Michael Medved

[[File:MichaelMedvedByPhilKonstantin.jpg|right|thumb|165px|A moustache that happens to be attached to Michael Medved.]]{{pundits}}
{{cquote|The idea of a distinctive, unifying, risk-taking American DNA might also help to explain our most persistent and painful racial divide – between the progeny of every immigrant nationality that chose to come here, and the one significant group that exercised no choice in making their journey to the U.S. Nothing in the horrific ordeal of African slaves, seized from their homes against their will, reflected a genetic predisposition to risk-taking, or any sort of self-selection based on personality traits.|||Michael Medved<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/05/14/michael-medved-says-something/ Michael Medved says something dumb.] scienceblogs.com, 14 May 2008.</ref>}}
'''Michael Medved''' is a C-list movie critic and [[right-wing]] radio host who gets air time on the [[reactionary]] [[Christian]] [[Salem Radio Network]]. Medved is notable for trying to present himself as the "[[moderate]]" of the extremely [[conservative]] network, but some of his writings put him further to the right than any of his fellow hosts. He is also odd in that he says conservatives have become too extreme in recent years though he himself supports [[Tea Party]] leader [[Paul Ryan]].

Medved got his journalistic start as a movie critic.  His earlier books, co-written by his brother Harry, include ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time'' (1978) and ''The Golden Turkey Awards'' (1980), which were both seminal in pointing out the humorous appeal of "bad" movies while describing elements of Korean Cuisine as "barbecued dog—a snack" and "shish ke-puppy", parodying a Japanese accent with "so solly" and "rotsa ruck" and selecting a quote describing the production of "Can't Stop the Music" as "Can't Stop the Faggots".[https://archive.org/stream/TheHollywoodHallOfShameByHarryAndMichaelMedvedStarbrite/The_Hollywood_Hall_Of_Shame_by_Harry_and_Michael_Medved_%28Starbrite%29_djvu.txt] These books launched the cult following of Ed Wood's ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'', which the Medveds dubbed the worst film ever made.  At some point he lost his sense of humor; his later books that touch on popular culture, such as 1992's ''[[Hollywood values|Hollywood vs. America]]: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values'', revert to standard "[[liberal media]]" tropes.  

He is both a [[Global warming denialism|global warming denialist]] [[Crank magnetism|and a]] senior fellow at the [[Discovery Institute]]. 

== Jingoism ==

What makes Michael Medved even more extreme than his cohosts is his extremely regressive stances on [[civil rights]] issues. He has promoted [[racialism]] in the past, specifically in a 2008 [[Townhall.com]] article that claimed that [[America]]n DNA is significantly different from [[Europe]]an or [[Africa]]n [[DNA]].<ref>Michael Medved, [http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelmedved/2008/05/14/respecting_-_and_recognizing_-_american_dna Respecting - And Recognizing - American D.N.A.] townhall.com, 14 May 2008.</ref> He says this is because Europeans who went to America had the [[gene]]s of risk-takers, whereas African slaves who were forced to go to America didn't go by choice and, thus, lack the "risk taking" genes. (Yeah, because [[genetics]] works like that...) He also says this is why [[Obama]]'s policies will fail, since they go against the risk-taker genes. In another bout of jingoism he tried to argue that [[slavery]] wasn't as bad as the [[liberals|libruls]] make it out to have been. It doesn't help that his article uses logical fallacies to defend this view point. However at one point he concedes that millions of Africans died during these voyages, but then he writes the following:

{{quotebox|Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of these voyages involves the fact that no slave traders wanted to see this level of deadly suffering: they benefited only from delivering (and selling) live slaves, not from tossing corpses into the ocean.}}

Yes Michael, the worst part of the horrible voyages was the fact the slavers didn't really want the Africans to die since they would lose a profit. He even says that [[African American]]s [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_as_a_positive_good are probably better off in America today than if they'd been left alone in Africa].<ref>Michael medved, [http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelmedved/2007/09/26/six_inconvenient_truths_about_the_us_and_slavery Six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery.] townhall.com, 26 September 2007.</ref>

