Thomas Nelson Publish wnd

pulled TJ barton bk
bshttp://www.theblaze.com/news/2012/08/13/exclusive-historian-david-barton-responds-to-critics-amid-jefferson-lies-book-controversy/<div><div class="p1_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p2_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="alt_ad_block" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p3_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p4_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p5_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="Connatix-MoAP" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p6_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="alt_ad_block" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p7_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p8_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p9_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="p10_52" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">wow th nelson</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://mytnnews.com/blog/2012/08/10/thomas-nelson-drops-jefferson-lies-book-over-historical-errors/">https://mytnnews.com/blog/2012/08/10/thomas-nelson-drops-jefferson-lies-book-over-historical-errors/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="">Nashville-based Thomas Nelson Publishers has canceled a controversial best-seller by David Barton, an influential evangelical leader, because the book contains historical errors.Barton’s book, “The Jefferson Lies,” claims to expose liberal myths about Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s third president.But a group of conservative scholars says Barton’s take on Jefferson is factually untrue. And a group of ministers from Cincinnati called on Nelson to cancel the book.Casey Francis Harrell, director of corporate communications for Thomas Nelson, said the publisher had gotten several complaints about the book and found enough errors to cancel it.“Because of these deficiencies, we decided that it was in the best interest of our readers to cease its publication and distribution,” Harrell said.Barton stands by his book and said Nelson never mentioned any concerns about the book, which was published in April and made the New York Times best-seller list.“All I got was an email saying it was canceled,” he said. “It was a complete surprise.”The book is still available for sale at Amazon. com and other retailers. But Harrell said the publisher has stopped any new shipments and is recalling the book from retailers. Online retailers have been asked to stop selling the e-book version.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">‘Extremely rare’</h3>Harrell said that to her knowledge Thomas Nelson has never before canceled publication of a New York Times best-seller.“We carefully edit every book we publish, and we rely on the expertise of our authors concerning their subjects,” she said. “It is extremely rare that the company would have to withdraw a book from the market based on concerns about its content.”The publisher hasn’t decided what to do with the recalled books.Barton is president of WallBuilders, an Aledo, Texas-based conservative group that says it wants to reclaim America’s forgotten Christian history.An early press release for the book, put out by Thomas Nelson in May, portrayed Barton as battling revisionist history to tell Jefferson’s true story.“History books routinely teach that Jefferson was an anti-Christian secularist, rewriting the Bible to his liking, fathering a child with one of his slaves, and little more than another racist, bigoted colonist — but none of those claims are actually true,” the press release claimed.Warren Throckmorton, a psychology professor at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., said it’s Barton who actually twisted the facts.Throckmorton is co-author of “Getting Jefferson Right,” a book that criticizes Barton. It was released as an e-book in May and then later in paperback.Throckmorton said he’d been concerned about Barton’s version of American history for several years. He and his co-author looked at Barton’s sources, “and we found they didn’t support what he wrote,” he said.For example, Barton claims Jefferson was an investor in an early American printing of the Bible, when Throckmorton says Jefferson only bought one copy.Barton wrote that Virginia laws banned Jefferson from freeing the more than 200 slaves he owned.“That’s not true,” Throckmorton said. “Jefferson freed two slaves, one in 1794 and one in 1796. So you can’t say he didn’t free slaves, because he did free two slaves.”Barton said Throckmorton is wrong. He said he has documents to back up all the claims in his book.For example, he said the laws in Jefferson’s time fined owners who freed slaves, and Jefferson would have freed his slaves if he could have. He said Throckmorton doesn’t understand how complex the laws about freeing slaves were.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Slavery claim sparks protest</h3>The claim about slavery caused a group of ministers from several Cincinnati churches to call for Thomas Nelson to drop the book.“‘The Jefferson Lies’ glosses over Jefferson’s real record on slaveholding, and minimizes Jefferson’s racist views,” said the Rev. Damon Lynch of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, an African-American congregation in Cincinnati.Lynch said he and other ministers from diverse backgrounds had contacted Nelson about their concerns. He said that if the book hadn’t been canceled, he would have boycotted Nelson.“We love Thomas Nelson,” he said. “My library is filled with Thomas Nelson books, and I didn’t want to stop doing business with them.”Throckmorton is not Barton’s only conservative critic.World Magazine, run by former George W. Bush adviser Marvin Olasky, recently published an online news story about conservative historians who also think Barton made errors.One was Glenn Moots, professor of political science at Northwood University in Michigan. He said Barton was well-intentioned but should have been more careful to get the details right.“It doesn’t help any of us if the story isn’t told in an accurate manner,” he said.Barton said he met with a different group of scholars recently and they approved of his work.“I can’t tell you how many Ph.D.s were in the room,” he said. He would not give names, saying the scholars hadn’t given permission for him to do so.He also said other publishers had made offers on his book and he hopes to sign a new contract soon.The book’s cancellation disappointed Barton’s local fans. He was in Nashville in March to speak to about 250 people at a meeting of the 912 Project.Janice Johnson said she’s heard Barton speak several times and bought an audio copy of “The Jefferson Lies.” She hopes the controversy won’t undermine his credibility.“He’s usually so rock solid on history,” she said<h6 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Written by</h6><h5 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="mailto:bsmietana@tennessean.com" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">Bob Smietana</a></h5><h5 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Tennessean</h5></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div>WND publishes books under the imprint WND Books. The imprint was launched in 2002. WND's imprint publishing partner was Christian publishing house <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nelson(publisher)" title="Thomas Nelson (publisher)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Thomas Nelson Publishers</a> (2002–2004).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[37]</a> Cumberland House Publishing (2004–2007),<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily#cite_note-38" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[38]</a> and conservative publisher World Ahead Publishing (2007);<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily#cite_note-39" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[39]</a> In 2008, WND acquired World Ahead Media.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[40]</a>WND Books has published books written by politicians and pundits such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Harris" title="Katherine Harris" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Katherine Harris</a>, former secretary of state of Florida; commentator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage(commentator)" class="mw-redirect" title="Michael Savage (commentator)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Michael Savage</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Corsi" title="Jerome Corsi" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Jerome Corsi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Tancredo" title="Tom Tancredo" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Tom Tancredo</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Blackwell" title="Ken Blackwell" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ken Blackwell</a>. In April 2011, Paul Harris, writing for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian" title="The Guardian" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">The Guardian</a>, described WND Books as "a niche producer of rightwing conspiracy theories, religious books and 'family values' tracts."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily#cite_note-born-again-41" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">[41]</a>WND also publishes a printed magazine, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower_(magazine)" title="Whistleblower (magazine)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Whistleblower</a>. It operates other companies such as the G2 Bulletin, a subscription-only website described as an "intelligence resource" for "insights into geo-political and geo-strategic developments".

