ADA Watch/NCDR: Talk Radio Should Fire Michael Savage

To be honest, I've never listened to Michael Savage and barely knew who he was. (I thought he was this guy, which seems like the kind of mistake that will offend both of them.) And I don't, on this blog, take a position on whether folks should be fired. But this is pretty appalling:

The leader of a national coalition of disability, civil rights and social justice organizations called on Talk Radio Network to fire talk radio host, Michael Savage for his hateful attacks on children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. Jim Ward, founder and president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR), stated:

"ADA Watch/NCDR calls on Talk Radio Network to fire Michael Savage. As America prepares to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26th, people with disabilities, parents, family members, friends and advocates across the nation are outraged over Savage's latest attack on people with disabilities. His despicable assault on children with autism -- calling them "frauds" and "brats" -- is rightly being condemned as hateful and bigoted. But it is just the latest of Savage's numerous and painful attempts to demean and disenfranchise people with disabilities."

Savage has also used his bully-pulpit to declare that:

-- High levels of asthma impacting minority children was because "the children got extra welfare if they were disabled." (July 2008)

-- The "handicapped" workers at the Phoenix Cafe would "drool" and put dung in diners food. He made up names for the food on the menu, such as "nutburger." (July 2002)

-- Members of the disability rights community are the "Wheelchair Mafia."

-- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the world's first civil rights law for people with disabilities, should be called the "Lawyers' Improvement Act."

-- His political opponents are "degenerate slime bags" with "mental disorders" and have a "virus like leukemia."

-- When he was younger, he "touched the hand of a midget [Dwarf]," it really "freaked him out" and, since that episode, he doesn't like public places. (June 2004)

-- The "autism lobby of devastated parents is just a scam to get more money."