Mike Savage hurling gay slurs on RKO

[TSBench]

What is dead obvious is all these people saying 'change the station' have NEVER had to endure the kind of verbal assaults that you, black folks, women, and immigrants have to endure. Their grandparents did, of course, but not them.

Beside the point. What alternatives are there to changing the station? Well, you can call the show and take on the host (problematic when it comes to Savage, very do-able when it comes to Carr, Severin, or any of the other local hosts.) Of course, bitching on internet message boards seems to be preferred. Call the station or advertisers and complain or threaten? Knock yourself out.

And, they would simply not stand for it if they did - a couple of comments from Rosie O'Donnell and Bill Maher and they're freaking out -

What exactly does 'not stand for it' mean? The last time I looked, Rosie and Maher were still spewing their babble and people were still taking offense. Evidently, 'not standing for something' and having that something go away, are not mutually inclusive. I would bet that most sane folks just change the station or channel.

what would they do if they had to listen to the venimous poison from (Savage) Weiner, Severino(r) et al - well, who knows.

Had to? You mean like tied to a chair in a cell with a naked lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and a radio blaring in the corner. Well, first I'd try to concentrate on this real hot babe I knew in college who used to wear a ski suit that clung like wet Saran Wrap. If that didn't work, I'd ponder the influence of international currency abitrage by money market banks on the developing bio-technology industry in Third World countries. And if that didn't work, I'd already be asleep so it really wouldn't matter.

Of course, in my entire life I've only had my choices limited to the extent that I 'had' to watch four television programs and listen to one radio station. Two were in Navy communications school, where every afternoon the single television was tuned to The Dating Game (which was actually a hoot to watch in a roomful of sailors giving a running commentary) and "Firing Line" on Sundays. I willingly partook of both. The others were Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place when my kids were teenagers and they took over the television in the living room. I watched those as a way of keeping up on the popular culture ( plus I used to think Daphne Zuninga was pretty sexy so it did have some redeeming social value.) The radio station is WPLM, which my barber keeps on her shop radio all the time and I don't feel like asking her to change it when I'm there. Other than those instances, I watch and listen to what I want to watch and listen.

Let's ask them.

Fire away.

If all the talk stations had people saying equivalent things about you guys - what would you do? Quietly change the station

Depends. If I was in my 'know your enemy' mode, I might listen for a while. If not, change the station, watch television or a DVD, play a CD, take a walk, clean the garage, re-organize my sock drawer, take the canoe for a paddle, the list is endless.

It would be pretty unusual for all the stations to be making the same points at the same time, but then, I'm not in the full-time umbrage-taking business, trying to keep myself in a perpetual state of high dudgeon. There are a lot of ideas I find intellectually offensive, but I'm also not a big fan of the thought police. I think Holocaust Denial is stupid, but in Austria it is against the law to even mention it in public, which I find even more offensive. Everyday, from every direction, we're bombarded with silly and counterintuitive BS; "Condi Rice and the war for oil", 600,000 people went off to die in the USCW because of predatory lending practices south of the Mason Dixon line by NYC banks, that FDR knew about the Pearl Harbor attack and let it happen, that Bush is a Nazi and Clinton is a Commie, that the US government flew an A3 into the Pentagon on Sept 11, etc, etc. An association of scientists once gave Art Bell a 'disservice award' for actually eroding the knowledge base.
But it's all OK by me, because I don't have to believe something just because somebody says it or writes it. And I don't have to listen to it, either, unless I want to.

like good, obedient boys?

Huh? Obedient to whom? Every day, I, and everyone here, makes hundreds of personal decisions. What we watch or listen to are some of them. So what exactly is the point here. Is there one?

Regards,
TSB

 

[TSBench]

As for me, I've been called a Christ-killer, a horned devil, the murderer of Dr. King, a purveyor of pornography, an owner of slaves and other filth more vile than you can possibly imagine.

My, you've had a busy couple of thousand years.

We really need to talk about that Garfield assassination thing.

Regards,
TSB

 

[TSBench]

Although I think the deal Entercom made with the Red Sox gave the team the option of buying the station, IIRC...