---savage:<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Books and other writings</h2>In total Savage has written 29 books. Under the name Michael Savage he has written eight books, including a #1 New York Times bestseller and three further books which made the best seller list.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-1-5" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[6]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-2-6" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[7]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-3-7" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[8]</a> He has also reprinted two books with the name Savage, Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer's and Healing Children Naturally.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-98" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[99]</a>His 1980 book Weiners's Herbal: The Guide to Herb Medicine advocated the medical benefits of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis%28drug%29" title="Cannabis (drug)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">marijuana</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-man_behind-11" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[12]</a> However, he has more recently stated that the chemicals in marijuana make it too dangerous to be used as medicine. On his program, he condemns the recreational use of marijuana, occasionally devoting his show to "marijuana horror stories."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-99" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[100]</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot" title="Wikipedia:Link rot" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">dead link</a>]He has authored a number of other books on various <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism" title="Herbalism" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">herbal medicine</a> topics under his given name.Savage's recent books are political in nature and published by WND Books, a partnership between the conservative website <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily" title="WorldNetDaily" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">WorldNetDaily</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nelson%28publisher%29" title="Thomas Nelson (publisher)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Thomas Nelson</a>, a publisher of Christian books.In 1991, Savage self-published The Death of the White Male, an argument against <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action" title="Affirmative action" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">affirmative action</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-book-100" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[101]</a> In the book he calls affirmative action "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_discrimination" title="Reverse discrimination" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">reverse discrimination</a>", and demonstrates his emerging philosophy. This eventually led to his starting the Paul Revere Society and he continues to sell the book to raise money for this group.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-death-101" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[102]</a>In January 2003, Savage published The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture, his first major book under the pseudonym Michael Savage. The book quickly reached the top of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Best_Seller_list" title="New York Times Best Seller list" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">New York Times Best Seller list</a>, earning Savage, as noted above, a commentary show on MSNBC. The book directs attacks at "liberal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias" title="Media bias" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">media bias</a>," the "dominating culture of 'she-ocracy'", <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_rights_by_region" title="List of LGBT rights by region" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">gay activists</a>, and liberals.In January 2004, Savage published his second political book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enemy_Within%28Michael_Savage%29" title="The Enemy Within (Michael Savage)" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military</a>. His next book, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_Is_a_Mental_Disorder" title="Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder</a>, was released on April 12,2005. Unlike The Savage Nation, both of these books cited sources for some of the more controversial claims made.In April 2006, Savage released <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Political_Zoo" title="The Political Zoo" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">The Political Zoo</a>. The book contains <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire" title="Satire" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">satirical</a> profiles and cartoons of different public figures, most of whom are liberal political figures and celebrities, who are depicted in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caricature" title="Caricature" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">caricature</a> as animals in the "Political Zoo", with Savage himself portrayed as the zoo keeper. Savage has remarked that the book is "easier to digest" than his previous political books.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-102" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">[103]</a>In October 2010, Savage released "Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama’s Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security".

===

Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942), better known by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym" title="Pseudonym">pseudonym</a> Michael Savage, is an American <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_personality" title="Radio personality">radio host</a>, author, and political commentator. He is the host of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Nation" title="The Savage Nation">The Savage Nation</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_syndication" title="Radio syndication" class="mw-redirect">nationally syndicated</a> talk show that airs throughout the United States on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_Radio_Network" title="Talk Radio Network">Talk Radio Network</a>. The Savage Nation has an audience of 8 to 10 million listeners on 400 stations across the United States, making it the 3rd most listened to radio talk show in the country.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-2">[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-3">[4]</a> He holds <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master%27s_degree" title="Master's degree">master's degrees</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany" title="Botany">medical botany</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_anthropology" title="Medical anthropology">medical anthropology</a> and he earned a Ph.D. from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,Berkeley" title="University of California, Berkeley">University of California, Berkeley</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition" title="Nutrition">nutritional</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomedicine" title="Ethnomedicine">ethnomedicine</a>. As Michael Weiner, he has written books on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism" title="Herbalism">herbal medicine</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy" title="Homeopathy">homeopathy</a>. As Michael Savage, he has written four <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Best_Seller_List" title="New York Times Best Seller List" class="mw-redirect">New York Times-bestselling political books</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-4">[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-1-5">[6]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-2-6">[7]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-3-7">[8]</a>

Savage has summarized his political philosophy in three words: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border" title="Border">borders</a>, language, and culture. Some, including Savage himself, have characterized his views as conservative <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism">nationalism</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NS-8">[9]</a> while critics have characterized them as "fostering <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_extremism" title="Political extremism" class="mw-redirect">extremism</a> or hatred."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-9">[10]</a> He outspokenly opposes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States" title="Illegal immigration to the United States">illegal immigration to the United States</a>, supports the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-only_movement" title="English-only movement">English-only movement</a> and argues that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_in_the_United_States" title="Liberalism in the United States">liberalism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism_in_the_United_States" title="Progressivism in the United States">progressivism</a> are degrading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States" title="Culture of the United States">American culture</a>. Although his radio delivery is usually characterized as confrontational and politically themed, some of his show involves ruminating on topics such as medicine, nutrition, music, literature, history, theology, philosophy, sports, culture, and personal anecdotes.

