ABC Fawns Over 'Hilarious' Sex Columnist Dan Savage Who Railed Against 'C–ksucker' Antonin Scalia
Nightline's Yunji de Nies on Thursday offered a laudatory segment on the sex columnist Dan Savage. She has previouisly fawned on Twitter that the writer/activist was "hilarious." De Nies offered almost no mention of the outrageous statements Savage has made, including referring to Antonin Scalia as a "c–ksucker" and once asserting, "F–k John McCain."
The only hint about the radical nature of Savage came when de Nies explained, "Savage doesn't hide his politics. He famously went after Republican Rick Santorum after the former senator compared homosexuality to bestiality. Savage responded by calling on his fan base to redefine the word Santorum online."
Instead of pressing the syndicated gay columnist about his remarks, she blandly wondered, "Have you had a chance to talk to [Santorum] personally?...Do you have any interest in engaging with him on this?"
Amazingly, de Nies didn't even ask Savage about his now infamous 2000 Salon column where he recounted an attempt to "give [then-presidential candidate] Gary Bauer the flu":
Naked, feverish and higher than a kite on codeine aspirin, I called the Bauer campaign and volunteered. My plan? Get close enough to Bauer to give him the flu, which, if I am successful, will lay him flat just before the New Hampshire primary. …
I went from doorknob to doorknob. They were filthy, no doubt, but there wasn’t time to find a rag to spit on. My immune system wasn’t all it should be — I was in the grip of the worst flu I had ever had — but I was on a mission. If for some reason I didn’t manage to get a pen from my mouth to Gary’s hands, I wanted to seed his office with germs, get as many of his people sick as I could, and hopefully one of them would infect the candidate.
When asked on Twitter by the MRC's Tim Graham about Savage telling a Christian "f--k your feelings" or calling their children "bigoted little monsters," de Nies solemnly replied, "He didn't say those things to me - he was quite charming & sincere. Hopefully you can see the intv & judge then."
After watching de Nies' interview, it's pretty clear she simply ignored the hateful things Savage has said.
A partial transcript of the March 24 segment, which aired at 11:44pm EDT, follows:
YUNJI DE NIES: What's the hardest question that you get?
SAVAGE: You get letters from people who have been unlucky in love all their lives and they want to be told that, or they have been told over and over again, there's someone out there for everyone. And I will say to them, that is a lie. There's not.
DE NIES: There has to be, though. Otherwise-
SAVAGE: There's somebody out there for rent for everybody.
DE NIES: But there's not - you don't believe in soul mates or someone out there who is your ideal match?
SAVAGE: The one? Oh, my God. That's something that has to be combated - the one. Yeah, I get letters every day from people who haven't found the one yet or are with somebody who is totally terrific but they're not sure that she's the one that they've heard about because there's these - there is no one. There's a .64 and maybe if you're lucky, a .67 that you round up to one.
DE NIES: But you've been married for so long. Isn't Terry the one?
SAVAGE: He's the one I settled on. He's the one I picked. He's the one who picked me. He's the one who makes me happier than not. I pay him the compliment of pretending he's the one. And he pays me the compliment of pretending I'm the one even though we both know that there is no one.
TERRY MILLER (PARTNER): It's just all the pictures they could get, you know.
DE NIES: Terry Miller is Savage's partner of 16 years, co-parent of their teenage son, whom they adopted at birth. And co-creator of the It Gets Better project. A YouTube channel with messages of hope-
MALE (YOUTUBE VIDEO): It got better.
DE NIES: For bullied gay teens.
MALE: I am an out and proud gay man.
DE NIES: It all began with a video, shot in this Seattle neighborhood bar.
MILLER: I was bullied a lot, beat up, thrown against walls and lockers and windows.
SAVAGE: I called Terry from JFK, said, I want to make a video. I want to say, it gets better. I want to talk about not just that we were both bullied and we got through it but talk about our joy and encourage other gay and lesbian and bi and trans adults to do the same and give these kids hope for their futures.
MILLER: We thought we'd maybe get a few, like maybe a couple hundred videos at the most.
DE NIES: They got 10,000 from celebrities-
[Montage of people doing the "It Gets Better" videos.]
DE NIES: Politicians...
HILLARY CLINTON: First of all, hang in there.
NANCY PELOSI: It gets better.
DE NIES: Even President Obama.
SAVAGE: The President looked into a camera and said to these kids, there's nothing wrong with you.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You are not alone. You didn't do anything wrong.
DE NIES: So, is there anyone that you haven't seen a video from that you'd like to?
SAVAGE: The Pope.
MILLER: We have zero videos from any Republican politicians.
DE NIES: Savage doesn't hide his politics. He famously went after Republican Rick Santorum after the former senator compared homosexuality to bestiality. Savage responded by calling on his fan base to redefine the word Santorum online.
SAVAGE: It's disgusting. You Google his name, you're in for a shock.
