Michael Savage’s flagship station drops him.

Finally San Francisco gets the respect it deserves from Clear Channel Communications and it's local affiliate, KNEW 910AM, by taking off-the-air, the mos vitriolic and bitter Shock Jock of them all, Michael Savage, who has for years stained with his mere presence this most beautiful and accepting City.

A thank you letter to KNEW 910AM would be in order but.... check out the guys who are replacing him - on the bright side, albeit the 'whiner' is what you find at the bottom of the 'human scum' of the homo sapiens denominator's trash barrel, KNEW / Clear Channel are giving us 'something new of the same thing', so if a letter is sent, it would be good to point our that they get a minus zero in attempting diversity.

How vitriolic and bitter The Savage has been?
Let us count the ways


FROM: Think Progress

Michael Savage’s flagship station drops him.

Earlier today, the conservative blog Patriot Axom noted that far-right radio host Michael Savage has been taken “off the air” from his San Francisco-based flagship station, Talk 910 KNEW. Now, a representative from the station has issued a statement explaining why it will no longer air Savage’s show:

I’m going to answer the very first question many of you have.

“Why did you take Michael Savage off the air?”

Here’s your no-spin direct answer; we have decided to go in a different philosophical and ideological direction, featuring more contemporary content and more local information. The Savage Nation does not fit into that vision.

910 KNEW’s decision is the latest blow to Savage’s efforts to spread hate. Last winter, following a campaign by the Council On American-Islamic Relations and Brave New Films, numerous advertisers ended their relationship with Savage, including Geico, Union Bank of California, and ITT Technical Institute. Savage has in the past advocated killing 100 million Muslims, compared President Jimmy Carter to Hitler, and has said that the U.S. Senate is “more histrionic than ever” because of the addition of female senators.

FROM: Media Matters for America

Michael Savage gets bounced off the air in his own hometown

September 10, 2009 4:37 pm ET by Eric Boehlert

In fact, KNEW in San Francisco serves as Savage's flagship station for his syndicated radio show. Make that was. As Think Progress reported, the station yanked Savage off the air today. Permanently.

The station's statement:

We have decided to go in a different philosophical and ideological direction, featuring more contemporary content and more local information. The Savage Nation does not fit into that vision.

I'm sure The New Yorker is crushed.

The New Yorker raises a toast to birther nut Michael Savage

August 03, 2009 3:59 pm ET

If you've been under the impression that right-wing radio host Michael Savage, who claims Barack Obama was born in Kenya, was schooled at a radical Islamic madrassa, and is now "raping America," was a hate merchant who operated on the edges of common decency, and represented a primetime player in the unfolding far-right campaign to delegitimize and dehumanize the president, The New Yorker wants you put those assumptions aside.

If you thought that Savage was cultivating a culture of extremism by claiming the Obama administration espouses "the same exact policies as the Nazi Party," The New Yorker thinks you have it all wrong.

And if you bought into the silly notion that Savage was part of a right-wing movement playing off racial fears, The New Yorker thinks you're being simplistic and naïve.

Because in its August 3 issue, the mighty New Yorker magazine, in an in-depth profile of Savage (subscription required), mostly set aside the host's nasty streak and suggested instead that the paranoid, gay-hating, xenophobic talk show host was really just misunderstood.

In truth, or at least in the gentle hands of New Yorker writer Kelefa Sanneh, Savage is "a marvelous storyteller, a quirky talker, and an incorrigible free-associater." He hosts "the most addictive program on radio and one of the least predictable." To Sanneh's ear, Savage's daily rants by the jazz-loving host are "engrossing."

In other words, he's an artist weaving a broadcast tapestry.

Savage doesn't preach hate. (That's so cliché, people.) Instead, the host merely engages in some old-fashioned "rabble rousing." Sure, he broadcasts an "antipathy for liberals." And yes, he does show flashes of an "immoderate" and "incendiary style." But deep down, Savage is really just a throwback to "garrulous old-school New York radio personalities." In fact, Savage isn't all that much different than famed shock jock Howard Stern. Besides, The New Yorker loves the "counter-culture feel" of Savage's program.

Plus, once you get to know Savage and hang out with him on his deck at his Bay Area home and share a beer, you discover he's "a first-rate host, chatty and solicitous." And who knew that Savage "loves to talk about his well-worn Hebrew Bible, which is full of annotations and post-it notes"? Indeed, Savage is a man in search of "the right way to articulate his Jewish heritage."

What's the big deal, Sanneh seems to be asking throughout the article. And in an audio interview posted online at The New Yorker website, the writer seemed bemused that when it came to the topic of Savage, "liberals get all worked up about, 'Oh, this guy is really offensive and vile and hateful.' "

Personally, Sanneh just didn't see it. "I think a lot of people who don't listen to his show would maybe be surprised by how weird it is and how funny it is," he told his online interviewer. Indeed, according to the writer, "part of the fun of listening to his show" is the way Savage "wrestles on the air" with life's bigger, philosophical questions.

And, oh yeah, Savage is actually a "political idealist, a sucker for a sob story, and firm believer in the power of friendship."

Question: Does he like puppies, too?

