Michael Savage Calls Out 'Jew-Hating Selves' And Some Of Them Are In The Media

 One of the most compelling aspects of Michael Savage that I enjoy is his unpredictability --Savage is a free thinker. A true independent on the radio syndication fortress that has been dumbed down into a mind-numbing sameness for sometime now.

Fortunately, the popular San Francisco-based syndicated talker didn't get the memo.

Savage is Jewish --passionately so but is independent to the core and doesn't mind saying so. Even reckless at times--my opinion.

Don't believe me? Read this then. That doesn't preclude him, however, from flipping the switch and calling out what he refers to as "Jew-hating selves" --particularly those on the left who feel compelled to criticize Israel and its policies, no matter what; even in an era of blatant anti-Semitism that permeates the globe.

It was evident in Paris and beyond. It has tentacles elsewhere too. It has reached both the local and national media. Even those voices here that have tried hard to remain objective and not succumb to apologizing for Israel's action largess, (even when it had no choice) have been exposed by Savage's calling-out. Not everyone is convinced--they never are.

When Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu made his historic speech last week to Congress to talk about Iran's nuclear bomb ambitions, the independent Savage praised the address and chided President Obama for his remarks later. It was a far cry from the usual suspects--most of them Jewish commentators-- who have consistently ripped Israel no matter what--which would be perfectly acceptable but draws suspicion when they are so gung-ho predictable and they are.

Thankfully, Savage is anything but.

And I commend him for that even if others won't.

*Follow me on Twitter

415 Media: Angie Coiro Splitting From KGO Radio; Last Show Sunday; Paid/Canned Syndicated Shows Forces Out Respected Talker

 Angie Coiro will be broadcasting her last show on KGO Radio Sunday afternoon. Coiro was awarded the 10-1 PM weekend program late last year but her time element has been interrupted by paid syndicated financial shows that have recently begun piling up on KGO's weekend schedule.

Coiro, reached by e-mail, confirmed to me that she will do her last show on Sunday. She didn't want to go into detail as to why she decided to split although it was well known among local broadcast sources that KGO/Cumulus' decision to begin its paid syndicated shows was a major factor in her decision.

Too bad some of the other KGO talk hosts didn't share some of Coiro's personal and professional ethics.

Coiro, who mixes news-talk and human-interest stories, is widely regarded as one of the most respected and up-and-coming broadcasters.

She will start new podcasts March 1 at http://indeepradio.com/

*Follow me on Twitter

Savage Complains That Fox News Won't Have Him On Cable Channel in Spite Of Hot-Selling Book

 Michael Savage has a best-selling book out and has been doing a lot of promotion on both his KSFO radio show and others.

He also complained Wednesday that Fox News has blackballed him from their cable channel and wondered aloud why they haven't had him on their shows. After all, Savage is known as a leading conservative radio host and his book centers on, what Savage predicts is the coming political civil war.

I have a theory about Savage's blackball treatment at Fox News. I think, and this doesn't require brain surgery, that Sean Hannity, a Fox News host, doesn't really like the SF-based syndicated talker and that is why he doesn't appear on Roger Ailes' network.


This might explain why. And this guy is a good friend of Hannity which doesn't help.


And this doozy on Bill O'Reilly doesn't help either. Of course O'Reilly and Savage have a history of this and it all should be perfectly clear to Savage that his frequent bashing of his contemporary critics might preclude him from plugging books even if the book is on its way to the NY Times best-seller list.


*Follow me on Twitter

Has Rush Limbaugh Jumped The Shark? Question For The Fan Base; Tuesday Starter

 I want to talk to those of you that are Rush Limbaugh fans. You are out there, right? Rush is still the king of the world and undisputed #1-rated talk-show host, I'm pretty sure, but the past few years his popularity has waned. This is not the gospel, just my own impression and I read and explore a lot of this type of thing. He still commands a lot of attention in the so-called flyover states but even there his Rushness fervor seems to have evaporated. Again, not the gospel just an impression. And past controversy confirms this.


