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Michael Savage is the pseudonym of Michael Alan Weiner, PhD (born March 31, 1942). Savage is a controversial American conservative talk radio host, author, and political commentator. He holds master's degrees in medical botany and medical anthropology and earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in epidemiology and nutrition science. As Michael Weiner (Vī'-ner), he has written a number of books on herbal medicine and homeopathy. As Michael Savage, he has written four New York Times bestsellers: The Savage Nation (2003), The Enemy Within (2004), Liberalism is a Mental Disorder (2005), and The Political Zoo (2006). His nationally syndicated radio show The Savage Nation reaches over ten million listeners on 377 stations throughout the United States, ranking third in nationwide ratings behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Biography and education

Michael Savage was born Michael Alan Weiner in the borough of the Bronx in New York City to a Russian Jewish family. Michael Savage attended Jamaica High School, a public high school in New York City, and earned a Bachelor's from Queens College in education and sociology. He taught high school for several years in New York City. Following that, he earned two Master's degrees in ethnobotany and anthropology from the University of Hawaii. He then received a Ph.D. in Health and Medical Science in 1978 from the University of California, Berkeley. His thesis was titled "Nutritional Ethnomedicine in Fiji." Savage spent many years researching botany in the South Pacific and has a background in alternative medicine.

Michael Savage's experiences were not limited to academia and radio. His family in Brooklyn was not wealthy and he had found himself working odd jobs across his life, finding work as an ice cream factory worker, busboy, lifeguard, writer, before becoming a scientist and successful syndicated radio show host.

In the early 1970s, Michael Savage had a very different persona. He has stated that he considered himself a liberal at this time. Savage, then Michael Weiner, became part of the literary scene in North Beach, San Francisco, California. He befriended and traveled with Beat generation poets Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Stephen Schwartz, also an acquaintance of Michael Savage from this time, reported to Salon.com that Savage once even posed naked in a photograph with Ginsberg while swimming in Fiji. Some of Savage's letters to Ginsberg are held in Ginsberg's archives at Stanford University, and one of the letters attributed to Savage describes an encounter with a young Fijian man. Savage denies writing the letter and called it a forgery and part of a "smear campaign" by "gay fascists". He told Jake Tapper, "I'm not going to deal with the salacious issues that these faggots come up with... If I know a gay, suddenly everyone's gay? It's disgusting! Should I drop my pants so you can take a look at my dick to see if I'm a Jew?"

Ferlinghetti claims that Weiner's "reincarnation" as Michael Savage as "total opportunism," the crowning achievement of someone who was "always looking to make a fast buck" and "always trying to think up new schemes to get famous." Savage now derides Ferlinghetti and calls Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore "that once-famous communist bookstore." Another acquaintance of Michael Savage from this time includes poet and author Neeli Cherkovski. Cherkovski recalls that when he knew Michael Weiner, Weiner dreamed of becoming a stand-up comic in the mold of Lenny Bruce.

In the 1980s, the conservative political views for which Michael Savage is known today became apparent. Stephen Schwartz stated that Michael Savage became alienated from the North Beach scene in the early eighties, to the point of carrying a gun and screaming at former friends and acquaintances when he encountered them. One of his former acquantainces, Robert Cathcart, says that in his private conversations with Michael Savage during this time, he knew Michael Savage to have conservative political views. When Savage was asked about his shift in politics and other views, he replied "I was once a child; I am now a man".

In 1996 he applied to be a dean at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. When he was not granted an interview due to lack of qualifications--two years of experience in radio with a Ph.D. in epidemiology and nutrition science--Savage filed a discrimination lawsuit that was eventually dismissed. The position instead went to China scholar Orville Schell, who, according to Weiner, also without a Ph.D. in journalism, was less qualified than himself.

Radio

Michael Savage began his radio career on March 21, 1994 on San Francisco's #1 news/talk radio station KGO as a fill-in host for the liberal Ray Taliaferro. Less than a year later he was given a weekday show on KGO's sister station KSFO. He chose his "nom de voix" in "the Tonga Islands in the 1960s. "I stumbled upon the name of a shipwreck who was locally infamous -Charles Savage. His exploits were legendary," he said. "So the name was bouncing around in my head." At the time, his slogan was "To the right of Rush 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 Michael Savage soared to #1 in Arbitron ratings among both adult men and all adults 18+ during afternoon drivetime in San Francisco and to be top talk host in his timeslot in Northern California.In 1999, he came to the attention of the Talk Radio Network.

On January 17, 2000, he started doing an additional two hours of radio which was broadcast nationally. For the next eight months, Savage would spend a total of five hours a day just talking. His national experiment was a success, and on September 21, 2000, he stopped doing separate shows, beginning a full three-hour national show. After one year, he was in 150 markets. By 2003, he was in over 200 markets.

