Michael Savage Banned from the UK

[alfred russel]

  Good for the UK. I wonder how they came up with Savage as one of the 22 most undesirable individuals, though.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/05/uk.ban.list/index.html

LONDON, England (CNN) -- White supremacists, Islamic clerics, a controversial Kansas pastor and a U.S. talk show host are on a list of 22 people banned from Britain for "stirring up hatred," the British government said Tuesday.


Jacqui Smith said she did not hesitate to name and shame those who foster extremist views.

Britain's Home Office said it decided to exclude the 22 in the last several months. That decision follows measures introduced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last year against people "who have engaged in spreading hate," the Home Office said.

The Home Office named only 16 of those on the list; it said it was not in the public interest to disclose the names of the other six. A spokeswoman declined to elaborate on why the Home Office would not publicly identify six of the 22.

One of the most recognized names on the list may be U.S. radio talk show host Michael Savage, who is listed under his real name, Michael Alan Wiener. The conservative's daily show can be heard nationwide in the United States.

[Valmy]

Huh?  What is this censorship crap?

Michael Savage is a nut, or at least he was back when I used to listen to him many years ago.

[alfred russel]

Huh?  What is this censorship crap?

Michael Savage is a nut, or at least he was back when I used to listen to him many years ago.

I'm not for censorship, but then keeping a noncitizen from entering isn't really censorship.

Michael Savage is a nut, or at least plays one on his show (I've only listened a couple times, so maybe a regular listener could weigh in).

[Berkut]

Wow, that is just stupid.

Savage is a typical radio blow hard, but the idea that a democracy would ban him from visiting for saying things they don't like is rather lame. But hey, it is their country.

[alfred russel]

Wow, that is just stupid.

Savage is a typical radio blow hard, but the idea that a democracy would ban him from visiting for saying things they don't like is rather lame. But hey, it is their country.

What about Fred Phelps?

[Valmy]

I'm not for censorship, but then keeping a noncitizen from entering isn't really censorship.

Michael Savage is a nut, or at least plays one on his show (I've only listened a couple times, so maybe a regular listener could weigh in).

Well I guess banning him from visiting is not the same as censoring what he has to say, and being able to visit other countries is certainly not a human right.  I just do not particularly like it.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The problem is that it increasingly is not our country 

It belongs to a group of Labour party apparatchiks. Roll on 2010.

[Malthus]

I'm not for censorship, but then keeping a noncitizen from entering isn't really censorship.

Michael Savage is a nut, or at least plays one on his show (I've only listened a couple times, so maybe a regular listener could weigh in).

Well I guess banning him from visiting is not the same as censoring what he has to say, and being able to visit other countries is certainly not a human right.  I just do not particularly like it.

I feel the same way. It seems to be all the rage these days, but to me it appears petty and small to have bureaucrats deciding on the basis of what people say whether to let them in the country.

[Brazen]

Michael Savage, who is listed under his real name, Michael Alan Wiener

The sheer shame should keep him out.

[derspiess]

Michael Savage, who is listed under his real name, Michael Alan Wiener

The sheer shame should keep him out.

What?  "Wiener" is a term of great respect in the U.S.  Is it not the same in the UK???

[DisturbedPervert]

That seems very random.  Was he even planning to go to the UK?

[alfred russel]

A few controversies with Savage, at least as reported by Wikipedia; which hardly make this guy sound like typical right wing radio or much of a posterboy for free speech considering all the lawsuits:

Critics such as GLAAD, FAIR, and Dave Gilson of Salon.com accuse Savage of fascist leanings,[36] racism,[16] homophobia,[37] and bigotry[16] because of his controversial statements about homosexuality, Arabs, Islam, feminism, sex education, and immigration.[38] Savage intimated in a broadcast on Disney-owned KSFO-FM, that the possibility of forcible rape was a reason why female high school students might find it exciting to feed homeless people in San Francisco. On his September 21, 1999 broadcast, while voicing his contempt for San Francisco's homeless and the efforts to help them, Savage, a long time Bay Area radio personality, said that female students who come from a Marin County private school to feed and provide services to the homeless "can go in and get raped by them because they seem to like the excitement of it..."[39] On the March 18, 2003, broadcast of The Savage Nation Michael Savage called Elizabeth Smart, "Snow White." Savage then went on to say that if he were writing a newspaper article about what had happened to Elizabeth Smart that the headline would be, "Snow White Gets Raped By Bum In White Robes." Michael Savage then said that if he were going to write a book about what happened to Elizabeth Smart that the title would be, "LIZZIE DOES UTAH." [40]