Limbaugh used to be worth listening to, (and still is, for the most part), because of the entertainment quotient in his program. I'm negating the overt rightist political leanings and GOP bastion that defines him because that's a given. Rush will always be Rush but even his most liberal critics agree, or at one  point agreed that Limbaugh's program was popular because the guy was a complete broadcaster, possessed quite a brilliant vocabulary, offered funny and snarky asides, (Philthydelphia) and knew how to move the needle, as they say in broadcasting.


Or am I missing the beat now? Which brings me back the point of this article. Who listens to Limabugh? I already know about the loyal Republican minions who still view him as the GOP messiah and he continues to garner considerable clout within that base but I'm speaking of the general public. There was a time that even those people who didn't buy Limbaugh's politics and cast him aside as nothing more than a GOP talking head still listened intently because he was interesting and provocative. Matter of fact Limbaugh used to be a daily presence in the news domain, at the top of the masthead but I don't see that these days. It's not overly-dramatic nor earth-shattering but still relevant.


A few years ago Michael Zwerling, who owns KSCO Radio in Santa Cruz and whose station carries Rush was seriously considering dropping the program but relented. He agrees with my assessment that the Limbaugh portfolio is still in the heavyweight division although greatly diminished. Even with that Zwerling said renewing El Rushbo was a no-brainer.

"We've had many interesting, very lively and contentious talk shows and even run polls on the subject, 'Would KSCO be better off with Rush or without Rush?'", offered Zwerling.

"Thus far we opted to keep Rush, even with the advertiser stigma because after all is said and done, Rush Limbaugh continues to bring in the mega-audience that tends to stick around for our other programs -- he still brings in the enormous audience and enormous audiences are what enable advertising-revenue-based businesses survive and thrive."

What about you out there--and again, I'm looking for Limbaugh fans, do you still listen with urgency or has the star diminished. Is he no longer 'appointment radio? I'd like to know.

*Follow me on Twitter

Karel Mangles KGO's David Weintraub On-Air And, Well, The Rest is History

Karel

  Just before midnight Saturday, KGO alleged talk-host Karel, and 12-2 AM, host, David Weintraub got into a mini-kerfuffle on the air. It wasn't a spectacular bout, but just good enough, (here's the link to listen--pay attention to the last five minutes).

Forget what caused the bitch-out and forget the subject matter--that's not important.

What is important is how much Karel is despised by the other few talk hosts and how his irresponsibility keeps him from getting the axe from timid management although this latest fracas might add to his eventual demise.

Said a broadcast staffer: "He's a moron. He's not smart and he's intensely disliked."

*Follow me on Twitter


David Weintraub

Michael Savage New Time Slot, Blah, Blah, Blah...

 Maybe I overestimated him.

 

First monologue: began shouting; used marxist, socialist, communist at least 5-6 times.

 

Kissed the ass of Lew and John Dickey.

 

Self-aggrandizing --bad start, a little Teddy reference.

 

Blah, blah, blah...

 

Changed the channel.

 

*Follow me on Twitter

 

 

Why Michael Savage Rules The World And the Rest Of The SF/National Radio Broadcasters Are Posers; The Inconvenient Truth

I GOT ANOTHER E-MAIL. IT WAS ABOUT MY "SAVAGE FETISH."

"Savage 'fetish--what's that? Was I amused, no. Was I irritated, no. I get a lot of e-mail, no biggie, part of the trade.

It did annoy me that this particular e-mailer said that I had a "fetish" with my various writings about Michael Savage, as if it were against the law here in the high and mighty progressive SF Bay Area to dare opine that Savage ruled the market, which he does; hell, he's the defacto king of the syndicated radio world. How do I know? Have you listened to the current tripe? Are you kidding, it's not even close, but we'll leave it now for the Bay Area.

Savage has always intrigued me as something of a broadcast raconteur; a virtual artist who paints a different tapestry each and every day. He can be irksome, slightly crazy, in a sort of entertaining way but he gets you. He invigorates you, he makes you listen and has you gushing, laughing, commiserating and in full messianic state of mind virtually the entirety of his program. That's a pretty damn-good template.

