“I want to regain my First Amendment rights,” she said. “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 the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I’m sort of done with that.”
So get a blog, you wanker. No one is attacking your right to free speech. Say whatever the hell you want. Just don’t expect to get rich wanking.
It really is amazing how many wingnuts fail to understand the first amendment. You can exercise your first amendment rights dropping the n-bomb all over the place. We exercise our 1st amendment rights calling you a wanker. Your boss exercises his right to can your silly self. It all works out in the end!
*** Update ***
With Allah as my witness, I had no idea Mistermix was posting on the same topic a minute before me…
K. Grant
I am convinced that the vast majority of people who whine about their First Amendment rights being trampled have never actually read the First Amendment.
beltane
As a wingnut, Dr. Laura’s 1st Amendment rights include the right to be a highly-paid radio personality. As non-wingnuts, the rest of us have the 1st Amendment right to sit down and shut up.
Crashman
Oh, Dr. Laura. You’re so persecuted. It must be so hard being you!
Comrade Dread
So, did I miss the story where Congress passed a law saying that Dr. Laura can’t say n***** on the radio? Or a law requiring her employer to fire her?
No?
Then she needs to shut the hell up.
Amazing how many conservatives can’t even bother to f***ing read the document they revere so much.
PeakVT
Being fired by your boss != government banning your speech.
Perhaps some day conservatives will realize that one should read the Constitution instead of just spanking to it.
ETA: I’m detecting a common theme in this comment thread.
Daddy-O
One down, seven hundred fifty nine to go…
morzer
Shorter Doctor Laura:
GregB
Well, now Dr. Laura can go about using the N-word with great frequency.
Apparently that’s what has been missing in her life. The ability to call people ni**ers without losing listeners.
What a rotten, shallow human.
beltane
@Comrade Dread: They are all for the rights of employers to terminate at-will except when the employer in question is their own. As Cole said, Dr. Laura is free to start her own blog and day whatever she wants; Stormfront has done it and so can she. She has a lot of nerve to expect that someone must be forced to pay her to say whatever she wants.
singfoom
I’m down with her new interpretation of the 1rst Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Becomes
“YOU ALL HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME OR I’LL TAKE MY BALL HOME. HOW DARE YOU CALL OUT MY BULLSHIT? THAT’S NOT ‘MURKIN!!”
Stay classy, Laura.
J.W. Hamner
Yeah, this has been a long standing issue for right wingers. IIRC they used to consider “Political Correctness” to be an assault on their 1st Amendment rights since random people got offended when they were rude.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
anybody have any idea what her audience was these days? I haven’t heard her name in years, and hearing that she was still on the air was like a nineties flashback
Sidenote: The fact that CNN gave this nasty relic airtime just underscores why they’re irrelevant and useless
NonyNony
Holy crap that’s moronic.
I like her definition of “attack affiliates” and “attack sponsors”. If you ask them if they condone the things that they’re paying her to say then you’re attacking them. If you ask them if they realize that they’re paying her to spew racist statements on the air, you’re attacking them.
Perry Como
I’M TIRED OF MY RELATIVES COMING TO VISIT ME AND TRAMPLING MY 3RD AMENDMENT RIGHTS WHEN THEY SLEEP OVER AND EAT MY FOOD.
catclub
“…As Allah is my witness”
I must admit, that “Allah is my co-pilot” does still have a different ring (to me) than “Jesus is my co-pilot.”
But, on further thought, not very different.
cleek
and i’d like to be able to fart wherever and whenever i want, regardless of how many egg-salad sandwiches i’ve eaten, without somebody giving me a mean look.
alas, that’s not the way the world works.
4tehlulz
I didn’t realize that freedom of speech was being violated when no one is willing to pay for it.
kansi
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I read she is (was) number three in listeners, after Rush and Sean.
Perry Como
I tried to buy a gun at Wal-Mart one time, but I was $20 short. Wal-Mart trampled my 2nd amendment rights.
Sly
Whenever I hear the words “Doctor Laura” I’m immediately reminded of my third favorite scene from The West Wing.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@kansi: Huh. In this case, ignorance truly was bliss.
