Laura Ingraham, Mike Savage, and others

[crozetiga]

Alright i had a bad day.... I usually have pretty good days but today was bad.
These are not the reasons for the bad day, just some things that pissed me off that i cant tolerate on a bad day.

So lately I have been trying hard to balance out my news by listening to some conservative radio and watching fox news (which my dish network is giving me for free right now) because my usual news outlets, NPR and CNN supposedly have some sort of liberal bias. I dont really believe they are terribly bias but i could see how some would think that they are. I have been listening to a little Hannity on the way home from work and split up my time when i watch cable news. None of this really bothered me until today.

I had to work especially late tonight and my NPR station was playing some classical that i didnt really want to listen to so i turned to the local conservative station. All of a sudden this guy was screaming we need to go over there and bomb Mecca. I was thinking this guy if f###ing crazy so I have to listen to him. I figure out I was listening to Mike Savage. So for the next 1/2 hour i listened to him make racial slurs "towel heads" and get calls from redneck bigots saying that he is right and we should go over there and kill them all before they try to kill us. Then an arab man called in... I kind of felt sorry for him cause he had no chance against Savage. Savage turned the arab mans words around and made is sound like the arab man was pro-terrorism (which he wasnt). It was the most terrible thing i had ever heard.

What bothers me is that people that listen to that show actually like that sort of stuff. This man is a racist parading around as a proud american. I cannot believe that someone like him is on the radio. I am just shocked

Now onto Laura Ingraham. So as part of my balancing act, I have watched a little Scarborough Country. Now i dont really like him but i can usually stand to watch at least parts of his show. Another reason this was a bad day is that i cant fall asleep (note the 4AM posting time) So at about 2AM Scarborough Country comes on. Joe is out of town so this Ingraham lady is filling in. I had heard the name but i had never heard her, i decided to watch.
What an annoying psycho bitch!!!!!!! Alot of conservative commentators i can tolerate but she really rubs me the wrong way. Where to start.... Well she told nothing but lies and half truths for an hour....any time said anything about Kerry of a democratic policy she said with this smart ass, I cant believe they believe that, voice. She was condesending, rude and trying to pander to the "heartland of america" by telling lies. She had a few different guests and discussions during the show, always one liberal and one conservative (which is good) but was a total bitch to the liberal and sucking up to the conservative. She would ask leading questions to the liberal and when the liberal would come back with good response, she would cut him off and try to turn his words around. Then when the liberal would still come back with a good response she would again cut him off and threaten to "turn down your mic" WOW this is a news show!!!!!!!! What has the world come to! In all my time watching CNN I have never seen anything like this (with the exception of Paula Zahn but was on a smaller scale and she was less of a bitch about it)

I had to say something about this because it bothers me alot that people get their "news" from people like this. I knew that conservative media had some real characters in it, but these two are unbelievable. I can tolerate Hannity, Bret Hume,and even OReilly but these two.... just made me really angry

I realize that this is becoming a novel so I will wrap it up. I am wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences with conservative or liberal commentators. Please feel free to share experiences

Thanks for opportunity to vent (maybe i can sleep now 4:16AM)
Josh

[Jake]

Savage is a nut...

but Ingram, I happened to flip that on this evening between commercials of MXC and the football game, and when she threatened to 'turn down the mic' of the guest (a guy from New Mexico), she asked him a direct question to him, asking him to site examples of the alleged voter intimidation in New Mexico, and he went on a rant on how he's a lawyer, a native of Roswell, and a 1st generation Mexican-American...

so she cut him off.


I have no clue what's wrong with that. Answer the f'n question.


btw, I had no idea it was Laura Ingram when I saw that show.

[saygoodbye12]

Michael Savage is great to listen to. When I had to drive home 3 hours from NY I would listen to him and he was always good for a few laughs.

It's his "radio persona" Anyone who bases their opinion on the way he acts on the radio was an idiot to begin with.

[crozetiga]

Michael Savage is great to listen to. When I had to drive home 3 hours from NY I would listen to him and he was always good for a few laughs.

It's his "radio persona" Anyone who bases their opinion on the way he acts on the radio was an idiot to begin with.


