Michael Savage (commentator) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Michael Savage is the pseudonym of Michael Alan Weiner (pronounced Why-ner) (born March 31, 1942), who is a popular and controversial Americann right-wing talk radio host and political commentator. As Savage, he has written two politically motivated books: The Savage Nation (2003) and The Enemy Within (2004). As Weiner, he has written a number of books on herbal medicine and homeopathy. Most are currently out-of-print. [1].
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2 Radio 3 MSNBC 4 Politics 5 Writings 6 Quotes 7 Sources 8 External links |
Michael Alan Weiner was born to a Russian Jewish family [1] in the Bronx, New York City. He received a Ph.D in Nutrition and Epidemiology from U.C. Berkeley, and has a background in alternative medicine. He claims to have been a liberal at one time. Savage met his first wife, Carol Ely, in 1964, who had two abortions during their marriage. They divorced, and in 1967, Savage married again, and has two children with his current wife Janet.
Weiner was an associate of poet Allen Ginsberg, offering to arrange readings for Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1972.[1] Some of his letters to Ginsberg are held in Ginsberg's archives, and contain passages some argue are homoerotic [1].
In 1996 he applied to be a professor at UC Berkeley's School of Journalism. When he was not granted an interview, due to lack of qualifications (less than two years of experience in radio, and his unrelated Ph.D. in epidemiology and nutrition science) Savage filed a discrimination lawsuit that was eventually dismissed.
He began his radio career as Michael Savage on March 21, 1994 on KSFO in the Bay Area, debating a liberal show host. On January 1, 1995 he was given his own show during the drive-time hours. The show quickly became a local hit. In 1999, he came to the attention of the Talk Radio Network. On January 17, 2000 he started doing an additional two hours of radio which was broadcast nationally. For the next eight months, Savage would spend a total of five hours a day just talking. His national experiment was a success, and on September 21, 2000, he stopped doing separate shows, beginning a full three-hour national show. After just one year, he was in 150 markets. By 2003, he was in over 350 markets and is currently the number 3 radio host in the world.
In June 2003, he had a salary dispute with his flagship station KSFO who refused to renegotiate his contract. He was off the air for three weeks. On July 1, 2003 he began his show on a different station: KNEW in San Fransico. Since that dispute, he speaks badly of KSFO - and of "pretty boy" a.k.a. Sean Hannity, whose show replaced his on the station.
He was hired by MSNBC to do a one-hour show starting March 8, 2003. On July 7, a mere five months later, he was fired for making anti-gay remarks in response to a caller — later identified as "East Coast Bob", a prank caller posing as a gay man — telling him that he "should get AIDS and die." Gay rights group GLAAD applauded the decision to fire him. Savage responded that he did not realize he was on the air when he made the comments and that he did not intend any offense to homosexuals but was merely angry at the caller, who had been, according to Savage, making "vicious personal attacks" on him. He apologized for any "pain" his comments may have brought anyone.
In 1994, Savage coined the phrase "compassionate conservative". That term became a pillar of George W. Bush's election campaign in 2000. He frequently accuses the national political parties of having identical philosophies and no real differences, and he uses the coined term Republicrat to refer to them.
Savage's radio program, The Savage Nation, often returns to the subject of closing U.S. borders to illegal immigrants as a way of solidifying American identity. He advocates stronger immigration controls and the reassertion of English as the official language of the United States.
His political opponents, however, accuse him of racism, homophobia and bigotry due to his controversial statements on Muslims, gays, feminists and immigrants.
In 1980 Michael Weiner saw the publication of Weiner's Herbal: The Guide to Herb Medicine, which was seeking to gain approval for the theraputic use of marijuana [1]. He has authored a number of other books on various herbal medicine topics under this name.
In January 2003 Weiner published The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture his first book under the pseudonym Michael Savage. The book quickly reached the top of the New York Times Best Sellers List and Savage, as noted above, was given a commentary show on MSNBC. The book is extremely controversial in that it attacks the "liberal media," the dominating culture of "she-ocracy," gays, and liberals.
Critics have faulted Savage for making a number of assertions in the book that he often fails substantiate with facts or resources. Exacerbating this condition is the fact that the book itself has no index. The book is divided into two- to four-page sections, many of which are near-exact replicas to columns he published on the conservative site NewsMax.com. In fact, much of the content of The Savage Nation can be traced directly.
In January 2004 Savage published The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military. This was his second political book.
Savage's works are published by the company WND Books. WND Books is a partnership between the conservative website WorldNetDaily and Thomas Nelson, a publisher of Christian books.
On MSNBC which led to his firing:
This is an Article on Michael Savage (commentator). Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Michael Savage (commentator) Biography
Radio
MSNBC
Politics
Writings
Quotes
On Liberals (whom Savage euphemistically calls "Red Diaper Doper Babies"):
On Al Gore:
On Muslims:
On gay activists:
On gay marriage:
On torture in Iraq:
On Hillary Clinton:
On the ACLU:
Sources
External links