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Savage: Most "Ph.D. experts on children are either gay or crazy ... if they were married, they either tried to kill their wife or were in rehab"

Discussing "children" on the November 14 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage stated: "I'm as good an expert as any. I have found in my life that most of the Ph.D. experts on children are either gay or crazy and were never married. Or if they were married, they either tried to kill their wife or were in rehab for a few years, and then came out and went into psychotherapy to find out why they killed, or attempted to kill. And then they washed it all away, and suddenly they're experts on childrearing." As Media Matters for America documented, Savage previously claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket," and 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 also said: "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." Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show. From the November 14 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation: SAVAGE: And I wanna talk about children -- I've got two minutes here, I'm gonna -- cause a young man called earlier, and he asked me to talk abut children. Now, suddenly I'm the resident expert on children. But you know what? I'm as good as any, 'cause I have children who are adults, and they're both wonderful people, and fine people, and the fact of the matter is I'm as good an expert as any. I have found in my life that most of the Ph.D. experts on children are either gay or crazy and were never married. Or if they were married, they either tried to kill their wife or were in rehab for a few years, and then came out and went into psychotherapy to find out why they killed, or attempted to kill. And then they washed it all away, and suddenly they're experts on childrearing. I mean, I'll tell you, that's what I've found. So, I'm as good a source as any on how to raise a child. You wanna hear the number one rule? It's really simple. I remember when I had my first child. I had been living in the islands at that time. I flew all the way home, 6,000 miles, when my father died, to the funeral. And I had -- I took my little baby with us. I mean, you know, it was like an infant. It was terrible. What a reason to come home to that, but you can't pick things in life. Things happen. So, after the -- the, the -- whatever -- you know, you go to the house and you, whatever, drink, and we're sitting and talking. I remember asking one of my uncles, who, incidentally, did not have children himself, but he was not a bad guy. Somehow I loved him and thought he knew everything, but he never had kids himself. So, I said, "Well, really, I don't know the rules. How do you raise a child? What are you supposed to do?" I didn't know how to raise a child. What -- do you think you know? I didn't know. I was -- I was not a baby. I mean, I was like 28 at the time, but I was still, by today's standards, I was like an infant. They don't have children today till they're 60 in Los Angeles. The guy is bald, he's got one foot in the earth, and he marries his masseuse, or his Viagra provider, and then they have a baby, and the baby is 12 when he drops dead. I don't know how these kids are all gonna survive with these fathers -- 60 years. All right, that's a second story. So, I asked my uncle, "How do you raise a child? I mean, what's the rules here?" My uncle said something to me that I remember to this day. He said, "You know what? There are no rules except one that you have to remember: Love them. If you love them, everything will work out." And you know something? He was right.

Limbaugh's guest host is latest radio host to compare current policies or proposals to slavery

While discussing potential Republican outreach efforts toward African-Americans during the November 14 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show, guest host Jason Lewis stated: "[T]his whole notion of taxing -- taxing America's labor -- you know, I don't know how else you describe what this sordid experience of slavery was when you take away somebody's ability to engage in the marketplace with the fruits of their labor." Lewis later added: "We need to go into the African-American community there on cultural issues. And they should be there on taxes, because they know what it's like to have to work for free. And during the times of slavery, we targeted black folks. Well, now I guess it's OK to target wealthy folks. Either way, you're taking something that doesn't belong to you." Lewis hosts a weekday radio show on Minnesota's 100.3 KTLK-FM, the same station that broadcasts The Chris Baker Show. As Media Matters for America documented, on the November 6 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room, co-host Jim Quinn compared "slave[s] in the old South" to welfare recipients today, the "difference" being that "[t]he slave[s] had to work for" the benefits Quinn said they received. Quinn defended those comments on the November 7 broadcast of his radio show, saying, "Now, naturally, the point that I was making was that there are two forms of servitude: There's the servitude that you can be forced into, and there's the servitude you can be coerced into, I mean, the horrors of slavery notwithstanding -- naturally, that was my point." Additionally, on the September 3 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, host Lee Rodgers said: "Bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free. ... Free of the stifling stupidity of liberalism, which disguises slavery as benevolence. That's -- that's the program for the Obama campaign, by the way." From the November 14 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show: LEWIS: What was the party in control? During the Jim Crow era, what was the party in control? The Democrats. CALLER: The Democrats. LEWIS: Yeah. CALLER: Nobody knows that, though, Jason. Nobody knows none of that history, particularly down here where I'm at. Nobody knows. They've been lying to them, man, for 40 years. LEWIS: By the way, it's another great point you bring up. It's also very dangerous to rely on the Supreme Court and unelected judges, because it was the Supreme Court that upheld Plessy versus Ferguson in -- I think it was 1896 -- that said separate but equal is just fine, for 60 years. Well, what was the court made up of? I mean, you're right -- CALLER: Nobody knows that history, Jason. We -- I saw -- somebody was reading it off one of the morning shows or something, what all the Republicans have did as pertaining to that issue. And the Democrats -- LEWIS: I got you. CALLER: -- ain't got nothing compared to that. So, we're talking -- LEWIS: Well, it might change. [Caller], I gotta go -- I gotta go, buddy. But it might change if former Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, who has announced his candidacy for the position of chairman of the Republican National Committee -- conservative African-American -- becomes the head of the party. I know he's been wanting Republicans to go into the African-American community and saying that. And I would only add that this whole notion of taxing -- taxing America's labor -- you know, I don't know how else you describe what this sordid experience of slavery was when you take away somebody's ability to engage in the marketplace with the fruits of their labor. We fought a great war over that. And you're quite right. We lost 600,000 Americans, many of them white, by the way. This country repaired itself. This country repaired the damage it was done. Those are reparations -- 600,000 lives. The bottom line, however, is, that we need to go into the African-American community as conservatives. It's a natural constituency. Seventy percent of African-Americans voted to uphold traditional marriage in California, and now they're seeing the intolerance of the militant gay left. We need to go into the African-American community there on cultural issues. And they should be there on taxes, because they know what it's like to have to work for free. And during the times of slavery, we targeted black folks. Well, now I guess it's OK to target wealthy folks. Either way, you're taking something that doesn't belong to you. Thanks for the call and the reminder.

Conservative radio hosts accuse Dems of "trying to steal" MN Senate election -- but there's no evidence, according to GOP governor

In recent days, several conservative talk radio hosts have accused Democrats of "trying to steal" the Minnesota senatorial election for Democratic challenger Al Franken over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R). They offer no evidence to back up their accusation, and, according to the state's Republican governor, there is none. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said on November 12 on Sean Hannity's radio show that there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems" in counting the votes. Also, on the November 12 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity asked Pawlenty: "Do you suspect there's been cheating going on?" Pawlenty replied: "Sean, we don't have any direct evidence of that, and when you make an allegation -- not you, but anybody -- of fraud in an election, it's a very serious matter, so you gotta have specific evidence to back it up." The following conservative talk radio hosts have baselessly accused Democrats of trying to "steal" the election: Mark Levin: On the November 11 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Levin described Franken as a "spiteful troll," and said: "I see he and his fellow hoods are trying to steal the election in Minnesota." Rush Limbaugh: On the November 12 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, during a discussion with a caller about the upcoming Georgia run-off between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin, Limbaugh stated: "At this point, people in Georgia have gotta take this very seriously. Because the Democrats are trying to steal Minnesota, and they're gonna, they're -- he's [Chambliss] gotta win this runoff in Georgia." Chris Baker: On the November 13 broadcast of his Minneapolis-based radio program, Baker asserted that "the left" have "become the fascists that they have claimed to be the watchdog to protect people from." He added: "And it's really frightening, especially with the coming political situation. I mean, once the Norm Coleman election is stolen, and they get rid of [Sen.] Ted Stevens [R-AK], and they maybe get rid of Saxby Chambliss, with a supermajority, these people are gonna run amok, and it's all over and we're all gonna be in irons." From the November 11 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Mark Levin Show: LEVIN: Well, speaking of the spiteful troll, aka Al Franken, I see he and his fellow hoods are trying to steal the election in Minnesota. May I say a brief prayer out loud? Dear God, I think we've had about all we can take in this last election. Please, please, not a Senator Al Franken. What would the Founding Fathers say? My God, please. All right, now, I would be remiss if I didn't thank our new affiliate in Nacogdoches, Texas -- KSFA. There we go. Let's go to Katie, Oxford, New Jersey. From the November 12 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' Rush Limbaugh Show: CALLER: I'm a little frustrated. Well, that's not true; I'm very frustrated. I kind of feel like my vote is being extorted down here. You know, Georgia conservatives screamed bloody murder over the bailout, and Saxby Chambliss refused to vote with us. He went up there and -- and did what he wanted to do -- whatever he wanted to do, which is, you know, even come clean down here and admitted -- LIMBAUGH: I know, I know. I know it. He voted for the gang of whatever on the offshore drilling. He made a tactical mistake there. At this point, people in Georgia have gotta take this very seriously. Because the Democrats are trying to steal Minnesota, and they're gonna, they're -- he's gotta win this runoff in Georgia. If -- if -- if we lose these two they're up to 59. CALLER: I know, Rush. I am -- I'm in total agreement with you there. And I continue to write and write and write letters over to their campaign begging them for just one humble moment to admit that the bailout was a really bad idea, and that it's down the tubes further than anybody could have imagined, and just to admit that he's in Washington to represent me. LIMBAUGH: Not gonna do it. He's not gonna -- he's not gonna do it. From the November 13 broadcast of KTLK's The Chris Baker Show: BAKER: See, we've -- we've come to a point where if you have an opinion that opposes the left, sorry, you must be silenced and shut down. LANGDON PERRY (KTLK host): Right. BAKER: I don't hear conservatives asking for people to be thrown out of their job on a regular basis. I don't hear conservatives on a regular basis say that people should be ostracized, culled from the herd. But, man, you get these people all wound up, and they, you know, they burst into a church over the weekend. PERRY: The left, I think, has become much more the party of "you can't say that" or "you can't do that." BAKER: They have become the fascists that they have claimed to be the watchdog to