On the March 13 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage stated of Sen. Barack Obama: “I think he was hand-picked by some very powerful forces both within and outside the United State of America to drag this country into a hell that it has not seen since the Civil War of the middle of the 19th century.” Savage was discussing controversial statements by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, the recently retired pastor of Obama's church, when he made the comments.

In the past, Savage has said of Obama, “We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings.” He has also referred to Obama as “Barack Madrassas Obama,” and falsely claimed that he was “indoctrinated” in a “Muslim madrassa in Indonesia.”

Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, says that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches more than 8 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the March 13 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: And I'm warning you that Barack Obama's pastor is the soul of Barack Obama's movement. And if you want a man who says not “God bless America,” but “God damn America,” if you want a man who takes the side of the imperial Japanese army, an army that killed not only hundreds of thousands in the Bataan Death March, but hundreds of thousand of Koreans, an army that operated on people while they were alive in Manchuria, a man who takes the side, in essence, of the Japanese Nazis of World War II, if you want a man who takes the side, in essence, of the Hitlers of the world, then you've got it in Barack Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, of the Trinity United Church of Christ.

And I'm warning you here -- I am sitting here and warning you that Barack Obama himself -- I don't know whether he's good, bad or indifferent -- I think he's just an ordinary apparatchik of the Democrat machine in Chicago, personally. I don't think he's particularly smart; I don't think he's particularly stupid. I think he was hand-picked by some very powerful forces both within and outside the United States of America to drag this country into a hell that it has not seen since the Civil War of the middle of the 19th century.

And I warn you, ladies and gentlemen, what I'm playing for you is not edited speech, it is not corrected speech, it is not invented speech, it is unadulterated speech of the lowest order, and it's not coming from a conservative -- it's coming from a liberal, like yourself. And so, in case you missed it, I'm gonna play it all day. I suggest you call a few of your friends. If you're in a synagogue, give a call to your rabbi who has a Barack Obama on his lawn. Let us say you're a church-goer and a white person, and you think, “Hey, the Messiah has arrived! Obama's gonna lead us and save us!” I want you to call a few members of your church to listen to where he's gonna lead you and what he's gonna say, because this man, by the way, has not been disconnected from Obama. Why, he makes Louis Farrakhan sound like a nice man.