Honestly, The New Yorker could not have picked a worse time to publish a puff piece about Savage. Arriving on newsstands the same week we learned that 58 percent of Republicans either don't believe or don't know whether Barack Obama was born in America (a rancid conspiracy theory that Savage has peddled for months), and arriving the same week that Fox News' Glenn Beck went on national television and called out the president of the United States a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people," The New Yorker's soft-pedaling of Savage, as well as the larger unhinged right-wing movement to demonize and dehumanize Obama, was just embarrassing. (By the way, in the same article, The New Yorker described Beck as "deftly channeling the defiance and bewilderment of dissident America." I suppose that's one -- softball -- way of putting it.)

Sorry, but in case The New Yorker hadn't noticed from its lofty, literary perch, there's a not-very-subtle movement within the right-wing media to paint Obama as illegitimate (i.e., the Manchurian Candidate) and as a looming threat to our liberties and freedoms. There's also a burgeoning race-baiting movement afoot. And Savage is helping to lead that charge.

According to Savage, Obama is "surrounded by terrorists" for friends and is "raping America." He's a "neo-Marxist fascist dictator in the making" with a plan to "force children into a paramilitary domestic army." Savage has also attacked gays as people who are "raping our children's minds." He has condemned illegal immigrants for having "destroyed" California and accused them of having "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty.

In terms of Islam, just listen to this in order to get a taste of Savage's disturbing, guttural hatred for the religion and its people: More...

3rd Annual Anti-Hate Speech SF Rally -- Community Groups Ask the FCC to Open Docket on Hate Speech

WHAT: Rally / Demonstraton
WHEN: Saturday August 15, 2009 - 2:00 pm
WHERE: Clear Channel Radio 340 Townsend Street, San Francisco, California (4th St. @ Townsend )

Call for a Halt to Hate Speech in the Media

Community Groups Ask the FCC to Open Docket on Hate Speech and NTIA to Update 1993 report "The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes".

Alarmed at the documented increase in the amount of patently false and hateful language being broadcast and concerned this is helping to create a climate of hate and prejudice which in turn may foster the commission of hate crimes; a grassroots group of activists in the Bay Area is holding a rally to call attention to this growing national problem, which has a negative impact on the civil rights of frequently-targeted groups like immigrants, the disabled and Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual, Transgender and African American people.

The groups are frustrated that neither of the previous two protests (on 08/15/2007 and 09/23/2008) yielded significant action on the part of the agencies that are charged with regulating the broadcast industry. In the spirit of equality and dignity for all, the Coalition, feels compelled to hold a 3rd annual demonstration against media hate speech.

This year, the Coalition is pleased to be able to support the Petitions of the National Hispanic Media Coalition for a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) docket on hate speech and the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) to update the 1993 report "The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes".

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will also be considering a resolution in support of the two petitions to the federal regulatory agencies co-sponsored by Supervisor's Campos, Avalos, David Chiu, Chris daly, Bevan Duffy, Eric Mar, Sophie Maxwell and Ross Mirkarimi.

Clear Channel Communications, the site of the protest, allows some of the most virulent purveyors of hate and intolerance, including Michael Savage and Glenn Beck, to denigrate communities, groups and individuals.

Free speech is an important American value, but so is social responsibility. Shouting "fire" in a crowded theater puts others at risk. See the Coalition's objectives statement for more on responsible and irresponsible media speech.

Bay Area Grassroots Coalition Against Media Hate Speech and Hate Crimes

Spanish version of these documents Comunicado de Prensa, Objetivos, Resolución.
Coalition Objectives

Coalition Resolution

Grassroots Groups Tell FCC: "Stop Hate Radio"!

Activists, members of community organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area who plan to attend the San Francisco Premiere of Broadcast Blues , also plan to Rally prior to the presentation of the film to highlight the need for Media Reform and to demand for the FCC to open a docket on Hate-Speech, misinformation and Media Consolidation, which is the model that allows a more widespread and uniform disemination of racist, xenophobic, nativist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, et al, views to a nationwide audience already prejudiced with feelings of intolerance and hate.
And we have been seeing the results of their dehumanization of other human beings, people are being abused, discriminated, verbally bashed, beaten and even murdered by listeners of Hate-Radio, some of them (Listeners) have taken the arguments against targetted people and groups that the Shock Jocks make on a daily basis, to their logical, and in far too many times, fatal conclussions.

Firmly believing that one of the biggest, if not the biggest factor in the abuse and attacks against people and groups which are viewed as different, is hate speech in the media made possible by the extense consolidation of it, grassroots forces have concluded that the former needs to be stopped and the latter changed.

Members of The Hispanic / Latino Anti-Defamation Coalicion SF, this time joined forces with Common Cause and Media Alliance, to once again, mount a Rally / Demonstration against Hate Speech, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, et al in San Francisco in front of the Victoria Theater prior to the showing of the San Francisco Premiere of Broadcast Blues by Emmy Award winner Sue Wilson on Sunday June 28 at 4:00p.m. - The Rally will be held before the showing of the documentary.

"We feel that this film is one everyone should see, specially the ones who are not that well informed about Media Consolidation and the harm it does to our Democracy and Communities." This is a common view held amongst the people who will be protesting.

It was shown in Sacramento CA on March 22 and it was a huge success together with the action they held there, now it is coming to San Francisco and the plans are to have a nationwide tour in a couple of months, Common Cause will be one of the Organizations sponsoring it.

Personally, the way I see it, is that people need to hear about this Documentary, what is all about and what we can do to take the media back, after all, we own the airwaves.

