Savage Taking A Chance

I was thinking of making it a "quote of the week," but really did not want to give Michael Savage that much credit. Still, he had a point when he remarked (sort-of video below), as transcribed by rush-matters.com:

And yet here in America, I’ve had some people come to my aid. They see the bigger picture. They’re not like [Bill] O’Reilly; they’re not like Limbaugh, who’s the biggest disappointment of all. Limbaugh has turned out to be the biggest phony of all of them, all of them. Amongst all of them, he is the biggest fraud. Rush Limbaugh is a fraud. When he was accused of the drug usage, I supported him. But that man is a one-way street. It’s all about him. He’s in it for nobody but himself.

The liberal blogosphere has had some fun with this, with The Young Turks, for instance, entertainingly likening it (video way below) to a "cat fight." Cent Uygur does note that Savage apparently resents the lack of support Limbaugh, and others, have given him in his bid to enter Great Britain, which has banned 22 people from the country since October.

Savage, a right-wing radio talk show host (in)famous for blasting Muslims and autistic children, has been lumped in with two leaders of a violent Russian gang, and other nefarious characters. The decision evidently resulted from adoption of a policy of "presumption in favor of exclusion" and concern that Britain not be appearing to excude only Muslims.

The former Michael Alan Weiner should be forgiven for mistaking Rush Limbaugh for someone with a sense of loyalty, commitment to the concept of free expression, or even someone driven by ideological principle. Savage probably is a true believer, though most of what he believes is wrong. Limbaugh, by contrast, is driven by a belief most of all in himself; if in Casablanca, Bogart's Rick Blaine cynically claims "I'm the only cause I'm interested in," Limbaugh more honestly (if inaccurately) has often boasted "with one hand tied behind my back just to make it fair." Savage has dared to criticize the de facto head of the Republican Party; whether he can make it out alive, and without apology, we should know soon.