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Early_life">1 Early life</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Shift_in_philosophy">2 Shift in philosophy</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Career_as_commentator">3 Career as commentator</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Radio_show">3.1 Radio show</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#MSNBC_television_show">3.2 MSNBC television show</a></li>

</ul>

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<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Personal_views">4 Personal views</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Activism">5 Activism</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Help_with_Legal_Defense">5.1 Help with Legal Defense</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#.22The_Savage_Nation_Party.22">5.2 "The Savage Nation Party"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#.22Elephant_Rescue.22">5.3 "Elephant Rescue"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#.22Lt.Michael_Behenna.22">5.4 "Lt. Michael Behenna"</a></li>

</ul>

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<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Awards.2C_criticisms.2C_and_controversies">6 Awards, criticisms, and controversies</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Awards">6.1 Awards</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Criticisms">6.2 Criticisms</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Controversies">6.3 Controversies</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Roman_Catholic_Church_and_immigration">6.3.1 Roman Catholic Church and immigration</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#CSPAN_broadcast_of_Talkers_Award">6.3.2 CSPAN broadcast of Talkers Award</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Dispute_with_CAIR">6.3.3 Dispute with CAIR</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-19"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Autism">6.3.4 Autism</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Banned_from_entering_the_United_Kingdom">6.3.5 Banned from entering the United Kingdom</a></li>

</ul>

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</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-21"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Books_and_other_writings">7 Books and other writings</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Bibliography">8 Bibliography</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Books_as_Michael_Weiner">8.1 Books as Michael Weiner</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#Books_as_Michael_Savage">8.2 Books as Michael Savage</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-25"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#References">9 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-26"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#External_links">10 External links</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Early life">edit</a>] Early life</h2>

Savage was born Michael Alan Weiner in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bronx" title="The Bronx">the Bronx</a>, New York, to Benjamin and Rae Weiner, he comes from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia" title="History of the Jews in Russia">Russian Jewish</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-10">[11]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-man_behind-11">[12]</a> heritage. He described his childhood as difficult, due to his father's "gruff and profane" personality and frequent verbal abuse.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a> His father died of a heart attack in his fifties.

After graduating from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_High_School%28New_York_City%29" title="Jamaica High School (New York City)">Jamaica High School</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-12">[13]</a> Weiner attended <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_College,City_University_of_New_York" title="Queens College, City University of New York">Queens College</a>, where he earned a bachelor's degree in education and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology" title="Sociology">sociology</a>. After college Weiner taught high school for several years in New York City. His first marriage to Carol Ely in 1964 ended in divorce, and he remarried after meeting his current wife Janet in 1967. His first wife says that she became pregnant twice and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion" title="Abortion">aborted</a> both pregnancies over Weiner's objections.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a> During this time Weiner also worked for famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_drug" title="Psychedelic drug">psychedelic drug</a> advocate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary" title="Timothy Leary">Timothy Leary</a> as keeper of the stone gatehouse on Leary's Millbrook estate. Leary hired him to the post because Weiner did not use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide" title="Lysergic acid diethylamide">LSD</a> himself.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a> Weiner then earned two master's degrees in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany" title="Ethnobotany">ethnobotany</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology" title="Anthropology">anthropology</a> from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hawaii" title="University of Hawaii">University of Hawaii</a>. He obtained a Ph.D. in 1978 from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,Berkeley" title="University of California, Berkeley">University of California, Berkeley</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition" title="Nutrition">nutritional</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomedicine" title="Ethnomedicine">ethnomedicine</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-mrangry-13">[14]</a> His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissertation" title="Dissertation" class="mw-redirect">thesis</a> was titled Nutritional Ethnomedicine in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji" title="Fiji">Fiji</a>, although he has repeatedly stated that his Ph.D. is in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology" title="Epidemiology">epidemiology</a>. Weiner spent many years researching botany in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania" title="Oceania">South Pacific</a> and has a background in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" title="Alternative medicine">alternative medicine</a>. As a result of living outside of the US during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">Vietnam War</a> Weiner was not subject to conscription for the Vietnam War.

While in the South Pacific, he became fascinated with the 19th-century sailor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Savage%28beachcomber%29" title="Charles Savage (beachcomber)">Charles Savage</a>, who was believed to have been the first man to bring firearms to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji" title="Fiji">Fiji</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-14">[15]</a> That fascination led to Weiner's name change to Savage.

Savage and his second wife Janet have two children, a daughter and a son; his son, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Weiner" title="Russell Weiner">Russell Goldencloud Weiner</a>, is the founder of the company that produces the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockstar%28drink%29" title="Rockstar (drink)">Rockstar</a> energy drink. Russell's mother, Janet, served as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_financial_officer" title="Chief financial officer">CFO</a> of his company until July 2009.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Shift in philosophy">edit</a>] Shift in philosophy</h2>

Savage introduced himself to certain writers in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Beach,San_Francisco,California" title="North Beach, San Francisco, California" class="mw-redirect">North Beach</a> area of San Francisco in the early 1960s.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-salon-15">[16]</a> He befriended and traveled with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Generation" title="Beat Generation">Beat</a> poets <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Ginsberg" title="Allen Ginsberg">Allen Ginsberg</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferlinghetti" title="Lawrence Ferlinghetti">Lawrence Ferlinghetti</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schwartz%28journalist%29" title="Stephen Schwartz (journalist)">Stephen Schwartz</a>, also an acquaintance of Savage from this time, reported Savage possessed a photograph of himself and Ginsberg swimming naked in Hawaii and used the photograph as sort of a "calling card."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-salon-15">[16]</a> Savage maintained a correspondence with Ginsberg consisting of ten letters and a trio of postcards across four years, which is maintained with Ginsberg's papers at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University" title="Stanford University">Stanford University</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-GQ-16">[17]</a> One letter asked for Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti to come do a poetry reading, so others could "hear and see and know why I adore your public image."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-man_behind-11">[12]</a> One postcard mentions his desire to photograph Ginsberg in a provocative way, though Savage states that this correspondence is actually a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgery" title="Forgery">forgery</a> created by homosexual detractors.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a> Another acquaintance was poet and author <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neeli_Cherkovski" title="Neeli Cherkovski">Neeli Cherkovski</a>, who says Savage dreamed of becoming a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_comedy" title="Stand-up comedy">stand-up comic</a> in the mold of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Bruce" title="Lenny Bruce">Lenny Bruce</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-sfsavage-1">[2]</a> On his radio show, Savage confirmed this desire but compared this with his desire, as a child, to become a cowboy.