The deal gives the Sox a right to buy a minority interest in the station, but the window is so far out that its impossible to say what the station would look like, or be doing, with the exception of carrying the games.

The Red Sox COULD put pressure on 'RKO if they felt they didn't want to be associated with a show like that, much like advertisers could put pressure on the station (or listeners of course).

I think that there is a lot more concern about this on these boards then there is in the Red Sox front office.

Regards,
TSB

 

[TSBench]

Rosie and Maher were still spewing their babble and people were still taking offense.

Delete "Rosie", at least for the time being

Regards,
TSB

 

[raccoonradio]

Rosie on Air America--you'll see...

 

[Varulven]

Note to Dumber Than A Box Of Hair:

If advertisers pulling out on Opie & Anthony (a condom advertiser pulling out, no less), surely
The Red Sox can throw their weight around.

For example, Oedipus tried to replace Gil & Gino with Peter Brock & Bill Abbatte - the Franchise said NO
to what the radio station (or the Program Director) wanted to do.

The Red Sox will get tired of Mike Savage, especially when people start writing them about it, which
I will do in the next week or so.

 

[TSBench]

If advertisers pulling out on Opie & Anthony (a condom advertiser pulling out, no less), surelyThe Red Sox can throw their weight around.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Entercom writes checks to the Red Sox, not the other way around. What do you think the Sox are going to do, refuse to cash the checks in protest?

For example, Oedipus tried to replace Gil & Gino with Peter Brock & Bill Abbatte - the Franchise said NO to what the radio station (or the Program Director) wanted to do.

Most sports contracts give the teams approval rights on the announcing team (I believe this is actually part of the disclaimer they read during the game.) Anyone who thought that the Pats would roll over on Gil Santos, a loyal soldier going back decades, and Gino (a former player who held many team records) being replaced had his head up his butt.

The Red Sox will get tired of Mike Savage, especially when people start writing them about it, which I will do in the next week or so.

Well, since the Red Sox preempt Savage most of the time, be sure to thank them. I'd go easy on the part about how you don't know how to push the buttons on your radio, though.

Regards.
TSB

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Note to Dumber Than A Box Of Hair:

If advertisers pulling out on Opie & Anthony (a condom advertiser pulling out, no less), surely
The Red Sox can throw their weight around.

Note to JoeVig: Surely you know better. Entercom paid the Red Sox for the rights to air the games...NOT the other way around. The law states rather specifically that the licensee controls what it airs...not a sponsor, not a sports team, not a listener.

For example, Oedipus tried to replace Gil & Gino with Peter Brock & Bill Abbatte - the Franchise said NO to what the radio station (or the Program Director) wanted to do.

Note (continued): Per the contract, the team had the right to select the announcers.

The Red Sox will get tired of Mike Savage, especially when people start writing them about it, which I will do in the next week or so.

Jason Wolfe is quaking in his little shoes.

 

[Varulven]

Just because you don't understand something, NH, doesn't mean it is necessarily dumb.

When you start imparting pearls of wisdom we'll applaud you. At least I offer solutions with the criticism.

 

[NHRadio]

Don't know if you mean me or not, but I 've stayed out of this thread. I could care less what Savage says-I know where the preset buttons are.

Just because you don't understand something, NH, doesn't mean it is necessarily dumb.

When you start imparting pearls of wisdom we'll applaud you. At least I offer solutions with the criticism.

 

[NHRonin]

Just because you don't understand something, NH, doesn't mean it is necessarily dumb.

When you start imparting pearls of wisdom we'll applaud you. At least I offer solutions with the criticism.

Removing anything you disagree with or might find offensive is not a solution nor do I need to applauded by the likes of you.

I don't think the Red Sox care who they share the airwaves with unless something controversial is said during one of the game broadcasts. It's all about the $$ and Entercom pays them a ton to broadcast the games. Savage is clearly insane, FYI.

 

[NHRonin]

Don't know if you mean me or not, but I 've stayed out of this thread. I could care less what Savage says-I know where the preset buttons are.

