The Medialyser

When I woke up this morning, I had no clue who Michael Savage was (is). I was doing fine. A quick travel through the latest headlines and I am confronted with this: US ‘hate list’ DJ to sue Britain. Today, the Home Office, under a new law from 2005, named & shamed individuals preaching hatred or violence and effectively banned them from entering the UK. Why did a radio-host from California, called Michael Savage (real name Michael Alan Weiner), appear on an official British list of hatred with all the publicity it entails?

Savage loves the spotlight and is already pimping out his book (to, ahem, protect freedom of speech) on the back of the wave of media attention. But a few Google searches opened my eyes to this strange character: a former extreme left-wing herbalist, who allegedly played around with Allan Ginsberg et al and promoted the legalisation of marijuana, he is now a crazy, patriotic conservative radio-host with views too extreme for Fox News. And he owns a poodle.

Savage has probably been banned because he is a lone, gunslingin’ maverick that does not hesitate to criticise even the Republican and Conservative superstars from Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilley.

The man is obviously an idiot who loves controversy, but the dumbest thing to do is to give him 15 minutes in the spotlight. It is certain that his book-sales will increase and his vile opinions (anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, anti-gay etc.) will spill into the public sphere like sewerage. The problem with hate-mongers, such as Savage, is that if you try to silence them by force they become media martyrs. That is why I do not believe in limiting the freedom of expression when it comes to blasphemy, racism, sexism etc.; the only circumstance when legislative interference can be justified is when a person encourages violence or spreads slander. Michael Savage only stands to gain from this ban: in his twisted mind this will only prove that he is a victim of government oppression. As Bill Bowman, author of the book Savage Lies: The Half-Truths, Distortions and Outright Lies of a Right-Wing Blowhard, writes on his blog.

Jacqui Smith is an idiot.

With a few keystrokes of her computer, she has managed to do what practically no one else has accomplished, much less tried.

She has made a victim of Michael Savage.

Amen.

When I go to bed tonight, the world will seem a little shittier.