"I want to regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry - some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates and sponsors." — Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Where have I heard these distressful cries of victimhood mixed with an unfortunate misinterpretation of the First Amendment before? I remember now. It was from California beauty queen Carrie Prejean in May 2009 during the flap over her beauty pageant comments on gay marriage.
What I said about Miss Prejean then applies to Dr. Laura now, but let me summarize. Your free speech rights have not been violated. You haven't been squelched by the big, bad government; you've been told to shut up by the free market. It's not free speech you're seeking; it's freedom from criticism you're seeking. And you rarely find that around here!
But it's okay. Dr. Laura can quit her nationally syndicated radio show in exchange for, I predict, a multi-media blitz of books, FOX appearances, and twitterific political rants just like that other queen quitter, Sarah Palin.
By the way, are Palin and Dr. Laura soul sisters now?
I wonder how Palin would have reacted if Dr. Laura had used the "R-word" instead?
But I don't think this whole controversy boils down to individual word choices. It's Dr. Laura's genuine bigotry and racism that got her into trouble. The "haven't we done enough for you people" attitude and the implication that a black woman consents to racism when she marries a white man is so archaic it should be left to the Old Testament... I'm sure it's all written in there somewhere.
I don't know how Dr. Laura was able to position herself as the victim in this story, but she sure plays the part well.
Of all the batshit insane people you can seek advice from, Dr. Laura Schlessinger is the batshit insaniest! Why, oh why, do people still listen to this fundamentalist harpy?
Earlier this week, one of Dr. Laura's masochistic listeners called and asked for advice on inter-racial marriage. I refer to the caller as "masochistic" because any "long-time listener" should know that every call ends with Dr. Laura telling the advice seeker what a horrible, irresponsible, selfish, sinful person they are. However, Tuesday's admonishments included multiple uses of the "n-word," and a racially-charged political rant against people who voted for Obama. What a treat:
Gee, am I being hypersensitive, or does Dr. Laura have a chip on her shoulder about race? Somebody ought to inform the non-psychologist that racism is bad for your health. And also inform her that her non-apology is crap.
So why don't I tell you how I really feel about Dr. Laura? Here is my recycled post from April 2008 titled Fundamentalist Psychopath:
Dr. Laura Schlessinger -- love her or hate her -- oh hell, you can probably tell I hate her right from the title, huh? Well, she's going to be given a new pulpit on Fox New's Hannity's America. Thanks Fox!
For those who don't know, Dr. Laura (as she is commonly called) is an American radio host, author, and commentator. Her views are conservative to put it mildly. From about 1996 to 2003 she was an Orthodox Jew. Before that she was an atheist. Currently, I'm not certain what she is, but she sure is self-righteous about it!
On a typical day of her radio show, masochistic callers will air their problems about parenting, work, and relationships. Dr. Laura dishes out some harsh advice often invoking "God's Law" and other canned responses that sound like they were written by the religious right. Funny thing is she is not a medical doctor nor accredited in a discipline such as divinity, psychology or sociology. Her Ph.D. is actually in physiology.
Whatever her education or religion, she believes homosexuality is a "biological error." I never understood how this belief is compatible with any kind of religion. God creates errors? Sounds like blasphemy to me! Despite these stupid ideas, in 2000 somebody at Paramount thought it was a good idea to give Dr. Laura a TV show. Outraged activists launched StopDrLaura.com and quickly succeeded. Paramount dropped the show like a fiery brimstone.
Dr. Laura has also taken on the families of children with Tourette's syndrome. According to non-expert Dr. Laura, "[The child's mother] can punish the whole world because of this affliction of her son. She can punish everybody who doesn't want to call this normal. But it's not normal. And it's not nice."
Damn! As I read her sanctimonious bullshit, I keep spewing random curse words. Maybe I'm developing Tourette's too?
Do I have any right to spew bad words or express my opinion? Not according to Dr. Laura. She criticised a 14-year-old's award-winning essay defending free speech on the Internet. Dr. Laura said the eighth-grader's support of the First Amendment was "stupid" and "dangerous." Oh the irony when a radio talk show host does not support free speech!
Many of Dr. Laura's stupid ideas are culled from her literal interpretation of the Bible. People like that always scare me, but what really bothers me is how come these self-professed Bible scholars can't answer a simple question: Why Can't I Own a Canadian? I really want to know.
I also want to know how Dr. Laura, being such an expert in moral, societal and spiritual matters, can raise such a monster for a son? Dr. Laura has referred to herself as "the proud mother of a deployed American paratrooper." She is talking about her son Deryk who is serving in Afghanistan. It seems little Deryk had an incredibly salacious MySpace page. [Link changed from original post.] The actual MySpace page has been deleted, but those who saw it were shocked at the contents:
...cartoon depictions of rape, murder, torture and child molestation; photographs of soldiers with guns in their mouths; a photograph of a bound and blindfolded detainee captioned "My Sweet Little Habib"; accounts of illicit drug use; and a blog entry headlined by a series of obscenities and racial epithets.