DE NIES: Have you had a chance to talk to him personally?
SAVAGE: No.
DE NIES: Do you have any interest in engaging with him on this?
SAVAGE: I'd love for Rick Santorum him to come to dinner and meet my family.
DE NIES: Once upon a time, not that long ago, Americans turned to the genteel, proper likes of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren for advice. A lot of things Savage says might make Ann Landers blush.
SAVAGE: I got this one.
DE NIES: But Savage is very much inspired by the advice icon. He writes his column from her old desk, with her typewriter nearby.
DAN SAVAGE: You know, everyone thinks I'm like some sort of a crazy sex radical. Everything I'm talking about I want to see happen because I want to prevent divorce. I want people to be able to stick together for the long haul. I want relationships to last.
DE NIES: Dan Savage's new book "It Gets Better, Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living" is on sale now.
— Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
How far do the alphabet networks want their ratings to drop?
Submitted by TexasMom0517 on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 6:30pm.
I am horrified at the language, tactics, hateful screeds and overt propaganda of the alphabet networks and the legacy media. Until three or so years ago, I was a loyal viewer of the Today Show (44 years), first CBS News(until Cronkite retired), then NBC News, and Nightline (from the Iran Hostage crisis onward). However, I only watch the local NBC affiliate now (and that's getting iffy). Most of us are disgusted by what we are hearing and seeing on the alphabet networks. If I want crude, I'll tune in Cinemax. We have become a society that I don't even recognize and I am disgusted by it. One effect of the prolonged immaturity of our twenty-somethings is the narcissism and hatefilled language I see on the "news." We seem to have abandoned all standards, all principles. I don't know that the society will ever recover.
TexasMom, I couldn't agree
Submitted by msh1973 on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 3:59pm.
TexasMom,
I couldn't agree more with your comments. Even the other comments on this thread are disgusting and immature. We are in a sad place. I can't wait to read the responses. Sigh......
Savage is not Savage!!!!
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 6:43pm.
Good Evening Friends!
It has been awhile since I last inserted my poise on this news site. Please forgive me for my absence. I actually caught the interview in question; and if any of you have respect for my opinion… I say that Mr. Savage was quite magnetic in the interview.
As for the Santorum question, I do say old man- how would you like your marriage compared to bestiality? If anyone was out of line… I most whole heartedly with the upmost confidence say that the Ex-Senator/Fox News contributor was the one who should be explaining his past actions. Mr. Savage keep on with the Rabelaisian wit!!!
Your last run through NB's, Hank Mud---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 6:48pm.
demonstrated a penchant for racism, not poise.
You have been missed about as much as a case of syphilis.
MD
Racism? I do say that comment
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:03pm.
Racism? I do say that comment was a bit hysterical. Oh well, my dear effeminate boy Matthew Dean is up to his old sophistry yet again… Tis better to be hated for telling the truth than loved for being a scoundrel-
Your Truth Henry
Submitted by sentry_99 on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:06pm.
is pulled from the same place you keep your head.
So, Hank Mud, you plan on---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:39pm.
flat out lying your racist ass off this go round, huh?
"Racism? I do say that was a bit hysterical."
Deny it all you want, mook; many here saw your foozled and footy fol-de-rol in posting to try and portray yourself as the Prince of Foppery, as foolish and wasted forays into garnering a circle of admirers for your desultory drivel.
Once you became aware your mission was not only inane but unfruitful, the desuetude from your attempts at raillery and faux bon homie was rapid, ridiculous, and increasingly racist.
Deny that, and you will not only be a liar, but will quite likely, based on your flinging the word 'effeminate' around so loosely, be proven to be a frilly-dilly.
MD
Nailed!
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:59pm.
Good job as usual Matthew. : )
"You have been missed about as much as a case of syphilis."
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:13pm.
Or warm, stale, and flat beer.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Beer the Drink of Churls
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:16pm.
I am more of a Pinot man...
Au Contraire Mon Ami
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:17pm.
Warm, flat beer is way better than Mud. Anyday! ; )
Your absence
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:03pm.
... has been appreciated. Now go away. Thank you.
Look who is back*
Submitted by cajun2 on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:19pm.
This fellow's wise enough to play the fool,
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time;
And like the haggard, check at every feather That comes before his eye. This is a practice
As full of labour as a wise man's art...
William Shakespeare..The Twelfth Night
Welcome back Hank Mud. And you felt the need to return since you crave our attention and our wit. See if you can do a better job this go round, you Fool
I oft have heard him say how
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:31pm.
I oft have heard him say how he admired
Men of your large profession, that could speak
To every cause, and things mere contraries,
Till they were hoarse again, yet all be law;
That , with most quick agility, could turn,
And return and make knots, and undo them;
Ben Jonson
Ode to Hank Mud---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:44pm.
The sh*thouse poet, when he dies,
should have erected, to the skies,
A monument, to his sordid wit,
A statue built of solid sh*t.