Dispute With CAIR
In early November 2007, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has called on radio listeners to contact companies that advertise on Savage's program to express their concerns about what they deemed as anti-Muslim bigotry. Savage was quoted as saying, Muslims, "need deportation"; and that adherents of Islam would do well to "take your religion and shove it up your behind" because "I'm sick of you."[45] On his show and website, Savage has countered that CAIR is linked to terrorist organizations, and was an "unindicted co-conspirator in an anti-terrorist trial". On November 8, 2007, following a campaign by CAIR meant to get Savage off the air by going after his sponsors, Citrix Systems, Inc. pulled its advertisements from his show.[46] On November 15, OfficeMax followed suit.[47] TrustedID also dropped their sponsorship of The Savage Nation, according to their CEO this was also due to lack of sales.[48]

Savage sued CAIR for its use, on its website, of excerpts from his show. Savage's lawsuit alleges copyright infringement by CAIR. [49] The suit alleged that CAIR's "repackaging" of Savage's comments was "deliberately designed to obscure the specific message conveyed by Michael Savage". The excerpts included Savage's characterization of the Qur'an as "a throwback document" and a "book of hate". CAIR called the suit "bizarre, sloppy and baseless".[50] On July 25, 2008, the United States district court dismissed Savage's suit against CAIR, holding that the posting of the audio clip was protected under the First Amendment free-speech doctrine of fair use as it was used to "comment on and rebut derogatory statements regarding their organization and their religious affiliations."[51] The court gave Savage the opportunity to file an amended complaint if he wanted to try to cure the defects in his suit. On August 14, 2008, however, Savage's lawyer announced that Savage would not file an amended complaint and would drop the case.[52][53] CAIR then sought attorneys fees against Savage but U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston denied that request. [54]

From the very beginning of his stint at MSNBC, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) urged the show's sponsors to stop advertising on the show. Savage did not sue GLAAD, but Talk Radio Network Inc. (TRN), which syndicated his radio show, did sue the owners of three small noncommercial websites that had criticized Savage and endorsed the call for advertisers to withdraw their support for the show: savagestupidity.com, michaelsavagesucks.com, and takebackthemedia.com. The suit alleged that the defendants had caused Savage financial damage by interfering with his relationship with advertisers, had used material from The Michael Savage Show without permission, and had spread "false and malicious" information about Savage.[17] The suit was brought in Illinois, the location of Culligan, a company that stopped advertising with TRN.[18] Public Citizen undertook the legal defense of the owners of savagestupidity.com.[19] Savage also contended before the National Arbitration Forum that the "savagestupidity.com" and "michaelsavagesucks.com" domain names were "confusingly similar" to his own "michaelsavage.com", and that he should be given those domain names.[20] Several months after filing the lawsuit, TRN withdrew it without obtaining any concessions from the defendants.[21] The National Arbitration Forum ruled against Savage's claim.[22]

Four months later, on July 7, Savage was fired from his MSNBC television show after remarks made in response to a caller, later identified as prank caller Bob Foster, who insulted Savage's teeth. Savage then asked if Foster was a "sodomite", to which the caller answered, "Yes." Savage then said to the caller, "Oh, so you're one of those sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig; how's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better to do than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage, and choke on it. Get trichinosis. Now do we have another nice caller here who's busy because he didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today? Put another, put another sodomite on....no more calls?...I don't care about these bums; they mean nothing to me. They're all sausages." [23]

The day after being fired, Savage apologized on his radio program and on his website. He explained that he believed that MSNBC had gone to commercial to cover the gaffe of the attempted sabotage by a prank caller and that he was off the air at the time of the offensive comments. He also said his remarks were meant only to insult the caller, not all people with AIDS.[24]

[Valmy]

A few controversies with Savage, at least as reported by Wikipedia; which hardly make this guy sound like typical right wing radio or much of a posterboy for free speech considering all the lawsuits:

Yeah I heard some pretty ridiculously over the top racist and bigoted shit on his program.  He makes Neil's persona look tolerant.

But like Neil I think he just does it for the shock value.  That is his job as a shock jock after all.

[DisturbedPervert]

Probably just needed to fill up the non Muslim quota on the ban list.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Probably just needed to fill up the non Muslim quota on the ban list.

My thoughts exactly.