Just because you don't understand something, NH, doesn't mean it is necessarily dumb.

When you start imparting pearls of wisdom we'll applaud you. At least I offer solutions with the criticism.

No, he's refering to me but everytime I respond to him, someone removes my post.

 

[mistermicrophone]

Varulven,

What is dead obvious is all these people saying 'change the station' have NEVER had to endure the kind of verbal assaults that you, black folks, women, and immigrants have to endure. Their grandparents did, of course, but not them. And, they would simply not stand for it if they did - a couple of comments from Rosie O'Donnell and Bill Maher and they're freaking out - what would they do if they had to listen to the venimous poison from (Savage) Weiner, Severino(r) et al - well, who knows.

Hey FInn...I have flipped on Comedy Central and seen The Chappelle Show on and the anti-white bits he does. You know what I do, I "change the station." So what was you point??

 

[raccoonradio]

I did put on Savage briefly tonight and he started out by playing some old 50s tune (Beyond the Sea--
Bobby Darin) and talking calmly but as usual he suddenly turned on the passion/vitriol about some
subject or another and I fled to O'Reilly on WTKK (Red Sox game had long rain delay)

 

[ciao99]

Joe - if you don't like Savage, don't listen to him!
He's always going on about the people of San Francisco, his adopted home town, how morally bankrupt he thinks the politicians are out there.
His schtick is to always be upset about something. That's the game. If he bugs you, switch the station.

I understand your point. I agree, change the station. But after the Imus incident, it changes the parameters of what's acceptable and unacceptable. If one group is to be protected from offensive speach, then you have to protect ALL groups from offensive speach. Anything less is hypocrisy. On the other hand you could have just told eveyone offended by the nappy headed hos comment just to change the station...

 

[ciao99]

but when Mike Savage, at 9:41 PM on WRKO, says to his producer "Play the Swish, Johnny Mathis" prior to a hate-filled anti-gay rant about the Boy Scouts
and San Francisco and lesbian San Francisco police officers and a lesbian senator allegedly driving while on medication

Yeah, I know what you mean. Just the other day I tuned to WEEI and they were, get this, discussing sports. Talk about getting blindsided!

Savage is well-known for his dislike of homosexuals. The most famous incident in his entire life was when he got blown out of his television gig for a bizarre, out of control, over-the-top, attack on a homosexual caller.

But, you listen to this crap like you're the field rep for GLAAD. You even have the exact time memorized, when most of us can't remember what we had for lunch. Ok, we get it.

There must be forty-plus listenable signals coming into Boston at night that don't carry Savage. Find one.

Regards,
TSB

As i've said before, I agree with the "just turn the dial" approach. But once one group gets their undies in a twist and takes Don Imus off the air, I have to wonder why other hosts aren't held to the same standards.

I have to add that most Jewish people I know are smarter than to embrace bigotry. Jews experience prejudice first hand and go out of their way to help other minorities. That's why so many of them joined the freedom rides. Shame on Savage for not knowing better.

 

[Finn]

Varulven,

What is dead obvious is all these people saying 'change the station' have NEVER had to endure the kind of verbal assaults that you, black folks, women, and immigrants have to endure. Their grandparents did, of course, but not them. And, they would simply not stand for it if they did - a couple of comments from Rosie O'Donnell and Bill Maher and they're freaking out - what would they do if they had to listen to the venimous poison from (Savage) Weiner, Severino(r) et al - well, who knows.

Hey FInn...I have flipped on Comedy Central and seen The Chappelle Show on and the anti-white bits he does. You know what I do, I "change the station." So what was you point??

1) Chappelle makes fun of everybody - not just white people or a few selected groups with less power than the majority culture;

2) to me, it's different if it's the folks 'in power' making derogatory statements.

Say that there was a Black Muslim with a national audience screaming about blue-eyed white pigs and millions of people listened. I wouldn't like like it, but I still don't think I would feel as threatened because when I applied for a job, or a bank loan, or wanted to rent an apartment - I am still likely to be dealing with a white person who doesn't share those beliefs.