Eau de Hank Mud, indeed.
MD
For the Fool*
Submitted by cajun2 on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:47pm.
If at first you do not succeed, try and try again. Then quit! There is no use being a damn fool about it......WC Fields
"compared homosexuality to bestiality."
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:01pm.
Oddly enough you could be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for bestiality AND homosexuality with the same punitive article. I'm not sure this one still exists with the repeal of DADT.
ART. 125. SODOMY
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.
(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Law is made by men...
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:07pm.
I suppose we should start burning women at the stake for witchcraft too? Oh, maybe we could behead a few of those pesky fellows who cut their toenails on Sunday? I hear Saudi Arabia is lovely this time of year… Tugboat, you should visit seeing that you love Sharia law so much.
And there he is folks*
Submitted by cajun2 on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:29pm.
Hank Mud is back
Henry Clay, Athiest
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:31pm.
atheist
You Didn't Build That.
Dear friend, I am not an
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:33pm.
Dear friend, I am not an atheist, but a loving Christian.
where's the /sarc
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:38pm.
Ok then, what's your favorite verse?
You know ....(Out of the Bible)
You Didn't Build That.
Matthew 6:1 -6:4
Submitted by Henry Clay on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:48pm.
Matthew 6:1 -6:4
What's with this "Dear friend' crap, Mud---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:47pm.
you are a lying poltroon and a racist, to boot.
MD
If you read
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 8:00pm.
anywhere in my post an agreement or disagreement with the information, I'd say that your little tantrum had some merit. You're very uptight. Almost like you have something stuck up your arse.
LOL!
Submitted by Rukus on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 7:07pm.
That's our Mud! : )
Pictured on left: troll before feeding
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 7:43pm.
Pictured on right: troll after feeding.
Buwhahahhaha!
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 8:02pm.
Excellent! You rock man! : )
That feeling of feeding for free, seeking guiltless entitlement
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 8:16pm.
However, Bugs like ticks and mosquitoes, hones the, concept that our bodies are not our own, When viewing landed blood sucking guilt free Insect critters, bagging as much as they can... (Whack them if you can) what right do they have to bloodtax me for free? Can't we all just get along. Dodging Dengue.
Oh crap! don't feed the trolls, never know what they might give ya in return.
You Didn't Build That.
Hey, I've said the same thing
Submitted by Satchmo on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 8:30pm.
Hey, I've said the same thing about Juan McCain many times.
You've said McCain is a C–ksucker many times?
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 10:39pm.
Color me shocked.
You don't read very well.
Submitted by Satchmo on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 8:52am.
You don't read very well.
You don't answer very well.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 5:37pm.
So would it be safe to assume it was more than 10X?
Every time you guys talk
Submitted by ricklail on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 8:37pm.
Every time you guys talk about trolls it reminds me of the troll in The Three Billy Goat Gruffs. As a kid I remember that being the gawd awfuliest looking thing on the earth.
I Take It You've Never Heard Of Poe's Law?
Submitted by TheReal7Sticks on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 9:31pm.
I'm just as disgusted as the next person over that douche bag Dan Savage, who basically reminds me of the Phil Hendrie character Doug Dannger (Catchphrase: "I'm a gay man and a gay journalist.") But be that as that may, I have had to defend him several times because, well, as Poe's Law states: “ Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing.” Or in other words, to make fun of fundamentalism is somehow bigoted regardless of which degree the mocking can be. It can be as radically disgusting as Dan Savage, or it can be benign, like the Danish cartoonists' caricatures of Mohamed, and you'd still get a bunch of guff over it. So basically, I may dislike Dan Savage, but I will fight to defend his right to disgust both me and you.
Radio for Patriots, by Patriots: The Phil Hendrie Show!
Santorum compared to excrement
Submitted by Texndoc on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 12:27am.
Gee, I wonder if Conservatives came up with a little contest and compared Obama to sh+t if an ABC reporter would thing it's so cute and cuddly.
This is the kind of gay man who,,
Submitted by brutony1 on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 11:56am.
gives other gay men a bad reputation! Talking about acting like a Queen! Theyre usually over the top, left winged, a bit fruity and dont know when to shut the hell up, except with something in their mouth! Who gives a shiite what this flamer has to say? Let him be a butt boy for Logo-perfect job for him! Esp now that the channel is in HD-Huge Dick!
When will liberals WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! -Me
If we can just remember that
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 12:44pm.
If we can just remember that all liberals are children, then it is much easier to understand them.
Leftists apparently are going
Submitted by usfortheus on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 11:25pm.
Leftists apparently are going to try and harass Scalia andThomas out of office so that President Obama can replace one or both with a lib-left-progressive-Marxist justice and change the balance of the court.
white powder
Submitted by m1xram on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 5:18pm.
Savage seems like the kind of guy who would put white powder in an envelope and send it to Congress.
The opposite of Left is Freedom.