Around 1980, an acquaintance, Robert Cathcart, says in his private conversations with Savage he knew him to have conservative political views.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-salon-15">[16]</a> Schwartz stated Savage became alienated from the North Beach scene in the early 1980s. Savage had intense arguments with his liberal friends.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-salon-15">[16]</a> When asked about his shift in politics and other views, Savage replied, "I was once a child; I am now a man."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-man_behind-11">[12]</a> Savage has cited many occurrences in his life that helped shape his conservative views. Savage states that his opinions on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfare_provision" title="Social welfare provision" class="mw-redirect">welfare</a> were partly shaped by his first job out of college as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_work" title="Social work">social worker</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-17">[18]</a> He described one incident in which his supervisor had him deliver a check to a welfare client to furnish their apartment, while his own apartment was furnished with cardboard boxes.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-barbs-18">[19]</a> Another turning point occurred for him as a writer of health and nutrition books in the 1980s, when he experienced "political opposition" after making the suggestion that the closure of homosexual bathhouses might be necessary in response to the emerging <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS" title="AIDS">AIDS</a> epidemic.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-19">[20]</a> In 1994, in what he called "the last straw," his final health and nutrition manuscript, Immigrants and Epidemics, was rejected by publishers for being inflammatory.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-20">[21]</a> In 1996, Savage applied to become the Dean of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,Berkeley_Graduate_School_of_Journalism" title="University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism">Graduate School of Journalism</a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,Berkeley" title="University of California, Berkeley">University of California, Berkeley</a>. The University instead selected award-winning journalist and China scholar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Schell" title="Orville Schell">Orville Schell</a>. Savage sued the University, contending he was discriminated against because he was a conservative.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-21">[22]</a> Savage later dropped the lawsuit.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-22">[23]</a>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Career as commentator">edit</a>] Career as commentator</h2>

<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Nation" title="The Savage Nation">The Savage Nation</a></div>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Radio show">edit</a>] Radio show</h3>

The rejection of his 1994 manuscript prompted him to record a demo tape with a mock radio talk show about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration" title="Illegal immigration">illegal immigrants</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemic" title="Epidemic">epidemics</a>. He mailed this tape to 250 radio stations in an attempt to change careers and become a radio talk show host.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-salon-15">[16]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-barbs-18">[19]</a> On March 21, 1994, Savage began his radio career on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KGO_%28AM%29" title="KGO (AM)">KGO</a> (a San Francisco news/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_radio" title="Talk radio">talk radio</a> station) as a fill-in host for the liberal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Taliaferro" title="Ray Taliaferro">Ray Taliaferro</a>. Less than a year later he was given a weekday show on KGO's sister station, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSFO" title="KSFO">KSFO</a>.

At the time, his slogan was "To the right of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh" title="Rush Limbaugh">Rush</a> and to the left of God." On January 1, 1995, he was given his own show during the drive-time hours. The show quickly became a local hit. During his time at KSFO, Savage reached #1 in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitron" title="Arbitron">Arbitron</a> ratings among both adult men and women over 18 during afternoon drive-time in San Francisco and became top talk host in his timeslot in Northern California.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-MSB-23">[24]</a> In 1999, he came to the attention of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_Radio_Network" title="Talk Radio Network">Talk Radio Network</a>, based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon" title="Oregon">Oregon</a>, which currently syndicates his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Nation" title="The Savage Nation">The Savage Nation</a> radio program.

As of the fall of 2006, Savage has 8-10 million listeners per week,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-24">[25]</a> making his show the third most widely heard broadcast in the United States. Savage calls his listeners "literate callers with intelligence, wit, and energy." He says that he tries to make a show that has a "...hard edge combined with humor and education...Those who listen to me say they hear a bit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Miller" title="Henry Miller">Henry Miller</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac" title="Jack Kerouac">Jack Kerouac</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses" title="Moses">Moses</a>, Jesus, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein" title="Frankenstein">Frankenstein</a>."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-MSB-23">[24]</a> Mark de la Viña of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose_Mercury_News" title="San Jose Mercury News">San Jose Mercury News</a> wrote of Savage, "In contrast to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Schlessinger" title="Laura Schlessinger">Laura Schlessinger</a>, Bay Area-based Savage mixes conservative diatribe and blunt observations with acerbic humor and a gift of gab. It has propelled him to the top of radio talk-show ratings as well as bestseller book lists."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-man_behind-11">[12]</a>

On September 10, 2009, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNEW%28AM%29" title="KNEW (AM)">KNEW-AM</a> (910 kHz) in Savage's home market of San Francisco announced that it was dropping the Michael Savage program and replacing him with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_Ken" title="John and Ken">John and Ken</a> from sister station <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFI" title="KFI">KFI</a>-AM (640 kHz)/Los Angeles. John Scott, program director of KNEW said in an e-mail that the station was headed "...in a different philosophical and ideological direction, featuring more contemporary content and more local information, The Savage Nation does not fit into that vision." According to Arbitron monthly ratings <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNEW%28AM%29" title="KNEW (AM)">KNEW-AM</a> dropped in the ratings since Savage was let go prompting many in the industry to question their move.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-25">[26]</a> San Francisco station <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTRB" title="KTRB">KTRB</a> picked up the program for the San Francisco market, and saw a ratings boost in the afternoon drive.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-26">[27]</a> However, the program was among the first casualties when KTRB went into receivership in September of 2010.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-27">[28]</a>

Savage had asked his audience for their opinion prior to consenting to a profile interview by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelefa_Sanneh" title="Kelefa Sanneh">Kelefa Sanneh</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Yorker" title="The New Yorker">The New Yorker</a>; Savage eventually accepted that offer and the New Yorker profile titled Party of One was published in the August 3, 2009 issue, which covered Savage's life and personality in great detail.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-28">[29]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-29">[30]</a>

On January 22, 2010, Savage revealed to his audience that a writer for the publication <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy" title="Playboy">Playboy</a> had contacted him via email to do a lengthy interview, and again asked his listeners if he should accept the offer. During the show, Savage read from personal emails between the Playboy writer and himself. The writer admitted to being a listener of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Nation" title="The Savage Nation">Savage Nation</a> but a critic of the profile done by The New Yorker. The writer also stated that the purpose of the interview was to "rattle" Playboy's readers. On May 12, 2010, Savage revealed that he had granted the interview at his home. He read from a pre-publication copy of the 8,000 word Playboy interview, in which the writer expressed animosity for Savage and his views. Savage said that he was disappointed at the lack of journalistic objectivity, but did not harbor hatred for the writer. He referred back to the New Yorker interview by Kelefa Sanneh, and praised Sanneh as a real writer who had understood his subject.

