Right wing shock jock Michael Savage had fun at the expense of Teddy Kennedy while announcing that the senator had being diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Following the announcement that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage opened his May 20 show by interspersing audio of Kennedy singing “Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes” with clips of news reporters discussing Kennedy’s diagnosis and audio from the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop in which Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character says, “It’s not a tumor.” Later, Savage played the Dead Kennedys song “California Ãœber 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.”
After reading from the lyrics of “California Ãœber Alles,” Savage said, “No gloating today, no laughter, all serious. You don’t joke about a man’s cancer. I do it, but I won’t do it today; it’s something I will not do.” 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.”
While there’s no need to pretend to like a public figure with whom you have strong political disagreements — and in the case of Kennedy, perhaps serious qualms about his morality as well — it’s just in really poor taste to make fun of the fact that he’s likely dying. And to do so while claiming you won’t do it is beyond tacky.