In June 2003, he had a salary dispute with his flagship station KSFO which refused to renegotiate his contract. He was off the air for three weeks. On July 1, 2003 he began his show on a different station: KNEW in San Francisco. Since that dispute, he speaks badly of KSFO and of "Vanity or Pretty Boy" Sean Hannity, whose show replaced his on the station. Savage also speaks pejoratively when referencing talk radio hosts or individuals with whom he disagrees. (Hannity is affiliated with Citadel Communicatoins' ABC Radio Networks; as of the July 2003 deal with KNEW, Savage's show was picked up by Clear Channel's Premiere Radio Networks, as part of his KNEW deal, as KNEW is a Clear Channel Communications radio station. Since that time, Savage has jumped mostly to Clear Channel stations.)

As of 2005, Savage has between 8 million and 10 million listeners per week. This makes his show the third most widely listened to broadcast in the United States. Savage attributes his success in part to his listeners who he considers "literate callers with intelligence, wit, and energy". He says 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 Plato, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Moses, Jesus and Frankenstein."

Introduction and music

The signature introduction to the Savage Nation is an announcer saying "Warning: The Michael Savage Show contains adult language, adult content, psychological nudity. Listener discretion is advised." The beginning of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" will come next, followed by Mötley Crüe's "Looks that Kill," and Metallica's "The Shortest Straw" will finish off the introduction.

For bumper music, Savage has used "Eye of the Beholder," "Frayed Ends of Sanity," "Holier Than Thou," "Jump in the Fire," "To Live is to Die," "Battery," "Blackened," "Sad But True," "Ain't My Bitch," "Fuel," and "The Shortest Straw" by Metallica; and "Du Hast" and "Tier" by Rammstein. Other songs include "Smells like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, "Big Gun" by AC/DC, and "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine.

Someone claiming to be Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett called in to Savage's show to say, "We support what you're doing," but it is unlikely that it was actually Hammett as he expressed disgust for George H.W. Bush and Pat Buchanan in the 1992 documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica and contributed $1,000 to the Democratic National Committee during the 2004 elections.

MSNBC

Savage was hired by MSNBC president Erik Sorenson to do a one-hour show starting March 8, 2003, despite previous desparaging references to the network in his book The Savage Nation, where he calls it "More Snotty Nonsense By Creeps" and calls anchor Ashleigh Banfield "the mind-slut with a big pair of glasses that they sent to Afghanistan...She looks like she went from porno into reporting." Reportedly, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw objected to Savage's hiring, asking NBC executives "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of NBC?"

On July 7, a mere four months later, he was fired for making anti-gay remarks in response to a caller, later identified as prank caller Bob Foster. Savage was doing an "Airline Horror Stories" piece, when Bob called in to his show to talk about undercover security guards smoking in the bathroom. His next words were "Half hour into the flight, I need to suggest that Don and Mike should take your show so you can go to the dentist because your teeth are really bad." The words after "should" were bleeped out by a MSNBC executive. Savage then asked if Bob was a "sodomite," to which the caller answered "yes." Savage then said to the caller: "Oh, so you're one of those sodomites. You should only get AIDS 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 better to do today, go eat a sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis. 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." The show then cut to a video of two people grilling sausages to the tune of "The Marines' Hymn".

Personal views and criticism

Michael Savage calls himself an "independent-minded individualist" and claims he "fits no stereo-type". Savage attacks "big government" and what he claims is liberal media bias, but champions the environment and animal rights. He often emphasizes three aspects of his socio-political beliefs regarding the United States: "Borders, Language, and Culture." From these beliefs he founded The Paul Revere Society.

Immigration

Savage asserts that America needs stronger immigration controls and borders to protect itself from rampant illegal immigration which he claims, undermines national security and the economy. In March 2006 he asserted, "Clinton opened the door to Mexico, but Bush has taken it off its hinges!" He also advocates English as the official language of the United States. In The Enemy Within, Savage compares earlier generations of immigrants to the United States who learned to speak English, with more recent immigrants, who he says are placated by the government because "they don't bother to learn English."

On April 11, 2006, Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group, reported that in his radio program of the previous day, Savage had described recent illegal immigrant protestors as "vermin who are trying to dictate to us how we should run America" and added that feminism and homosexuality are "destroying America." Savage's reply in a following program was that "vermin" referred to "...the leadership behind them... and I have described to you who they are. They are the communist Marxist bloc of International ANSWER."

Culture

Savage asserts that American culture has always centered around a strong family life and Judeo-Christian ethics. He considers that failure to maintain these three aspects will result in the decline and "disintegration" of the United States and often discusses these subjects on The Savage Nation.