Ok sir, thank you for your reply. If you are right and its just a "radio persona" I just was wondering why would a guy who wasnt a racist, and wasnt an asshole portray himself as one on the radio? Some will say for popularity. I think more like polarizing the country. If he is not the way he acts on the radio, then he must have a reason. I speculate that it is to get the narrow-minded, hatred-filled rednecks on his side.

Now I admit I have a very limited experience with Mike Savage but if a guy is literally screaming over the radio, going off on people and saying we should bomb mecca, this guy is a nut. I think it is fair to base my opinion of a guy based on that. Its as least as fair as the American public's opinion of Howard Dean after his firery Iowa speech (which, by the way was not nearly as heated as this)


Idiotically,
Josh

This was not meant to be an attack on you personally (though it might have been warranted) I really just want to know why a person cant make an opinion on someone based on the words that come out of there mouth. So if I said "We should burn every bible in the US" (which I dont believe) You or anyone else has the right to say i am crazy. Just like when Savage said "blow up mecca" i have the right to say he is crazy, whether it was done in his alter-ego or not. I dont know how that makes me and idiot.

[crozetiga]

Savage is a nut...

but Ingram, I happened to flip that on this evening between commercials of MXC and the football game, and when she threatened to 'turn down the mic' of the guest (a guy from New Mexico), she asked him a direct question to him, asking him to site examples of the alleged voter intimidation in New Mexico, and he went on a rant on how he's a lawyer, a native of Roswell, and a 1st generation Mexican-American...

so she cut him off.


I have no clue what's wrong with that. Answer the f'n question.


btw, I had no idea it was Laura Ingram when I saw that show.

The guy from New Mexico started out his answer like that because the other guy said about 1 minute before that the NM guy wasnt from Roswell and didnt know anything about Roswell. Ingraham didnt let the NM guy answer that attack 1 minute before, so at the beginning of his answer he was trying to set the record straight about the lie that was just told about him.

Just to be more clear about how Laura Ingraham is a liar. Or more accurately, someone who manipulates the truth. Her first guest on the show was one of the senior Kerry advisors. I dont remember the name. They started talking about Rudy Guilliani's comment that blamed the soldiers. She then said "here is what Rudy G. said" then she throws out this quote that wasnt even the one they were discussing. She intentionally tried to mislead the views into thinking that Rudy G never said this:

"No matter how you try to blame it on the president, the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough -- didn't they search carefully enough?"

Which he did say.

The Kerry guy was smart and ready for something like that and he started saying the real quote (above) and she starts to cut him off. He did finish the quote but he had to say it over Ingraham.

There are a few more that I remember, but i dont have time to post them right now.

Josh

[chellek23]

I've never really listened to either of them... Personally, I have heard and watched plenty of personalities on both sides that I don't care for. The thing is that they're political 'personalities' who make their living by being somewhat 'sensational'... Personally, I commend you for trying to 'balance' your views, but just like on the left most really need to be taken with a grain of salt. I love listening to Rush Limbaugh, but I certainly do not agree with everything he says. Sometimes he picks up on stuff that is not that consequintial and pretty stupid other times he makes a really good point. Either way he is very entertaining. Most of the time I'm laughing my ass off at his commentary.

[TwoStep2888]

Mike Savage is a racist prick. I don't know who Ingraham is because I don't watch MSNBC. I don't know how people can listen to hateful people like savage or limbaugh. It all makes me feel sick.

[WolfmanDMB]

i have no problem with conservatives except for Ann Coulter (biggest bitch alive besides my friends girlfriend) and Rush, but him not so much as Ann.

[DMBSignGuy]

Michael Savage is great to listen to. When I had to drive home 3 hours from NY I would listen to him and he was always good for a few laughs.

It's his "radio persona" Anyone who bases their opinion on the way he acts on the radio was an idiot to begin with.

I agree. And unfortunatly too many people do. Not just with Savage, but also with Sean Hannity, Rush, Bill O'Rilley, Tony Snow, Rick Roberts. Alot of people take thier political cues from these people. Its crazy how much influence these kinds of people have.

:BANG

[saygoodbye12]

Ok sir, thank you for your reply. If you are right and its just a "radio persona" I just was wondering why would a guy who wasnt a racist, and wasnt an asshole portray himself as one on the radio? Some will say for popularity. I think more like polarizing the country. If he is not the way he acts on the radio, then he must have a reason. I speculate that it is to get the narrow-minded, hatred-filled rednecks on his side.

