Via Media Matter we have the wit and wisdom of Michael Savage, who opines on the possibility that there is a possible conspiracy to cause Chief Justice John Roberts’ seizure:
Am I to believe that there’s no connection between Charles Schumer on Friday saying that he would never appoint, or never, excuse me, approve another Bush appointment to the court, to any court? And then the chief justice suffers a so-called seizure two days later? You’re telling me there’s no possibility of a conspiracy by the Democrats to have caused this seizure in some manner? Tell me that it’s not possible. Tell me that the stakes are not so high that the liberals — who’ve finally lost the court after 50 years — that they would stop short of anything like this. Tell me it’s not possible, and I’ll tell you you’re a liar.
It gets worse, in fact:
Well, let me ask you something. You remember the Russian who ate some polonium sushi? He was going to give an interview that was embarrassing to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin? He ate a polonium sushi and then he died. Well, they do it over there when there’s a lot of money at stake, don’t they? Power at stake? What’s a human being to power-mad people and power-mad parties? Nothing.So why can’t we assume for a moment that it’s within the realm of possibility that Roberts was in some way — his health was in some way tampered with by the Democrats because they can’t believe that no matter what they do, no matter what they do — even if they engineer a victory for Hillary Clinton/[Barack] Obama — they’re still not going to be in control because the court’s moved to the center? Just a thought. Just a tiny little thought for you to ponder tonight, all you left-wingers who are so glib in your attacks on the conservative movement.
And then back to Schumer:
so he had the nerve to say on Friday he will never, ever, ever permit another Bush appointee to get onto a court, to become a judge. Then today we read that the chief justice has had a seizure and fell on a dock? Something’s wrong with this picture.
(The full transcript and the actual audio are available at the link above.)
This is a remarkable series of statements–not to mention rather scary that this guy is the third most listened to talk radio host behind Limbaugh and Hannity.
It is bad enough that we cast our politics as some sort of team sport wherein we look more at whether “our side” scores points or not in every given interchange rather than looking at what is good for the country in a specific situation, but stuff like this is the true demonization of one of the major US political parties and is utterly poisonous (if one can forgive the reference) to political discourse.
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Savage should be ignored. A kook (or genius, he makes more money than I do) who spouts kookiness nonstop.
Conservative Republicans like myself don’t count him as being on our team. He plays for himself.
Comment by Steve Plunk — Wednesday, August 1, 2024 @ 10:46 am
I must confess to having long ignored Savage. Even when I was a regular consumer of talk radio, I couldn’t stomach his commercials, let alone his program.
However, as much as I would like to think that you are correct, the bottom line is that he is the 3rd most listened-to talk radio show host out there–and his audience isn’t the Air America crowd. As such, I am not sure your assessment is correct.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Wednesday, August 1, 2024 @ 10:51 am
I don’t generally go for conspiracy theories, and am not on board with Savage on this one. By far the most plausible thing to believe is that Roberts’ seizure had nothing to do with the Democrats/liberals/aliens/anyone.
However, saying a conspiracy is far less plausible than anything else is not the same as saying a conspiracy is impossible. While it is definitely not the rule in American politics (in my assessment, anyway), we would be fooling ourselves if we said that criminal actions and conspiracies never occurred at all in our government’s history, and that such things are utterly impossible.
I would not go so far as to say that it is not possible (something that would require proof of a negative that I haven’t seen) - I would, however, say the probability that he is on target is low enough to merit the dismissal of the notion.
As crazy as the idea is, I can understand somewhat how he came to it. The handling of judicial nominees by the democrats in congress has smelled foul for a long time now. When you talk about handling politics like a sporting event, things like the great judicial filibuster really come to mind to me - an example of the team not liking the way the game is going, and leaving the field in protest. And the fans love it, not realizing it’s the “game” itself that is being damaged.
That sort of tactic will only encourage the thinking displayed by Savage and supported by his listeners. The message it sends (to Mr. Savage’s team) is that the other side is clearly not playing by the rules. What follows logically is that they don’t play by any rules, and suspicion of everything sets in.
Mr. Savage is a product of his times and a symptom of a much larger disease.
Comment by Captain D. — Wednesday, August 1, 2024 @ 6:10 pm
For anyone who isn’t convinced yet that media ownership is an important issue, here’s Exhibit A. You can spin crazy, ugly conspiracy theories, and you still have your daily radio show, your book contract, your speaking engagements…
Comment by Kingdaddy — Wednesday, August 1, 2024 @ 7:40 pm
Popularity isn’t an aribiter of truth. Savage has credibility
issues, obviously.
Conspiracy theories get too many adherents as is. The truthers are another example.
This isn’t the way to respond to Schumer. Schumer is a leader in a position of power. What he says and does is more
significant than what Savage says or does.
Comment by GM — Thursday, August 2, 2024 @ 4:34 am
Wow. You have GOT to be kidding me.
Savage is tiresome, especially since he leads the charge of “THE MEXICANS ARE COMING!! HIDE THE CHILDREN AND THE FINE CHINA!!!”
I’ve heard him on a few occasions, and it is usually along the lines of “Bush isn’t conservative enough for this country. America is going down the tank because it isn’t conservative” Ummm . . . what?
I’d like some of whatever Savage is smoking, but after I have it, don’t give me a radio show.
Comment by B. Minich — Thursday, August 2, 2024 @ 6:44 pm