Savage claims that he coined the phrase "compassionate conservative" in 1994. The slogan later became a pillar of George W. Bush's election campaign in 2000. Savage also frequently accuses the national political parties of sharing identical philosophies and not having any real differences, and he uses the coined terms "Republicrat and Democan" to describe their members. Savage had claimed to have coined the term "Islamofascism," although it was used in 1990 by Malise Ruthven.

Savage has also advocated the reintroduction of the repealed Sedition Act, accusing mainstream media sources such as ABC, CBS, and NBC of being "mouth pieces for the enemy." On the January 19, 2006 broadcast of his radio show, he called for the internment of roughly 380,000 American citizens for the length of the war on terror, comparing the action to measures taken by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. He included Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, and all non citizen Muslims in his list of those to arrest. In closing, he mentioned that we should not get ahead of ourselves (with regards to just imprisoning everyone) and that we should deal with such things when the time comes. This is an example of what fans say is Savage's sometimes satirical, over-the-top style of hyperbole. On March 28, 2006, Savage encouraged his listeners to burn Mexican flags to counter protests of pro-illegal-immigration groups during which American flags were burned while Mexican flags were waved.

Criticism

Critics such as GLAAD, FAIR, and Dave Gilson of Salon.com accuse him of fascist leanings , racism , homophobia, , and bigotry , because of his controversial statements about Islam, homosexuality, feminism, and immigration. Critics point out various controversial statements that he has made, including calling for the licensing of journalists and the arrest of liberal activists, as well as proposing responding with force to violent protests. In April 2006, Savage called for the killing of 100 million Muslims, saying, "Intelligent people, wealthy people...are very depressed by the weakness that America is showing to these psychotics in the Muslim world. They say, ‘Oh, there’s a billion of them.’ I said, ‘So, kill 100 million of them; then there’d be 900 million of them.’ I mean...would you rather us die than them?...Would you rather we disappear or we die? Or would you rather they disappear and they die? Because you’re going to have to make that choice sooner rather than later."

Recently, Savage has been extremely critical of talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, whom he has called "Hush Bimbo," and Sean Hannity "Pawn Vanity," for what he views as their blind support of the Republican Party and President George W. Bush. He has also attacked Bill O'Reilly (whom Savage has dubbed the "Lepre-con") (also now "Loofa-Man" in reference to Bill O'Reilly's shortlived sexual harassment scandal) and William Bennett as hypocrites and "phony" conservatives for advocating morality while living what he views as immoral lives.

Savage constantly reminds his listeners that President Bush and most neo-conservatives in government and elsewhere in talk radio are basically an outgrowth of the big-government, liberal Rockefeller-wing of the Republican Party, or "checked-pants, country club Republicans" as he calls them. Whereas, Savage presents himself as a voice for the Goldwater, traditional conservative movement, opposed to government largess and globalism.

Savage has also broken from the present conservative stereotype by showing strong support for the environmental and animal rights movements and describing any right-winger who opposes such movements as "ignorant" and "knee-jerk" conservatives. However, Savage's stated pro-environment position is somewhat unclear to people who aren't familiar with the arguments against the theory of global warming, since he is very critical of evidence often cited as support for global warming. Savage, although pro-animal rights, is verbally outspoken against PETA, an animal rights group, due to their political ties and methods, not their philosophy.

In July 2005, Bernard Goldberg included Savage in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America as number 61. Goldberg cites Savage's tendency to be venomous and says, "Savage's brand of over-the-top bile...puts him right in there with the angriest haters on the Left..."

In March 2006, Savage verbally berated the Roman Catholic Church in America, accusing them of breaking federal law by giving assistance to illegal immigrants (in response to statements by Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, calling it "pastoral support"). He angrily denounced its leaders as "pigs" and "molestors" (in reference to the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases) and called the Church "rotten from the top to the bottom." It should be noted, however, that he has defended and shown support for the Catholic Church regarding other issues on previous occasions .

On April 17, 2006, Michael Savage stated, "...we're going to die as a nation. I swear to God that's what people are saying to me. And these are intelligent people, wealthy people. They are very depressed by the weakness that America is showing to these psychotics in the Muslim world. 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? I mean, what is it going to take for you people to wake up? Would you rather we disappear or we die? Or would you rather they disappear and they die? Because you're going to have to make that choice sooner rather than later." Later in the same show, Savage referred to the alleged Duke University rape victim as the "Durham Dirtbag" and a "drunken slut stripping whore."

Writings

Along with his four best selling political books The Savage Nation, The Enemy Within, Liberalism is a Mental Disorder, and the Political Zoo, Michael Savage, as Michael Weiner, PhD, was the author of the book Herbs That Heal and 17 other books.

The publication of Weiner's Herbal: The Guide to Herb Medicine, in 1980 raises some controversies. The book states the medical benefits of marijuana . However he recently stated that the chemicals in marijuana make it too dangerous to be used as medicine. On his program, he strongly cautions against the recreational use of marijuana, occasionally devoting his show to "marijuana horror stories" and its claimed potential to ruin lives. He has authored a number of other books on various herbal medicine topics under this name. More recently, Savage's books are political in nature and published by WND Books, a partnership between the conservative website WorldNetDaily and Thomas Nelson, a publisher of Christian books.

