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Jul 23 2008 10:08AM EDT

Even Conservatives Hate Michael Savage

In light of the continuing controversy surrounding Michael Savage's comments on autism -- although does it even count as a controversy if no one agrees with him? -- I thought it would be fun to bring you some excerpts on Savage from a new book, Shock Jocks: Hate Speech & Talk Radio, published last month by the liberal imprint AlterNet Books. (In case you haven't been following the saga closely, Aflac, one of Savage Nation's biggest sponsors, has pulled its support, and a radio-station group in Mississippi is dropping the show.)

Savage comes in at No. 3 on the book's list of "The Top 10 Worst Shock Jocks (Minus Imus)", after Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. (Imus gets his own chapter.)

According to author Rory O'Connor:

Savage is so extreme that even many of his fellow right-wing talk radio personalities don't like him. Bill O'Reilly calls him a "smear merchant," while Neal Boortz refers to Savage as "the Antichrist." Although Talkers Magazine recently bestowed its annual Freedom of Speech award upon Savage, publisher Michael Harrison says he thinks the man is "an asshole."

There's a lot of stuff in the chapter about how Savage's rabid politics can be read as a poorly-disguised reaction to his own hippie-ish background: He got a Ph.D. from Berkeley, has written numerous books on alternative medicine, and had a flirtatious friendship with gay poet Alan Ginsberg. There's also an interesting fact I didn't know: Savage's son is the creator of RockStar energy drink.

Connor summarizes Savage's appeal this way:

There is something almost hypnotic about the up-and-down anger on the program; even though Savage's views are not always internally coherent, he is supremely confident and comfortable in expressing them. His ability to steer the course without having to resort to logic to support his point is a trait more often seen in politicians than commentators.
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