A Savage Attack: Why Michael Savage is wrong about Autism & why Conservatives shouldn't support him.

National Review ^ | July 24, 2008 | John J. Pitney Jr.

[TruthFactor]

Savage doesn’t pull his punches. I like that, and it’s something we need more of in this mamby-pamby feminized nation.

And he’s right, autism, ADHD, etc. have become rackets to line the pockets of doctors, psychologists, social workers, etc., in much the same way global warming is a racket/scam.

[Devilinbaggypants]

Maybe people need to spend a little more time listening to him on a regular basis instead of jumping to conclusions over something that mediamatters.org has maliciously taken out of context and spun into this! Michael Savage has more balls than all the other commentators put together!

[Mr. Lucky]

I would post a point by point rebuttal of your post, but unfortunately I'm suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (or is it Attention Deficit Disorder, I can never remember).

[LeGrande]

Tell you what. Take autism of the SS disability eligibility list and watch the numbers of autistics fall.

This victim entitlement mentality has to end.

[hinckley buzzard]

These parents themselves hold that neither they nor anybody else knows anything about autism-- but everybody knows Savage was wrong about it. Interesting.

[commonguymd]

Absolutely! Watch out as you will be drawn and quartered by the MCS group, the “Medicated Children Society” posting here on FR. Every child they know is Autistic, just ask them.

[SMCC1]

If Savage was talking about ADD or ADHD, I would agree with him 100%. Those are over-diagnosed.

Autism is another matter.

If a kid is acting out and really just needs a kick in the ass, they’re mostly likely going to be miss-diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. Most of the time, when a child is diagnosed with autism, it’s a serious and real health problem.

[RightWhale]

He has cheapened political discourse and hurt defenseless children

Didn't hurt anybody but some vested interests. Didn't hurt them much. Political discourse is already dirt cheap.

[NonValueAdded]

I missed the show from which the "In 99 percent of the cases ..." quote originated. Subsequently, Michael talked as if the statement was "in some cases" as opposed to the implied almost all. If the source of the statement is Media Matters, then I completely discount it. If it was hyperbolie after making the initial statement that autism is over diagnosed, then it is a context fault. It is going to take a lot more than a National Review article to make me side with Media Matters, knowing their M.O.

[Matchett-PI]

Michael Weiner is a phony, cynical opportunist. If liberal talk show hosts could get a bigger audience, that is what he’d spew.

He’s an embarrassment to the conservative movement.

Pray for discernment.

[garbanzo]

Autism is a brain disorder that affects everything from social communication to physical coordination.

Being a spastic geek is now a brain disorder?

[tflabo]

Its all fine...all the dialogue and controversy over this autism
issue has been rich from all sides. What is extremely offensive are the calls from some to remove Michael Savage off the air which is a stalinist, leftist tactic to silence
one’s freedom of speech and ideas. May we all be judged by the words we speak but NEVER let our voices be squashed or censored like the Chi-coms do it. Free speech in a free nation! Turning the radio dial works every time for other selections.

[DTogo]

Savage’s comments were wrong and harmful.

Not nearly half as wrong/harmful as the daily comments of Reid/Pelosi/Murtha/Schumer/NYTimes, etc, etc.

[garbanzo]

I like that, and it’s something we need more of in this mamby-pamby feminized nation.

It seems as if a lot of conservatives, especially the big-city, blue-state ones, have become so p-whipped by the liberals any conservative who actually speaks his mind bluntly is horrifying to them.

[Snurple]

Hmmm, that’s interesting.

[stevem]

Savage’s comments were wrong and harmful.

Only for any poor soul who takes Savage seriously, as if he has anything to add to the discussion.

I've known a couple of autistic kids. One was(is) much older than 2 or 3. To suggest that expenditure of a life is an act...well, you would need to be as goofy as Savage make such a connection.

Still, I doubt Savage believes it. Heck's bells, there was a time some years ago when I listened to Savage because I thought he actually made a scintilla of sense. Then, after the fifth or sixth time he spun into some tangential rant about some bark at the moon, I realized he sells his wares as do professional wrestlers.

Now, I used to enjoy professional wrestling. To this day I think the best of the wrestlers of those days took seriously their duty to be entertainers, salesmen. The marginal wrestlers did little except provide a supporting cast. If Savage took his audience seriously, he might improve at least to the level of supporting cast. After all this time, though, I don't really expect it.