• Town Talk

The dilemma: How to handle remarks, insults and accusations from someone with a different and perhaps uneducated point of view. 

You know these rantings are baseless and born of ignorance and sometimes hate. Do you sit back, turn the other cheek, and try to ignore those who spew hateful, self serving propaganda, not wanting to call more attention to their comments while being hopeful that they will just go away? Or do you confront them with the truth, seeking not only to silence, but to expose the fallacy in their statements, knowing all the while that you’re doing what they want by calling more attention to them?

This is a tough one. Last year, the black community jumped to the defense of the Rutgers women’s basketball team when radio talk show host Don Imus flippantly called some team members “nappy headed hos” in a misguided and ignorant attempt at humor. In the furor that followed, Imus apologized … and still got fired from his national show. While the uproar clearly brought more attention to Imus than he ever deserved, it also clearly succeeded in showing how stupid the remarks were and ended up costing Imus his lucrative job.

Outrageous comments

Fast forward to last week. I and many others in the autism community have been confronted with this same question in the wake of comments made by nationally syndicated right wing radio host Michael Savage, who went on his program and declared autism to be “a fraud” and “a racket.” 

“I’ll tell you what autism is,” Savage said during his show on July 16th. “In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. That’s what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they’re silent? They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’” 

As the parent of a 15-year-old son with autism, I was and still am outraged by the comments. Of course I’m jaded, but I think what Savage said and how he said it, in such a pre-mediated, heartless and venom-filled manner, was worse than what Imus said. 

Spin doctor

So far, Savage, who has refused to apologize, has not been fired. Instead, he’s gone into spin doctor mode, saying a few days later that he was not directing his comments at those who legitimately have autism, but rather those who are wrongfully diagnosed by the corrupt medical establishment and those trying to take advantage of the system for financial gain. He claims his comments were “ripped out of context” by his enemies, whom he referred to has “radical,” “homosexual” and “Stalinist.”  

First, it needs to be pointed out that ZERO persons in this country have anything to gain financially from the diagnosis of autism. There are no drugs specifically designed to treat it, no expensive or inexpensive cure, and no financial assistance from the government or anyone else that will come close to covering the costs associated with full time care. To suggest that any parent would welcome a diagnosis of autism from their doctor for financial reasons is ignorant beyond belief. When we heard those words from our doctors, we were devastated. The burden emotionally, physically and financially is overwhelming. Savage chooses to trivialize this by using it in his on-going campaign against government spending.  

So much for his post-remarks “spin.” To speak of Savage using his vocabulary, it is he who is the “moron” here.

How to react?

Which brings us back to the dilemma. How should the autism community react? So far, reactions have been mixed. The National Association for Autism, Autism United and the American’s with Disabilities Association have been active in trying to organize protests and calling for Savage to be fired. Autism Speaks and the Autism Society of America have chosen to try to ignore Savage’s comments, passing them off as propaganda from an entertainer trying to gain attention.

Which is the right approach to take? 

In the days that have followed Savage’s comments, it has become clear to me that the best way to handle this is to go after him, because sitting back and hoping his comments will fall of deaf ears will simply not work. Eight million people per week listen to Savage. To try to brush that off is a mistake because it will give him license to continue his hateful, name-calling tactics. Who will be the next group he goes after? The fact is, his listeners hear his venomous nonsense and believe it to be true when it goes unchallenged. His perception becomes their reality. 

Does tape lie?

Our job as parents and those who advocate for the cause of autism is to educate and inform the masses as to what this disease is all about. If we do nothing when something like this happens, we will have failed in that responsibility. Then there’s the professional side of it. As a talk show host myself, I don’t think that’s too much to ask for a certain level of professionalism as an industry. I thought we set the bar last year when Imus was fired. Even if Savage was, as he claimed on Monday, “ripped out of context” by his evil liberal enemies, it was still full of venom. There can be no denying the name calling and the hateful manner in which the comments were made. It’s on tape. Can someone please explain how someone is misquoted ON TAPE? We all heard what Savage said. Denying he said it just makes it worse. What this man did goes way past unprofessional, and should lead to his firing simply on the grounds that name calling is not quality radio.   

Get involved

Those who feel like I do can take action. Savage (who has already lost two sponsors over the comments) is employed by Talk Radio Networks. You can contact them at 541-664-8827 if you feel compelled to seek his firing. His boss, Mark Masters, was appalled at the comments, but still needs to be more strongly compelled to pull the plug on this hate monger. Perhaps voicing your displeasure to national sponsors like Direct Buy.com and Swiss America Trading Corporation will help, too.

As the Imus situation proved, inaction is not the answer. Justice will only come to those who actively seek it. 

Mark Knudson is a sports columnist for the Denver Daily News, a former Major League Baseball pitcher and a member of the 1993 Colorado Rockies.

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