We need to publicize the film, the actions we are taking and can take - we need to keep up the pressure, our people will benefit, we need to have Media Reform, we need to have the FCC open a docket on Hate Speech, there is so much that needs to be done - the words of FCC Commission Acting Chairman Michael J. Copps are so true, in case you didn't know, he said that if we want to have any progressive reform enacted, we need to have Media Reform first to open up the Media to opposing points of view.

In addition, demonstrators are in agreenment and in support of the NHMC Petition to the FCC and will be asking attendees and the public in general, to also contact the FCC in support of the Petition.

SUMMARY: Hate speech against vulnerable groups is pervasive in our media – it is not limited to a few isolated instances or any one media platform. Indeed, many large mainstream media corporations regularly air hate speech, and it is prolific over the internet. Hate speech takes various forms, from words advocating violence to those creating a climate of hate towards vulnerable groups. Cumulatively, hate speech creates an environment of hate and prejudice that legitimizes violence against its targets.
Because the media has a powerful influence over people’s behavior and perceptions, it is not mere conjecture that hate speech over the media is producing concrete harms. As they have become the victims of more hate speech in media, hate crimes against Latinos have increased in frequency and in intensity. Indeed, hate crimes against Latinos have increased by 40% in just the last four years. And physical violence is not the only harm suffered at the hand of hate speech – studies show that such speech causes severe emotional and psychological distress to its targets. These harms may be particularly acute for Latino children given that children are uniquely susceptible to messages in the media.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) applauds President Obama’s commitment to equality and justice, and therefore respectfully requests that the FCC complement his efforts by initiating an inquiry into hate speech in the media.
Specifically, the NHMC requests that the Commission invite public comment on hate speech, inquire into the extent and nature of hate speech, examine the effects of hate speech, including the relationship between hate speech in the media and hate crimes, and explore options for counteracting or reducing the negative effects of such speech.
The NHMC is very supportive of First Amendment freedoms, and believes the cure for bad speech is not the suppression of speech, but more speech. The NHMC asks the FCC to shine a spotlight on those who use the public airwaves to promote a divisive agenda, heedless of the human cost.

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Grassroots Groups Tell FCC: Stop Hate Radio!

At 3:00 PM on Sunday June 28, the Hispanic/Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition, Media Alliance, and California Common Cause will mount a rally outside the San Francisico Premiere of Broadcast Blues at the Victoria Theater at 16th and Mission. The message is clear: Tell the FCC to schedule hearings on Hate Radio. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the federal agency which oversees broadcasters.

"A recent UCLA study shows a correlation between hate radio and hate crimes. We are demanding the FCC listen to the public about this crucial public interest problem," says Dr. Marcos Gutierrez, radio host and director of Hecho en California Radio.

“Common Cause is concerned when a few corporations own our media resulting in less local programming and fewer viewpoints being broadcast. More alarming, we are hearing more `hate speech' including broadcasters spreading misinformation, stereotyping, and fostering violence against certain people or groups,” notes California Common Cause staffer Emily Pears.

Broadcasters say they have the right to exercise Free Speech, but Broadcast Blues director Sue Wilson challenges that assertion. "There is Free Speech, and there is Radio Speech. The two are not the same. When the radio dial is opened up to all points of view, radio speech will be free. Until then, it is owned and operated for a political agenda. That must change." Broadcast Blues reminds us that we the people own the airwaves, and that we do have the power to hold stations and the FCC accountable.

Tracy Rosenberg of Media Alliance says, "How is it in the public interest to call other human beings …vermin? If I were a regulator whose job was to rent out the nation's communication space, I'd look into that. That's what we're asking the FCC to do.”

The rally will be held at the Victoria Theater, 2961 16th Street, San Francisco, at the 16th St. BART station. The screening of Broadcast Blues will follow at 4PM. More information is at www.broadcastblues.tv

# # #

Para distribucion inmediata

Los grupos de base dicen al FCC: ¡Parar el odio en la radio!

A las 3:00 P.M. del domingo 28 de junio, la Coalición Hispánica/Latino de la Anti-Difamación, la Media Alliance, y Common Cause de California montarán un rally enfrente del Teatro Victoria antes de la premier de Broadcast Blues en San Francisco en la calle 16 y la misión. El mensaje está claro: Decir al FCC que programe Audiencias sobre la radio del odio. La Comisión Federal de las Comunicaciones (FCC) es la agencia federal que supervisa los locutores.

" Un estudio reciente del UCLA demuestra una correlación entre la radio del odio y los crímenes de odio. Estamos exigiendo al FCC que escuche a el público sobre este problema crucial de interés público, " dice a Dr. Marcos Gutiérrez, anfitrión de radio y director del programa Hecho en California.

“Common Cause esta preocupado de que algunas corporaciones poseen nuestros medios resultando en menos programación local y menos puntos de vista difundidos. Más alarmante, estamos oyendo más “discurso del odio” incluyendo los locutores que diseminan información falsa, estereotipando y fomentando violencia contra ciertos gente o grupos” Hace notar Emily Pears que es empleada en la plantilla de Common
Cause de California.

