Right Winger Michael Savage Rips On Autistic Children

If anyone out there needs a reason why not to listen to right wing lunatics on the radio (and sadly, there are millions) then Michael Savage should be able to make my point many times over. Day in and day out, he utilizes hate and anger to rile up his audience to lash out at those with different (and saner) views than his own. However, there are things that should be beyond partisanship and autism is on the high end of that list along with not killing puppies and kittens. Yet to wingnuts like Savage, not even that is beyond his sphere of hate.

From Media Matters:

On the July 16 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket." Savage went on to say, "I'll tell you what autism is. 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.' " Savage concluded, "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."

That is the mark of a heartless man. Perhaps Mr. Savage has never met a family that have autistic children. Perhaps he doesn't have friends or neighbors that let him near them because he is a disgusting human being. Whatever the reason, there is no excuse for what comes out of his mouth and Talk Radio Network should be ashamed of themselves for putting that crap on the air, even if there are 8.25 million sad souls out there that choose to listen to it.

Activism Can Make Albany Work

Perhaps more appropriately, activism taken by New Yorkers has the potential to make Albany work for the citizens before the select Committee Chairs in the Assembly and the State Senate. For the most part, popular bills are pressed by either constituent or legislator, only to be quashed by the leadership of the respective party in control (Dems in the Assembly, Repubs in the Senate). Legislators rarely have the ability to exercise power or else they can be subject to punishment from their party leaders. Well, sometimes that can be thwarted.

From The Daily Politics:

The almost unthinkable happened in Albany this week when Assembly Health Chairman Richard Gottfried lost a pair of votes in his own committee.

The rare event unfolded Wednesday, when two autism research bills came up at a committee meeting. Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat, moved to put them on "hold" rather than approve them for further consideration. Normally, Gottfried's wish would be his committee's command.

But heavy-duty lobbying by autism activists and the bill sponsors -- Bronx Democrat Peter Rivera and Long Island Republican James Conte -- carried the day. Seven of the 19 Democrats joined all seven Republicans in support of the bills, for a final vote of 14-12 on each.

This was a huge victory for those that lobby for autism research. No, they weren't "lobbyists," they are regular citizens who are most likely affected by autism in the home or for someone that they know. People who stand up and deliver enough pressure in the right way can get things done.

Of course that was just one committee and the bill has many more hurdles to jump. The chances for its implementation is still slim considering the way things work in Albany. However, before we can have the ability to jump every single obstacle on the track, we have start with the first hurdle.