protect people from. And it's really frightening, especially with the coming political situation. I mean, once the Norm Coleman election is stolen, and they get rid of Ted Stevens and they maybe get rid of Saxby Chambliss, with a supermajority, these people are gonna run amok, and it's all over and we're all gonna be in irons. From the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: HANNITY: And this is a "Fox News Alert." The recount has not even started in Minnesota, and somehow Al Franken has already shaved off more than 500 votes off the incumbent lead. That's Norm Coleman. Now, Republican Coleman was up by 725 votes last Wednesday morning, but as of yesterday that difference has now shrunk to just 206. Coleman's vanishing lead came during a week when Minnesota election officials were required to check their initial results. Under normal practices, both candidates would expect a bump, but these strange circumstances have seen only Franken's vote totals swell. Now, the Minneapolis director of elections claims to have found 32 absentee ballots hiding in the trunk of her car -- all of them conveniently going to Al Franken. Liberal-leaning precincts in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and Partridge Township threw Franken another 346 votes combined, claiming that wrong numbers were initially submitted. Again, Coleman's vote total -- it remained unchanged. Plus, Franken's changes are nearly three times the gains for Democratic candidates statewide. So, the question is: Is the fix in? Joining us now is Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Governor, as I describe that -- I'm sorry, no reasonable person can conclude there's not funny business going on here. What is your thoughts on this? PAWLENTY: Sean, in the practice of law, there's a phenomenon called disparate impact, which means when something is so out of proportion to what the norm or the trend would be, it at least raises a concern or a suspicion. In Minnesota, we don't have any evidence of wrongdoing, but these patterns that you've just described cause us concern, because even if you're in a part of the state that's overwhelmingly Democrat, Norm Coleman should be getting some of the votes, not losing 100 percent or 90 percent to Al Franken. So, it's cause for concern for sure. [...] HANNITY: But here's the problem. We did not have a uniform system in terms of the day after Election Day to protect those ballots. So, in other words, the different precincts -- so, in other words, my fear is that the fix may already been in, and during the recount, we're going gonna discover, oh, there's another 500 votes for Franken. When you look at these changed votes so far, Governor, you know, we see that, for example, the Senate gains for Franken were two and a half times that than the gain for Barack Obama, and Barack Obama way outperformed Franken in the state of Minnesota; 2.9 times the total of the Democrats across the congressional races; and five times the net loss that Democrats suffered for all statehouse races. So, he's outperforming every single solitary measure. So, I'm asking -- I guess, Governor, I guess my question is honest: Do you suspect there's been cheating going on? PAWLENTY: Sean, we don't have any direct evidence of that, and when you make an allegation -- not you, but anybody -- of fraud in an election, it's a very serious matter, so you gotta have specific evidence to back it up. What we do know is the statistics that you're citing and the patterns that you're citing are suspicious. They seem to defy probability theory; they seem to defy common sense. Even in an overwhelmingly Democratic area, Norm Coleman would be getting some of those votes -- 20, 30, 40 percent. That's not happening, so it raises a red flag. From the November 12 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show: HANNITY: Well, here's what I read. John Lott wrote a very frightening piece about what's happening here, and he chronicled how we've gone from 725 votes -- what are we, down to 206 votes separating the two in Norm Coleman's favor? PAWLENTY: Correct. HANNITY: OK. So he points out that, for example, the Senate gains for Franken were two and a half times the gain for Obama in the presidential race count. In other words, these ballots "oops" that we found -- now here's a state where Barack Obama won fairly handily. But yet, these ballots that we're now finding, you know, are favoring Franken two and a half times than that of the gain of Obama; 2.9 times the gain of the Democrats and what they got all across Minnesota in congressional races; and five -- five times the net loss the Democrats suffered for all state house races. PAWLENTY: Yeah, those -- those are definitely a concern, Sean. I want to be clear. You know, Minnesota has a tradition of clean elections, and good election systems, and there isn't any actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud yet. But the pattern that you just described, as long as -- and as well as the ballots in the trunk and some other things -- raise concerns, and we need to make sure that the ballots are secure, the process is transparent, that there is a uniform standard, and that all these things are looked into and make sure that they are fully legitimate -- and that's gonna happen. HANNITY: Does Norm Coleman have operatives or -- or members of his campaign now, 24 hours a day around these voting machines, et cetera? PAWLENTY: Yeah, the news accounts suggest that he has dispatched people to watch the room, and there -- most of the counties' administrators, you know, have a room that's locked -- and this county that issued the court order, they actually only have two people can have access to it. People have to sign in or sign out; they have to explain why they would even go in the room in the first place. The campaign's gonna have monitors as to who would go into the room or out of the room. That's the kind of uniform standard we'd like all the counties to use, I know that those -- HANNITY: Has that been implemented? Here's the problem, though. Because there hasn't been a recount yet. Has that been implemented from -- from the day after election or no? PAWLENTY: Day -- no. But -- HANNITY: That's a problem, Governor. Because that means it could have already happened. PAWLENTY: That's also true. But there is no actual evidence, Sean. I wanna be clear. There's no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems there. There are these patterns of concern, and again, Norm's campaign and Franken's campaign were close as of a day ago to have an agreement about how to handle all this. HANNITY: All right, Governor Tim Pawlenty. Appreciate you, updating on us -- updating for us these -- these goings-on in Minnesota. But it's somewhat frightening to me. All right, we gotta -- PAWLENTY: I understand. HANNITY: Well, we'll stay on it. Appreciate it, Governor Pawlenty. Thank you.

Women, minorities, autistic children: Conservative radio's vitriol not reserved for Obama

As Media Matters for America documented, the nationwide network of conservative radio hosts -- personalities without the national prominence of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh -- engaged in an all-out effort to foment hate and suspicion of Barack Obama by participating actively in an echo chamber of smears and falsehoods about the primary candidate and then Democratic nominee. But these same radio hosts were by no means discerning in their vitriol and did not save their ire solely for Obama. The smears ran the gamut, both in the context of the 2008 election, as Media Matters noted in the previous report, and beyond. Immigrants, female politicians (and women in general), the LGBT community, the poor and homeless, minorities, progressives, unions, college students, and even autistic children were targets of these radio personalities' invective. Media Matters and Colorado Media Matters have compiled some of their more noteworthy attacks on these groups. Immigrants In discussing immigration reform or immigration in general, conservative talk-radio hosts have repeatedly smeared immigrants -- Latino immigrants in particular -- as violent, uncivilized, or having sinister motives against the United States. Media Matters has documented several instances of talk-radio hosts baselessly blaming undocumented immigrants for the mortgage crisis, citing bogus statistics -- refuted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development -- to claim that they held a significant percentage of subprime loans. G. Gordon Liddy G. Gordon Liddy smeared undocumented Mexican immigrants, claiming they "want to reconquer America, they say" On the June 5 broadcast of his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy asserted: "[T]he problem that I have is with people who come over here and instead of wanting to become Americans, you know, fly the American flag, learn English, and so forth, they want to fly the Mexican flag, they want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien." Liddy later added: "They want to reconquer America, they say." Jim Quinn, Lee Rodgers Conservative radio hosts claimed HUD said 5 million illegal immigrants were given subprime mortgages, despite HUD's reported denials On October 10, KSFO's Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that it gave "5 million illegal aliens" subprime loans which have not been paid back. The same day, Quinn & Rose's Jim Quinn also claimed that "[f]ive million of these bad mortgages went to illegal aliens" without citing a source for the figure. But neither noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false. Michael Savage Savage: "Illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty Discussing the Italian government's reported decision to deploy soldiers on city streets to combat violent crime allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, Michael Savage said during the August 4 broadcast of his radio show: "So they've done there what we need to do here. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work." Savage added: "[Y]ou turn on the cable news, they're covering again a missing child. Not a missing country but a missing child. ... We hear about the rape of a woman, but not about the rape of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is crying, she's been raped and disheveled -- raped and disheveled by illegal aliens." Savage: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. ... [T]hey never assimilate. And then their children become gang-bangers" Michael Savage asserted on the June 23 broadcast of his radio show: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. You're telling me they're going to assimilate? They will never assimilate. They come here and they bring their destitute ways to this country, and they never assimilate." He continued: "And then their children become gang-bangers. It is a disaster." Savage added that earlier immigrants to the U.S. "had used toilet paper and toothbrushes and they knew how to survive in this country. They took a job or they worked. They didn't come and sit and have 16 children and eat beetle nuts." Savage: "Bring in 10 million more from Africa. ... They can't reason, but bring them in with a machete in their head" On the January 29 broadcast of his radio show, while discussing President Bush's AIDS spending proposal in the State of the Union address, Michael Savage responded to a caller's assertion that he "do[es]n't know anything about Africa" by unleashing a series of attacks on the continent and its people, including the claim that AIDS "got" to Africa "because it was spread from eating green monkey meat" and that "in Africa ... people settle arguments with machetes." Savage on Muslim immigrants: 15th-century "throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists" On September 16 broadcast of The Savage Nation, discussing a caller's claim that "Muslim fundamentalists" are "walk[ing] around Northern Virginia as if they own the place," Michael Savage asked, "Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century?" He also asked: "What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?" Sex and gender As Media Matters noted, right-wing talk-radio hosts have also repeatedly made sexist comments about female politicians -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- often highlighting a woman's physical characteristics, in one instance referring to Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's "smoking-hot" looks while calling Obama a "little bitch." Others referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton as a "bitch" and, in numerous instances, remarked on her voice, with one describing it as "screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice." Also, as Media Matters noted, hosts and guests have attacked progressive women as "ugly skanks" or "whores," impugned women's abilities as political leaders, and some have even questioned allowing women the right to vote. Chris Baker Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to" "smoking-hot" Palin While discussing Palin's assertion that Obama was "palling around with terrorists" on the October 6 broadcast of his radio show, Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to a smoking-hot chick from Alaska." Baker did not note that The New York Times article Palin cited for her claim about Obama's association with William Ayers reported that "the two men do not appear to have been close," or that the Obama campaign did indeed respond to Palin's claim. Baker on Palin's appearance at VP debate: "Shoulda had a little cleavage going ... I noticed a panty line on her" On the October 3 broadcast of The Chris Baker Show, Baker said Palin "shoulda had a little cleavage going" during the vice-presidential debate, and that he "noticed a panty line on her." Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting" On the October 2 broadcast of his radio show, Baker said, "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker later said: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right?" Minneapolis radio host said Code Pink protesters "ought to have all their tubes tied" During the September 5 broadcast his show, Baker stated of McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention, "I'll tell you, though, in the speech -- the best part of the speech was when those Code Pink nuts -- another bunch that ought to have all their tubes tied. All right? I can't stand these Code Pink broads." Mark Belling Belling: "When you think of Hillary Clinton," the word "bitches" comes to mind Milwaukee radio host Mark Belling declared on his September 11 radio show, "What's the process that determines which potholes get patched the fastest [in Milwaukee]? I'll tell you what it is. No, they don't go and judge it on severity. ... It's who -- can I use this word? When you think of [Sen.] Hillary Clinton what do you think -- what word comes to mind? Yes, can I use that word here? All right, it's who bitches the most." Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch" During the September 4 broadcast of The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch," and "embittered old has-been" and also stated that the "previous generation" of feminists "were so ugly you couldn't stand to look at them." Belling made these remarks while discussing Steinem's September 4 Los Angeles Times op-ed, in which she criticized McCain's choice of Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. Jon Caldara On Caldara's KOA show, Coulter claimed women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America" Appearing as a guest on the June 16 broadcast of Jon Caldara's Newsradio 850 KOA program, Ann Coulter asserted that women aren't "concerned with how capital is generated and created," and claimed that women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America." Her remarks echoed those in a 2007 blog posting that quoted her as saying, "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president." Caldara asked Coulter if Clinton was "bitch-slapped" in debate Discussing the January 21 CNN Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Caldara during his broadcast that evening asked Coulter whether it was "fair to say" that Clinton "got bitch-slapped tonight." Bill Cunningham Cunningham on Democratic women: "[A] lot of women who are single are vulnerable; they need like a daddy government to keep an eye on them" On the October 29 broadcast of his Cincinnati-based radio show, host Bill Cunningham stated: "Traditionally, we think of women as Democratic voters because a lot of women who are single are vulnerable; they need like a daddy government to keep an eye on them." Mark Levin Levin on his "National Organization of Ugly Women" remark: "[F]or now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women" Addressing his September 4 comments on Sean Hannity's radio show, in which he called the National Organization for Women, the "National Organization of Ugly Women," Mark Levin said on his September 8 radio show: "I just wanted to underscore that maybe I shouldn't have called them the National Organization of Ugly Women. For now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women." Levin first made his remarks while discussing with Hannity NOW's opposition to Palin. Quinn & Rose Quinn called NOW the "National Organization for Whores," said columnist Fatimah Ali should "get an American name" On his syndicated radio show, Jim Quinn referred to the National Organization for Women as "the National Organization for Whores," and said of Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatimah Ali: "[Y]ou know, Fatimah, what's your real name? Come on, seriously. I mean, get an American name, will you, if you want to be an American." He then asked: "You don't suppose she's a liberal black Muslim, do you?" Quinn: "[T]he goal of the public school system -- the feminists in the public school system -- is to make male behavior illegal" After reading from a blog post about a Georgia teacher who reportedly informed the school principal and campus police that a picture of a vampire one of her students had drawn might contain gang symbols, Quinn stated on the November 6 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose that the incident is evidence of "the chickification of schools, the feminization of society, and the war on masculinity." He then stated that "the goal of the public school system -- the feminists in the public school system -- is to make male behavior illegal, a crime." Jim Quinn: Steinem opposes Palin because Palin "declined to slaughter her own unborn child, Trig, to the goddess of feminism" On the October 6 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Jim Quinn claimed that Gloria Steinem opposes Gov. Sarah Palin because Palin "refused the sacrificial right of passage, better known as the Eucharist of the feminist church: abortion. That's right. She declined to slaughter her own unborn child, Trig, to the goddess of feminism, even after doctors told her that he was one of those Down syndrome 'throw-aways.' " Quinn: To feminists, even "a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag" can be a "real woman" On the September 15 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn stated: "If you don't agree with the feminist scolds, then you're not a real woman -- even if you are a very feminine working mom. But even if you're an actual man, never mind a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag, you're a real woman solely because you nod your head like a windup clapping monkey every time you read the latest editorial from Ms. Magazine." Quinn made these remarks while discussing, among other things, prominent feminists' opposition to Palin. Quinn introduced segment about Hillary Clinton by playing Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back" On the August 27 edition of the syndicated radio program The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn introduced a segment on Sen. Hillary Clinton by saying, "By the way, that brings us to our Hillary Heads-Up," and then playing audio of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back." Quinn then said, "I was going to play 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead.' But you know what, I -- you never know with the Clintons." Lee Rodgers KSFO's Rodgers said many "professed leaders of the feminist movement" are "hags" who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison" On the October 17 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, Rodgers said: "[Y]ou look at many -- perhaps most -- but many of the women who are professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country, and they're a bunch of hags." He added: "They couldn't get laid in a men's prison, let's be honest about it." Rodgers made these remarks while discussing, among other things, feminists' disapproval of Palin. KSFO's Rodgers: "[P]uckered-butt Democrat women hate Sarah Palin ... because her idea of choice was choosing not to have an abortion" Returning to a previous claim he has made, Rodgers asserted on September 23: "I believe that the reason a bunch of puckered-butt Democrat women hate Sarah Palin is because her idea of choice was choosing not to have an abortion." Guest Steven Hayward of the American Enterprise Institute responded in part by saying: "[T]here is that very vocal segment of feminist opinion that celebrates abortion as a positive good in the same way that, you know, Southern slaveholders 150 years ago celebrated slavery as a positive good." KSFO's Rodgers: "[F]emale leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking" On the September 17 broadcast of his KSFO radio show, Rodgers said that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" is made up of "ugly skanks." He also stated: "Sarah Palin's good-looking and they hate that." He also declared: "I think we have to ask: Would you like Sarah Palin better if she got pregnant again and did have an abortion, because it's obvious, with a lot of liberal women, killing babies is the main priority they have." KSFO's Rodgers: "With that screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice of hers, it is impossible for Hillary Clinton to deliver a great speech" On the August 27 broadcast of his radio show, Rodgers said of Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention, "With that screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice of hers, it is impossible for Hillary Clinton to deliver a great speech." Rodgers later said that Bill and Hillary Clinton are hoping Obama "falls flat on his face so the Hilldebeest can have another run in four years, and Billy Bentpecker can hide behind the curtain in the Oval Office telling Hillary what he wants her to do as president of the United States." KSFO's Rodgers on voting gender gap: For "a lot of women in this country who get knocked up ... the government becomes Daddy in terms of paying the bills" On the June 11 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Program, host Lee Rodgers said: "[T]he historical voting records show that Democrats have, historically, enjoyed a huge advantage in women voters. Why is that?" Rodgers continued: "Well, some women may be offended by this, but here's another dose of reality. We have a lot of women in this country who get knocked up and they don't have a husband. In effect, the government becomes Daddy in terms of paying the bills. And that accounts -- that's not all of it, but that accounts for a large part of that vote." LGBT-related smears Media Matters has identified numerous examples of smears pertaining to sexual orientation or targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans that are routine among conservative talk-radio hosts. As Media Matters noted, legal rulings and ballot propositions regarding same-sex marriage prompted several radio hosts to target the LGBT community, in some cases suggesting that same-sex marriage will "lead to legal human-animal marriage." Jon Caldara On Caldara program, Coulter called John Edwards "the very definition of faggy" Referring to a National Enquirer report alleging that former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has an illegitimate child with "his mistress," a "blonde divorcée," Coulter told Caldara during his July 23 broadcast, "I just think John Edwards is an incredibly creepy individual and the very definition of faggy." Coulter's remark echoed her reference to Edwards as a "faggot" during a 2007 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Dan Caplis KHOW's Caplis again asserted that gay "conduct is not natural" and is "immoral" During a discussion about same-sex adoption on his June 17 630 KHOW-AM broadcast, co-host Dan Caplis repeated his contention that gay "conduct is not natural," adding that "that conduct is immoral." "Gunny" Bob Newman KOA's "Gunny" Bob repeated concern that "crushing tyranny of the left" could "lead to legal human-animal marriage" Discussing the California Supreme Court's decision invalidating a state statute banning same-sex marriage, Newsradio 850 KOA's "Gunny" Bob Newman on May 15 asserted that "under the crushing tyranny of the left, America will legalize gay marriage at the federal level -- or at a minimum recognize gay marriage in states with such laws." and that "[s]ome Americans fear that this will lead to legal human-animal marriage." Newman similarly warned of "[l]egal polygamy" and "[l]egal marriages between [parents] and their offspring." Michael Savage Savage: "If you're insane, hate the family ... hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue," you oppose CA gay marriage ban On the October 29 broadcast of his radio show, Savage said of a California ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, "[T]here's a ballot initiative on homosexual marriage that is more important than you could imagine. It's called Proposition 8, and you must vote 'yes' if you're sane. If you're insane, hate the family, hate man and woman, hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue, of course you're in favor of 'no' on Proposition 8." The next day on his program, Savage stated: "[T]he people who don't have families don't understand that, as difficult as family life is, life is impossible without it. They don't understand that. They don't understand what the family unit is. It's the strongest bond on Earth, which is why homosexual marriage is such a threat to civilization itself." After railing against gay marriage, Savage said "the spiritual side of the downturn on Wall Street was directly related to the moral downturn" On the October 1 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage said: "[Y]ou may say, 'Why should we care about homosexuals trying to destroy families through the mock marriage that they perform in order to mock God, the church, the family, children, the fetus, the DNA of the human species? Why should we care about it while we have a financial meltdown?' Because the spiritual side of the downturn on Wall Street is directly related to the moral downturn in the United States of America." Savage later said of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: "Today it's the gays, tomorrow it'll be a man marrying a horse." Savage linked San Francisco event to the "artistes" and "leather fetishists" of Weimar-era Germany, whom he blamed for Hitler's rise Discussing the Folsom Street Fair, a leather-themed adult-entertainment event in San Francisco, Savage declared on the September 29 broadcast of his radio show: "This country today is far beyond the excesses of the Weimar Republic that led to Adolf Hitler. God forbid that should ever happen here. But the German people, who were not all Nazis prior to Hitler's arrival on the scene, were shocked by the degenerates of Berlin. They were sickened by the perverts, sickened by the artistes, they were sickened by the leather fetishists, they were sickened by the degeneracy, and they couldn't handle it." Savage: "The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia" Responding to a caller who said, "I had to explain to my young son why these two men were holding hands the other day," Savage stated on the June 16 broadcast of his radio show: "You've got to explain to the children ... why God told people this was wrong." He went on to say, "You have to explain this to them in this time of mental rape that's going on. The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia, that's my position. They're raping our children's minds." Brian Sussman KSFO's Sussman invited guest to talk about his claim that "gay and lesbian radicals actively recruit through our schools and the media" On the June 16 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, guest host Brian Sussman hosted theologian Charlie Self, whom Sussman called "Dr. History," to discuss the California Supreme Court's May 15 ruling overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriages. In the course of the discussion, Sussman referenced a post on Self's blog and said to Self: "On your website -- it's interesting you're addressing this very topic, Dr. Self, and you talk about how gay and lesbian radicals actively recruit through our schools and the media in order to swell their ranks. Talk to us about that for a moment." After asserting, "It is amazing how little the traditional family is pictured in either drama or comedy on TV anymore," Self said that "[t]he only way that you are going to grow the ranks of this kind of movement is this kind of onslaught because it is simply not part of the nature of things as designed or as evolved or as historically recorded for thousands of years." During the interview, Sussman also claimed that "Darwinism just doesn't jibe with gay marriage" and asserted: "[I]n our society we say, here are the rules: man and a woman, you can't marry anyone under this particular age, you can't marry a family member. So, the rules are the same for all of us, Dr. History. But, for some reason, the gays want to change those rules. I just don't understand it." Quinn & Rose Quinn: "Gay sex produces AIDS"; "They should charge homosexuals more for their ... health insurance" On the November 6 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn said: "The only thing that -- the only thing that gay marriage produce -- well, gay marriage doesn't produce anything that the state has an interest in. Gay sex produces AIDS, which the state doesn't have -- or should have an interest in. They should charge homosexuals more for their -- for their health insurance than they charge the rest of us." Quinn made the comment while discussing the passage of a California ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Race and ethnicity Several right-wing radio hosts have promoted insulting stereotypes regarding African-Americans, Mexicans, and other groups. Neal Boortz Boortz: "Muslims, making tortillas? ... [W]ith all of the illegal Mexicans in this country, we can't find some Mexicans to make those tortillas?" On the May 29 broadcast of his radio show, while discussing reports that six Muslim women were fired from a Minnesota tortilla factory because of dress code violations, Boortz asked: "Muslims, making tortillas? You know, this world is really screwed up when Muslims are making our tortillas, folks." He added: "I mean, with all of the illegal Mexicans in this country, we can't find some Mexicans to make those tortillas?" Boortz's commentary on his inability to use a floor buffer: "I would make a lousy Mexican" On the April 10 edition of his radio show, Boortz asserted, "I would make a lousy Mexican." Engineer and "sidekick" Royal Marshall asked Boortz: "Why is that?" Boortz responded, "Well, because I wanted to scrub the hangar floor the other day, so I went and rented one of these big buffers," later adding: "I turned on that buffer, and it damn near killed me! It was dragging me across the hangar floor, throwing me around like I -- it was like a dog shaking a cat or something like that. You know, that's skilled labor." Bill Cunningham Cunningham on Obama Sr.: "That's what black fathers do. They simply leave" On the October 28 broadcast of his radio show, Cunningham stated of Obama's childhood: "[I]magine at the age of 1 or 2 seeing your father for the last time. See, his father was a typical black father who, right after the birth, left the baby. That's what black fathers do. They simply leave." Cunningham guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson: "[M]ost black people today are racist" On the October 20 edition of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham, guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson said of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama: "[H]e's clearly for the color of the man and not the character." Cunningham replied, "Great comments, and if Obama was white as chalk, do you think that Powell would be endorsing the Democrat? He didn't endorse [Al] Gore, he didn't endorse [Sen. John] Kerry. I think color trumps everything in his mind." Peterson responded: "That's right, because if it was about what Barack Obama stood for, then he would have endorsed Gore and all those guys, but he did not. You know, it's so sad, my friend, that most black people today are racist. Not all, not all -- but most of them are racist." Cunningham: "I think there will be 100 cities burning if Barack loses. Yeah, that's what the black intelligentsia says" During the October 10 broadcast of The Big Show with Bill Cunningham, Cunningham stated: "I think there will be 100 cities burning if Barack loses. Yeah, that's what the black intelligentsia says." Cunningham also asserted that "Flavor Flav, 50 Cent, and Diddy" are "really in charge of the [Obama] Inaugural [Ball]." G. Gordon Liddy In sketch on Corsi's detention in Kenya, Liddy played audio of "jungle telegraph drums" On the October 7 edition of his radio program, Liddy discussed the detention of Jerome Corsi in Kenya and aired a sketch in which he said: "We've used the satellite connection to Kenya, and we are now focusing in on the trial of Dr. Jerome Corsi. ... [H]e's being accused of impersonating a human being. My Zulu's not -- not as good as Obama's, but -- yeah, they're really upset with him. You can probably tell." Liddy then aired a clip apparently from the 1950 movie King Solomon's Mines, which featured characters speaking in Kinyarwanda (not Zulu), one of the official languages of Rwanda, and playing music on drums. Quinn & Rose Quinn and Tennent: Powell endorsed Obama because "he's tired of being called an Oreo," "an Uncle Tom" On the October 20 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, co-host Rose Tennent asserted that former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Obama "because he doesn't want to be known as an Uncle Tom anymore. He wants to be black again." Co-host Jim Quinn later said of Powell, "He's tired of being called an Oreo." Lee Rodgers Rodgers suggested that just as the O.J. Simpson verdict "was a racial vote," African-Americans support Obama because of "racial brotherhood" During the October 3 broadcast of KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, arguing that "some things never change," Rodgers claimed O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder because of a "racial vote" by the jury and said of polls that show "98 percent of black voters voting for" Obama: "[A]re we to assume they all agree with him on all his principles? Or could there be a hint of racial brotherhood in that vote? Come on, we know the answer to that." Rodgers also declared, "If any white person, for whatever reason -- because they think he consorts with terrorists or communists, or believes in all the things that black racist preacher said for 20 years votes against him for that reason -- no, no, no, no. If you're a white person voting against Obama, you are a racist." Michael Savage Savage on Obama: "America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president" During the October 27 broadcast of his radio show, Savage said: "Obama and I are on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, as you can well imagine. While he benefited from affirmative action, stepping over more qualified white men, I actually lost as a result of affirmative action, many times in my life. Although I'd get near 100s on certain exams, they put me at the back of the bus because they said -- the ACLU said -- certain people will have to put their futures on hold in order to let others advance, and take a look at where we are today -- we have America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president." Savage: "Kenya is going to move to America if Barack Hussein Obama wins" During the October 10 broadcast of his radio show, Savage baselessly accused Obama of running a "corrupt campaign," suggested that white liberals "hate white people," repeated the discredited charge that Obama "won't produce his birth certificate," and asserted "Kenya is going to move to America" if Obama wins the election. Attacks on the poor Several talk-radio hosts have attacked low-income and homeless Americans over the past year, characterizing them as "welfare broodmares" and "lack[ing] values, morals, and ethics." Some have advocated that the poor be disenfranchised, or even that the homeless be sent to "work camps." Chris Baker Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting" On the October 2 broadcast of show, Baker said: "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker subsequently added: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right? And we'll see that, I'm sure, on a lame-ass website very soon. But I don't think hobos ought to vote at all. They're nuts. And I think that there needs to be a little more care in who votes." Neal Boortz Boortz: "Single mothers receiving public assistance" are "welfare broodmares" On his August 19 program, Boortz described "single mothers receiving public assistance" as "welfare broodmares." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a "broodmare" as "a mare [a female horse] kept for breeding." Boortz made the comment while discussing a report that women in Georgia who received public assistance gave birth at more than three times the rate of women who did not receive public assistance, according to 2006 U.S. Census Bureau figures. Boortz again referred to victims of Hurricane Katrina as "parasite[s]" On the June 19 edition of Cox Radio Syndication's The Neal Boortz Show, host Neal Boortz asserted that "the real question" concerning the difference between the current floods in the Midwest and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is as follows: "[W]hy is it that the people who are being affected by the floods in Iowa and the upper Midwest, why is it that they seem to be so much more capable of taking care of themselves and handling this disaster than were the people of Katrina in New Orleans?" Boortz continued, "I think the answer's pretty clear, is that up there in that part of the country, you find a great deal of self-sufficiency. Down there in New Orleans, it was basically a parasite class totally dependent on government for their existence." Boortz described this as being a "cultural issue, not a racial issue." Boortz: "[P]rimary blame" for Katrina goes to "worthless parasites who lived in New Orleans" Boortz asserted during the January 30 edition of his radio show: "I am fed up with this conventional wisdom that Katrina and the disaster that followed was George Bush's fault. It was not. The primary blame goes on the worthless parasites who lived in New Orleans who you -- couldn't even wipe themselves, let alone get out of the way of the water when that levee broke." Bill Cunningham Cunningham: "[P]eople are poor in America ... because they lack values, morals, and ethics" On the October 28 broadcast of his radio show, Cunningham asserted that "people are poor in America ... not because they lack money," but "because they lack values, morals, and ethics." He also said that "unlike many countries in the world ... we have fat poor people. We don't have skinny poor people. Ours are fat and flatulent." Cunningham made similar remarks on the October 23 broadcast of his radio show, asserting that "[t]he reason people are poor in America is not because they lack money, it's because poor people in America lack values, character, and the ability to work hard." Cunningham: America's "so-called noble poor" don't use birth control so that "the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government" After declaring on October 27 that "most responsible couples engage in birth control so they don't bring children into the world they cannot afford," Cunningham claimed that "[a]mong the so-called noble poor in America, just the opposite is true. Birth control is not used so illegitimate children can be brought into the world, so the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government." Cunningham then added: "And then once the child is born, that is the key to financial riches in the poor communities -- white and black -- in America. And that key is Section 8 housing and vouchers; the key is food stamps, no work -- if you work you're punished." G. Gordon Liddy Liddy: Obama is relying, in part, on "the welfare class" to win Pennsylvania On his October 30 program, Liddy said of Obama's electoral prospects in Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania has been described as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with Alabama in the middle. Obama is counting on the urban elites and the welfare class to win the state for him. But he's putting on a show for the rest of Pennsylvania." Quinn & Rose Quinn stated that unlike welfare recipients, slaves "had to work" for food, housing On the November 6 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn compared "slave[s] in the Old South" to welfare recipients today, stating that the "difference" is that "[t]he slave had to work for" the benefits Quinn said they received. Quinn said: "You know, if you were a slave in the old South, what did you get as a slave? You got free room and board, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children because that was just, you know, tomorrow's slave. So, you got a free house, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children. Can I ask a question? How's that different from welfare? You get a free house, you get free food, and you get rewarded for having children. Oh, wait a minute, hold on a second. There is a difference: The slave had to work for it." The show then aired an audio clip of a buzzer sounding and a voice repeating, "Insensitivity!" Quinn then stated: "Ah, the truth stings, does it not?" Responding to Media Matters item, Quinn defended comparison of welfare recipients to slaves On the November 7 broadcast of The War Room, Quinn addressed comments he made on the previous day's broadcast comparing "slave[s] in the old South" to welfare recipients today, the "difference" being that "[t]he slave had to work for" the benefits Quinn said they received. Quinn said: "Now, naturally, the point that I was making was that there are two forms of servitude: There's the servitude that you can be forced into, and there's the servitude you can be coerced into, I mean, the horrors of slavery notwithstanding -- naturally, that was my point." He later added: "[W]hen you think about it, the slave had more personal nobility than the welfare recipient, because he or she had no say in their station in life. The welfare recipient actually volunteers for it. It is the liberal plantation." Rose Tennent on Obama ad: "[D]on't put that jive out there in front of me, devil, and tell me that these people are hurting when they are not hurting" On the October 30 broadcast of The War Room, Tennent said of the families featured in Obama's 30-minute ad: "Well, OK. They were sad stories, but I'm looking at the background. I'm not looking at the person talking in their home, I'm looking at what they have in their home. They have color television sets; they have everything that I have in my house. I'll bet you they have an iPod, I bet you they have, you know -- I'll bet they have a lot of luxuries in that home. They are not poor." Tennent later said: "So don't put -- don't put that jive out there in front of me, devil, and tell me that these people are hurting when they are not hurting. All they need to do is make some cuts and figure out a way to do this." Quinn: "Originally, if you didn't have land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it" On the October 21 broadcast of The War Room, while reading from an opinion column by conservative blogger Scott Johnson that discussed the history of taxation and property rights in the United States, Quinn declared: "Originally, if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it: because those without property will always vote away the property of other people unto themselves, and that's the beginning of the end." Quinn added: "But, oh no, that was -- that was just too mean-spirited." Moments earlier, Quinn said, "Now -- I mean, I can hear the appeal to the masses: 'It's not fair, it's not the American way that you don't get to vote,' but let me ask you a question: If I don't own anything, what kind of a problem do I have with voting for a measure -- a tax, a law -- that takes somebody else's property and gives it to me? I have no stake in personal property ownership 'cause I don't have any. Now, back in the day, when this was the law of the land, anybody who wanted to vote needed to step up to the plate, achieve, get a stake in America, and then vote." Michael Savage Savage: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise" On his October 22 show, Savage asked: "Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't. Why should a person who is on public assistance maintain the right to vote? Tell me why. Where is it written that they should have the right to vote?" He added: "I support them, and they should have the same vote I do? That would be like saying an infant has the right to vote or an insane person has the right to vote. Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise." Savage's answer to homelessness: "Why not put them in work camps?" On the June 6 broadcast of The Savage Nation, Savage responded to a caller's question about how Savage would address the "problem with the homelessness in this country" by asking, "Why not put them in work camps? Most of them are able-bodied." He went on to say that "since they're already receiving public assistance, I'd pay them nothing." He later asked: "Why do you have to pay a man who's right now living off the fat of the land?" Other attacks Beyond smears of Obama, his supporters, racial and ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and the poor, talk-radio hosts often directed their ire toward a broad range of other groups of people: those with HIV/AIDS, people with autism, teachers, other radio hosts, comedians perceived as progressive, Democrats in the House and Senate, and the organizations that document their attacks. Chris Baker Minneapolis radio hosts Baker and Perry are "convinced" that Magic Johnson "faked AIDS" On the October 8 broadcast of The Chris Baker Show, Minneapolis radio host Langdon Perry stated, "I'm convinced that Magic [Johnson] faked AIDS," to which Baker replied, "Yeah, me too." Perry then called Johnson "the only cured AIDS guy ever." Baker: Media Matters "can kiss my supple buttocks" Responding to a Media Matters item documenting previous remarks he made about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Baker said on the September 19 broadcast of his show: "Media Matters people can kiss my supple buttocks. What I say is what I say, and if they don't like it, instead of hiding like a bunch of commie girls, they can challenge me if they like." Mark Belling Belling smeared "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]" who talk about global warming On the August 12 broadcast of his show, Belling referred to schoolteachers who talk to their students about global warming as "idiot union teacher[s]," "liberal unionized hack[s]," "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]," and "fruitcake[s]." Neal Boortz Boortz: Teachers unions "do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together" While discussing the issue of public education with a caller on the April 16 broadcast of his radio show, Boortz stated: "I think the most dangerous -- the single most dangerous entity, group of people in this country right now are the teachers unions." He continued: "I think teachers unions do more damage to this country than the Los Angeles Lakers. They do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together. ... If I had a button right now, two buttons -- push this button and it gets rid of all the drug dealers; push this button, it gets rid of the teachers unions -- I'm getting rid of the teachers unions." Mark Levin Levin attacks "Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a Jon Stewart": "I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals ... arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces" On the July 16 broadcast of his radio show, Levin said, "As you know, from time to time, we monitor Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a. Jon Stewart, as well as some of the other nudniks out there." While discussing remarks Stewart made on his Comedy Central show, Levin stated, "I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals -- and that's what they are, phony -- arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces." "Gunny" Bob Newman "Gunny" Bob's suggestions for replacing Air America's Rhodes included Obama, Stalin, bin Laden, Charles Manson Commenting on Air America Radio's April 10 announcement that host Randi Rhodes would be leaving the progressive network following her April 3 suspension for using vulgar language to insult Sen. Hillary Clinton at an off-air event, Newman on his April 10 broadcast suggested possible replacements for Rhodes, to "stay true over at Air America to their programming ideology." In addition to Clinton, Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former President Jimmy Carter, Newman's suggestions included "Osama bin Laden. [bin Laden collaborator] Ayman al-Zawahiri. Robert Mugabe, the dictator down in Zimbabwe ... [former Ugandan dictator] Idi Amin," and "[a]dmitted terrorist Nelson Mandela." Newman also stated that former cult leader "Charles Manson would be a fantastic Air America host" and included Joseph Stalin among "those characters [who] would fit right in at Air America." Lee Rodgers KSFO's "gentleman" Rodgers lashes out at Media Matters On the September 18 broadcast of his KSFO radio show, responding to a Media Matters item documenting his comments that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking," Rodgers stated that "one of the little left-wing websites" "inferred that I had said that these women, prominent women in the liberal movement, are prostitutes. And of course I didn't say any such thing as that because I am a gentleman." Rodgers also said that "left-wing bloggers ... are men in their 30s and 40s who are single and likely to stay that way" and are "[s]till living at home with one or both parents." He added: "And, of course, handwriting analysis has revealed that ... they have to use tweezers to masturbate." Michael Savage Discussing economic crisis and bailout plan, Savage said Rep. Frank "should be in the gallows for this" On the September 29 broadcast of his show, Savage said of Rep. Frank's role in proposed federal financial bailout legislation: "Barney Frank should be in the gallows for this. Barney Frank should be in jail for doing this." Savage: Democratic Party's "membership is made up largely of minority blocs ... that are all against the white person" On his August 25 radio show, Savage said, "The Democrat [sic] Party is the minority party. ... Obama is a minority, a half minority at least. The membership is made up largely of minority blocs, the Hispanic caucus and the gay caucus -- caucuses that are all against the white person." Savage also claimed: "Now, the white women generally are not as hard-nosed about things as the white male, and so many white women don't even understand that they're being duped, and they vote for a Democrat, not knowing that they're digging their own grave." Savage reportedly likened Media Matters to HIV A July 22 WorldNetDaily.com article reporting on the controversy over Savage's July 16 remarks about autism stated that Savage "told WND that Media Matters itself is as much a part of the story as autism," adding: "Acting like the HIV virus, he said, 'they invade the body politic and mimic the defense cells until they poison the entire organism.' " Savage on Media Matters: "They have no place in America" On the July 21 broadcast of his radio show, Savage repeatedly attacked Media Matters, calling the group a "Stalinist," "anti-family," "illegitimate, dangerous fascist group[]," and asserted that Media Matters "ha[s] no place in America." His comments came after Media Matters documented, with transcript and audio, his July 16 remarks describing autism as "[a] fraud, a racket." Those comments have sparked protests and generated widespread media attention. Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ...In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out" On his July 16 program, Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket," and 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." Savage referred to Pelosi as "Nancy Mussolini" On his July 15 show, Savage referred to Pelosi as "Nancy Mussolini." As Media Matters noted, during the June 27 broadcast of his program, Savage similarly referred to Pelosi as "the Mussolini in a skirt," "Nancy Pelosi Mussolini," and the "Mussolini-like woman of the day." During his June 27 show, Savage also said of Obama: "We don't know whether he'd be more like Mussolini or Stalin, but one of the two would work." Savage plays Dead Kennedys song again after asserting he "is now being persecuted for refusing to take the party line" on Sen. Kennedy's illness On his May 21 show, Savage stated of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), "His poor health does not excuse him from what he has done to our nation, and so, now, the Soros-run media sets on Michael Savage for daring to disclose the truth about Ted Kennedy's legacy." Savage added: "Just as in a Soviet show trial, Michael Savage is now being persecuted for refusing to take the party line that the great lion of the left must be praised -- all praise, all praise." On May 20, Savage aired the Dead Kennedys song "California Über Alles" while discussing Kennedy's diagnosis with a malignant brain tumor. Savage again aired the song during his May 21 broadcast. Savage: "I would round up every member of the ACLU and of the National Lawyers Guild and I'd put them in a prison in Guantánamo and I'd throw the key away" On the March 31 broadcast of his radio show, Savage stated: "Cops are getting knocked off all over the country because of the rules of engagement, written primarily by the scummiest class in America, the vermin of vermin, which are the left-wing lawyers who should be put in Abu Ghraib with hoods over their head, as far as I'm concerned." He then stated: "If I had the power by executive order, I would round up every member of the ACLU and of the National Lawyers Guild, and I'd put them in a prison in Guantánamo and I'd throw the key away." Savage claimed Lantos used the Holocaust as "a weapon the rest of his life" Discussing the death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Savage stated on February 11, "You're not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn't do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I'll make an exception. I think he was one of the most -- he was a scoundrel. And I'll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life." THE SHOWS The Chris Baker Show is a Minneapolis-based talk-radio show that airs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. CT on KTLK-FM. Baker previously hosted two different Houston-based radio programs before reportedly being dismissed in November 2007. Baker joined KTLK in February and was nominated to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in June. Since moving to KTLK, Baker discussed with a co-host being "convinced that Magic [Johnson] faked AIDS"; claimed that "it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office"; said that Gov. Sarah Palin "shoulda had a little cleavage going" during the vice-presidential debate; and declared "I don't think homeless people should vote." The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show is carried on News/Talk 1130 WISN-AM in Milwaukee, which is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Talkers Magazine includes Belling in its "Heavy Hundred," which it describes as "the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America." According to 1130 WISN-AM, The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show "is regularly rated number one in its time slot in the Milwaukee radio market and is the highest rated afternoon drive talk show host in the country." In 2001, Belling was awarded National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for medium-market "Personality of the Year." Belling has said "[w]hen you think of Hillary Clinton" the word "bitches" comes to mind; has called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," an "old witch," and an "embittered old has-been"; and has smeared teachers who have talked about global warming as "idiot union teacher[s]," "liberal unionized hack[s]," "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]," and "fruitcake[s]." The Neal Boortz Show is an Atlanta-based program that airs weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. The program is nationally syndicated by Cox Radio Syndication, which says that it "partners with the Jones Radio Network to service more than 200 affiliate stations with programming listened to by several million people each week." According to Talkers Magazine, the show is the seventh-rated talk-radio program and averages at least 4.25 million listeners a week. Boortz has repeatedly referred to Hurricane Katrina victims as "parasites"; commented that he would "make a lousy Mexican" because of his inability to use a floor buffer; and described "single mothers receiving public assistance" as "welfare broodmares." The Jon Caldara Show airs on Denver's 850 KOA-AM on weeknights from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. MT. Caldara is president of the "free market" Independence Institute and has had a public role in numerous anti-tax and anti-government spending campaigns. Caldara also hosts a "current affairs" television program, Independent Thinking, on Denver's KBDI-TV. Caldara has asked a guest if it was "fair to say" that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) "got bitch-slapped" during a primary debate; and he described Colorado Media Matters as a "hate group" for highlighting his remarks. The Caplis & Silverman Show airs weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. MT on Denver's 630 KHOW-AM. Co-host Dan Caplis, an attorney who in 2007 publicly discussed running for U.S. Senate as a Republican, has also made occasional appearances on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. Caplis has asserted that gay "conduct is not natural" and is "immoral." While discussing a photograph of Obama wearing Somali clothing, Caplis questioned why Obama would "put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man [Osama bin Laden] who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death." The Big Show with Bill Cunningham is a weekday Cincinnati-based radio program that airs from 12:25 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET on Ohio's WLW-AM. The program is also simulcast on XM Radio Channel 173. Cunningham, a former Ohio assistant attorney general, also hosts a nationally syndicated Sunday-night talk program titled Live on Sunday Night, It's Bill Cunningham, which is broadcast live on 325 affiliates, according to its syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. In 2001, Cunningham received the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for large-market "Personality of the Year." Cunningham has alleged that "Obama wants to gas the Jews;" compared Obama to Hitler; has repeatedly suggested that if Obama lost the election "there will be 100 cities burning;" has invoked "six-six-six" and "the beast" while discussing Obama; has asserted that "a typical black father... simply leave"; has repeatedly claimed that poor people "lack values"; and has claimed that "the so-called noble poor" don't use birth control so that "the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government." The Mark Levin Show is a nationally syndicated program hosted by Landmark Legal Foundation president Mark Levin. Based in New York City, The Mark Levin Show broadcasts from WABC-AM Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET and is syndicated by ABC Radio Networks. According to Talkers Magazine, The Mark Levin Show reaches a weekly average audience of at least 5.5 million listeners and is tied for the ranking of fifth among talk-radio programs nationwide. Levin has compared Obama to Hitler; has referred to the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization of Ugly Women" and "the National Organization of Really Ugly Women"; and while discussing Comedy Central host Jon Stewart complained of "phony intellectuals" who are "arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces." The G. Gordon Liddy Show is hosted by convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, who often refers to himself as "the G-Man," and is nationally syndicated through Radio America. Talkers Magazine lists Liddy in its "Heavy Hundred 2008." Liddy has advanced claims that Obama was not a U.S. citizen; has said that undocumented Mexican immigrants "want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien" and "want to reconquer America, they say"; and claimed that Obama was relying, in part, on "the welfare class to win" Pennsylvania. In the 1990s, Liddy reportedly advised his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents. The Gunny Bob Show, hosted by "Gunny" Bob Newman, airs weeknights on Denver's 850 KOA-AM from 7 to 10 p.m. MT. Newman is the author of Minefields to Microphones: Global Asymmetric Warfare, the Radical Left, and Winning the War on Terror (Paladin Press, September 2006), which, according to its publisher, "exposes the treason and treachery of America's maniacal liberal machine while laying out a roadmap to victory in the war on terror that will stun the enemy and infuriate America's wild-eyed left." Newman has described Obama as "just another blowhard, make-believe thug" and "a far-left, terrorist-hugging politician"; has asserted that "there will be an invasion of Muslim terrorists" if Obama is elected; posted doctored photos of Obama on his website depicting Obama as meeting with Osama bin Laden and dressed as "Che Obama"; has suggested that legalizing gay marriage could "lead to legal human-animal marriage"; and declared that "every Muslim immigrant to America" should be "required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times." The War Room with Quinn & Rose is a syndicated radio program based in Pittsburgh on Clear Channel's 104.7 WPGB-FM. Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose on its "Heavy Hundred." According to the show's website, it airs on 18 radio stations and XM Satellite Radio Channel 158. Jim Quinn, who co-hosts the show with Rose Tennent, has repeatedly described the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization for Whores"; told columnist Fatimah Ali to "get an American name"; has said that, in the past, "if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it"; and often introduces segments on Hillary Clinton by playing audio of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back." The Lee Rodgers Show is the morning drive-time talk program for San Francisco's 560 KSFO-AM and airs Monday through Friday from 5 to 9 a.m. PT and from 5 to 7 a.m. PT on Saturdays. The show features co-hosts Lee Rodgers and Tom Benner, known on-air as "Officer Vic," and is listed as one of Talkers Magazine's "Heavy Hundred." The program is sometimes guest-hosted by KSFO's Brian Sussman. Rodgers has described many "professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country" as "a bunch of hags," who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison"; has said that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" is made up of "ugly skanks"; and has referred to Hillary Clinton as "the Hilldebeest" who has a "screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice." The Savage Nation is a top-rated nationally syndicated radio program hosted by Michael Savage. The program, which airs from 4 to 7 p.m. PT, is based in San Francisco and is syndicated through Talk Radio Network. Talk Radio Network claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations, and, according to Talkers Magazine, The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, making it one of the most listened-to talk shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show. Savage has attacked everyone from politicians to children with autism. He has insisted that Obama was a Muslim; has described Obama as an "unknown stealth candidate who went to a madrassas in Indonesia and, in fact, was a Muslim"; has referred to Obama as an "affirmative action" candidate and complained that "affirmative action" stole his "birthright"; has claimed that "illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty; has linked "homosexuals trying to destroy families through the mock marriage" to "the downturn on Wall Street"; has claimed that "[t]he children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia"; has asserted that "welfare recipient[s]" should not "have the right to vote;" and has described autism as a "fraud, a racket," and said, "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."