Now I admit I have a very limited experience with Mike Savage but if a guy is literally screaming over the radio, going off on people and saying we should bomb mecca, this guy is a nut. I think it is fair to base my opinion of a guy based on that. Its as least as fair as the American public's opinion of Howard Dean after his firery Iowa speech (which, by the way was not nearly as heated as this)


Idiotically,
Josh

This was not meant to be an attack on you personally (though it might have been warranted) I really just want to know why a person cant make an opinion on someone based on the words that come out of there mouth. So if I said "We should burn every bible in the US" (which I dont believe) You or anyone else has the right to say i am crazy. Just like when Savage said "blow up mecca" i have the right to say he is crazy, whether it was done in his alter-ego or not. I dont know how that makes me and idiot.
I'm a she. :p And I what I meant was that anyone who bases their opinion on politics based on what some guy on the radio says, was an idiot to begin with.

And why does he act that way? For the very reason you're writing about him. If he was boring and nice to everyone, no one would listen to him. No one would talk about him. But since he acts like an asshole on the radio and takes everything to the extreme (which he has admitted himself on the radio) for the sake of ratings, he gets talked about.

[crozetiga]

Sorry about calling you a sir... I didnt know and I thought it better to call a woman a man rather than calling a man a woman. I think a woman would take it better. Thank you for clarifying that. Now that I re-read it, it makes total sense. Now I really feel like and idiot :(


Josh

[Davenumber40]

If you wanna balance it out you'd be better off going with Hannity or Glenn Beck in my opinion. They have less of a crazy act.

[crozetiga]

If you wanna balance it out you'd be better off going with Hannity or Glenn Beck in my opinion. They have less of a crazy act.


normally i do listen to a little Hannity.... I just happened to come home late on thursday and got bowled over by savage.

Josh

[chellek23]

I agree. And unfortunatly too many people do. Not just with Savage, but also with Sean Hannity, Rush, Bill O'Rilley, Tony Snow, Rick Roberts. Alot of people take thier political cues from these people. Its crazy how much influence these kinds of people have.

:BANG
But is it ok to take political cues from say Al Franken, James Carville, Paul Begala, and the like? While I do not always agree with what all of these people have to say they, whether you like it or not, are representative of current political and idealogical beliefs/ideas. If they weren't they would hardly have the audience they do. In fact, I would argue that they simply put a voice to what a lot of people ALREADY think.

And let's face it, as human beings we all take 'cues' from other people... That's how ideas are transformed and developed. I personally am thankful for all of these people. They not only provide entertainment (and make no mistake that is what they are) they also are a way to advance political thought to a wider audience.

[DMBSignGuy]

But is it ok to take political cues from say Al Franken, James Carville, Paul Begala, and the like? While I do not always agree with what all of these people have to say they, whether you like it or not, are representative of current political and idealogical beliefs/ideas. If they weren't they would hardly have the audience they do. In fact, I would argue that they simply put a voice to what a lot of people ALREADY think.

And let's face it, as human beings we all take 'cues' from other people... That's how ideas are transformed and developed. I personally am thankful for all of these people. They not only provide entertainment (and make no mistake that is what they are) they also are a way to advance political thought to a wider audience.

Well Al Franken maybe. :p I do understand what they do and why they are successful at it, minus the progressive talk, thats barely getting started.
While i do agree with alot of your statement I would also add that alot of people that listen to these programs, dont get thier cues per say, they blindly follow these people. I understand they are entertainment, alot of people dont. With people like Savage who today advocated the arrest and murder of liberal dipper doper babies (i always laugh when he says that) and his callers calling in agreeing 100%. Its not the hosts that concern me, its the listeners.
we cant really look into progressive radio since its barely been around for even a few months. But we can look into conservative radio and see exactly the motives and reasonings behind this stuff. and especially when you really look at these hosts, ie Hannity, O'Rilley, Savage, Rush and Rick Roberts. You really see how nasty these people.

Like i said we cant really get into progressive radio because its barely been up and running but I do have a reccommended read for Conservative Media in general, which discusses the likes of Hannity and O'Rilley.

