Title stolen from Media Matters.  They listen to right-wing talk radio to keep an eye on what they are saying thank goodness.  Today in the wake of the announcement that Sen. Teddy Kennedy has a brain tumor Michael Savage decided to play the Dead Kennedys “in some respect for” the Senator.  Here is the Media Matter’s summary.  You can listen to it on their site and read the full transcript.  digg it

On the day it was announced that Sen. Ted Kennedy had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage opened his show by interspersing audio of Kennedy singing “Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes” with clips of news reporters discussing Kennedy’s diagnosis and audio from Kindergarten Cop in which Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character says, “It’s not a tumor.” Later, Savage played the Dead Kennedys song “California Über Alles” after stating: “The poor guy’s been suffering for years, you know? Unfairly he’s been accused of alcoholism, but we see now that it was something much more deep-seated. And so, to cut this out in some respect for Ted Kennedy, here’s a tune coming at you from the Dead Kennedys. Go ahead and play it, please.”

This is absolutely despicable.  Senator Kennedy is revered on both sides of the aisle as a “senator’s senator” and is at least partially responsible for just about every major piece of positive legislation in the past 40 years.  He will go into the history books as one of the greatest and most influencial Senators in United States history.  While Savage may not like his politics, Sen. Kennedy is owed respect, especially this day of all days.

That wasn’t all Savage had to say.

At one point in the program, he told a caller, “You know I’m playing the Dead Kennedys not to mock Ted Kennedy. It’s just appropriate, that’s all.”

You know what is appropriate…for Savage’s advertisers and the stations that cary him to hear from you.  Savage is SF based and aired all over the state.  According to this site, these stations carry Savage’s radio show.

KNEW Oakland

KFMB San Diego

KERN Bakersfield

KSTE Rancho Cordova

KIXW Apple Valley

KTIE San Bernardino

KFMB San Diego

KFMB San Diego

If anyone listens in during his show tomorrow, please make a note of his advertisers and let us know.  I have to assume that this is going to be a blogosphere wide project in the coming days.

Two and a half weeks ago, Jamison Foser wrote:

There are, in short, very few things more significant to the outcome of next year’s presidential election than this California ballot initiative. It is, then, vitally important that the media thoroughly, accurately, and fairly cover this fight — and not just the California media — the national media as well. The initiative may appear only on the California ballot, but it will impact the entire nation, and the campaigns for and against it will no doubt be waged with the help of national donors, activists, and operatives.

The initiative is beginning to draw significant media attention, but much of that coverage has been lacking.

Michael R. Blood of the Associated Press seemed to miss the memo…

In a September 9 Associated Press article on the California Republican Party state convention, AP political writer Michael R. Blood reported that “Republicans at the convention also endorsed a proposed ballot initiative to change the way the state awards electoral votes in presidential contests,” but he did not note that the initiative was originally proposed by a lawyer with deep ties to the state GOP. Blood also did not report any Democratic criticism of the proposed initiative, which, as he noted, would award two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide vote and divide the rest among the winners of California’s congressional districts.

Sacramento attorney Thomas Hiltachk, the managing partner of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, submitted the ballot measure to the California attorney general’s office on July 17. Hiltachk has served as legal counsel to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), and Bell McAndrews’ senior partner, Charles H. Bell Jr., is general counsel to the California Republican Party.

Hiltachk has played a role in several Republican campaigns to pass ballot initiatives that would benefit that party. He served as counsel to Ted Costa, the former chairman of the Sacramento County Republican Central Committee who filed the petition seeking the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis (D). Hiltachk also represented and served as a spokesman for Rescue California, a ballot-measure committee that spent $3.6 million promoting the recall initiative. The Sacramento Bee reported in a July 1, 2004, article that Rescue California “gathered 1.3 million of the signatures that got the measure on the October 2003 ballot.” On October 7, 2003, Davis was recalled from office and replaced by Schwarzenegger. Hiltachk also served as treasurer of Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Team, a ballot-initiative committee that supported measures to mandate judicial redistricting of California’s congressional districts and require employee consent for the use of union dues for political purposes.

Blood scored bonus points for not pointing out the fact that the initiative has been bashed by pretty much every single editorial board in the state which realize it is a blatant dirty trick designed to keep Republican control of the White House despite the fact the voters hate the Republican Party.

To put that in context with what is in the news today, that means that this initiative is designed to ensure we are stuck in Iraq forever. Blood didn’t mention that either.

Ouch.

I have to admit, I look forward to lazy Saturday mornings, a cup of coffee and following a link from Atrios to Jamison Foser’s latest “Media Matters” column. Today’s column goes after San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carla Marinucci. Goes after her hard.