That's what one advocate says about an idea floated by Michael Savage (a man I can't stand) to impose a 20% tariff on all Chinese goods:

In his book that just came out today, "Trickle Up Poverty," Conservative talk show host Michael Savage has proposed a tariff on Chinese goods in order to restore America's manufacturing sector, specifically:

20 percent tariffs on all China made goods immediately; rising by 5 percent each year for each year China refuses to revalue their currency.

Savage calls his collection of proposals his "Manifesto for Saving America." There is a major change occurring within conservative thought.

One of Savage's proposals is to raise tariffs on China. Maybe he can call it Smoot-Hawley-Savage .

That's been tried already. When we raise tariffs on other countries, they raise tariffs against us. You can forget any exports if you raise tariffs like that.

But that goes to the merits of what he says about one subject. There is more to Savage than merely bad ideas.

It's not so much that he says things that irritate me so much as the way he says things. I would hate hearing him say something I agreed with, for the guy's voice just plain grates on my nerves, and gives me the creeps, and has since I first heard him at the young and impressionable age of 41.

At 56 I might not be young, but I'm still impressionable. Or maybe it's just that whatever the process is that causes grating things to grate on the nerves worsens with age. Grating things seem to grate more than they used to, and not only was Savage one of more grating things I have endured, he seems to have gotten even more grating. So while I'm less tolerant, he's also less tolerant -- which makes him less tolerable for me. And life is too short.

Perhaps I should ignore him in the hope that he will just go away, but I have long suspected the man was a Democratic or leftist plant of some sort, and he has been caught giving money to Democrats.

But I'm not sure that this proves he is necessarily part of some grand conspiracy to confuse and destroy the right. He might simply be doing what he does for the money. He has a personality that is unique in its ability to simultaneously enliven and stimulate his "choir," while nauseating those who aren't in the choir. Interestingly, the latter group includes people who might agree with him on the issues:

Something about Savage has always rubbed me wrong. I share his outrage at the immigration disaster, and several other issues, but I just get the willies when I listen to him.

As to why his book with its tariff advocacy is being released now in October (on the heels of an election), that might just be another coincidence.

After all, no genuine conservatives would support protective tariffs, would they?

It's the sort of thing that might encourage divisions.

MORE: It occurred to me that the call for protectionism may be Savage's way of attacking Glenn Beck (who advocates free trade, especially with China), and I learned that Savage has ridiculed Beck's eye problems:

Michael Savage attacks Glenn Beck; calls him the 'hemorrhoid with eyes', crazy, and a fraud (among other things) after Glenn announces he may be going blind.

He also predicts 'something is about to happen' to Glenn that will conveniently increase his ratings.

"I shut that guy off a long time ago. He is mentally ill."

"... they're going to have to throw a net over him eventually."

...personally I think he's a moron."

"I don't listen to or pay any attention to Savage. I think he's a nut."

"Indefensible. If somebody at the polar opposite end of the spectrum from where I stand...Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore, etc....announced they were going blind, they would get my prayers and sympathy as basic human decency would demand."

"Savage is nuts. He lost me with his mad rants a long time ago."

"There's only one man from whom I'll take negativity and crankiness over the airwaves, and it isn't Michael Savage. Heard him once and that was all I needed."

"I really dislike savage. [...]..he is everything the left accuses conservative talk radio of being."

"...I used to think he was an entertaining nut. However as he got more and more nasty, even when there was no need to be, I got turned off big time. Now I avoid him."

"Not a Beck fan, but Weiner Nation is the biggest imbecile of them all. "

"I think he's a fake.

He's a liberal who adopted an over-the-top populist (not really conservative, or at least not a thinking conservative) persona and is GOING crazy as a result."

"Savage hurts our cause."

"Something is wrong with Savage. I dont listen to him, ever."

While there is no way to prove it, Savage's call for protectionism may very well be a politically insincere ploy, calculated simply to target Beck.

If the guy is in fact the trollish provocateur I have long suspected him to be, perhaps I shouldn't be writing about him at all.