Los locutores dicen que tienen el derecho de ejercitar su libre expresión, pero la Directora de Broadcast Blues, Sue Wilson, desafía tal aserción. " Hay discurso libre, y hay discurso de radio. Los dos no son iguales. Cuando el dial de la radio se abra a todos los puntos de vista, el discurso de radio será libre. Hasta entonces, se posee y es operado para una agenda política. Eso debe cambiar." Broadcast Blues nos recuerda que la gente somos dueños de las ondas, y que tenemos el poder demantener a estaciones y a la FCC responsables.

Tracy Rosenberg de la Media Alliance dice, " ¿Donde esta el interés público al llamar a seres humanos… bichos? Si yo fuera un regulador cuyo trabajo fuera el alquilar espacio de la comunicación de la nación, indagaría sobre éso. Eso es lo que estamos
pidiendo que la FCC haga.” El Rally será en el teatro de Victoria, 2961 calle 16th, San Francisco, en la estación de la 16th del BART,la proyección de Broadcast Blue seguirá a las 4PM. Para más información www.broadcastblues.tv

# # #

HEAR AND VIEW WHAT SHOCK JOCKS ARE SAYING

Fighting back against radio hate...

	December 15, 2008

Dear Aurora , Media Matters for America recently released a damning new report documenting the inflammatory smears and hate-fueled speech of radio hosts throughout the country. Day after day, these hosts fill the airwaves with vicious attacks aimed at women, people of color, the poor, the LGBT community, and immigrants. As part of Media Matters' ongoing effort to expose the incendiary commentary of these hosts, we've decided to highlight the topics and segments of the population they most frequently assail. >> Sign up at WeCanStopTheHate.org for more information on how you can help fight back. Among the most frequently targeted communities, immigrants figure prominently. The smears run the gamut from claiming undocumented Mexican immigrants "want to reconquer America" to laying the blame for the home-foreclosure crisis at the feet of the undocumented. Here are just a few examples of the vitriol directed at immigrants from these conservative radio hosts: G. Gordon Liddy smeared undocumented Mexican immigrants, claiming they "want to reconquer America, they say" Summary: On his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy claimed that undocumented immigrants from Mexico come to the United States and "want to fly the Mexican flag" and "want to speak Spanish" instead of learning English. Liddy then stated: "They want to reconquer America, they say." - Listen to Clip Michael Savage: "Illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty Summary: Discussing the Italian government's decision to deploy soldiers on city streets to combat violent crime allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, Michael Savage said: "So they've done there what we need to do here. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work." Savage added: "[Y]ou turn on the cable news, they're covering again a missing child. Not a missing country but a missing child. ... We hear about the rape of a woman, but not about the rape of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is crying, she's been raped and disheveled -- raped and disheveled by illegal aliens." - Listen to Clip Savage: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. ... [T]hey never assimilate. And then their children become gang-bangers" Summary: Michael Savage asserted on June 23: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. You're telling me they're going to assimilate? They will never assimilate. They come here and they bring their destitute ways to this country, and they never assimilate." He continued: "And then their children become gang-bangers. It is a disaster." Savage added that earlier immigrants to the U.S. "had used toilet paper and toothbrushes and they knew how to survive in this country. They took a job or they worked. They didn't come and sit and have 16 children and eat beetle nuts." - Listen to Clip Conservative radio hosts claimed HUD said 5 million illegal immigrants were given subprime mortgages, despite HUD's reported denials >Summary: Rush Limbaugh and KSFO's Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave "5 million illegal aliens" subprime loans that they have not paid back. Quinn & Rose's Jim Quinn also cited the 5 million statistic without citing a source for the figure. None of these radio hosts noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false. These radio hosts make a living off of unsubstantiated smears and outright attacks aimed at immigrants and Latinos. It's time to let them know we are listening. >> Sign up at WeCanStopTheHate.org for more information on how you can help fight back. Together we can shine the bright spotlight of accountability on these hosts. It is time for each of us to speak up and make our voices heard. I hope you'll join with us in this fight. Sincerely, Eric Burns President Media Matters for America Janet Murguía President and CEO National Council of La Raza P.S. - Read more at WeCanStopTheHate.org .

Savage: "If you're insane, hate the family ... hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue,"

From: Media Matters For America
Fri, Oct 31, 2008 3:55pm ET

Savage: "If you're insane, hate the family ... hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue," you oppose CA gay marriage ban

Summary: On his radio show, referring to a California ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, Michael Savage stated: "If you're insane, hate the family, hate man and woman, hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue, of course you're in favor of 'no' on Proposition 8." The next day, Savage said that "people who don't have families ... don't understand what the family unit is. It's the strongest bond on Earth, which is why homosexual marriage is such a threat to civilization itself."

Trouble viewing clip? Download: QuickTime

On the October 29 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage said of a California ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, "[T]here's a ballot initiative on homosexual marriage that is more important than you could imagine. It's called Proposition 8, and you must vote 'yes' if you're sane. If you're insane, hate the family, hate man and woman, hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue, of course you're in favor of 'no' on Proposition 8." The next day on his program, Savage stated: "[T]he people who don't have families don't understand that, as difficult as family life is, life is impossible without it. They don't understand that. They don't understand what the family unit is. It's the strongest bond on Earth, which is why homosexual marriage is such a threat to civilization itself."