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: MSNBC television show">edit</a>] MSNBC television show</h3>

Savage was hired by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSNBC" title="MSNBC">MSNBC</a> president Erik Sorenson to do a one-hour show beginning March 8, 2003, despite Savage's previous criticism of the network in his book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Nation%28book%29" title="The Savage Nation (book)">The Savage Nation</a> and the objections of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC" title="NBC">NBC</a> employees like anchor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Brokaw" title="Tom Brokaw">Tom Brokaw</a>, who asked NBC executives, "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of NBC?"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-GQ-16">[17]</a> Sorenson, at the time, called Savage "brash, passionate and smart," and promised that he would provide "compelling opinion and analysis with an edge."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-FAIR-30">[31]</a>

From the very beginning of his stint at MSNBC, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay%26_Lesbian_Alliance_Against_Defamation" title="Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation">Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation</a> (GLAAD) urged the show's sponsors to stop advertising on the show. Savage did not sue GLAAD, but Talk Radio Network Inc. (TRN), which syndicated his radio show, did sue the owners of three small noncommercial websites that had criticized Savage and endorsed the call for advertisers to withdraw their support for the show. The suit alleged that the defendants had caused Savage financial damage by interfering with his relationship with advertisers, had used material from The Michael Savage Show without permission, and had spread "false and malicious" information about Savage.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-31">[32]</a> The suit was brought in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois" title="Illinois">Illinois</a>, the location of Culligan, a company that stopped advertising with TRN.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-32">[33]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Citizen" title="Public Citizen">Public Citizen</a> undertook the legal defense of the owners of savagestupidity.com.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-33">[34]</a> Savage also contended before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Arbitration_Forum" title="National Arbitration Forum">National Arbitration Forum</a> that the "savagestupidity.com" and "michaelsavagesucks.com" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name" title="Domain name">domain names</a> were "confusingly similar" to his own "michaelsavage.com", and that he should be given those domain names.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-34">[35]</a> Several months after filing the lawsuit, TRN withdrew it without obtaining any concessions from the defendants.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-35">[36]</a> The National Arbitration Forum ruled against Savage's claim.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-36">[37]</a>

Four months later, on July 7, Savage was fired from his MSNBC television show after remarks made in response to a caller, later identified as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prank_call" title="Prank call">prank caller</a> Bob Foster, who insulted Savage's teeth. Savage then asked if Foster was a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy" title="Sodomy">sodomite</a>", to which the caller answered, "Yes, I am." Savage then said to the caller,

<table class="cquote" style=" margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="20" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px;">“</td><td valign="top" style=" padding: 4px 10px;">Oh, so you're one of those sodomites. You should only get <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS" title="AIDS">AIDS</a> and die, you pig; how's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better to do than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage, and choke on it. Get <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis" title="Trichinosis">trichinosis</a>. Now do we have another nice caller here who's busy because he didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today? Put another, put another sodomite on....no more calls?...I don't care about these bums; they mean nothing to me. They're all sausages.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-37">[38]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-38">[39]</a></td><td valign="bottom" width="20" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding: 10px;">”</td></tr></tbody></table>

The day after being fired, Savage apologized on his radio program and on his website. He explained that he believed that MSNBC had gone to commercial to cover the gaffe of the attempted sabotage by a prank caller and that he was off the air at the time of the offensive comments, despite the fact that clips of the segment show Savage going to commercial after he made the comments. He also said his remarks were meant only to insult the caller, not all people with AIDS.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-39">[40]</a>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Personal views">edit</a>] Personal views</h2>

Michael Savage calls himself an "independent-minded individualist" and says that he "fits no stereotype."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-40">[41]</a> Savage criticizes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_government" title="Big government">big government</a>, homosexuality and activism on some issues, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_in_the_United_States" title="Liberalism in the United States">Liberalism</a>, accuses the media of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias" title="Media bias">liberal bias</a>, and champions <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalism" title="Environmentalism">environmentalism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_rights" title="Animal rights">animal rights</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NS-8">[9]</a> He has said that there are three aspects that define a nation: borders, language, and culture. He founded the Paul Revere Society in 1996 with his son Russell to protest illegal immigration; he says the group's mission is to "bring together Americans who actively seek to take back our borders, our language, and our traditional culture from the Liberal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics" title="Left-wing politics">left</a> corroding our great nation."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-41">[42]</a> In 1998, the organization had approximately 4,000 members.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-42">[43]</a> The organization's annual information return, form 990, for 2004 reported that 62% ($109,413 out of $178,215) of its expenses were for fundraising activities.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-43">[44]</a> On June 5, 2006, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Service" title="Internal Revenue Service">IRS</a> rescinded the tax-exempt status of The Paul Revere Society.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-44">[45]</a>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Activism">edit</a>] Activism</h2>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Help with Legal Defense">edit</a>] Help with Legal Defense</h3>

Savage has regularly donated money toward the legal defense of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps" title="United States Marine Corps">Marines</a> accused of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haditha_killings" title="Haditha killings">murdering civilians</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haditha" title="Haditha">Haditha, Iraq</a>; occasionally, Savage will offer proceeds from any sales through his website. Savage had regular contact with the attorneys of the accused and criticizes their treatment at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Base_Camp_Pendleton" title="Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton">Camp Pendleton</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-45">[46]</a> Most recently, Savage has donated over $10,000 to the U.S. Marines Charity Defense Fund at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More_Law_Center" title="Thomas More Law Center">Thomas More Law Center</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-46">[47]</a> On April 25, 2007, he pledged $1 for each copy of Healing Children Naturally and Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer's purchased from his website to be donated to the U.S. Marines Defense Fund.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-47">[48]</a> The Marines were ultimately found not guilty.

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: " the="The" savage="Savage" nation="Nation" party="Party">edit</a>] "The Savage Nation Party"</h3>

On October 9, 2008 broadcast of his radio show, Savage announced that he was in the process of forming a third party. Savage expressed an interest in producing third party candidates within the next two to four years. Throughout the broadcast, Savage referred to the party as "the Savage Nation Party" as well. As a result of his stated discontent with what he perceives as an impotent two-party system, Savage expressed a desire to create a political force which would endorse "borders, language, and culture." During the show, Savage requested that lawyers familiar with the creation of political parties volunteer their services, and also asked for volunteer assistance in acquiring an unused church building in the San Francisco area for use as a party headquarters.

