Michael Savage Redux - Ancestry.com

Rachel,



I wanted to reach out to you directly. Your site has referred to Ancestry.com as an advertiser on Michael Savage’s show or the Talk Radio Network. I can confirm to you that Ancestry.com is not an advertiser with the Talk Radio Network or the “Savage Nation” radio show. In fact, our company doesn’t currently advertise on the radio. It is unclear how the company’s name ended up on this list, but it appears to be a mistake. We would appreciate your help in spreading the correct facts within your personal network.



Sincerely,



Mike Ward

Public Relations Director

Ancestry.com

Part of The Generations Network

Knoxville Shootings at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

My prayers are with the members of the Tennessee Valley UUC and the larger Knoxville community in the aftermath of Sunday's shooting. I did my graduate work in a distance program through UT, so I did wind up spending a little time there and have several friends and colleagues in the area. I was reading a news article on the alleged shooter and it mentioned some of his reading habits.

"Still seized three books from Adkisson's home, including "The O'Reilly Factor," by television commentator Bill O'Reilly; "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder," by radio personality Michael Savage; and "Let Freedom Ring," by political pundit Sean Hannity."

This is who listens to Michael Savage.

Autism Group: Advertisers Dropping Savage

Sears, Radio Shack, and AFLAC have all dropped him. I wonder how much money has to fall out of his pocket until he actually apologizes...

Who's a Moron? Michael Savage Feels the Pinch...

A nice post about how Michael Savage is losing sponsors as a result of his own stupidity.

Talk Radio Network Justifies Savage Treatment of Autistic Kids

"In the context of his broader concerns, it is clear that Dr. Savage's comments were intended to suggest his opinion that, in the vast majority of cases, most children throwing tantrums, or refusing to communicate, are not autistic. Unfortunately, by condensing his multifaceted concerns into 84 seconds of commentary, the necessary context for his remarks was not apparent, and the few words he used to express his concerns were, in this instance, inartfully phrased.

As a result, Dr. Savage's comments did facially appear to be directed at children who suffer from autism, and clearly could be perceived as such. This has, in turn, caused understandable pain and distress to those who have a child or family member who is challenged by autism. This was not Dr. Savage's intent, and, on behalf of the Network and all persons associated with the Network, we wish to note that our hearts go out to all families who are forced to face the realities of autism every day of their lives, and to sincerely apologize to these families for any increase in these burdens resulting from inartful commentary appearing in the Network's programming."

Mmmm... yeah.

The rest of it kind of made me sick, but read it if you like.

Talk Radio Network's Phones are Working Again...

Also -- perhaps more importantly, I was given the direct e-mail address for Mark Masters, CEO of Talk Radio Network and asked to post it on my blog for people to send him an e-mail. It is: mmasters@talkradionetwork.com.

Interesting sites

NoSavage.org reports that Geico has pulled out as an advertiser.  (For those interested in our feelings about Geico and their drivers, check out our get off your cell phone you moron posts.)

The Truth About Rockstar Energy Drink, well, has apparently known truth about Rockstar Energy Drink and its relationship to Michael Savage (aka Michael Weiner) for a lot longer than the rest of us.  

Good times... 

Time to get back to getting Jimmy to sleep.  His medication isn't working as well.  He has been going since 1 a.m..  Yes, he has had me up since then as well.  

What a week!

This tiny blog's traffic has quadrupled in the last week, all thanks to the Michael Savage controversy.  Lots of hits from those wanting to see who his sponsors are.  Some are from the sponsoring corporations, which is sort of interesting.  Maybe they want to see which way the wind is blowing.  

This is how the wind blows.  When Jimmy was diagnosed three years ago, the rate of diagnosis was 1 in 166.  Not too long ago, that rate increased to 1 in 150.  Over diagnoses?  Consider this: not too long ago, a clinician was evaluation Jimmy.  We were talking about the explosion of diagnoses and I asked her if Jimmy would have been classified as something else before the autism explosion.  He said it was possible that he would have been labelled mentally retarded, even if the data (namely his cognitive ability) didn't support it.  She pointed out that while autism rates had risen, that MR rates had fallen - autism became better defined and more appropriate labeling and diagnosis occurred.  Some have called it a diagnostic substitution phenomenon. 

The end result is that more children are diagnosed.  Listen, mental retardation is a quantifiable diagnosis.  There are IQ tests.  You can look at the results.  If you score about a certain level, you are "normal."  If you are below a certain level, you are "MR."  I am sure the assessment is more nuanced, but at least it is something people understand.  Autism isn't as well defined as that yet, but that makes it no less real.  Certainly not to families dealing with it.

