Jamie's Birthday & Savage Savvy

Monday, Jul. 28, 2008 - 12:08 a.m.

First, happy birthday to Jamie Lord, aka The Best Friend I've Never Met, whose humanity and sense of right and wrong brought me back from the brink of giving up on these silly fellow humans, more than once.

Jamie -- thanks. I love you.

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Okay.

I'm tired of what Michael Savage has said about autism.

I've got an idea. Let's replace him.

Let me introduce you to a guy named Mike Weiner. (with the long I).

Dr. Weiner has been an advocate of the health and well being of children for his entire life. He was raised with a brother who was brain-damaged, so he knows the goddamn difference between somebody who has genuine needs versus an abandoned sociopathically raised brat that the absentee parents are merely trying to medicate into submission. Mike Weiner holds a Master's degree in medical botany, and a Ph D. in nutritional ethnomedicine from UC Berkeley, and he's an advocate of getting children off of Ritalin.

Doesn't that sound like a better choice than Michael Savage?

Good. Do we want that guy on the air instead?

Then the best course of action is to STOP PICKETING.

It's the SAME MAN.

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One of the most beloved men in my life right now has a child who has been diagnosed with a form of high-level autism, and out of love and respect for that friend, if he told me Dr. Savage had done more harm than good to the community of people dealing with this disorder, I'd switch radio stations in a red hot second.

He exaggerated ON PURPOSE so as to start a dialogue. He also apologized for the hyperbolic nature of the statements and has subsequently invited parents and doctors who deal with autistic children and adults to call in and educate both him and the audience.

Did you catch that? He APOLOGIZED. And people still want him fired.

How often does autism make the national news? Like, oh, say NEVER?

The most sigificant value Michael Savage has in my life is an an entertainer, and that's about it.

As for myself? I have had moderate learning disabilities all of my life, and I have also listened to Michael Savage for ten years, along the lines of Knowing One's Enemy. I listen because I can't figure out what in the name of heaven and earth he's gonna hold forth about next. He fascinates me like a bad car accident or a structure fire. And I've been listening to each and every talk show host with that perspective for most of my life, because when I was sixteen, my Radio & Television Broadcasting teacher, Jay Norton, told me that by default, everything you hear on the radio or see on the television is bullshit, and you should only be listening for its entertainment value, and that included most news broadcasts, and most talk radio.

And if you haven't listened for years and grown to understand a context and the particular manner of delivery?

Then you are standing out in the nasty weather holding a picket sign just like you did when you first heard Eminem.

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Why isn't anybody protesting the fact that Jesse Jackson isn't in jail for making physical threats against a presidential candidate?

Oh? He said he was sorry? A moment of hyperbole uttered by a public figure is forgiven when an apology is offered?

In my opinion, it's hypocritical for one to be forgiven and not the other.

And of course absolutely none of the people standing out there with the picket signs have EVER used hyperbole to make a point.

Jesus Horatio Bald Headed Christ In A Doll Buggy.

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That's it. Have a good Monday.

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