Michael Savage: no apologies for autism remarks

It's hard to imagine a lower life form than Michael Savage.

This performance unleashed a torrent of calls for his firing and targeting of his advertisers, however, Savage isn't breaking a sweat -- should we be surprised at this cretin's defiance? He's only backtracking on his claim that 99% of the cases of autism are invalid -- that was "a little high."

Michael Savage, the incendiary radio host who last week characterized nearly every autistic child as “a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out,” said in a telephone interview Monday morning that he stood by his remarks and had no intention of apologizing to those advocates and parents who have called for his firing over the matter.

...On his program lastWednesday, Mr. Savage suggested that “99 percent of the cases” of autism were a result of lax parenting. He told his audience: “They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life.“ He added, “Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’ ”

Asked Monday if he actually believed that 99 out every 100 cases of autism was misdiagnosed, Mr. Savage conceded that figure was “a little high.” “It was hyperbole,” he said.

...“He characterizes children with autism who are very, very ill — disabled children — as essentially bad kids; the only thing wrong with them is they have parents who don’t discipline them,” said John Gilmore, executive director of Autism United and the father of an 8-year-old diagnosed with autism. “That completely misrepresents what is going on with children with autism.”

Autism United held a press conference today to announce a national protest against Savage in San Francisco (Savage's hometow) on July 23 with autism groups and parents from across the nation.

"Those of us who know more about autism than Michael Savage have a responsibility to call him out on this issue," Congressman [Mike] Doyle (PA-14)added. "If I were a radio station that broadcast his show or a company that sponsored it, I'd certainly reconsider my association with it, and if I were a parent of an autistic child, I'd certainly demand that."

Related:

* Michael Savage of "The Savage Garden": Autism Is A Fraud, A Racket.