labour!” So why don’t the LibDems do better at the polls? They don’t have much of a geographic base. The Conservatives have the Midlands and the rural areas, Labor has the cities, but the Lib Dems have nowhere to lay their head. Besides, Campbell’s leadership was neither particularly inspiring or well liked. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/57 "2009-05-07T17:41:25Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > He’s not claiming defamation because they won’t let him in the country but because they put him on the list with the other people. A distinction without much of a difference. Maybe the Home Secretary’s math teacher was named Michael Savage and she just hates the name. It’s up to the British government to decide who gets let into Britain, for whatever reasons that want. The list is just a list; no equivalence, no defamation. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/58 "2009-05-07T18:15:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Hijack: From what I read on this board, Brits are sick to death of the Blair-Brown government, but the Tories have no message to offer but “We’re Not Labour!” So why don’t the LibDems do better at the polls? Bear in mind that British posters on this board are left wing (as a rule) and so they are not representative of the UK populace; nevertheless there is a certain truth in what you are saying. However, the LibDem’s message is really, really stupid at the moment. A shame, because I’d far rather have a fellow like Vincent Cable than George Osborne (names given in full to allow you to google them) as chancellor. But Ken Clarke would be best 🙂 Some very, very brief history for you: The old Liberal party was getting seats in our approx 640 seat parliament up to the barely double digits. Then, the SDP were formed out of the slightly more sane folk in the Labour party. After a bloody good showing in a couple of elecitons (130 seats iirc) it merged with the Liberals to form the Lib Dems. So most of the Lib Dems were actually in Labour at one point (including Mr. Cable). Later on, Old Labour became New Labour, so there isn’t so much difference between Labour and Lib Dems on a lot of things, although given the choice the latter are far better in almost every respect. I have always voted conservative, but I am not a political loyalist. It just so happens that they have always been the least worst… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/59 "2009-05-07T18:18:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > They don’t have much of a geographic base. The Conservatives have the Midlands and the rural areas, Labor has the cities, but the Lib Dems have nowhere to lay their head. Besides, Campbell’s leadership was neither particularly inspiring or well liked. Labour don’t have the cities any more. Thank fuck. They will almost certainly be the 4th party during the local elections. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526/60 "2009-05-08T15:14:44Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > Bear in mind that British posters on this board are left wing (as a rule) and so they are not representative of the UK populace; nevertheless there is a certain truth in what you are saying. > > However, the LibDem’s message is really, really stupid at the moment. How so? (I’m a Lib Dem BTW- and if you like Vince Cable I’m baffled at this statement, because he’s behind a lot of what we’re talking about). Our message is completely different from Labour on civil liberties, which have been completely fucked over by the latter. Ditto the economy, Heathrow’s third runway, the war in Iraq and constitutional reform. **BrainGlutton** : many reasons. We are disadvantaged by the voting system; with PR (proportional representation) we would have more seats. I agree with **Angry Lurker** that we have struggled with leadership. Nick Clegg is becoming stronger, on issues like Gurkha residency and the policing at the G20 protest, though-IMO. The media favours a conservative (small C) narrative in general because lack of resources has made it lazy (see Nick Davies for more on this) therefore it prefers reporting on the two main parties. [QUOTE=Robot Arm] Maybe the Home Secretary’s math teacher was named Michael Savage and she just hates the name. It’s up to the British government to decide who gets let into Britain, for whatever reasons that want. [/QUOTE] Are you serious? It is of concern and huge significance if Britain imposes stupid and meaningless restrictions on entry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-michael-savage/495526.md?page=4)