RedKitten
Since when has freedom of speech also meant freedom from criticism? I swear to god, I’ve heard this bullshit from more wingers — they say something offensive, people state that they are offended, winger goes into a poutrage and says that they’re being “silenced”.
For a bunch of people who like to call liberals wusses, they sure are a bunch of WATBs, aren’t they?
beltane
@4tehlulz: The Free Market told her that she could spew her hate on her own time with her own money. Why does Dr. Laura hate capitalism? She must be as red as a baboon’s ass.
Sly
@RedKitten:
Additionally, complaining about political correctness is merely Wingnutese for “I hate that people can now criticize me for being a bigot.”
singfoom
I wonder if she’s aware of the irony here. Perhaps she truly believes this bullshit. If she is aware of how moronic her stance and statements are, she’s a brilliant unintended comic. If not, she’s a narcissist and a horrible person.
I think I’ll start yelling “STOP TRAMPLING MY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!” whenever someone interrupts me during a conversation.
Culture of Truth
“The reason is, 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.”
Yep, the Founders totally guaranteed that.
Perry Como
When I was 20 years old I tried to buy a beer, but the store wouldn’t sell it to me. They violated my 21st amendment rights.
gnomedad
They have no interest in what the 1st Amendment, or any part of the Constitution, actually says. To them, it’s an empty vessel waiting to be filled with their insanity du jour.
Catsy
Piling on.
So apparently in “Dr.” Laura’s world, the Constitution:
– prohibits all Americans from being offended by racist speech
– protects all conservatives from being fired or boycotted for racist speech
– suspends the free market whenever market forces are bad for conservatives
That’s awesome! Clearly I’ve been overlooking a whole bunch of very useful and uncommonly specific amendments.
Lolis
Conservatives love those constitutional amendments, except all the ones that don’t help them and they want gutted.
Nom de Plume
I thought most of us learned about social taboos when we were, like, three. At the supermarket you say, “Mommy, look at the fat lady”, and she shushes you and says, “We mustn’t say such things”.
Then later, at home, you overhear her saying, “I’m getting fat”. “But mommy”, you protest, “We’re not supposed to say such things!”. And mommy tells you that’s different, go outside and play.
And that’s generally the end of it. You can’t say certain things in certain situations. Some people can use certain words, others can’t. It’s called socialization.
So the real question is, why do wingnuts skip this developmental stage?
morzer
@Lolis:
How many amendments did they commit to repealing in the last month? Three?
4tehlulz
@Nom de Plume: They went straight to the mental age of 13 and stayed there.
Just Some Fuckhead
Can’t she just peddle gold like the other wackos?
Chad N Freude
Not that this relates directly to Dr. Laura’s suppressed rights, but the thing that years ago got me into full frontal detestation mode for her was her Phyllis-Schlafly-like position that “women should be subservient to the men in their lives, except me”. Why women continued to call for her advice is one of the great mysteries of the Universe.
El Tiburon
(Posted this on Mistermix thread, but thought I would post here as well)
This all reminds me of the scene from “Life of Brian” where the old man is about to be stoned for saying ‘jehova’ out loud.
We join in progress:
MATTHIAS: Look. I don’t think it ought to be blasphemy, just saying ‘Jehovah’.
CROWD: Oooh! He said it again! Oooh!…
OFFICIAL: You’re only making it worse for yourself!
MATTHIAS: Making it worse?! How could it be worse?! Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!
CROWD: Oooooh!…
OFFICIAL: I’m warning you. If you say Jehovah once more…
MRS. A. stones OFFICIAL
Right. Who threw that?
MATTHIAS: laughing
silence
OFFICIAL: Come on. Who threw that?
CROWD: She did! It was her! He! He. Him. Him. Him. Him. Him. Him.
OFFICIAL: Was it you?
MRS. A.: Yes.
OFFICIAL: Right!
MRS. A.: Well, you did say ‘Jehovah’.
CROWD: Ah! Ooooh!…
CROWD stones MRS. A.
OFFICIAL: Stop! Stop, will you?! Stop that! Stop it! Now, look! No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle! Do you understand?! Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, even if they do say ‘Jehovah’.
