Michael "Savage" Weiner and his comments on autism

[janradder]

I really don't know what to say about this idiot, Michael Savage.  He's a symptom of why talk radio is so horrible.  He's given a soapbox to air inflammatory comments regardless of their validity and he's given the ability to silence any dissenting opinions (either not taking calls from people who disagree, not booking guest who are experts in that area that he's mouthed off about and could provide a counterpoint, or silencing them when he actually does have them on his show by using a mute button).  What I think is worse than him, though, are the bigger idiots who eat this up as if it were news and take his, and other talk show pundits', word as gospel.  The whole lot of them really are a sad statement about the level of discourse in this country.

Comments

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jesus. What'd he say about autism?

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

I've been pointedly not pointing that one out to Haddayr for most of the week.

I just love that entitled "everyone else in this country has entitlement issues except for me" attitude.

[barthanderson.livejournal.com]

There *is* no discourse in this country. That said, let's talk!

What's your take on the effectiveness of gluten-free diets for reducing symptoms in autistic kids? You saw the WCCO report, I imagine:

http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=44946@wcco.dayport.com

I was immediately dismissive of this theory, but a sibling co-op is making hay out of it, so I was curious about your opinion. I trust you and Haddayr over just about anyone on the topic.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

See what the prez of the autism association said:

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/savagestatement.php

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

I think that kids with leaky gut syndrome sometimes manifest autistic-like symptoms, and addressing their leaky gut syndrome fixes it.

That's the problem with a behaviorally-based diagnosis; it says "so-and-so has these behaviors" with no genetic test or medical evidence, so there can often be multiple reasons people manifest certain symptoms.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

(I realize you asked Jan and not me, but he's dealing with an autistic kid right now and I have too little work to do this afternoon, apparently.)

[janradder.livejournal.com]

From the mouth of a moron:

"In 99% 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 putz.'"

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- there's that fine line you have to walk of not giving this jack-off too much attention but at the same time, needing to call him out on it. I was trying to do the former until I read the open letter to Savage that Haddayr linked to above.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I'd second what Haddayr said -- I've heard of people having success with it but I've also heard of it having no effect on kids on the spectrum.

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I looked it up.

Personally, I just don't pay any attention to Savage. I listen to some of the other right-wing dicks on AM when I'm driving around, just to pick up on what the script's going to be for all the Repubs I run into online this week, but I listened to him once years ago, and that was enough.

I don't really think he believes most of what he says. He just knows he can make a gazillion dollars a year saying shit like this and getting a rise out of the liberals.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

And you're right about there really being no discourse, which is why it's sad.

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

Well, why would you have a problem with *that?*

God, what a total penis.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I agree. I'm actually more upset with his listeners who are either unable or unwilling to see that and think he's speaking from facts when, in actuality, he's speaking from his ass.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

Well, let's be completely honest, here: it's not very likely that any of his core audience hovers very far above the intelligence median, is it? I just kind of feel sorry for the stupid fucks.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

No, it's true that they probably aren't the brightest bulbs but there's enough of them to keep him on the radio and continue spewing crap and that, to me, is kind of upsetting and frightening.

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

I dunno - the dumbest fifty percent make good fodder and mobs, I guess, but that's a given, always. It's the ranting AM asshats who have followers with actual brains but no hearts who worry me most.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

Um, as a penis-lover I object to this characterization.

:-P

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. But mostly I was just thinking: geez, Haddayr doesn't need to spend emotional energy on this shit right now.

An open letter like that isn't going to change Savage's mind, of course--but it will create an actual discourse. And some people from Savage's audience will read it, and some of them will sigh and go, yeah, Savage is an asshole. I don't know why I keep listening to him...

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'd really just like to see the jack-ass fired. They did it to Imus, after all. Sadly, I don't thiink it'll happen.

(Haddayr's pretty good about filtering crap like this out when she's dealing with other issues though I'm sure she appreciates not hearing much about it right now)

[glamberson.livejournal.com]

This one has been sitting badly with me (more than usual) most of the week. These knuckle draggers are so full of hate it's pathetic.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's because I have a personal interest in it but, although I usually shrug off the inflammatory garbage spit out by these people, this one really bothers me as well. It could also be that I really, really, really hate bullies and attacking autistic kids and there families is about as bad as you can get in that area.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that was me. I hadn't realized that Haddayr was logged in.

[glamberson.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think you've nailed it. We've become used to Republican behaving like angry bulleys, but this is a new low.

[susansugarspun.livejournal.com]

Yar. My aunt and uncle tried a gluten-free diet for my cousin Chrissy a while back... gah, that's probably twenty years ago? For them, it was a complete dead end, as were several other restrictive diets that they tried. (They tried dietary solutions for a couple of years, which was exhausting and difficult for the whole family, but they were willing to try just about anything if it might help. I'm kind of fascinated by this idea that autism is an umbrella diagnosis that covers several conditions with unrelated causes--that would make so much sense out of all of this conflicting anecdotal evidence.) The real breakthrough with Chrissy was intensive behavioral therapy--she didn't start the behavioral program until she was seventeen or eighteen, but it was such an enormous help that I wonder what it might have been like if she'd had access to it at seven or eight, you know? But my aunt and uncle couldn't get her into a school that had that program until very late.

My mom and her sister are big Michael Savage fans, and I've been waging my own little war with them for years, in which I say that he's a self-important jackass and they say that he's a smart guy. I wonder if this will crack that debate--they know better than I do what our family members have gone through, trying to get good care for Chrissy. The idea that my aunt and uncle are gaming the system, or getting anything for free, is the most ridiculous damn thing I've ever heard.