If, on the other hand, the power balance has changed, and I am fighting that prejudice as I go about my daily business, I would care a lot and I would work to get that speech off the radio by a lot of strategies - boycotting products, contacting advertisers, posting on radio discussion boards, calling into shows, contacting stations.... I would also factor in the extent to which the attention is actually beneficial to the show, in which case the effort is counterproductive.

Anyway, (Savage) Weiner's ratings are down, aren't they?

 

[SonicOverload]

I wonder if Imus and/or Bernie will appear at this venue:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c399/noprogress/PimpsHos.jpg

... that venue is on Washington Street in Peabody... god, I love my neighborhood :

 

[ciao99]

Varulven,

What is dead obvious is all these people saying 'change the station' have NEVER had to endure the kind of verbal assaults that you, black folks, women, and immigrants have to endure. Their grandparents did, of course, but not them. And, they would simply not stand for it if they did - a couple of comments from Rosie O'Donnell and Bill Maher and they're freaking out - what would they do if they had to listen to the venimous poison from (Savage) Weiner, Severino(r) et al - well, who knows.

Hey FInn...I have flipped on Comedy Central and seen The Chappelle Show on and the anti-white bits he does. You know what I do, I "change the station." So what was you point??

1) Chappelle makes fun of everybody - not just white people or a few selected groups with less power than the majority culture;

2) to me, it's different if it's the folks 'in power' making derogatory statements.

Say that there was a Black Muslim with a national audience screaming about blue-eyed white pigs and millions of people listened. I wouldn't like like it, but I still don't think I would feel as threatened because when I applied for a job, or a bank loan, or wanted to rent an apartment - I am still likely to be dealing with a white person who doesn't share those beliefs.

If, on the other hand, the power balance has changed, and I am fighting that prejudice as I go about my daily business, I would care a lot and I would work to get that speech off the radio by a lot of strategies - boycotting products, contacting advertisers, posting on radio discussion boards, calling into shows, contacting stations.... I would also factor in the extent to which the attention is actually beneficial to the show, in which case the effort is counterproductive.

Anyway, (Savage) Weiner's ratings are down, aren't they?

That was a really patronizing comment. What makes you think only white people are in positions of power? Sounds to me like you have a real low opinion of minorities. Newsflash: Minorities own property, banks, they are in corporate America.

 

[Finn]

That was a really patronizing comment. What makes you think only white people are in positions of power? Sounds to me like you have a real low opinion of minorities. Newsflash: Minorities own property, banks, they are in corporate America.

It's usually conservatives who give me grief for this opinion...

From your point of view, what was the patronizing part? That I think most positions of power in this country are held by white people? Or because I believe that whoever has more power in whatever relationship has a greater responsibility than the person with less power? (not legally, but yes, morally).

Sure, black folks are gaining power - like the CEO of American Express who pulled the plug on Imus. And Obama who just raised $25 million. And Rice who is representing this country internationally. And, if they were talking about blue-eyed white devils on the radio, I would care. And, if a large majority of black folks were talking about blue-eyed devils AND everytime I applied for a job, they were the ones I had to talk to, I would be up in arms about it. As it is, I don't really care, so the people talking about blue-eyed devils get a pass from me - I just don't care as much that they exist.

Conservatives tend to say no - if it's wrong to say verminous black people or liberals or homosexuals, then it's wrong to say blue-eyed devils. And, conversely, if it's okay to say blue-eyed devils, then it's okay to say the reverse. I say yes, technically, that is correct, either it's all wrong or it's all right, but since we can't run around making everyone perfect, and some speech does matter more than other speech (i.e. we discriminate), I take a more pragmatic approach and say the people with power have to be more careful than the people without power. And right now, white folks have more power and therefore, I tend to worry more about what they say than other folks.

So, I do care that someone like (Savage) Weiner talks about verminous ____________ (insert anyone not like him) - because he represents the millions who agree with him, and they represent power.

Along the same lines, that's why we care about being called infidels - cuz we need oil and they have guns. If we didn't and they didn't, we'd just laugh at them.