By Scott Wells

Shortly after the injunction was granted, Lee was told to pony up $2.5 million in potential damages to Viacom should he lose the case.

On July 8th, Spike settled with Viacom on the name change, and neither side is talking specifics. But Mr. Lee did say that he "no longer believes that Viacom deliberately intended to trade on my name when naming Spike TV." Glad you saw the light, Spike.

Mr. Lee also stated that "As an artist and a filmmaker, I feel that protection of freedom of expression is a critical value, and I am concerned that my efforts to stop Viacom from using the Spike TV name could have the unintended consequence of threatening the First Amendment rights of Viacom and others."

I, for one believe Mr. Lee. I'm sure his settling of the lawsuit has nothing to do with his new Showtime series, "Sucka Free City." Showtime, by the way, is owned by Viacom - as is MTV, whom Spike and his wife have development deals going with. And it absolutely had nothing to do with the 2.5 million dollars.

I mean, this lawsuit and subsequent settlement couldn't be about money, could it?

And it looks as if the inevitable self-destruction of Mr. Savage has begun. Also on July 8th, Mr. Savage was fired from MSNBC for referring to a caller of his show as a “sodomite” and said he should “get AIDS and die.” What a warm, caring human soul this man is.

Mr. Savage did appologize, posting the following on his website:

What happened on the air is much different than what is being reported. It was in the middle of an airline horror story segment with a great set (see photos above). Out of nowhere a crank caller from a competitive talk show went from describing his airline horror story to making vicious personal attacks against me. I signaled and thought that this crank caller was cut from the air. His insults continued in my ear piece and I reacted to him personally as an individual who was attacking me to defend myself.

Unfortunately, my personal comments to this crank caller were broadcast. In no way did my comments reflect my views of disease and suffering in any way. I have spent my entire life in the field of alternative medicine trying to heal the world and bring comfort to the sick. If my comments brought pain to anyone I certainly did not intend for this to happen and apologize for any such reaction.

Let me repeat, this was an interchange between me personally and a mean spirited vicious setup caller which I thought was taking place off the air. It was not meant to reflect my views of the terrible tragedy and suffering associated with AIDS. I especially appeal to my many listeners in the gay community to accept my apologies for any inadvertent insults which may have occurred.

Inadvertant insults, huh? But you don't care about your comments about the homosexual agenda to destroy white America, I take it, since those were intentional insults. And by the way, Michael, as one who constantly refers to homosexuals as perverts and sodomites, I doubt you have to many gay fans.

Mr. Savage then went on to say that MSNBC put the "leper bell around him" and he was "done in television." I say Kudos! But Michael, unless MSNBC forced the words from your mouth, YOU put the bell around your neck. You are responsible for what you say.

To be fair to Mr. Savage, he was bated by a prank caller. But a vicious attack? The caller stated that Mr. Savage had bad teeth. That's vicious? Saying that you'd write a book about Elizabeth Smart called "Lizzie does Utah" isn't bad, but someone saying "Your teeth are bad" is? Did he also say that your mother wears combat boots, because if he did, you should sue him.

But in a grandly cosmic twist of irony, the caller didn't want Savage to lose his show - in fact, he's a fan of the show. That should tell you something about the kind of people who listen to Savage. And with friends like that, who needs enemies?