Savage Attack at KXL

Immigrants are like geese--once you let them in, they shit all over the place. The world Muslim population could absorb the loss of 200 million people--they'll just make more. Outsiders are killing us and spreading a toxin throughout the nation.

If you tune into "Savage Nation," on KXL (750AM) weekday afternoons, you've probably heard these sentiments from the mouth of Michael Savage, a San Francisco shock jock who makes Rush Limbaugh sound like a thoughtful pinko.

Now a Portland group known as the Coalition Against Hate Radio is campaigning to get KXL to dump Savage.

"The content is an unbroken stream of hate and chauvinism directed against women, people of color, liberals, immigrants and in particular people of Middle Eastern heritage and people of the Muslim faith," coalition spokesman Tom Nelson said in a prepared statement. "We condemn this message of hate."

The coalition includes the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Muslim Educational Trust, Oregon Friends of the Middle East, the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland and the Democratic Party of Multnomah County.

Nelson and other coalition members say they have contacted KXL management; the station's owner, Microsoft gazillionaire Paul Allen; and the Portland Trail Blazers, whose games are broadcast on KXL. So far, they say, they've received no assurances.

KXL's general manager says support for Savage far outweighs criticism. "It's 100 to 1 in terms of positive to negative," Tim McNamara says. "Savage's popularity is exploding."

That infuriates some people. "I am appalled that we allow things to be said about Arabs and Muslims that we wouldn't tolerate with other groups," says coalition member Gloria Tuma, a licensed clinical social worker who is Arab-American. "This is not about censorship. This is about our responsibility as citizens in shaping our society. It affects all of us."

In fairness, Savage, whose real name is Michael A. Weiner, is not much friendlier to other ethnic groups. The author of a booklet titled The Death of the White Male, Savage has referred to Hispanics as "leaf-blowers," according to the coalition.

WWeek 2015