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: " elephant="Elephant" rescue="Rescue">edit</a>] "Elephant Rescue"</h3>

The Paul Revere Society and Dr. Michael Savage have donated $25,000 to the International Fund for Animal Welfare to aid in the translocation of 83 elephants in Malawi, ensuring the safety of both the elephants and the villagers of that region.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-48">[49]</a>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: " lt="Lt" michael="Michael" behenna="Behenna">edit</a>] "Lt. Michael Behenna"</h3>

<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Behenna" title="Michael Behenna">Michael Behenna</a></div>

On his nationally syndicated talk radio program, Michael Savage announced that he had sent another $50,000 to aid in the defense of Lieutenant Michael Behenna, the Army Ranger who has been sentenced by the government to 15 years in prison for killing Ali Mansur Mohammed while serving in Iraq. The alleged murder was committed on May 16 under a bridge in the northern oil refinery town of Baiji, after the two soldiers left their base with Mohammed to set him free at a checkpoint. An Iraqi translator, whose name was withheld for security reasons, testified that Mohammed was first shot and then had his face disfigured with a thermite grenade. "Lieutenant Behenna started talking with Ali Mansur and Sergeant Warner followed them," the witness said. "Behenna and Warner started taking off Ali Mansur's clothes with their knives. They then cut his handcuffs." Behenna ordered the detainee to sit, the translator said, adding that Behenna seemed to be keen to get information from the detainee regarding an attack on US troops in April. The witness, who was acting as a translator to Behenna, said the officer asked the detainee several times: "What do you know you have to tell me." "Ali Mansur said I will talk to you but Lieutenant Behenna pulled trigger and killed him," the translator said speaking in English, adding that Behenna had told him that the detainee was linked to an attack on US forces near Baiji on April 21.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-49">[50]</a> According to Behenna’s account, Mansur lunged at him as he was being interrogated and Behenna shot him in self-defense. Though an expert witness for the prosecution supports Behenna’s version of events, his testimony was not heard. This has sparked accusations of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brady_material" title="Brady material">Brady violation</a> and several appeals. Savage has previously given $50,000 to Behenna’s defense from the Savage Legal Defense Fund and his own personal contributions. According to Vicki Behenna, the lieutenant’s mother, additional contributions from listeners since Michael Savage brought up this topic on his program have amounted to over $40,000. This brings the total contributions from The Savage Nation to nearly $150,000.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-50">[51]</a>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Awards, criticisms, and controversies">edit</a>] Awards, criticisms, and controversies</h2>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Awards">edit</a>] Awards</h3>

On June 9, 2007, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talkers_Magazine" title="Talkers Magazine">Talkers Magazine</a> awarded Savage with the publication's annual "Freedom of Speech Award," and he accepted it with a pre-recorded speech.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-newsblaze.com-51">[52]</a>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Criticisms">edit</a>] Criticisms</h3>

In July 2005, conservative writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Goldberg" title="Bernard Goldberg">Bernard Goldberg</a> ranked Savage number 61 in his book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_People_Who_Are_Screwing_Up_America" title="100 People Who Are Screwing Up America">100 People Who Are Screwing Up America</a>. Goldberg wrote that "Savage's brand of over-the-top <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile" title="Bile">bile</a>...puts him right in there with the angriest haters on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_left" title="Political left" class="mw-redirect">Left</a>."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-52">[53]</a>

Liberal advocacy groups, media watchdogs and commentators such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay%26_Lesbian_Alliance_Against_Defamation" title="Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation">GLAAD</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_and_Accuracy_in_Reporting" title="Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting">FAIR</a>, and Dave Gilson of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon.com" title="Salon.com">Salon.com</a> accuse Savage of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism" title="Fascism">fascist</a> leanings,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-53">[54]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racism</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-FAIR-30">[31]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia" title="Homophobia">homophobia</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-54">[55]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigotry" title="Bigotry">bigotry</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-FAIR-30">[31]</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamophobia" title="Islamophobia">Islamophobia</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-55">[56]</a> because of his controversial statements about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality" title="Homosexuality">homosexuality</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam" title="Islam">Islam</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism" title="Feminism">feminism</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education" title="Sex education">sex education</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration" title="Immigration">immigration</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-56">[57]</a> On his September 21, 1999 broadcast, Savage said that the motivation for female students who come from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County" title="Marin County" class="mw-redirect">Marin County</a> private school to feed and provide services to the homeless is so they "can go in and get <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape" title="Rape">raped</a> by them, because they seem to like the excitement of it..."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-57">[58]</a>

On April 17, 2006, he said of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism" title="Islamism">Muslims</a> "They say, 'Oh, there's a billion of them.' I said, 'So, kill 100 million of them, then there'll be 900 million of them.' I mean, would you rather die—would you rather us die than them?"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-58">[59]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-59">[60]</a> After Savage was banned from the UK, this was also reported in the UK media.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-4-60">[61]</a>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Controversies">edit</a>] Controversies</h3>

<h4>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Roman Catholic Church and immigration">edit</a>] Roman Catholic Church and immigration</h4>

In March 2006, Savage drew the ire of some in the Roman Catholic community when he accused the Roman Catholic Church of breaking federal law by giving assistance to illegal immigrants (in response to statements by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Mahony" title="Roger Mahony">Roger Cardinal Mahony</a> of Los Angeles calling it "pastoral support").<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-61">[62]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_A.Donohue" title="William A. Donohue" class="mw-redirect">William A. Donohue</a>, the president of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_League%28U.S.%29" title="Catholic League (U.S.)">Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights</a>, was scheduled to be on the show that day but refused after he became upset upon hearing Savage's language. Later he responded by saying "what is not fine is Savage's diatribe about the 'greedy pigs' in the Catholic Church and how 'the institution is rotten from the top to the bottom.' He owes all Catholics an apology."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-62">[63]</a>

On March 28, 2006, Savage encouraged his listeners to burn <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mexico" title="Flag of Mexico">Mexican flags</a> to counter massive rallies held in California during which demonstrators marched in opposition to proposed legislation that would impose new immigration restrictions.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-63">[64]</a>

<h4>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: CSPAN broadcast of Talkers Award">edit</a>] CSPAN broadcast of Talkers Award</h4>

When <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talkers_Magazine" title="Talkers Magazine">Talkers Magazine</a> awarded Savage with the publication's annual "Freedom of Speech Award," CSPAN opted not to broadcast a pre-recorded speech that had been sent by Michael Savage.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-newsblaze.com-51">[52]</a> Although the award ceremony had received coverage in previous years, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN" title="C-SPAN">C-SPAN</a> did not televise it due to its policy of only televising such speeches when delivered in person. Savage stated that C-SPAN's decision was "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship" title="Censorship">censorship</a>" and he told his listeners to express their ire to C-SPAN through calls and e-mails to the organization.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-64">[65]</a>

