Idiot of the Week: Michael Savage

Today’s a special day here at Blogging Blue, because we’re unveiling a new weekly segment titled “Idiot of the Week.” The first winner of the “Idiot of the Week” award is none other than right-wing squawker Michael Savage, who claimed during his July 16th syndicated show that autism is:

“[a] fraud, a racket. … 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.’”

As anyone who knows a little about me knows, I’m the proud parent of an autistic child, and I’m absolutely disgusted and outraged that someone like Michael Savage would stoop so low as to attack autistic kids. Further, his insinuation that autism is a product of the absence of a father shows just how ignorant and uninformed is, and I’d encourage Mr. Savage to do a little reading about Autism. In fact, if he’d bother to do a little reading, he’d know scientists recently identified five new autism-related gene defects to go along with the more than a dozen genetic defects have been found to be associated with autism spectrum disorders. If Michael Savage would bother to do a little reading about autism, he’d know it isn’t something a child has control over; it isn’t simply a child being difficult or throwing tantrums, nor is it the result of a child not having a father.

If anyone’s interested, here’s the audio of Michael Savage’s rant about autism:

Here in Milwaukee, Michael Savage’s show is syndicated on Newsradio 620, and I’ve already taken a moment to call Tom Parker, the station’s Program Manager to express my feelings on Michael Savage’s comments about autism, and I’d like to ask you to let him know how you feel as well. Autism isn’t a laughing matter, and autistic kids aren’t idiots or fakers, nor do they deserve to be labeled as such.

Tom Parker
Program Director
Phone: 414-967-5207
Email: tparker@620wtmj.com

H/T to John Michlig at Sprawled Out.