Piling on Michael Savage

Like vicious sharks in a feeding frenzy, CNN and Fox News Channel commentators and pundits are kicking radio talk-show host and best-selling author Michael Savage now that he’s down after being fired by MSNBC.

On Fox, Liz Trotta of the Washington Times called Savage “a Berkeley hippie turned phony conservative” and “an intellectual slob.” Also on Fox, Rich Lowery of the National Review explained that MSNBC was trying to imitate Fox’s cable success by hiring Savage, not understanding that he had no nuance or finesse and really wasn’t a conservative. On CNN, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post asked why MSNBC hired the “fire-breathing” talk-show host in the first place. He also called him a “bomb thrower.”

It’s a popular sport in Washington and New York to kick people when they’re down – particularly those who are not establishment conservatives or establishment liberals.

Establishment conservatives get a thrill by doing this because they think they can curry favor with the media elite by showing how “respectable” they are. Establishment liberals like to do it because they like name-calling with anyone who doesn’t agree with them. It’s just what they do for a living. They can’t think for themselves. They can’t debate issues. So they sling the mud.

As a frequent guest on his weekly TV show, let me tell you what I think of Michael Savage and his self-destruction on MSNBC.

His demise was predictable. It wasn’t a good fit. MSNBC is a politically correct network that has shown it cannot stand up to pressure groups – no matter how good a show is and no matter what kind of ratings it might attain.

Remember Alan Keyes? His show pulled numbers as good or better than any other program on the network. His thank-you was a pink slip. Why? He didn’t call anyone names. His sin was being popular. His sin was winning over a huge following among Jews who found his Middle East analysis spot-on.

Thus, Savage was doomed on TV no matter what happened. Had the show been wildly popular, the network would have found some other reason to bounce him. Had the show not attracted any audience, he would have been fired for that. Had he not self-destructed, MSNBC would have found another reason, sooner or later, to replace him on the schedule.

It’s just that simple.

What about his remarks?

I take Savage at his word. I have listened to his radio show for a decade. I have never heard him wish death upon someone just because he disagreed with a caller. We have no idea what provocation the caller might have used to ignite Savage’s fuse. We only heard one side of the conversation.

Savage says he thought he was off the air. Of course, rule No. 1 in broadcasting is never to assume such things. But who among us has not told off someone in our lives the way Savage told off that caller?

I do not excuse wishing a hideous AIDS death upon anyone. It’s not right. But Savage has apologized for it. It’s time to grow up and accept the apology.

What’s bugging many establishment conservatives about Savage, I suspect, is not what he said, but his very popularity. They’re jealous. Savage is a gifted entertainer and communicator. He is not a journalist. He doesn’t pretend to be one. If MSNBC thought it was hiring a journalist when it hired Savage, the corporate brain trust there must be dumber than I think.

He’s a talk-show host. He’s a gifted writer. He’s funny and smart. But Savage isn’t a newsman. He never was and he never will be. Savage is more a newsmaker than a newsbreaker.

I’m happy to have been a small part of his success as an author with WND Books. We look forward to publishing his books in the future. And, personally, I look forward to hearing him night after night on the radio. Who needs MSNBC?