In another article he tried to say that mentioning an [[American Indian Holocaust]] was just [[political correctness]] gone mad, since the US government never deliberately killed [[Native American]]s. The Trail of Tears, where deaths were expected, is never mentioned. He also refers to the Native American tribes as "stone age societies", despite the complexity of some Native American societies, particularly in the Northeast.<ref>Michael Medved, [http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelmedved/2007/09/19/reject_the_lie_of_white_genocide_against_native_americans Reject the Lie of White "Genocide" Against Native Americans.] townhall.com, 19 September 2007.</ref>

==[[Homophobia]]==

Since Medved is on Salem it's really no surprise to anyone he's a homophobe. Medved attempted to argue against the repeal of [[DADT]] when it applies to [[gay]]s but NOT when it applies to [[lesbian]]s. This is because gay sex is an act of "aggression", whereas lesbian sex is an act of "affection".<ref>Michael Medved, [https://archive.is/vwcIM Gay, Lesbian bonds no equivalent of heterosexual relationships - or of each other.] Archived from the original at mynorthwest.com, 30 September 2010.</ref> Take from that what you will, including the fact he thinks about gay [[sex]] too often for a straight man. He's also argued against building a small memorial to the approximately 10,000 homosexual victims sent to concentration camps during the [[Holocaust]] because it was ''only'' 10,000 gays, never mind that their memorial is still much smaller than the Holocaust Museum in Berlin. 

[[Godwin's Law|He has also stated that most]] [[Nazi]] leaders, including [[Adolf Hitler]], were gay. This [[wilful ignorance|completely ignores]] that Hitler had affairs with at least six women, that Hitler was disgusted by homosexuality, and that the [[Holocaust]] happily killed gays alongside the disabled and Jews.<ref>{{wpa|Sexuality_of_Adolf_Hitler}}</ref> He also holds the completely [[Tinfoil hat|batshit insane]] belief that SA chief Ernst Rohm (who did happen to be a homosexual) was killed during a "gay orgy" by Hitler, which contradicts every non-crazy historical account that says Rohm was arrested and executed by SS officer Michael Lippert via a pistol shot to the chest during the Night of the Long Knives.<ref>{{wpa|Ernst_Rohm}}</ref> He has defended these viewpoints using the thoroughly discredited book ''[[The Pink Swastika]]'' as evidence.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0eHDo3mIkc&bpctr=1368418321 Michael Medved: the truth about gays & the holocaust.] theMediaFork on YouTube, 9 July 2009.</ref>

He is also, ''obviously'', against [[gay marriage]], calling the "one man and one woman"-kind of [[marriage]] "essential for the survival of our civilisation".<ref>''[[Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]]'', episode 3.02, ''Family values''</ref>

==General stupidity==

Medved criticized the animated family film “Happy Feet” for having what he considered subtle pro-gay messages.<ref>[http://mediamatters.org/video/2006/12/15/dobson-and-medved-warned-of-purported-pro-gay-s/137520 Dobson and Medved warned of purported pro-gay "subtext" in Happy Feet.] mediamatters.org, 15 September 2006.</ref> In the same review he implied that some gays can make themselves straight when they have "turned their lives around". He has also tried to claim that the [[liberal media]] was trying to attack conservatives when the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooter was labeled a “right-wing extremist”. Since the shooter was a [[white supremacist]] then according to academics he would fit that label, and it’s somewhat disturbing that a political commentator doesn’t understand the basics of a [[political spectrum]], and nobody mainstream was trying to say the shooter was a [[Republican]]. He has also declared [[global warming]] to be a "complete scam" and opposes [[Social Security]] as well as [[progressive taxation]].<ref>Ross Anderson, [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970622&slug=2545695 A Matter Of Opinion -- When Conservative Commentator Michael Medved Found Himself Attacking The Hollywood Elite On Their Own Turf, He Moved To A Radio Pulpit Here.] community.seattletimes.nwsource.com, 22 June 1997.</ref> 