Media Matters for America has documented Savage's history of making on-air anti-gay statements. For example, on October 1, Savage asserted that "the government has no right to force people to accept homosexual marriage. It is why the West is dying. It is why we're melting down as a nation." During that broadcast, Savage also said of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: "Today it's the gays, tomorrow it'll be a man marrying a horse. If he could get elected saying that a man should be allowed to marry a mule -- a donkey or a mule, he would do that, too, saying it's a civil right to marry a mule -- that any man should have the right to have sex with an animal, because that's his right and the animal isn't complaining about it." Media Matters also noted that on his June 16 show, Savage said, "It's not a joke when you pervert an institution like marriage, which is in trouble enough," and added, "Our children are being destroyed by this."

Additionally, as Media Matters noted, Savage formerly hosted a television program on MSNBC but was fired after he described a caller as a "sodomite" and told him to "get AIDS and die." Savage has also repeatedly referred to "the homosexual mafia," claimed that "the homosexual dance of death" is the "seminal issue of our time," compared gays to "drug addicts," and repeatedly called gay parenting "child abuse."

Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the October 29 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: Now, in the state of California, which leads both for the good and the bad in many ways politically, there's a ballot initiative on homosexual marriage that is more important than you could imagine. It's called Proposition 8, and you must vote "yes" if you're sane. If you're insane, hate the family, hate man and woman, hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue, of course you're in favor of "no" on Proposition 8, which is where most of the Democrat politicians are, because they are exactly what you think they are.

From the October 30 broadcast of The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: What it is, is that a family man knows that life is filled with briars and stones and this and that, and that the -- they have -- the people who don't have families don't understand that, as difficult as family life is, life is impossible without it.

CALLER: Yes, yes. On Daryl --

SAVAGE: They don't understand that. They don't understand what the family unit is. It's the strongest bond on Earth, which is why homosexual marriage is such a threat to civilization itself.

—H.D.

Savage: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise"

From: Media Matters for America
Thu, Oct 23, 2008 6:16pm ET

Summary: On his radio show, Michael Savage asked: "Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't." He later added: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise."

Savage: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise"

During the October 22 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage asked: "Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't. Why should a person who is on public assistance maintain the right to vote? Tell me why. Where is it written that they should have the right to vote?" He added: "I support them, and they should have the same vote I do? That would be like saying an infant has the right to vote or an insane person has the right to vote. Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise."

Savage continued: "So if you get a demagogue like [Sen. Barack] Obama coming along, and he says to the welfare recipient, elect me, and I'll make sure that we have trickle-up poverty, and the rich -- so-called, that is anyone who works for a living -- will give you more money, more welfare, of course you're gonna vote for the demagogue Obama. See, if I was in charge, I'd pass a law which says, OK, you can't support yourself for whatever reason, you're on welfare, you lose the right to vote."

Later in the broadcast, Savage again asked: "Do you think that people on welfare should lose the right to vote, as I do? Do you believe that that would be a fundament of democracy that if you lose the right -- if you lose the ability to support yourself, for whatever reason, and you seek public assistance, you should, during that period of receiving public assistance, lose the right to vote?" He later stated: "You get back on the self-sufficiency, you get the right to vote. Then we'll have a fair election in America. Otherwise, it's all over. We have a communist nation either now or in the very near future."

As Media Matters for America has documented, on the October 21 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, host Jim Quinn, while discussing the history of property rights in the United States, said: "Originally, if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it: because those without property will always vote away the property of other people unto themselves, and that's the beginning of the end." Quinn added: "But, oh no, that was -- that was just too mean-spirited." Additionally, on the October 2 broadcast of his Minneapolis radio show, Chris Baker said, "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly, in fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker later added: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right? And we'll see that, I'm sure, on a lame-ass website very soon. But I don't think hobos ought to vote at all. They're nuts. And I think that there needs to be a little more care in who votes."

Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the October 22 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't. Why should a person who is on public assistance maintain the right to vote? Tell me why. Where is it written that they should have the right to vote? I support them, and they should have the same vote I do? That would be like saying an infant has the right to vote or an insane person has the right to vote. Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise.

So if you get a demagogue like Obama coming along, and he says to the welfare recipient, elect me, and I'll make sure that we have trickle-up poverty, and the rich -- so-called, that is anyone who works for a living -- will give you more money, more welfare, of course you're gonna vote for the demagogue Obama. See, if I was in charge, I'd pass a law which says, OK, you can't support yourself for whatever reason, you're on welfare, you lose the right to vote. That's all there is to it. You've disenfranchised yourself, either through bad luck or bad behavior, whatever, and you get the right to vote again when you're self-sufficient and you're paying taxes. No taxes, no vote; no taxes, no vote; no taxes, no vote; no taxes, no vote. I have a lot of commonsensical ideas, but you don't hear any -- any of this coming out of the mouths of John McCain, do you? The mouths of John McCain -- I said that pointedly. The mouths of John McCain.

[...]

SAVAGE: Do you think that people on welfare should lose the right to vote, as I do? Do you believe that that would be a fundament of democracy that if you lose the right -- if you lose the ability to support yourself, for whatever reason, and you seek public assistance, you should, during that period of receiving public assistance, lose the right to vote? I think that that's perfectly rational, and the reason is, of course you're gonna go with any demagogue who says he's gonna give you more money.