I don't know what the end game of all this is.  Do the parents give enough hell to the sponsors to have them pull advertising?  Enough to get Michael Savage fired?  I don't know.  It's a hell of a commitment for parents and supporters to do who are burdened (not how I look at it, but for a lack of a better term) with taking care of these kids.  But what the rest of the world really doesn't realize is that parents of autistic children are first and foremost advocates for them.  We spend our lives try to explain who they are and why they are the way they are.  We spend our time in their schools, making sure they get services they need in settings they can handle.  We fight insurance companies to get them the care they need.  And when we have nothing left, we fight some more.

I don't know what will come of all this, but I think of all groups he could have picked to attack, the motivated and dedicated parents of autistic children was probably the worst.

For those looking for Michael Savage's sponsors...

If you are looking for additional information about his sponsors, I would like to redirect you to the comments of my earlier post.  Apparently, the ads change depending on the market in which the show is being broadcast.  Amother blogger named Greg, who's daughter has autism, has been doing a fantastic job in getting answers from sponsors regarding Michael Savage - check out his site.

I Love Perez Hilton

Two days ago, I (probably along with some other readers) sent Perez Hilton the Michael Savage YouTube video with his autism comments.  Perez actually ran with it.  Anyone who reads the site for the entertainment value of the gossip knows that you don't have to read long before you encounter his social conscious.  Which, of course, is a wonderful thing.

Thank you Perez Hilton.  

Edit: I was reading through his comments.  I am not the only one to make the Rockstar Energy Drink connection.  A poster named Sass wrote:

if you all REALLY want to hit Savage where it hurts….STOP drinking ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINKS!! I believe he and his son, RUSS WEINER (yes, his last name is really WEINER) still own the company, or have their shares in it. I use to work with RUSS oh-so-long ago and he is as big of a schmuck as his father. But they created ROCKSTAR ENERGY drinks, and Russ was the one who use to go and pimp it out. IT is so funny, cuz Russ WEINER is as big of a so called "conservative" as his father, yet, he like to party his ass off, screw a bunch of skanky broads, thinks of himself as quite the "ladies" man (bleech) and is an all around hypocrite and spoiled brat. So ironic that HIS father is saying that Autistic children are really just bratty children.

Don't believe me….?? Just google Mike Savage/Weiner and his son Russ Weiner and ROCKSTAR energy drinks. you will see I am correct.

I think we ARE an over-diagnosed society…I have depression, bipolar disorder, border personality disorder, ADD, AUTISM…bleh blah blah…docs are NOT doing their jobs. We are also one of the most OVER MEDICATED societies in the world.

But to utterly dismiss all children with autism as being the result of "bad parenting" is absurd. This man is absurd. Take whatever he says with a grain of salt!

Michael Savage's bosses at Talk Radio Network

Talk Radio Network
	541-664-8827 Don't expect much.  They have their phones turned off apparently.  :)

Michael Savage's Sponsors

Always deeply appreciate when people do the dirty work for me.  From this list, I am going to be contacting Prudential, with which we do business.  I can pull my accounts from there if I like.  And since FIOS isn't available at our new house and I don't want to go back to Comcast, that left Dish Network and DirecTV.  I guess Dish won't be getting my business.

Not that my little protest will accomplish anything, but at least I can feel like I did something.  

"Partial Client List of Advertisers on TRN Shows

Advertisers choose TRN Shows because our shows deliver return on 
investment while remaining economical. Our shows hosts support their 
sponsors and have loyal listeners that support the sponsors on their 
shows. Simply put, radio advertising on our shows works! Here's a 
partial list of our happy clients: 
ABC 
Acura 
American Express 
Ancestry.com 
Boca Java 
Bochringer 
Bosch 
Campbells 
Citrix 
Consolidated Resources 
Direct Buy 
Dish Network 
Ebay Motors 
Efax 
General Motors 
Gallo Wines 
Hoover 
Legal Zoom 
Marshalls 
Nautilus 
Nivea 
Outback Steakhouse 
Prudential 
Purina One 
Simon & Schuster 
Staples 
Subway 
Texaco Chevron 
United First Financial 
Volkswagon" 

Even worse...

Michael Savage's son owns Rockstar Energy Drink.  

Why on earth is this upsetting to me?

My husband is the owner/admin of a mixed martial arts forum on the Internet.  We are huge fans of the sport and its various promotions, the UFC, EliteXC, Dream, Affliction and so on.  Not only does Rockstar sponsor all of these promotions but it sponsors several individual fighters as well. Everytime I see the Rockstar logo, I will think of Michael Savage's hateful comments toward my son, myself, and other families like ours.  It is tempting to use some of my connections in the sport to try to make a point.  If I don't, it is only because I am extremely busy with moving, becoming a landlord, being on the school board, going back to work for a new school year - all on top of being first and foremost a mom to my kids.  That's what important, more than insensitive twits like Savage.

Then again, when has being busy been an excuse for me?