In far contrast, we have here in the Bay Area a bunch of self-serving, narcissistic, impish posers with a pimple of Savage's talent. That's not a knock necessarily; it's just the gosh-darn truth with a healthy piled-high scoop of reality.

Ronn Owens, the morning audio scribbler long ago checked out and left his KGO show to where it is today: a mishmash of predictable go-to minutiae that is supposedly still the mainstay among his dwindled listeners only Owens, who continues to sell mattresses and offer tired two-bit topics on a daily basis is now simply irrelevant. Those few sycophants who still listen--maybe it's they who have a real fetish. Owens, even in his twilight; even when he checked out a long time ago, could at least do a decent hour of political interviews and a cup full of novelty. Now, having arrived merely to get one last hurrah and a few paychecks is lost in the daily shuffle. He sounds bored, tired, uninspired, like he walked in from a deep sleep. Maybe the mattress affiliation is perfect symmetry--he's just damn tired and uninteresting; makes you want to go to sleep.

Then there's KQED's Michael Krasny over at "Forum." Krasny is celebrating his 20th anniversary. Good for Mike and I congratulated him. But even in spite of a loyal following and a consistently solid, if not spectacular program, Krasny still has the disadvantage of a largely confined, specialized demo. He gets great guests and does a quality program but given his lack of large, commercial appeal will never gather up a large quantitative following.

How ironic in the land of so-called tolerance and perceived, progressive worth do we have such a lack of tolerance , but wads of intellectual dishonesty. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. We like to think, here in the Bay Area, that we're special, that we're above the fray, above the tepid, screaming and yelling polarized climate--bullshit!; we're the biggest hypocrites around; we espouse openness and ask for, insist upon, freedom of thought and opinion even if we don't necessarily agree. Again, totally unmitigated BS to the tenth power.

Truth is this: we're nothing even remotely like which we love to brag and make ourselves out to be special and unique. Like what? Gimme me a break. Really, the only thing special; the only real consistency we can brag about, Bay Area, is our INCONSISTENCY and it is there where the dynamic of a Michael Savage stands out.

Savage, we're told--, don't listen to him, he's an sob. A crazy, bizarre, scary sob. You know what? You're right, which is precisely why I listen; why I've become a regular and decided to buy in; not because I necessarily buy into his politics, (which, for the most part, as I have pointed out many times is the least element of his show); Savage, craziness and all, is consistent. And his program, unlike the wussy sweet- nothings of the local radio glee clubs has a ton of genuine residue, command, performance and pathos. It's like a fine dinner and wine that you sit down to and enjoy even if you quietly worry about the extra carbs you probably didn't need in the middle of the nosh.

Savage is genuine too, for better or worse. He doesn't always come across as warm and fuzzy but at least he's not intellectually or personally dishonest. He doesn't pull you in like the local carps like Owens and portray one thing while doing the other. He is what he is to borrow a trendy phrase but its the truth.

Unlike an Owens, who wouldn't know a smidgen of realness if his life depended on it, Savage enlightens, he entertains, he can tell funny stories and mix in a tale or two about meatballs, Chinese food, his dog Teddy and crank out some good old theatre on the air. His foibles are well-known and at times, make you squirm but at least you know where he's coming from and can put up with it. The other posers, the phonies, the quasi-intellectuals who think their shit doesn't stink, are mere pretenders, morsels, sweet-nothings and they bore the shit out of me; all of us for that matter. Who said that?!! I did, sorry for a reality check.

I'm tired of pretending to apologize that I like Michael Savage. On. the. Air. I'm not going to gather bumper stickers and put his face on a bunch of t-shirts and say he's the messiah. I don't have the time and I'm not interested. He does a radio show, for god's sake, and outside of the third hour that is taped, (wrong), and the occasional ranting and raving; concentrating on diluted topics, I'm a fan. I'm a fan of anything, like Larry King, (of all people), that entertains me, makes me curious, makes me want to tune in; something that is predictably unpredictable.