CROWD: Ooooooh!…
CROWD stones OFFICIAL
WOMAN #1: Good shot!
MattF
Well, it is interesting that wingers think that the First Amendment says, e.g., that it’s illegal for libruls to point out that unmedicated psychosis is a bad basis for national policy. Those voices in their heads, it turns out, are not constitutional scholars.
YellowDog
It’s all grandstanding. I saw the Larry King interview. She is losing sponsors over her moment of truth. She was probably going to lose some affiliates. She can now claim she left on her own terms, to defend a principle. At least she didn’t say she was retiring to spend more time with her family.
Michael
Said it before and will say it again – the highest form of 1st Amendment expression for a wingnut is the non-pc and persistent use of the word “nigger” as a pejorative. If anybody criticizes them for it, it is a persecution of all that is right and good about conservatism.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
Nice to know this hasn’t been some sort of tragic misunderstanding – that what she did say was exactly what she meant to say and what is in her heart. Most bigots aren’t quite so forthcoming about what they really meant, when called out for it.
danimal
This is the definition of irony.
Isn’t her whole schtick telling people to take responsibility, quit whining and make good choices. It seems like she needs to talk to a bitchy talk radio host that sets her straight.
GregB
You libtards seem to have forgotten that there are American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for Dr. Laura’s right to call Al Sharpton a ni**er.
Tone In DC
She’ll have more time for socializing, certainly.
The Doctor and Mel Gibson (and Michael Richards) ought to hang out. I think they’re on the same page.
Good riddance.
Objective Scrutator
Were I a political prisoner in Zimbabwe or a country in that region, I know who I would want to hire to defend my rights. I know that Dr. Laura would come rushing towards my rights to criticize my government, even if my creed and heritage were different than hers. Who better could we trust to defend speech with impunity?
roshan
Cole, the infidel, strikes again.
Michael
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I nearly shattered my TV this morning when HNN was rebroadcasting an appearance by Pam Fucking Geller on AC360, I guess from last night.
Professor
Now go and read the English Bill of Rights 1689. Go on. It is on the internet – search on Google. The English Parliament gave the British North American colonies these rights and you did not thank them. Go on, read it and weep!
DickSpudCouchPotatoDetective
Yeah, it took this incident to prove what a complete ass this woman is. But anyhoo, a quick read of her Wiki entry might be worthwhile at this juncture:
—//
Schlessinger’s first time on radio was not as a host, but as a caller to the show of shock jock forerunner[10] Bill Ballance in 1974. Impressed by her quick wit and sense of humor, Ballance began featuring her in a weekly segment. Ballance, who was married, also began a two year romantic relationship with her, which came to light many years later.[4] Schlessinger’s stint on Ballance’s show led to her own shows on a series of small radio stations, and by 1979, she was on the air Sunday evenings 9-midnight on KWIZ in Santa Ana, California. In 1979, the Los Angeles Times described her show as dealing with all types of emotional problems, “though sex therapy is the show’s major focus”.[11]
In the late 1980s, Schlessinger was filling in for Barbara De Angelis’s noontime relationship-oriented talk show in Los Angeles on KFI,[4] while working weekends at KGIL San Fernando. Her big break came when Sally Jessy Raphael began working at ABC Radio, and Maurice Tunick, former Vice-President of Talk Programming for the ABC Radio Networks, needed a regular sub for Raphael’s evening personal advice show. Tunick chose Schlessinger (who until that time, was little-known outside of Southern California), to fill in for Raphael.
Ultimately, Schlessinger began broadcasting a daily show on KFI which was nationally syndicated in 1994 by Synergy, a company owned by Schlessinger and her husband. In 1997, Synergy sold its rights to the show to Jacor Communications, Inc., for $71.5 million.[4] Later, Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications and a company co-owned by Schlessinger, Take On The Day, LLC, acquired the production rights. Today’s Dr. Laura Show is a joint effort between Take On The Day, which produces it, Talk Radio Network, which syndicates and markets it to radio stations, and Premiere Radio Networks, (a subsidiary of Clear Channel), which provides satellite facilities and handles advertising sales. As of September 2009, Schlessinger broadcasts from her home in Santa Barbara, California with KFWB as her flagship station.[12] Podcasts and live streams of the show are available on her website for a monthly fee, and the show is also on XM Radio.