Hannity, Limbaugh promote myth of an "Obama recession"

On the November 11 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Sean Hannity again suggested that President-elect Barack Obama is to blame for the decline in the stock market and said of Wall Street's performance: "Wall Street keeps sinking. Could it be the Obama recession: The fear that taxes are gonna go up, forcing people to pull out of the market?" Hannity is not alone among conservatives in the media in referring to an "Obama recession" in purported explanation for the state of the stock market. As MSNBC's Chris Matthews noted on November 12, radio host Rush Limbaugh "says the recession isn't President Bush's fault. It's the fault, catch this, of the president who hasn't yet taken office. It's an 'Obama recession'; that's what he's calling it." Matthews characterized Limbaugh's reference to an "Obama recession" as "some of the bitter sore loser's rhetoric we are hearing from the right these days." Limbaugh referred to an "Obama recession" on the November 6 and November 11 broadcasts of his nationally syndicated radio show. But as Media Matters for America has noted, analysts have refuted the proposition that the market decline is attributable to Obama's election, citing other factors such as weak economic data. For instance, a post on The Wall Street Journal's MarketBeat blog stated that "[f]ollowing the brief pre-election euphoria that brought stocks up 17% in a six-day period, stocks have been sluggish since as investors focused, once again, on the lame economic data and the drumbeat of bailouts, potential bailouts, and worries about other bailouts." From a November 12 item on MarketBeat: The market has contracted an ongoing case of the "blahs." Following the brief pre-election euphoria that brought stocks up 17% in a six-day period, stocks have been sluggish since as investors focused, once again, on the lame economic data and the drumbeat of bailouts, potential bailouts, and worries about other bailouts. "The market is kind of wallowing and just kind of staying in a downtrend right now," says Stephen Carl, head trader, Williams Capital. "The market is not keen on anything at the moment." Again, stocks were lower. The Dow industrials lost nearly 2%, and other major averages were performing about as well after another spate of sour news from America's corporations. "The weakness being witnessed at the start of today's session can be accounted for by the negative investor sentiment surrounding the still unfolding economic crisis," writes Conley Turner and Brian Sozzi, research analysts at Wall Street Strategies. "The market is in uncharted territory, and is navigating a path that requires the skill set of the early world explorers...the news flow so far, albeit slow, is not providing any solace to market participants." [...] One problem may be that U.S. stocks, in a sense, are no more attractive now than they were at the beginning of the year. According to Bespoke Investment Group, the U.S. price-to-earnings ratio sits at 20.54, compared with 20.11 at the beginning of 2008. Usually, P/E ratios decline in bear markets, but as earnings have fallen faster than prices, the U.S. P/E has expanded. Additionally, as Media Matters documented, in the days immediately following the November 4 election, several analysts on Fox News and Fox Business Network cited reasons independent of the election to explain the fall of the market, explicitly stating that they did not believe the market was reacting to Obama. From the November 12 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews: MATTHEWS: Also, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet: Is there anything that says America to the world, or used to, more than the American auto industry? Democrats are now urging emergency help for an industry in desperate trouble, while President Bush is cool to the idea. Should the blame for this destruction of our industry go to the politicians for refusing to modernize Motown all these years? Should the auto industry be forced to make it on its own now, or is it just too big and important in jobs to be allowed to die? We'll ask author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, he's coming on Hardball tonight. Plus, Rush Limbaugh says -- and sometimes I agree with him; not this time -- he says the recession isn't President Bush's fault, it's the fault, catch this, of the president who hasn't yet taken office, Barack Obama. It's an "Obama recession"; that's what he's calling it. That's just some of the bitter sore loser's rhetoric we're hearing from the right these days. Later on -- later on that -- we'll have more on that. Also, what are President Bush's greatest regrets as his presidency comes to a close? We'll have that, the 11th-hour confessions, and he's making a true confession right now on tonight's "Politics Fix." From the November 6 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show: LIMBAUGH: Now, Carl Cameron did a report on Fox last night. He was on The O'Reilly Factor, and he's now been everywhere on Fox because people have been leaking to him. But it's not just -- it's not just Fox and Carl Cameron. Newsweek -- Newsweek has a special project they call -- on Sarah Palin, the purpose of which is to destroy Sarah Palin and, of course, establish the anointed one. Speaking of Obama, by the way, the Obama recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. Stocks are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Obama recession. Might turn into a depression. It's -- he hadn't done anything yet, but his ideas are killing the economy. His ideas are killing Wall Street. They need some certainty. And now everybody in the drive-bys -- we don't know who Obama is. We've got a story from Jennifer Loven at the Associated Press today -- we don't know who Obama is. All of a sudden now on Charlie Rose, they're starting to talk about his ties to Saul Alinsky. From the November 11 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show: LIMBAUGH: I just -- you know, I remember when the focus in this country used to be on the private sector. In the good old days, what was good for GM was good for America. Now we're told what's good according to the Treasury secretary is good for America. The singular focus on Washington is the problem. Everybody -- you know, the market down 267 again. The Obama recession continues. And why is this happening? Because there's no stability. The markets are frozen waiting for Paulson to say something. The Treasury secretary has all the power here. The markets are frozen because they really don't know how fast Obama is going to embark on his own destruction of the U.S. economy via his tax increases. There is so much government interference. There is so much government control. There is no incentive to plan for next week if you're one of these businesses, unless you're desperately trying to stay alive by asking the government for a bailout. Then you're trying to get it next week. But there is no incentive to plan for much -- you know, next five years out. From the November 11 broadcast of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show: HANNITY: By the way, Donald Trump was right. He was saying that he expects oil to tumble. He even said it may go as low as $20 a barrel. He said this when it was 140. Now, it's under $55 a barrel. Well -- and by the way, Wall Street keeps sinking. Could it be the Obama recession: the fear that taxes are gonna go up, forcing people to pull out of the market? All right, let's get to our phones here, as promised. Let's go to Ann in Rahway, New Jersey. Ann, long time no -- no hear. How are you? Welcome to the show.