The Republican Noise Machine, by David Brock.

A real eye opener. Good read.

now dont get me wrong....each side has thier own nasties. But i believe this is about talk radio so i am only talking in terms of such.

[chellek23]

Well, I will concede that I don't think it's always beneficial. Some of the talk can go too far. I have not heard Savage so I really can't comment. O'Reilly is just an arrogant commentator who does not, imo, fit the 'conservative' only mold. I would certainly agree that in most aspects he leans right however. Hannity I've listened to now and again and watch his show everyonce in awhile. He talks over people at times... Rush, like I said earlier, entertaining but I don't think he's a hate-monger. I've listened to him off and on for probably 10 years and like I said earlier I think he can nitpick things that are not at all important, for the most part he is quite entertaining, but in my opinion not spewing hate. If you're going to classify what he does as hate then perhaps you should also put shows like SNL in that category because they make sketches of people and exagerrate things for effect/entertainment.

Honestly what is so "nasty" about these people except that they have a lot of people that listen to them? Are they nasty for forwarding their conservative ideas? Are they nasty for calling out people that they disagree with on both sides of the aisle? :eek:

As I've said before they make their name by being somewhat over the top, but they're brand of brashnis (at least when it comes to what I know of Limbaugh and Hannity) hardly equates to distribuiting hate. Is this same standard being applied to people like Howard Stern (FCC censorship aside)? He imo, certainly qualifies as someone who is openly nasty on the airwaves.

Having said that it's quite possible that my impression of him is as limited or more limited than your experiences listening to Rush or Hannity...

[chellek23]

And also... I would argue with your assumption that all listeners follow blindly. Most people that I know listen but don't agree with everything. The people that actually take the time to call up a show are the hard-core faithful and in many cases probably the extreme. And yes... they can be scary, but heck, they scariness/craziness would be there with or without these shows.

[DMBSignGuy]

Well, I will concede that I don't think it's always beneficial. Some of the talk can go too far. I have not heard Savage so I really can't comment. O'Reilly is just an arrogant commentator who does not, imo, fit the 'conservative' only mold. I would certainly agree that in most aspects he leans right however. Hannity I've listened to now and again and watch his show everyonce in awhile. He talks over people at times... Rush, like I said earlier, entertaining but I don't think he's a hate-monger. I've listened to him off and on for probably 10 years and like I said earlier I think he can nitpick things that are not at all important, for the most part he is quite entertaining, but in my opinion not spewing hate. If you're going to classify what he does as hate then perhaps you should also put shows like SNL in that category because they make sketches of people and exagerrate things for effect/entertainment.

Honestly what is so "nasty" about these people except that they have a lot of people that listen to them? Are they nasty for forwarding their conservative ideas? Are they nasty for calling out people that they disagree with on both sides of the aisle? :eek:

As I've said before they make their name by being somewhat over the top, but they're brand of brashnis (at least when it comes to what I know of Limbaugh and Hannity) hardly equates to distribuiting hate. Is this same standard being applied to people like Howard Stern (FCC censorship aside)? He imo, certainly qualifies as someone who is openly nasty on the airwaves.

Having said that it's quite possible that my impression of him is as limited or more limited than your experiences listening to Rush or Hannity...

i dont believe i said hate. if i did then that was a little strong. to be honest it would take a really long time to fully explain why exactly poeple like hannity are "nasty" as i put it, which can be put better, but its late and ive worked all day :p . Which is why i recommend reading that book, The Republican Noise Machine.

Are they nasty for calling out people that they disagree with on both sides of the aisle?

thats not what makes them nasty ;)

hardly equates to distribuiting hate

again i dont think i said hate. i also said its not them persay...its the people that believe them 100%, there are a good number of them too, not all, but a good number. Remember 3 hours a day every day is all Hannity asks :p

He imo, certainly qualifies as someone who is openly nasty on the airwaves.

i think we're using different definition of nasty here.