Of course you're gonna vote to take away things from people who work for a living. And by definition, that's not fair. Fair should be those who work for a living and pay taxes get to vote. I'm not arguing that the more money you have, the more votes you should have. I didn't say that, so don't put words in my mouth. I'm arguing the opposite -- that you lose the right -- the ability to support yourself, you lose the right to vote temporarily. You get back on the self-sufficiency, you get the right to vote. Then we'll have a fair election in America. Otherwise, it's all over. We have a communist nation either now or in the very near future.

—H.D. & N.T.

Conservative radio hosts claimed HUD said 5 million illegal immigrants were given subprime mortgages, despite HUD's reported denials

MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA

Summary: Rush Limbaugh and KSFO's Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave "5 million illegal aliens" subprime loans that they have not paid back. Quinn & Rose's Jim Quinn also cited the 5 million statistic without citing a source for the figure. None of these radio hosts noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false.

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On October 10, radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that on October 9, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported, in Limbaugh's words, "that 5 million illegal aliens were given" subprime loans that they have not paid back. In addition, radio host Jim Quinn cited the 5 million statistic without citing a source for the figure. None of the talk radio hosts noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false.

As Media Matters for America has documented, radio host Roger Hedgecock similarly claimed that "HUD was talking about 5 million illegal alien home mortgage loans that have gone bad." On October 9, the Drudge Report linked to an article posted on the website of Phoenix radio station KFYI under the headline "HUD: Five Million Fraudulent Mortgages Held by Illegals..." However, according to an October 9 Phoenix Business Journal article, HUD "says there is no basis to news reports that more than 5 million bad mortgages are held by illegal immigrants" and "a HUD spokesman said ... his agency has no data showing the number of illegal immigrants holding foreclosed or bad mortgages." KFYI stated in a subsequent article that a "person from Housing and Urban Development contacted KFYI to tell us the number was inaccurate, that there were only 2.3 million mortgages held by immigrants, so there was no way that 5 million illegals could have mortgages." KFYI also reported that its source for the original story was an unnamed "retired agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement," who "stands by" the numbers in the original report.

From the October 10 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: What is the root right now of this economic problem? What's the root of it? Subprime mortgages. Not supposedly what has happened in the subprime mortgage industry, the whole country -- look at HUD yesterday admitting 5 million illegal aliens were given mortgages without -- with fake Social Security numbers and so forth to go out and purchase homes that they didn't have to pay back -- 5 million of them. And that's just a drop in the bucket to the number that are out there, and the number of banks that were involved.

Now, whose idea was this? Democrats -- starting with Jimmy Carter and moving through Bill Clinton. Who pressured banks via intimidation to make these kinds of loans? Democrats -- led by Jamie Gorelick and Janet Reno in the Clinton administration. Led by ACORN. Barack Obama was part of a suit against Citibank, Citicorp, to make them make such loans. The suit was settled out of court because of the pressure brought to bear.

From the October 10 broadcast of KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show:

RODGERS: Neither of these pathetic weenies we have running for president wants to talk about this, but here's a reality check -- and this news story came out right after the program yesterday. And I think Rush devoted a little time to it, but it deserves all the exposure we can give it.

Some 5 million of these fraudulent home mortgages are in the hands of illegal aliens. These figures come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The problem began years ago, when banks were forced to give mortgages without confirming Social Security numbers or borrower identification, and as a result, illegal immigrants were able to obtain home mortgages, which they could not afford, and some banks, starting with, I believe, B of A -- Bank of America -- was, if not the first, among the first of the big banks openly advertising that they would give mortgages to illegal aliens. Remember that?

Well, some of us -- we certainly were absolutely raising hell on the air about it, because they went ahead and did it. Now -- and now they have 5 million bad mortgages to illegal aliens. One guy was arrested in Tucson after using a stolen Social Security number to buy two houses and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt. Why? Because Bush and McCain and Obama and the Democrat Congress have absolutely no respect for our immigration laws. They don't have the guts to enforce them, and instead, they try every sneaky way possible to subvert the immigration laws. This is the sorry state at which we have arrived in this country.

From the October 10 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose:

QUINN: The Democrats have done to this entire country what Enron did to its employees, and they have yet to pay a price for it.

By the way, another dirty little secret from the halls of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Five million of these bad mortgages went to illegal aliens -- people who weren't even required to give a valid identification. Now, you can get mad about the excesses on Wall Street, and there are some. That can really tick you off, you know. AIG, what were you guys thinking?

You can get upset about that if you want to, but don't get too upset because it diverts you from the real problem: 5 million mortgages to illegal aliens who didn't even have to come up with an ID. They have given away your American dream, and by God, at some point, they need to be called to account for it.

—G.L. & N.T.

Hate speech rises in the media

Submitted by jonathan on Sat, 2008-10-04 10:33. Media Justice | Media Literacy/Bias | Newswire

Full Story:

by Joe Torres, Stop Big Media

For many people of color, fighting against our nation's media system is a matter of life and death. Too often, the media have contributed to the racial divisions that still exist in this country by marginalizing people of color in its coverage.

A major reason why this division exists is because people of color do not control the mass dissemination of their own images. Few people of color work in our nation's newsrooms, and fewer own broadcast stations.

People of color make up more than one-third of the U.S. population but own just 3 percent of all local TV stations and 8 percent of radio outlets. Journalists of color make up only 13.5 percent of all newsroom employees working at daily newspapers and 19 percent of the local TV newsroom work force. As a result, stories about people of color are often told by journalists who know little about these communities.