But wait! There's more!
"Yes . . . F---ING Yes!!!" said one blog entry on the Schlessinger site. "I LOVE MY JOB, it takes everything reckless and deviant and heathenistic and just overall bad about me and hyper focuses these traits into my job of running around this horrid place doing nasty things to people that deserve it . . . and some that don't."
I'm so glad he was raised in a household with strong family values. Just imagine how bad he could have been!
To be fair, the military investigated the situation. The conclusion was that the MySpace page was not created by al Qeada or other enemies, but "the Army will only confirm that the investigation is complete, but will not discuss whether Schlessinger was at fault or whether he was reprimanded." And then the story disappeared from the media.
And oh I wish Dr. Laura would disappear too... along with her sponsors. However, free speech lover that I am, I still believe in her right to say dumb stuff.
I usually don't torture myself with morning radio shows. Listening to morning "zoo crews" or whatever they call themselves now is like reading the dumbest YouTube comments but without the "thumbs down" button.
But you've probably guessed why I'm writing this. I did listen to a morning radio show this morning... for a few moments... before I hit the off button.
The topic was Governor David Paterson's comments about this Saturday Night Live Weekend Update skit that mocked his blindness. The first predictable and juvenile joke the deejays made was along the lines of "oh my god, he's blind! He can't even watch the show!" The genius morning hosts, not catching the irony, proceeded to play the the SNL skit for their listeners... on the radio. They played the SNL skit on the radio -- that primitive device without pictures.
Then they went on with some other blunt ignorance scratching their empty skulls pondering why blind people would even rent DVDs or go to the movies.
But I think the attitude that annoys me the most is the idea that nobody should be offended by the SNL piece because "it's just a joke." The reality, however, is that comedy is part of our discourse now more than ever largely due to shows like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show. These shows, through humor, change attitudes, and that's truly awesome.
Minorities like the blind and the disabled also try to change attitudes. A spokesperson for Paterson said, "this particular 'Saturday Night Live' skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities." People with disabilities struggle every day to create a new consensus that they are capable, smart, and ready to work.
The SNL skit failed because it reinforced the old hindering consensus -- the blind are hapless, clumsy, disoriented. The comedian portraying Paterson repeatedly wandered in front of the camera. The real David Paterson, however, is described as "rarely out of step with his surroundings and seems comfortable in virtually every setting."
I think the best humor is not merely comic relief. The best humor changes the way we view our world, breaks the established order of things, forces you to question your habits and prejudices. Nothing was daring about the SNL skit. It was a lazy reinforcement of the Mr. Magoo stereotype.
I'm sad that Amy Poehler's goodbye message was combined with this lousy humor. I'd like to see the real David Paterson on SNL's Weekend Update. He can at least show them that no matter what way you hold the charts, the economy still looks like crap.
I've been following the aftermath of shock jock Michael Savage's comments on autism last week. I'm impressed with the number of bloggers who have shared my anger. I'm unsurprised at Talk Radio Network's attempt to spin Savage's comments into some kind of alternate universe. I'm nauseated after learning about Savage's previous comments on disabilities. And I'm amazed that the controversy has hit the floor of Congress:
And now advertisers and radio stations are dropping Savage's show. But I stick by what I said earlier this week. Even if Talk Radio Network fires Savage, he'll be picked up again in a few months by another radio network. It's prejudice for profit.
And yes, the title of this blog post was an intentional pun.
He's nasty, ignorant, and immoral. That's what I think about Michael Savage after his rant last Thursday regarding autism:
I've never really paid much attention to Savage except to know that he's a conservative radio talk show host. As you may remember from my other post about a psychopathic talk radio host, I have no tolerance for bleating, uninformed drivel on the public airwaves.
But after much stewing over Savage's comments, I suddenly realized the connection between him, John McCain and Phil Gramm... or at least the connection between their mindsets.
Remember, McCain a few weeks back made the comment that "[A] lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological — the confidence, trust, the uncertainty about our economic future, ability to keep our own home."
Then Phil Gramm, McCain's top financial adviser, echoed the sentiment by saying "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline..."
And here is what I conclude about the the conservative mindset: A thing (whether it be disease, poverty, racism, wage stagnation, high food prices etc) does not exist unless the conservative experiences it for himself first hand.
Part of this problem is a lack of empathy. If you can't mentally step into another's shoes, you will never understand their suffering, and you are doomed to make such thoughtless comments... like Savage implying that children with autism are "idiots," "brats," and "morons."