Having said that it's quite possible that my impression of him is as limited or more limited than your experiences listening to Rush or Hannity

to be honest i listen to them quite often...kind of a...hear what the other side is saying thing. gotta stay informed. :D

I would argue with your assumption that all listeners follow blindly

naturally not all of them...but there are a good amount..definitly the ones that call in, and man...over all the times ive listened thats added up to alot
of people :p . Even if one in 20 people that listened to Hannity or any of the others were 100% believers thats a ton of people.

they can be scary, but heck, they scariness/craziness would be there with or without these shows.

just to say it again...its not the shows persay...its these scary/crazy people...a whole lot of them.

id say take some time...if possible...i know ive got a reading list a mile long...to read The Republican Noise Machine....really gives good insight, more than i can type, into what im talking about. Thanks for the convo though. :monkey

edit: longest.........post........ever :p

[devilish@darts]

I listen to Savage to remind myself of the nutjobs out there - more entertaining than anything, I cannot take to heart what he says. And remember, he had a show on MSNBC last year, that was cancelled (I believe for some remarks he made). It is scary that people follow him to heart but there is a flip side.

It's pure entertainment for me-my news sources are across the board.

[saygoodbye12]

I listen to Savage to remind myself of the nutjobs out there - more entertaining than anything, I cannot take to heart what he says. And remember, he had a show on MSNBC last year, that was cancelled (I believe for some remarks he made). It is scary that people follow him to heart but there is a flip side.

It's pure entertainment for me-my news sources are across the board.
He told a caller he was a sodomite and hope he got AIDS and died. Then he told him to go choke on a sausage.

He's a real asshole there is no doubt about it...but he's still very funny to listen to....If only to make yourself feel better about not being stupid enough to feel that way.

[chellek23]

DMBSignguy...

Well, maybe hate was the wrong word. I'd had a few drinks, plus I was getting annoied with some other threads where people are being completely unreasonable! It's nice to have a conversation where we don't break down into, "You're wrong now go f' yourself." or whatever...

Anyway, I can concede on your point about a SMALL portion of the audience :P, but like I said I think they would be there with or without the radio personalities. However, from what I hear, at least on limbaugh as I don't have enough radio time with any others, the majority of people are fairly level-headed. Most agree with him but I would argue that he does not represent the far-right wackos that some protray him to be, not to say he has never said anything off-base. Consevative yes, a loudmouth... most definately. But I have actually heard him tell callers that some of their knitpicking or conspiracy theories don't hold water. Rare but it happens.

And as for Stern... what I was referring to was the way he denigrates women, handicapped ppl, etc. To me that is in the same category as Savage telling someone they should get AIDS. This guy sounds like a real winner.

Saygoodbye, what station in Detroit can he be heard on? Now I'm curious as I'd like to hear what some of this hype is all about. LOL

[DMBSignGuy]

DMBSignguy...

Well, maybe hate was the wrong word. I'd had a few drinks, plus I was getting annoied with some other threads where people are being completely unreasonable! It's nice to have a conversation where we don't break down into, "You're wrong now go f' yourself." or whatever...

Anyway, I can concede on your point about a SMALL portion of the audience :P, but like I said I think they would be there with or without the radio personalities. However, from what I hear, at least on limbaugh as I don't have enough radio time with any others, the majority of people are fairly level-headed. Most agree with him but I would argue that he does not represent the far-right wackos that some protray him to be, not to say he has never said anything off-base. Consevative yes, a loudmouth... most definately. But I have actually heard him tell callers that some of their knitpicking or conspiracy theories don't hold water. Rare but it happens.

And as for Stern... what I was referring to was the way he denigrates women, handicapped ppl, etc. To me that is in the same category as Savage telling someone they should get AIDS. This guy sounds like a real winner.

Saygoodbye, what station in Detroit can he be heard on? Now I'm curious as I'd like to hear what some of this hype is all about. LOL

I think we do generally agree about these programs and the people on them...i do believe they should be on...as with stern....doesnt mean i have to like it, or them :p

[marco j]

the real question is...why aren't there laws to separate people with political ties from
journalism (media)?????

i believe it should be much the same as church's not being allowed to persuade who to vote for. even though they do. it is really quite sad and i believe the church's telling people who to vote for is the absolute worst of the bunch. there is simply no way to balance against it. at least with media you can find people who try and take down other media outlets. with churches however they can (unmonitored) preach in any manner they speak with out even an inch of questioning from their pari.shoners