Look Who's Talking About Latinos

It should come as no surprise that coverage of immigration, especially on talk radio, is often hard to categorize as anything but hateful. Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage are among the major culprits who routinely demonize Latino immigrants on their programs.

On cable TV, CNN host Lou Dobbs has used his show to crusade against undocumented immigration. More than 70 percent of his programs in 2007 discussed the issue, according to the watchdog group Media Matters.

But Dobbs has had plenty of help from his cable compadres. Bill
O'Reilly and Glenn Beck have discussed undocumented immigration on 56 percent and 28 percent of their programs, respectively, almost always with an anti-immigrant slant.

The news networks have reinforced the idea there is little to know about Latinos outside of immigration. For years, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists has documented in its annual "Network Brownout" that Latinos make up less than 1 percent of the more than 12,000 news stories that air each year on the network evening news. Undocumented immigration and crime were the dominate focus of those stories.

The rise of anti-immigrant sentiment has impacted the Latino community immensely. A Pew Hispanic study released this week found that 1 in 10 Latinos have been stopped by the police or authorities and asked about their immigration status. Half of Latinos surveyed said the situation for Latinos has gotten worse over the past year due to concerns about deportation and discrimination in other areas of their lives, like finding jobs and housing.

Talk Radio Fuels Hate Crimes

Many Latinos believe that talk radio and anti-immigration news coverage has fueled the increase in hate crimes. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported that while hate crime statistics are not reliable, all available data indicate a surge in violence against Latinos. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Latinos shot up by 35 percent from 2003 to 2006.

SPLC also reported in 2007 that the immigration debate has increased the number of hate groups more than 40 percent hike since 2000, to 888 today. In addition, about 250 nativist groups have been founded in the past few years, driven by the immigration debate.

The Anti-Defamation League and SPLC report that nativist groups increasingly appear on news programs as legitimate anti-immigration advocates, even though many have spouted conspiracy theories on the air – such as the claim that Mexicans want to take back the Southwest for Mexico.

"This kind of really vile propaganda begins in hate groups, makes its way out into the larger anti-immigration movement, and, before you know it, winds up in places like 'Lou Dobbs Tonight' on CNN," says Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project.

Latinos Fight Back

It is a difficult fight for Latinos and other people of color to challenge large media conglomerates to improve their coverage of communities of color and to get the hate speech off the airwaves. Many of these talk show hosts are extremely popular and have a large following.

But Latino groups have been fighting back. The National Council of La Raza has launched the Web Site www.stopthehate.com, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has created www.truthinimmigration.org to monitor and denounce hate crimes and hate speech. Meanwhile, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and its allies are strategizing how to combat speech via a campaign at www.latinosagainsthatespeech.org.

In addition, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has called on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to update a 1993 report on the role of telecommunications in hate crimes.

Why Media Policy Matters

Media consolidation and media policy matters in this fight. As more companies own what we watch and read, it has made it harder for people of color to gain access to the airwaves and to speak for themselves without any gatekeepers.

A study conducted by the Center for American Progress and Free Press last year found that 91 percent of conservative radio talk shows aired on 257 news/talk stations were owned by just five companies. Meanwhile, minority-owned stations were far less likely to air conservative talk shows.

It is critical for people of color to gain access to the means of communications that will allow them to speak for themselves without the permission of gatekeepers. To accomplish this, the voices of people of color must be heard in the halls of Congress and at the FCC calling for legislation to increase minority media ownership and low power FM stations, to put the "public" back into public media,

Additionally, people of color must urge lawmakers to make sure the public has affordable broadband access and fight to maintain a free and open Internet that is available to everyone.

While it won't be easy for people of color to hold the FCC, corporate media and media personalities accountable for their actions, facing daunting challenges is nothing new for communities of color. It is a struggle, however, we must win for the good of our communities and for the good of our nation.

Source URL: www.stopbigmedia.com/blog/2008/10/01/hate-speech-rises-in-the-media

ALTO AL ODIO DE SAVAGE

Texto y fotos: Manuel Ortiz
Alianza News

Michael Savage es uno de los locutores de radio más escuchados en los Estados Unidos; su audiencia se estima en 10 millones de personas a nivel nacional. Transmite desde San Francisco, California, a través de la compañía Clear Channel. Es conocido por su perfil extremadamente reaccionario, racista y violento.

El 5 de julio del 2007, Savage le deseó la muerte a un grupo de estudiantes inmigrantes indocumentados que se encontraban en huelga de hambre para que se aprobara el Acta del Sueño. Savage dijo que los estudiantes mejor se "deberían de morir", para así quitarnos el problema de darles papeles. El locutor Savage también ha declarado que dada la crisis de combustible, se debería producir gasolina usando el cuerpo de los inmigrantes indocumentados.

En respuesta, la comunidad inmigrante del Área de la Bahía de San Francisco, coordinados por el locutor de radio Gutiérrez, crearon la Coalición Contra la Difamación de los Latinos Hispanos.

El 15 de agosto de 2007 esta coalición realizó una protesta frente a las oficinas de Clear Channel en el 340 de la calle Townsend en San Francisco, con el fin de detener los mensajes violentos y de corte racista de Savage contra los hispanos.