But I'm talking about more than just empathy here. You don't need empathy to comprehend the multitude of medical journals that explain the realness of autism. All you need to do is realize your own ignorance and seek out knowledge.
But Savage's education is quite impressive (B.A., education and sociology; M.S., medical botany and medical anthropology; Ph.D., nutritional ethnomedicine). I think he probably does know more than he demonstrates, but his job mandates that he spends hours on air giving knee-jerk reactions to anything that pops into his head. He says these outrageous lies to make a buck. And that to me is immoral.
There is a Fire Michael Savage petition online. I am linking to it though I don't think it will do any good. Oh, maybe he will get fired, but if there is any market for his brand of commentary, then he will be hired again by some other radio network once this controversy fades.
The problem is bigger than Savage or any talk radio host. There are people who will loyally tune in every day because they believe they are being told the truth. They hear things that make them feel good about their own prejudices. They are told that the world's problems are not complicated. They listen. Talk Radio Network profits from this national disservice. It's just the way things work.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger -- love her or hate her -- oh hell, you can probably tell I hate her right from the title, huh? Well, she's going to be given a new pulpit on Fox New's Hannity's America. Thanks Fox!
For those who don't know, Dr. Laura (as she is commonly called) is an American radio host, author, and commentator. Her views are conservative to put it mildly. From about 1996 to 2003 she was an Orthodox Jew. Before that she was an atheist. Currently, I'm not certain what she is, but she sure is self-righteous about it!
On a typical day of her radio show, masochistic callers will air their problems about parenting, work, and relationships. Dr. Laura dishes out some harsh advice often invoking "God's Law" and other canned responses that sound like they were written by the religious right. Funny thing is she is not a medical doctor nor accredited in a discipline such as divinity, psychology or sociology. Her Ph.D. is actually in physiology.
Whatever her education or religion, she believes homosexuality is a "biological error." I never understood how this belief is compatible with any kind of religion. God creates errors? Sounds like blasphemy to me! Despite these stupid ideas, in 2000 somebody at Paramount thought it was a good idea to give Dr. Laura a TV show. Outraged activists launched StopDrLaura.com and quickly succeeded. Paramount dropped the show like a fiery brimstone.
Dr. Laura has also taken on the families of children with Tourette's syndrome. According to non-expert Dr. Laura, "[The child's mother] can punish the whole world because of this affliction of her son. She can punish everybody who doesn't want to call this normal. But it's not normal. And it's not nice."
Damn! As I read her sanctimonious bullshit, I keep spewing random curse words. Maybe I'm developing Tourette's too?
Do I have any right to spew bad words or express my opinion? Not according to Dr. Laura. She criticised a 14-year-old's award-winning essay defending free speech on the Internet. Dr. Laura said the eighth-graders support of the First Amendment was "stupid" and "dangerous." Oh the irony when a radio talk show host does not support free speech!
Many of Dr. Laura's stupid ideas are culled from her literal interpretation of the Bible. People like that always scare me, but what really bothers me is how come these self-professed Bible scholars can't answer a simple question: Why Can't I Own a Canadian? I really want to know.
I also want to know how Dr. Laura, being such an expert in moral, societal and spiritual matters, can raise such a monster for a son? Dr. Laura has referred to herself as "the proud mother of a deployed American paratrooper." She is talking about her son Deryk who is serving in Afghanistan. It seems little Deryk had an incredibly salacious MySpace page. That link goes to a news article. The actual MySpace page has been deleted, but those who saw it were shocked at the contents:
...cartoon depictions of rape, murder, torture and child molestation; photographs of soldiers with guns in their mouths; a photograph of a bound and blindfolded detainee captioned "My Sweet Little Habib"; accounts of illicit drug use; and a blog entry headlined by a series of obscenities and racial epithets.
But wait! There's more!
"Yes . . . F---ING Yes!!!" said one blog entry on the Schlessinger site. "I LOVE MY JOB, it takes everything reckless and deviant and heathenistic and just overall bad about me and hyper focuses these traits into my job of running around this horrid place doing nasty things to people that deserve it . . . and some that don't."
I'm so glad he was raised in a household with strong family values. Just imagine how bad he could have been!
To be fair, the military investigated the situation. The conclusion was that the MySpace page was not created by al Qeada or other enemies, but "the Army will only confirm that the investigation is complete, but will not discuss whether Schlessinger was at fault or whether he was reprimanded." And then the story disappeared from the media.
And oh I wish Dr. Laura would disappear too... along with her sponsors. However, free speech lover that I am, I still believe in her right to say dumb stuff.
I wonder how Palin would have reacted if Dr. Laura had used the "R-word" instead?