Dr. Laura Schlessinger

A radio personality who hosts a talk show having to do with morals, mainly hers. She has a very conservative viewpoint, and tends to insult and berate those who do things she disagrees with.

Her doctorate is in physiology, having practially nothing to do with her current line of work. She is not a psychologist, which is pretty evident by the manner in which she treats her callers. (Though why someone would call in just to be called a slut who needs to get a life is beyond me)

Has recently been exposed in public, after pictures of her naked from her younger days have been posted on the internet. She has said that she's changed since then, and blames her wild years on atheism.

The conservative Christian World Magazine once even said "Dr. Laura is hopelessly and even shamelessly arbitrary. She makes up her rules as she goes along. She has to do so, for she has no ultimate and overarching allegiance to any other set of absolute standards."

Quotes:

"If you're gay or a lesbian, it's a biological error."

"I call homosexual practices deviant."

"a huge portion of the male homosexual populace is predatory on young boys."

Having listened to her firsthand (if I can't find good music on long road trips I use her to stay awake), I honestly have to say her abrasive nature is exaggerated. It's more that her callers are usually idiots who need to be kept in line lest they ramble on about boring personal details for hours. And she does have some useful advice, sometimes. She's also very dedicated to children, and feels parents should consider their children's interests before their own. God forbid someone tell Americans to do something other than what they want.

Of course, considering she's a converted orthodox Jew I find her moral standpoints outrageous, outdated and sometimes hateful, but I like to be honest about the reasons I don't like someone.

An interesting quote from her televsion talk show came from an episode today featuring a 17-year-old Miami girl who had started a volunteer program for teenagers called ManaTEEN. She was talking about the output of local members, and she noted that the organization had started with only 22 teens and had grown to 10,000. She then handed Dr. Laura another statistic, that there are only 13,000 teens in the Miami area (something seems inaccurate about this statistic, but that's not the point) and so almost 5/6 of all teens in the Miami area were active members of this organization.

Dr. Laura: "My goodness! What are those other 3,000 children doing, out getting arrested?!"

Nothing like that ultra-conservative mind to make such a beautiful assumption.

She followed up later with a comment that parents watching this program were probably griping at their kids asking them to do what this girl was doing.

Dr. Laura: "Why can't you do that instead of... wearing your baggy pants and going to the mall!"

So it's said that a person wearing baggy pants can not provide their help to the community because this is some sort of mind-altering device. And who is to say that this girl doesn't regularly attend the mall herself? Do all teenagers waste their time on one thing? Do people not like variety in their lives? I'm just not following.

My mom would sometimes listen to Dr. Laura radio before she became a bestselling author, and got her own TV show. During that time, her radio show was worth listening to if you wanted good advice, and someone who seemed like she sincerely cared about your problems. But afterwards, there was definitely a change in her attitude, she started cutting off people, bagging on them. The last show I ever heard before both my mom and me decided that she had become crappy. Had a portion that went something like this:

"Look, I just..." (Caller)

"No, you called me." (Dr. Laura)

"Bu.."

"No, who asked who..."

*--Phone Hang Up--*

"Okay, this is Dr. Laura Schlessinger you can call me at..."

I found that pretty amazing. She's degraded from something worth listening to on the radio to your everyday trash talk.

Is this what money does to you???

Hers is one of the first voices I remember. It was such a constant presence in my house from the time I was little that my little brother and I used to play Dr. Laura with our stuffed animals.

"So, your husband..."

"Yes."

"Your husband Big Bear."

"Yes."

"You say he's cheating on his taxes."

"Yes. His taxes."

"Is your radio on? I think I can hear your radio."

"Just a sec. Okay, it's off now."

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes?"

"You're going to have to tell him to stop cheating on his taxes."

"Okay."

"And I think Mom is making curry so we're going to have to go eat. Put the phone over there. I think it's curry. Do you smell curry? That smells like curry."

"How about he's cheating on his wife? Instead of his taxes?"

"Okay. And she wants an abortion. Are you sure that's curry? It doesn't smell like curry."