The Deafening Silence

I'm not referring to the lack of posts on my own blog. After all, it's nice to have a break from all the insanity, isn't it?

I'm speaking about the boon of quiet from every so-called conservative talk show host this week regarding Michael Savage's English ban and his subsequent lawsuit and letter to Hilary Clinton asking for a pardon.

If you don't know the story...

Britain's Home Office secretary Jacqui Smith called for the banning of 22 people (6 remain unknown to the public) "who have been engaged in spreading hate." Michael Savage, syndicated talk show host - who says over and over again in response to callers' wishes for his presence in American government that he is not and will be nothing but an author and talk show host -found himself on the list alongside Islamic terrorists, known murderers and a violent white supremacist. Jacqui Smith said Savage is on the list for "seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence."

Savage has since filed a defamation suit against the British Home Office asking for the removal of his name for a number of reasons: 1) there are two laws on the English books that allow free speech of both the generally accepted variety and speech that is potentially disgusting and/or shocking; 2) the banning of Savage is absurd, as it claims his words are just as dangerous as the actual crimes of everyone else on the list; 3) England has clearly, in its pc-overrun era- gone insane and shamed itself horribly by "balancing out" the list by adding Savage to it.

The last of these reasons being the least concern for Savage.

My favorite (in fact, the only one I listen to) radio host has also had the Thomas More Law Center draw up a letter of appeal to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking her to pardon him from the ban. This is a great opportunity for Clinton to show real nonpartisanship, and could potentially write her into history for upholding the Constitution in this most awesome way.

This is all big news, right? So why haven't Limbaugh or Hannity or Beck or O'Reilly mentioned it at all? I'm sure Laura Ingraham has, only because she, as a former lawyer, realizes the impact of such a lawsuit. But where are all the other so-called champions of free speech? Do they only care about it when it affects themselves? That is, in a word, lame. Two-faced, and lame. Even CNN covered the story. Granted, they overtly cited Savage's vitriolic response to Smith, but isn't his outrage justified?

Savage's letter to Clinton is on his website (http://www.michaelsavage.com/). There is also a petition on World Net Daily (http://www.wnd.com/) that everyone interested in should sign. So far it has over 120,000 signatures (as of this publishing).

I said long ago, when I first really heard him, that I didn't like Rush Limbaugh. I don't buy the excuse that "all women hate him for being arrogant," which is his commonly-used retort to why his female listenership is so low. I find him extremely arrogant, but I believe this is objectively true. Who cares if he's right about some things? Does that mean I have to hang on his every self-aggrandizing word?

Hannity also annoys me. Is every caller, upon opening the conversation, really a "great American?" This is what he tells them, all of them, before they say anything. I guess the idea is that since they called him, they must be. And I can't stand the way he fawns over his female callers and is always sending them flowers. I'd be embarrassed to be his wife.

Give me Savage any day, every day. Just when you think he can't take it anymore, he launches into a story from his childhood (now recorded forever in his book, "Psychological Nudity"), a recipe (see "MSMS" post on homeward bound) or a far-reaching truth about the world that knocks you off your chair. He quips, he is insightful, he's devilishly funny, he's a voice of reason in the wilderness of self-interested media - both left and right-leaning.

Please stand up for this brilliant mind. He wouldn't call himself that, because unlike most, he still has an ounce of humility. We are privileged to hear this man's thoughts about the world. Listen to him once and you'll agree. Also, consider donating to the Thomas More Law Center to divert costs of the lawsuit and trial. He can afford to pay for it all, but wouldn't you like to say you had a hand in freeing Michael Savage?