His loudest failure was when he wrote the book ''The Odds Against Obama: [[Dunning-Kruger effect|Why History and Logic]] Make the President a Likely Loser'' and encouraged conservatives to buy his book even when polls, even [[Nate Silver]]'s poll, showed that [[Obama]] would probably win. The book makes little sense given that the last time the [[Herbert Hoover|Republicans]] [[Great Depression|screwed up the economy]] the [[Democrat]]s managed to control the presidency for over two decades.<ref>Michael Medved, [https://www.amazon.com/The-Odds-Against-Obama-ebook/dp/B0093L8YXW The Odds Against Obama: Why History and Logic Make the President a Likely Loser.] SRN Books, 16 August 2012.</ref>

A 1992 book, ''Hollywood versus America'', was full of the usual lame scaremongering against the whole of modern (circa 1992) culture, even though he is of a political ilk which would regard any restrictions on the spread of that culture as [[Socialism|socialism]].  "Highlights" included suggesting that Madonna had adopted that name to shock, whereas in fact it is her birth name, and referring to "groups such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest achieving vast popularity", years after that popularity had peaked (virtually twenty years in Sabbath's case).<ref>Michael Medved, ''Hollywood vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values.'' HarperCollins, October 1992. ISBN 006016882X.</ref>

In April of 2003, Medved published a long screed against the fictional character Captain America, saying that a set of recent stories in comic books and graphic novels (from 2002 onward) were sympathetic to terrorism simply because Captain America was questioning official U.S. policy with regards to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.<ref>Michael Medved, [https://archive.is/RoP3g Captain America, Traitor?] Archived from the original at nationalreview.com, 4 April 2003.</ref>

==[[Stopped Clock|Brief Moments of Sanity]]==

Medved devotes some of his show to attacking [[conspiracy theories]], particularly those put out by [[Iran]] and [[9/11 truther]]s. He is also not a [[birther]], so he’s reasonable in that regard. He has also rejected the idea that Barack Obama is a [[radical]] left winger, saying he is a “mainstream Democrat”, though he still considers him as [[liberal]] as [[FDR]], which isn’t really true. Medved has been willing to debate reputable opponents such as [[Thom Hartmann]] and [[Christopher Hitchens]] (though Hitchens easily beat him).<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdP9cYpy6j4 Part1 Christopher Hitchens vs. Michael Medved.] ObjectiveBob on YouTube, 4 February 2011.</ref> However, he still believes in a [[liberal media]], which is conspiracy theory lite, as well as global warming being a lie. Though has called out conservatives who "overreact" to [[Environmentalism|environmental]] extremists and thus Medved believes forests should be preserved. These [[Stopped clock|brief moments of sanity]] still don’t come close to redeeming the wingnuttiness that regularly appears in his articles and radio show however, and he does not deserve to be labeled a moderate, especially due to his claims about Nazism and homosexuality.

In another surprising twist he has taken a stand against the [[fiscal cliff|Republican backed government shutdown]] that occurred in 2013, and isn't as vehemently opposed to the [[Affordable Care Act]] as his co-hosts are.

Medved also opposed the candidacy of [[Donald Trump]] in 2016.<ref>Hadas Gold, [https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/michael-medved-salem-radio-donald-trump-230810  Michael Medved suffers for his anti-Trump stance]. Politico, 6 November 2016.</ref><ref>Michael Medved, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/10/19/never-trump-reagan-conservative-republican-michael-medved/92411818/Republicans of conscience: Michael Medved]. ''USA Today'', 19 October 2016.</ref><ref>Michael Medved, [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430194/donald-trump-michael-medved-says-trump-will-destroy-conservative-movement  Where Is the Evidence for Donald Trump’s Conservatism?] National Review, 24 January 2016.</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Political pundits]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Homophobes]]
[[Category:Global warming denialists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Jews]]

Categories: Political pundits, Right-wing activists, Racists, Homophobes, Global warming denialists, Living people, Jews