In January 2003 he published The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture, his first book under the pseudonym Michael Savage. The book quickly reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list, earning Savage, as noted above, a commentary show on MSNBC. The book directs attacks at "media bias," the "dominating culture of 'she-ocracy'", gay activists, and liberals.

In January 2004, Savage published his second political book The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military. His next book Liberalism is a Mental Disorder 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 January 2006, Savage announced that he would be releasing a new book The Political Zoo in mid-April. The book contains satirical profiles and cartoons of different people in politics as animals in the "Political Zoo," including one of Savage himself, who is portrayed as the zookeeper. Savage has remarked that the book will be "easier to digest" than his previous political books.

Religious views

Michael Savage states that he is a Universalist. In a radio interview with Jerry Falwell on April 29, 2004, he opposed Falwell's view that people will go to hell if they do not believe in the doctrine that Jesus is the unique son of God. He refuses to believe that good people who do not accept Jesus will go to hell, while unrepentant, sinful Christians will go to heaven. Savage believes that religion is "a wheel." At the center of the wheel is God, and the five "spokes" of the wheel are the world's major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. He believes in Universal reconciliation, which means that everybody will eventually go to heaven.

Trivia

On his February 10, 2006 show, he proclaimed that the online encyclopedia Misplaced Pages is "full of crap" and that most of his entry is untrue. The subject was brought up because of a recent report that aides to politicians have been tweaking their bosses' bios to make them come across more favorably. During his show on May 24, 2006, Savage stated that he believes those who edit Misplaced Pages have finally gotten it somewhat right.

Russell Goldencloud Weiner, Savage's son, is the founder and CEO of Rockstar, Inc., the manufacturer and marketer of Rockstar energy drink.

Ratings

Michael Savage has the third largest syndicated radio talk show in the nation according to Talk Magazine.

Bibliography

Books as Michael Weiner

• Plant a Tree, New York : Collier Books, 1975
• Bugs in Peanut Butter, Boston : Little, Brown, 1976.
• Man's Useful Plants, New York: Macmillan. 1976.
• The Taster's Guide to Beer: Brews and Breweries of the World, Macmillan, 1977.
• Earth Medicine, Earth Food, New York : Macmillan Pub. Co., 1980.
• The way of the skeptical nutritionist, New York : Macmillan, 1981.
• The Art of Feeding Children Well, Warner Books, 1982
• Nutrition Against Aging, Bantam books, 1983.
• Secrets of Fijian Medicine, Quantum Books, 1983.
• Vital Signs(the book), Avant Books, 1983
• Getting Off Cocaine, Avon Books, 1984.
• Maximum Immunity, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
• Reducing the risk of Alzheimer's, New York : Stein and Day, 1987.
• The Complete Book of Homeopathy, Garden City Park, N.Y. : Avery Pub., 1989.
• The Herbal Bible, San Rafael, CA : Quantum Books, 1992.
• Healing children naturally, San Rafael, CA : Quantum Books, 1993.
• Herbs that heal : prescription for herbal healing, Mill Valley, CA : Quantum Books, 1994.
• The Antioxidant Cookbook, Mill Valley, CA : Quantum Books, 1995.

Books as Michael Savage

• The Savage Nation, WND Books, 2003.
• The Enemy Within, Nelson Current, 2004.
• Liberalism is a Mental Disorder, Nelson Current, 2005.
• The Political Zoo, Nelson Current, 2006.

References

1. ^ NewsMax biography. Accessed 10 June 2006. <http://www.newsmax.com/pundits/bios/Savage-bio.shtml>
2. ^ Mark de la Viña, "The Man Behind the 'Savage Nation': Neo-Consertative Host Once Embraced the Counterculture", San Jose Mercury News, July 20, 2003.
3. ^ David Gilson, "Michael Savage's long, strange trip", Salon.com, March 5, 2003.
4. ^ "A Savage letter?", New York Daily News, June 7, 2003. The letter can be read here.
5. ^ Jake Tapper, "The Savage Mind", GQ, September 2003.

External links

• Michael Savage's website
• Michael Savage bio from the Talk Radio Network website
• Template:Nndb name
• Michael Savage / Savage Nation Discussion Forums
• Michael Savage on Media Matters
• Savage Stupidity
• The Savage Underground
• Michael Savage Neologisms

• 1942 births
• Living people
• American radio personalities
• People in alternative medicine
• Pro-life celebrities
• Misplaced Pages critics
• Universalists
• Bronxites
• San Francisco Broadcasters
• Jewish American writers
• Jewish-American politicians