A few weeks back, Savage was talking about human frailness. It was interesting. He stopped and coughed. He complained that the Indian food he consumed but an hour earlier, had made him uncomfortable. It was a classic. It proceeded to make me belly laugh. I don't know why, maybe it's an acquired taste but I laughed. Later in the hour, he spoke of the Berkeley liberals who eat only gluten-free pizza, praise to the messiah, Obama, and spread sprouts on their limited lawn, boo! As I do frequently, I stopped, I gathered it in, and shook my head with a bit of a squirm. I thought, "Yo, Mike did you have to say, "messiah?" How cruel. How terse. How inflaming ---how true too, dammit.

Now that I've become a part of the talk-radio crowd I have a lot more respect for Savage. Another thing, a major thing King told to me, specifically, is that the first thing in this business that you preach to yourself is to be yourself. Anything else is unproductive and bound to failure. For better or worse. I agree. For all my faults, I'm genuine. It's me; you get what you get, there's not an ounce of phoniness.

Savage is not for everybody and at times, even me but I'm carved in to the mix. My Jewish Mother is from Brooklyn and is a harsh critic. She doesn't laugh at anything. She hated ET and thought he looked a lot like Yoda. She thought the Wizard of Oz was too long. She doesn't like chicken soup.

But she laughs at Michael Savage.

Go figure.

*Follow me on Twitter


*E-Mail/Tips: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com

Michael Savage: Whether you like it or not, he rules the Radio World

Michael Savage, much to the consternation of my progressive friends, is the biggest star in Bay Area radio.

But it's not just here in the city, (Savage is heard locally, 6-9 PM on KSFO), where the "Savage Nation" continues to thrive, but NY and other big markets where he has blown away the competition. For good reason.

Savage has re-defined the art of broadcasting. He is the master of telling a story. Any story for that matter. As I have stated too numerous times, politics is the least element to Savage's brilliance, almost an afterthought. Yes, I have heard his diatribes against Barack Obama, the administration, the Democrats, but if you listen intently, Savage has no love for the GOP either. He railed against Mitt Romney calling him a mutt and it was Savage on election night who early on reacted to the results as if he had just concluded an Italian dinner at the North Beach restaurant--pass the Cabernet.

The problem for you Savage bashers is that he's funny. You can't admit it. He's also passionate and does a radio virtuoso like no one else. Moreover, Savage keeps you glued on especially when he talks about the most mundane, the most archaic ideas that have absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with anything in particular. His frequent rants over the likes of eating Chinese food even when it's proven, (says Savage, and he's right), that most Chinese food isn't good for you; his hilarious references to his dog, "Teddy", whom Savage notes on a daily basis is beginning to act worrisome--"after all, he's 16 and that's pretty old for a dog."

Savage recently signed a mega-arrangement with Cumulus where he's now on almost 200 radio stations. It's one of the more shrewd deals Cumulus pulled off and most of you know how I feel about the cloud people, but on this transaction, they hit a grand slam. Period, end of story.

Savage has eclipsed that rare combo of broadcast inertia and appointment radio. He makes it look easy. And unlike the majority of his brethren both locally and beyond, (Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, et al), he's uniquely unpredictable and provides a cathartic three hours of everything you never expect.

Does he go overboard from time to time? Yes and it's still infinitely listenable even if you do a semi-cringe. Do the frequent utterances regarding our current POTUS as "socialist" make you stop and wonder? Sure, just enough to realize that a part of you realizes that more than just a broadcaster, Savage is, in reality, more of a performer. And it is on that platform where he hits it out of the park on a nightly basis.

Even better a few of the local posers that long ago lost their little cachet could learn a thing or two about Savage's pizazz but instead are more concerned about gadgets and cruises.

I said the Bay Area has no stars. I was wrong: There is a Michael Savage. A pain in the ass? Sure. Sometimes surly and over the top? Absolutely. Nobody is perfect.

I expect you, SF and the progressive mafia to once again call me out because of my appreciation of the Savage Nation. Bring it on. Better yet, tell me who's even one iota superior to Mr. Savage? Yeah, good luck with that.

*Follow me on Twitter