Mob calls for head of a man...they're just missing the torches and pitchforks

In San Francisco protestors rage on, demanding a radio station fire talk radio host, Michael Savage, for his off-color and rude remarks about autism. You can read about it here at the San Francisco Chronicle, amongst others.

Instead of taking several approaches, like boycotting the show's sponsors, or heaven forbid, stop listening to the show, they are calling for his head in something that seems more like an angry mob pounding on the door of a ruined tower for the monster to come out.

Personally, I don't agree with the remarks quoted in the various newspapers. I'm not a citizen of California and have never listened to his show. I only have read what the press has quoted him with. He sounds like a very small-minded shock-jockey making his daily wages by exploiting society's perverse interest in crude and offensive personalities. Hell, the common person would also go see the gladiators in a coliseum if it was available.

The point is that as a people we shouldn't be shouting for people to be gagged for saying something that offends someone. If we continue like this, we will not ever be able to speak our minds, because anything spoken at any time could have the potential for hurting someone. Our voices will be neutered and discourse will be dulled by the fear of political correctness.

There are better recourses.

My personal favorite is to turn it off. Don't listen to it. Someone can scream till they are blue in the face, but if they are not given an ear, the message does not go through. People who doggedly listen to someone because they hate the message only give strength to that person (and in the end dollars - sponsors love a good audience). Stop listening and soon the audience will go down, the sponsors will drop out and the man goes away with a puff of smoke and a whisper.

To call for the man's job only makes him more of an interesting prospect for other competitors. Believe me, where ever he will get hired, his audience is assured because they will want to know what he does next. Sponsors will know he will get a good audience and will in the end provide more funding. Every new protest and new politician grabbing for a bit of the limelight in this screaming mob just feeds the thing they hate.

Frankly I don't care what he's saying. I don't even care if he personally thinks that his remarks were valid or if he said them because he knew he would get a rise. All I know is that he's probably got the highest ratings at this point. Good going mob.