Media conservatives claim America is "center-right," but political scientists challenge reliance on voter self-identification

Notwithstanding sweeping Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008, several conservative commentators claim America is ideologically a "center-right" country, citing as evidence general election exit polls showing that 22 percent of respondents identify themselves as "liberal," 44 percent as "moderate" and 34 percent as "conservative." But political scientists dispute the reliability of voters' identification with political ideologies, saying that those who do not regularly follow political discourse often lack an understanding of what constitutes "conservative" and "liberal" principles and policies. Moreover, notwithstanding the findings in exit polling of voter self-identification, a postelection poll by Democracy Corps found that a strong majority favored the more progressive position on a number of issues. In a November 10 column, New York Times columnist Bill Kristol wrote that "this was a good Democratic year, but it is still a center-right country": What's more, this year's exit polls suggested a partisan shift but no ideological realignment. In 2008, self-described Democrats made up 39 percent of the electorate and Republicans 32 percent, in contrast with a 37-37 split in 2004. But there was virtually no change in the voters' ideological self-identification: in 2008, 22 percent called themselves liberal, up only marginally from 21 percent in 2004; 34 percent were conservative, unchanged from the last election; and 44 percent called themselves moderate, compared with 45 percent in 2004. In other words, this was a good Democratic year, but it is still a center-right country. Conservatives and the Republican Party will have a real chance for a comeback -- unless the skills of the new president turn what was primarily an anti-Bush vote into the basis for a new liberal governing era. In a November 6 column in The Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove wrote: It is a tribute to his skills that Mr. Obama, the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, won in a country that remains center-right. Most pre-election polls and the wiggly exits indicate America remains ideologically stable, with 34% of voters saying they are conservative -- unchanged from 2004. Moderates went to 44% from 45% of the electorate, while liberals went to 22% from 21%. In his November 5 Chicago Sun-Times column, Steve Huntley wrote that "the exit polls showing the Americans who voted Tuesday described themselves as 44 percent moderate, 34 percent conservative and only 22 percent liberal. That would seem to portray a center-right nation": You hear conservatives saying the voters didn't reject conservative principles in this election, they rejected a Bush administration and its congressional allies who had rejected conservative principles. I'd like to think that, too, but the verdict is still out and it will probably be some time before we know if the ground shifted under American politics with Barack Obama's resounding victory. [...] On the other side of the argument are the exit polls showing the Americans who voted Tuesday described themselves as 44 percent moderate, 34 percent conservative and only 22 percent liberal. That would seem to portray a center-right nation. During the November 7 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh said: LIMBAUGH: This is not a liberal country; it's not a center-left country. Look at the exit polls. Look at the number of people who identified themselves as conservatives versus liberals. This is a center-right country. Barack Obama -- now, some of you are gonna just not believe me on this -- Obama, in the last three weeks of this campaign, was running as a conservative. Tell me the last liberal you ever heard promising a tax cut for 95 percent of the American people. But in the 2005 edition of American Public Opinion*, Robert S. Erikson and Kent L. Tedin, political science professors at Columbia University and the University of Houston, respectively, questioned the reliability of poll questions that ask voters to self-identify with a political ideology. Noting that "a standard poll question is to ask respondents their ideological identification, usually with three choices of liberal, moderate, and conservative, " Erikson and Tedin wrote: Ideally, ideological classification is a convenient way to measure individuals' core political values and to summarize their political views on a variety of issues. In practice, the result is mixed. The most politically sophisticated segment of the public approximates the ideal. For them, ideological identification goes a long way toward describing their political convictions. But when less sophisticated people respond to the ideological identification question with a response of liberal, moderate, or conservative, we can be less sure of what the response means. At worst, the response represents some idiosyncratic meaning known only to the respondent, or perhaps a doorstop opinion made up on the spot. [Page 67] After listing traditionally conservative and liberal views, Erikson and Tedin continued: "These kinds of relative distinctions are familiar to people who follow politics closely. But the language of ideology holds less meaning for the public as a whole. One test is whether the individual can both identify the Republican as the more conservative party and offer a plausible definition of the term conservative. Roughly half the public passes this test of understanding of ideological labels" [Page 68]. Moreover, as Media Matters for America documented, Democracy Corps, a Democratic polling group, released a poll on November 7 that showed strong support for the progressive positions that President-elect Barack Obama advocated, including the repeal of tax cuts for the wealthy and near-universal health-care coverage. The poll also included questions that provided a direct choice between the position taken by Obama on a given issue and that taken by Sen. John McCain (without referring to Obama or McCain) -- with the more progressive choice echoing Obama's position and the more conservative echoing McCain's. For most questions that juxtaposed a clear progressive view with a clear conservative view, the progressive position was more popular. * Erikson, Robert S., and Kent L. Tedin. American Public Opinion. 7th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.

Media Matters: All over but the lying

On Tuesday, Americans chose as their next president an African-American named Barack Obama who campaigned on a near-universal health-care plan, allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to expire, and a move away from the belligerent foreign policy of the past eight years. Republicans, and some journalists, had spent months (falsely) saying Obama is the single most liberal member of the U.S. Senate -- and maybe even a socialist. The American people responded by electing him in a landslide. This, naturally, is very good news for the Republicans, according to many pundits. It proves once again that America remains a "center-right" nation. Right about now, you're probably scratching your head, wondering how the election of the "most liberal" member of the Senate, a man who campaigned on a promise of near-universal health care, could possibly be described as evidence of a conservative country. To be sure, it requires some creative thinking. NBC's Tom Brokaw, for example, looked at county-by-county election results and concluded that counties carried by John McCain account for greater land mass than those carried by Barack Obama. This would be meaningful, if only fields and streams and rocks and trees were conservative voters. But they aren't: They are fields and streams and rocks and trees. They are neither liberal nor conservative; they tell us nothing about the nation's political leanings. People tell us something about the nation's leanings -- and more people voted for Barack Obama. Then there's CNN's John King Wednesday night. Just try to follow his logic: KING: Without a doubt, the electorate voted for Barack Obama, but still perceives him to be a liberal. And one thing you don't want to do when you win an election like this, a sweeping election like this, is alienate the people here in a place like Cincinnati. Why? George W. Bush carried that county four years ago. You don't want to drive them away. [...] So, Barack Obama is making inroads in communities that not too long ago voted Republican. The last thing you want to do if you want to keep them four years from now is to alienate them with a liberal agenda. That simply does not make any sense. John King says Barack won a "sweeping election" even though the electorate "perceives him to be a liberal" -- so he better not pursue a "liberal agenda" or he will "alienate them." Got that? Later that same night, King added that Obama "does not get a mandate to be a liberal." Again, this is pure nonsense. John King says voters perceive Obama to be a liberal. John King says Obama won a "sweeping victory." And yet John King says that Obama's sweeping victory among an electorate that considers him a liberal does not constitute a mandate to be a liberal. This is illogical, self-discrediting foolishness. At least King was considerate enough to debunk his own absurd conclusions in near-real time. Conservatives making similar claims were not so kind. Media Research Center president Brent Bozell -- who does not get nearly the recognition he deserves for being one of the most clownish figures in the conservative movement -- took to Fox News to announce that Obama had won by campaigning as a "Reaganite" and a "fiscal conservative." Couple of problems with that claim. First, Bozell didn't explain what he meant by "fiscal conservative," but its typical meaning -- supportive of restrained spending and balanced budgets -- is so far removed from the actual governing performance of actual conservatives that the phrase ought to be retired from use. Second, Bozell's claim that Obama won as a "Reaganite" is a little odd, given that it wasn't that long ago that conservatives were saying Obama was campaigning on a "redistribution of wealth" that constituted "socialism." And when I say "conservatives," I mean Brent Bozell. And by "it wasn't that long ago," I mean last week. (How much of a fraud is Bozell? In 1998, Bozell claimed the media weren't paying enough attention to Monica Lewinsky -- at a time when there were 500 news reports a day on the topic. Now he's alternately claiming Obama is a "socialist" and a "Reaganite." And in his column last week, he complained that a recent Project for Excellence in Journalism study overstated the extent of negative coverage of Obama by including "talk-radio hosts from Rush Limbaugh to Randi Rhodes" who are supposed to "express an opinion." But that complaint is completely false. The study in question specifically excluded talk radio. It's right there in the study's methodology: "Talk radio stories, which are part of PEJ's regular NCI, were not included in this campaign study of tone." If Brent Bozell tells you the sun is shining, you better grab an umbrella.) It isn't hard to figure out why Brent Bozell makes absurd claims about Obama winning as a "Reaganite" -- he's an ideologue with far greater commitment to his agenda than to the truth. But why would Tom Brokaw and John King and Newsweek and countless other Beltway journalists and pundits continue to say things like "America remains a center-right country" and insist that Barack Obama's clear victory does not constitute a mandate for the progressive policy positions he ran on? It might have something to do with the long-held assumptions of many journalists and pundits (and more than a few progressives) that progressives are inherently politically weak and conservatives are inherently politically strong. Three of the most foolish pieces of punditry of the past several years reflect such assumptions. Newsweek's Howard Fineman announced in late 2005 that Democrats were justifiably "gloomy" about their electoral prospects. It seemed preposterous, given that President Bush's approval ratings were in the tank, his mishandling of Hurricane Katrina had enraged the nation, and Republicans in Congress were being fitted for orange jumpsuits by the dozen. Still, Fineman insisted, it was true: Democrats were in trouble. One reason? A "Lack of star power." Fineman explained: "it's incontestably true that the Democrats simply aren't blessed with much charisma in the leadership ranks." The 200,000 people who stood in Chicago's Grant Park for Obama's victory speech would probably disagree. (Yes, Fineman said "leadership ranks," and Obama wasn't in the party "leadership" in 2005. But Fineman contrasted the Democrats' purported lack of "charisma" with Republicans who weren't, either, so that doesn't get him off the hook.) Since Fineman argued that Democrats had good reason to be gloomy, they've picked up more than 50 House seats, 12 in the Senate, and the presidency. Republicans have won ... well, John Boehner has probably won a few rounds of golf, but that's about it. Then there's NBC political director Chuck Todd. Shortly before the 2006 elections, Todd predicted that if Democrats won control of Congress, President Bush's approval rating would be above 50 percent by the following July. Democrats did win control of Congress -- and Bush's approval rating was at 30 percent the following July. And at this point, Bush wouldn't be above 50 if you added his approval ratings in the last two CBS/New York Times polls together. And finally, the dean of the Washington press corps, David Broder: In September 2005, Broder predicted that Bush's handling of Katrina would help him regain his standing with the public. Things didn't work out that way, as Broder eventually acknowledged, but he continued to predict a Bush resurgence. In early 2007, Broder announced that "President Bush is poised for a political comeback." It isn't just that these three predictions were wrong; people make incorrect forecasts all the time. Many of those incorrect predictions are based on reasonable analysis that just turns out to be wrong. But it has been pretty clear since mid-2005 that the Bush administration has been a spectacular failure, that the public has rejected the disastrous conservative policies President Bush had used to drive the nation into a ditch. There hasn't been any reason to believe the Republicans would rebound, other than blind faith. And that isn't something that is clear only in hindsight: It has been obvious for years. Democrats have won the popular vote in four of the past five presidential elections. When the new Congress is sworn in, they will hold more than 250 seats in the House and at least 57 in the Senate. Public polling shows -- and has shown for quite some time -- that Americans back progressive solutions to the nation's problems. The current progressive ascendancy won't last forever, of course. But it's about time for the Beltway pundit crowd to let go of their tired old assumptions about the relative strength of the parties and the ideological leanings of the country. Unless, of course, they enjoy making fools of themselves. Jamison Foser is Executive Vice President at Media Matters for America.