Pero pasó un año y Clear Channel, propietario de la estación radiofónica La Preciosa, se ha negado a atender las demandas de los inmigrantes. Por lo tanto, la Coalición volvió a repetir la protesta el 23 de septiembre de este año.

Aurora Grajeda, una de las organizadoras de la Coalición, dijo: "Estamos donde está basada la cabina de transmisión de KNEW 910AM, que es propiedad de Clear Channel Comunicacions cuya cadena radiofónica es la que transmite el programa del shock jock Michael Savage y otros mercaderes de odio e intolerancia en los medios de comunicación, y es precisamente esta cabina desde donde Michael Savage transmite su programa titulado 'Nación Salvaje', lo cual no es solamente una verguenza, sino una ignominia que desde esta bella y tolerante ciudad se ataque diariamente a tantas comunidades y grupos".

Las demandas de los inmigrantes, explicó Aurora, son: "1. Que Savage deje de atacar a nuestras comunidades, el no acatar este pedido, se demanda que Clear Channel lo despida. 2. Inclusión de miembros de la comunidad hispana / latina a todos lo niveles de la corporación, desde locutores hasta programación y administración; exigimos que el personal de Clear Channel refleje la comunidad a la que sirve y de la que se aprovecha para medrar".

Durante la protesta, Alianza News intentó conocer la respuesta de Clear Channel, pero la corporación se negó a hablar con los pocos medios que cubrieron el acto. Por cierto, algunos de los presentes manifestaron su inconformidad con Univisión y Telemundo por no haber enviado reporteros.

Ante la poca disposición mostrada por Clear Channel, expuso Marcos Gutiérrez, se buscará identificar a dos de los anunciantes de Savage para hacerles un boicot; los organizadores ya trabajan en esa opción.

"Michael Savage es el síntoma, no la enfermedad. La enfermedad es las grandes corporaciones que se han adueñado de los medios de comunicación, en lugar de, como dice la ley, que las ondas radiales y de televisión son del pueblo"?, expuso Gutiérrez.

Gutiérrez, quien enfocó su tesis de doctorado en medios de comunicación, añadió que "las corporaciones han permitido que elementos derechistas ataquen a los latinoamericanos, en particular a los inmigrantes, y esto está causando mucho daño; se puede comparar con los que hacían en Alemania contra los judíos, en el sentido de que los insultaban a tal grado de que después se aceptaba legislación en contra de ellos bastante fuerte. Y es lo que ha ocurrido, como lo dicen las estadísticas, el crimen de odio ha aumentado en todo el país, precisamente por esta clase de programación".

Los organizadores buscan llevar la campaña contra Savage a nivel nacional, pero han dicho que necesitan que mucha más gente se involucre. Para mayor información se puede contactar a aurora Grajeda al (415) 368-8406 o visitar el sitio: www.hladc-sf.blogspot.com

Por: Manuel Ortiz

Photo Slide Shows & Videos of the September 23, 2008 and August 15, 2007 Protests Against Michael Savage / Clear Channel

These are Photo Slide Shows of the First and Second Protests against Hate Speech, Defamation and Misinformation in the Media, specifically targeting Michael Savage / Clear Channel Communications / KNEW 910AM, at their Broadcasting Booth / Offices, located in the 340 Townsend Street in San Francisco California.

The first was held on August 15, 2007, during which we presented a written request to meet with the local Management of CCC to ask them to put a stop to the hateful language used by Mr. Savage against our community, specially against immigrants, for whom Michael Savage reserved his most poisonous and vitriolic attacks, furthermore, we requested a start to negotiations toward achieving a more inclusive make up of their personnel and staff, so it would reflect the diversity of the local communities they are obligated to serve, as per conditions for their broadcasting license as stipulated under the FCC rules.

After a year of refusals by the local Management of KNEW / CCC to engage in serious negotiations, the Hispanic / Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition SF, was compelled to make another attempt to call to their attention the seriousness of our requests, which one year later have become demands, to have their unrepentant-star-hatemongering-shock-jock, Michael Savage, removed from their programming lineup.

So, on September 23, 2008, members of the Hispanic / Latino Community, allied with other Communities and Organizations under the banner of the HLADC-SF, revisited the matter by demonstrating their frustration and righteous indignation at the callous refusals of KNEW / CCC / Michael Savage, to even make an effort in good faith, to hear our grievances and requests, that by now are demands, to stop the wrongs that are committed daily against us by Michael Savage / Clear Channel Communications / KNEW.

We hold Clear Channel Communications / KNEW / Michael Savage directly responsible for the increase of violent hate crimes perpetrated against our under-siege community.

The Photo Slide Shows below, document our two demonstrations / protests.
The photos and the slide shows were taken / created by Mr. Manuel Ortiz of Alianza Metropolitan News - (Click header to open/collapse box)

"September 23, 2008 Protest Against Michael Savage / Clear Channel"

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"August 15, 2007 Protest Against Michael Savage / Clear Channel"

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August 14, 2007 "The Savage Debate" SF City Hall Press Conf. (YouTUBE Video by the opposition)

August 15, 2007 "Protest Against Michael Savage / Clear Channel" (YouTUBE Video by the opposition)

More PhotoSlideShows from Manuel Ortiz on the Subject.

"Historia de una lucha sin fronteras" (Story of a struggle without borders)

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"En defensa de La Ley Santuario" (In defense of the Sanctuary Law)

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