<h4>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Dispute with CAIR">edit</a>] Dispute with CAIR</h4>

In early November 2007, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_American-Islamic_Relations" title="Council on American-Islamic Relations">Council on American-Islamic Relations</a> (CAIR) called on radio listeners to contact companies that advertise on Savage's program to express their concerns about his comments concerning Muslims. Savage was quoted as saying Muslims "need <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation" title="Deportation">deportation</a>", and that adherents of Islam would do well to “take your religion and shove it up your behind” because "I’m sick of you."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-65">[66]</a> On his show and website, Savage countered that CAIR is linked to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist" title="Terrorist" class="mw-redirect">terrorist</a> organizations, and was an "unindicted co-conspirator in an anti-terrorist trial". On November 8, 2007, following a campaign by CAIR meant to get Savage off the air by going after his sponsors, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrix_Systems" title="Citrix Systems">Citrix Systems, Inc.</a> pulled its advertisements from his show.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-66">[67]</a> On November 15, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OfficeMax" title="OfficeMax">OfficeMax</a> followed suit.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-67">[68]</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot" title="Wikipedia:Link rot">dead link</a>]<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NYT1217-68">[69]</a>

Savage sued CAIR for its use, on its website, of excerpts from his show. Savage’s lawsuit alleges <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright" title="Copyright">copyright</a> infringement by CAIR.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-69">[70]</a> The suit alleged that CAIR's repackaging of Savage's comments was "deliberately designed to obscure the specific message conveyed by Michael Savage". The excerpts included Savage's characterization of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27an" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a> as "a throwback document" and a "book of hate". CAIR called the suit "bizarre, sloppy and baseless".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-70">[71]</a> On July 25, 2008, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_district_court" title="United States district court">United States district court</a> dismissed Savage's suit against CAIR, holding that the posting of the audio clip was protected under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" title="First Amendment to the United States Constitution">First Amendment</a> doctrine of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use" title="Fair use">fair use</a>, as it was used to "comment on and rebut derogatory statements regarding their organization and their religious affiliations."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-71">[72]</a> The court gave Savage the opportunity to file an amended complaint if he wanted to try to cure the defects in his suit. On August 14, 2008, however, Savage's lawyer announced that Savage would not file an amended complaint and would drop the case.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-72">[73]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-73">[74]</a> CAIR then sought attorneys fees against Savage but U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston denied that request.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-74">[75]</a>

<h4>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Autism">edit</a>] Autism</h4>

In July 2008, Savage claimed that the increasing rate of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism" title="Autism">autism</a> diagnoses was the result of "a racket" designed to get disability payments for "poorer families who have found a new way to be parasites on the government."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-NYDN-75">[76]</a> He returned to the subject on his July 16, 2008 show with the following remarks:

<table class="cquote" style=" margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="20" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px;">“</td><td valign="top" style=" padding: 4px 10px;">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 <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/putz" class="extiw" title="wikt:putz">putz</a>. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-76">[77]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-77">[78]</a></td><td valign="bottom" width="20" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding: 10px;">”</td></tr></tbody></table>

On July 21, 2008, following a public information campaign led by the liberal advocacy group, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Matters_for_America" title="Media Matters for America">Media Matters for America</a>, several dozen parents and grandparents of autistic children picketed outside the studios of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOR%28AM%29" title="WOR (AM)">WOR</a> in New York, calling for Savage to be fired and for commercial sponsors to withdraw their advertising from his program.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-WABC-78">[79]</a> In response, WOR issued a statement saying, "We regret any consternation that his remarks may have caused to our listeners."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NYDN-75">[76]</a> Also that day, the insurance company <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflac" title="Aflac">Aflac</a> pulled its advertising,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-79">[80]</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertalk_Mississippi" title="Supertalk Mississippi">Supertalk Mississippi</a> radio network dropped Savage's program, replacing it with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Miller#The_Dennis_Miller_Show_2" title="Dennis Miller">The Dennis Miller Show</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-STM-80">[81]</a> Later that evening, Savage devoted his entire three-hour program to the subject, taking calls from parents who took issue with his comments. On that show Savage stated that his remarks had been "ripped out of context" by "far left <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalinism" title="Stalinism">Stalinists</a>" who want him off of the air, of which the bigger issue, when he appeared on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_King_Live" title="Larry King Live">Larry King Live</a>, was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdiagnosis" title="Overdiagnosis">overdiagnosis</a> of children due to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical" title="Pharmaceutical" class="mw-redirect">pharmaceutical</a> companies' drive to drug children for higher profits.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NYDN-75">[76]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-WABC-78">[79]</a> On July 25, 2008, Autism United advocates gathered to announce that several advertisers, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RadioShack" title="RadioShack">RadioShack</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears,Roebuck_and_Company" title="Sears, Roebuck and Company" class="mw-redirect">Sears</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Home_Depot" title="The Home Depot">Home Depot</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectBuy" title="DirectBuy">DirectBuy</a>, will discontinue their support for Savage's show.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-81">[82]</a>

Savage's employer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_Radio_Network" title="Talk Radio Network">Talk Radio Network</a>, has responded by releasing a lengthy statement, along with a selection of 20 audio clips drawn from Savage's discussions of autism, to show that the comments were taken out of context.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-82">[83]</a>

<h4>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Banned from entering the United Kingdom">edit</a>] Banned from entering the United Kingdom</h4>

The then <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Secretary" title="Home Secretary">UK Home Secretary</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Smith" title="Jacqui Smith">Jacqui Smith</a>, announced on May 5, 2009 that Savage was on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_banned_from_entering_the_United_Kingdom" title="List of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom">list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom</a> as he is "considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-BBC-83">[84]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-BBCNews-84">[85]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-85">[86]</a> The list also includes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Gliebe" title="Erich Gliebe">Erich Gliebe</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps" title="Fred Phelps">Fred Phelps</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Guzovsky" title="Mike Guzovsky">Mike Guzovsky</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Alim_Musa" title="Abdul Alim Musa">Abdul Alim Musa</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-86">[87]</a> During his radio broadcast on that same day, Savage declared that he would sue Smith personally for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation" title="Defamation">defamation</a>, calling her a "lunatic".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-87">[88]</a> Smith defended her choice of individuals, stating "If you can't live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what's more, now we will make public those people that we have excluded." Savage has subsequently repeated his intention to sue; the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Government" title="British Government" class="mw-redirect">British Government</a> has responded that any such legal action would be fought "robustly".

During a subsequent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR" title="NPR">NPR</a> talk show, Savage claimed that he has never advocated violence and repeatedly invoked the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution" title="United States Constitution">United States Constitution's</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" title="First Amendment to the United States Constitution">First Amendment</a> (seemingly unaware it does not apply to the United Kingdom). When host <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Conan" title="Neal Conan">Neal Conan</a> pointed out that the U.S. Constitution does not apply to the United Kingdom, Savage replied, "No. Thank God I'm an American."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NPR-88">[89]</a> Savage also called on his listeners to support him by canceling travel and business in Britain as well as by boycotting British-made goods, commenting, "If they want to play hardball, we'll play hardball."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-89">[90]</a> When a caller challenged Savage about his talk-show rhetoric, Savage called him a "foaming lunatic... someone in pajamas in a mental asylum... You’re nobody and I’m not going to talk to you!" At that point, the host ended the interview.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-NPR-88">[89]</a> Political commentators later remarked on the "hypocrisy" of Savage's comments on the show,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-90">[91]</a> "It's quite ironic that someone like Michael Savage sees no hypocrisy in strongly defending his right to the First Amendment only to show outrage and intolerance a few minutes later toward the views of someone else he doesn't agree with."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-91">[92]</a>

Of the banning, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_London" title="Mayor of London">Mayor of London</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson" title="Boris Johnson">Boris Johnson</a>, wrote: "America still has a constitutional protection of free speech, and I have been amazed... to see how few people in this country are willing to stick up for that elementary principle... a country once famous for free speech is now hysterically and expensively sensitive to anything that could be taken as a slight."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-92">[93]</a> In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian" title="The Guardian">The Guardian</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Bennett%28journalist%29" title="Catherine Bennett (journalist)">Catherine Bennett</a> wrote: "The ban on Savage is so far from being a comprehensible act, so staggeringly capricious and stupid, as to defy evaluation."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-93">[94]</a> While Sam Leith wrote: "Barring this shock-jock from Britain risks turning a rabid blabbermouth into a beacon for free speech."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-4-60">[61]</a> An editorial in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mail" title="Daily Mail">Daily Mail</a> stated: "The move appears to have backfired spectacularly at a time when Jacqui Smith's job is already hanging by a thread after a string of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Smith#Expenses_controversies" title="Jacqui Smith">expense scandals</a>."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-94">[95]</a>

On July 12, 2010 the new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party%28UK%29" title="Conservative Party (UK)">Conservative Party</a>-led government of Prime Minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron" title="David Cameron">David Cameron</a> announced that it will continue to ban Savage from entering the UK.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-95">[96]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-96">[97]</a>

Savage has referred to violent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazi" title="Neo-Nazi" class="mw-redirect">neo-Nazi</a> far-right group the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Defense_League" title="English Defense League" class="mw-redirect">English Defense League</a> as "the true brits", calling them "the best of britain" and inciting violence against British Muslims by saying: "i'll never understand why the brits didn't let them wade into the slimy muslim bastards with bars and beer bottles".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-97">[98]</a>

<h2>Books and other writings</h2>

In total Savage has written 29 books. Under the name Michael Savage he has written eight books, including a #1 New York Times bestseller and three further books which made the best seller list.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-1-5">[6]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-2-6">[7]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-Ref-3-7">[8]</a> He has also reprinted two books with the name Savage, Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer's and Healing Children Naturally.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-98">[99]</a>

His 1980 book Weiners's Herbal: The Guide to Herb Medicine advocated the medical benefits of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis%28drug%29" title="Cannabis (drug)">marijuana</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-man_behind-11">[12]</a> However, he has more recently stated that the chemicals in marijuana make it too dangerous to be used as medicine. On his program, he condemns the recreational use of marijuana, occasionally devoting his show to "marijuana horror stories."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-99">[100]</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot" title="Wikipedia:Link rot">dead link</a>] He has authored a number of other books on various <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism" title="Herbalism">herbal medicine</a> topics under his given name.

Savage's recent books are political in nature and published by WND Books, a partnership between the conservative website <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily" title="WorldNetDaily">WorldNetDaily</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nelson_%28publisher%29" title="Thomas Nelson (publisher)">Thomas Nelson</a>, a publisher of Christian books.

In 1991, Savage self-published The Death of the White Male, an argument against <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action" title="Affirmative action">affirmative action</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-book-100">[101]</a> In the book he calls affirmative action "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_discrimination" title="Reverse discrimination">reverse discrimination</a>", and demonstrates his emerging philosophy. This eventually led to his starting the Paul Revere Society and he continues to sell the book to raise money for this group.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage%28commentator%29#cite_note-death-101">[102]</a>

In January 2003, Savage published The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture, his first major book under the pseudonym Michael Savage. The book quickly reached the top of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Best_Seller_list" title="New York Times Best Seller list" class="mw-redirect">New York Times Best Seller list</a>, earning Savage, as noted above, a commentary show on MSNBC. The book directs attacks at "liberal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_bias" title="Media bias">media bias</a>," the "dominating culture of 'she-ocracy'", <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_rights_by_region" title="List of LGBT rights by region" class="mw-redirect">gay activists</a>, and liberals.

In January 2004, Savage published his second political book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enemy_Within_%28Michael_Savage%29" title="The Enemy Within (Michael Savage)">The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military</a>. His next book, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_Is_a_Mental_Disorder" title="Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder">Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder</a>, was released on April 12, 2005. Unlike The Savage Nation, both of these books cited sources for some of the more controversial claims made.

In April 2006, Savage released <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Political_Zoo" title="The Political Zoo">The Political Zoo</a>. The book contains <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satirical</a> profiles and cartoons of different public figures, most of whom are liberal political figures and celebrities, who are depicted in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caricature" title="Caricature">caricature</a> as animals in the "Political Zoo", with Savage himself portrayed as the zoo keeper. Savage has remarked that the book is "easier to digest" than his previous political books.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29#cite_note-102">[103]</a>

In October 2010, Savage released "Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama’s Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security".