At its peak, The Dr. Laura Program was the second-highest-rated radio show after The Rush Limbaugh Show, and was heard on more than 450 radio stations.[13] In May 2002, the show still had an audience of more than 10 million, but had lost several million listeners in the previous two years as it was dropped by WABC and other affiliates, and was moved from day to night in cities such as Seattle and Boston. These losses were attributed in part to Schlessinger’s shift from giving relationship advice to lecturing on morality and conservative politics.
roshan
Trying to use 1st amendment rights like they are 2nd amendment remedies (in this case shooting off of one’s mouth) on paid time, does incur the free markets wrath like getting fired.
Hob
I’m not always crazy about Amanda Marcotte’s writing, but I think this piece about the function of Dr. Laura & co. in the right wing is really really good.
Boots Day
…and I don’t want the people who disagree with me to have that same right.
DickSpudCouchPotatoDetective
Just to add what is in my mind and in my heart ….
Fuck you, Laura. And I mean that in the most sincere way that a figure of speech can be meant. This should in no way be taken to be an offer of any product or services.
beltane
@Hob: It is an excellent bit of writing. Michael Berube’s re-writing of the 1st Amendment is also priceless.
Brachiator
@DickSpudCouchPotatoDetective:
The irony is that she wasn’t qualified to do either.
I have a friend who used to listen to Dr Laura, not because she agreed with her, but because she enjoyed the “relationship porn” of radio advice shows.
RSR
lol
via: http://twitter.com/JonHenke/status/21488442094
“Dr. Laura ending radio show nobody knew she still had after it turns out her only listeners were Media Matters staffers.”
Punchy
I think BET should hire Dr. L for a late nite TV show. Then she can utter “n#gger” all she wants with impunity. I think.
Frank
As I recall, back in 2003 the Dixie Chicks spoke out against Bush’s war in Iraq. As a direct result of that, radio stations black listed them and basically refused them on the radio.
Where was Dr Laura then? I don’t recall she being all that concerned about the so called First Amendment rights of the Dixie Chicks.
And why does Dr Laura think she is entitled to a show? Why couldn’t I have one? Isn’t my first amendment rights being trampled on?
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Which, in “Dr.” Laura’s case, is “nigger, nigger, nigger.”
roshan
And the bitch has a degree in physiology, not psychology. A rock might have given better relationship advice than her. What kind of free-for-all markets are these, man?
Tim
@Perry Como: Nice–nobody ever talks about quartering anymore. I’m guessing you were either a poly sci major or you went to law school.** Or maybe AP U.S. Gov’t & Politics?
But sadly, it’s a time of war, so your relatives can stay over whenever they want. I live near an Nat. Guard base, and those guys are always taking the pies off the windowsill. But what can ya do? Give me back my first amendment right to not support the troops!
** sadly, it was not until then that I finally knew exactly what was in the Bill of Rights. It was gonna be on The Test.
Alex
Dr. Laura has apparently been taking a class on First Amendment Law from Sarah Palin, probably through Beck University, and come to the understanding that people criticizing other people for saying stupid or offensive things violates the First Amendment.
Also, that n*****r, n*****r, n*****rs are the Real Racists.
Jules
Thank God Dr. Laura is there to make the ultimate sacrifice to secure the rights of white folks to say “nigger” whenever it pops into their minds.
I mean, it is on the tip of my tongue almost all day….
What a bitch.
And I use bitch in the way we women can call each other bitches but men cannot.
Alex
I find this comment interesting because I see this misconception commonly embodied by my left wing friends as well. I wonder how John, et al. addressed the Ahmedinejad controversy at Columbia. Did he understand the simple point that it is not a violation of “free speech” to advocate that the University not host the Iranian leader as a speaker?
Blankman
Once I got confused on the witness stand and accidentally confessed to a murder. My own stupidity violated my 5th amendment rights.
Jay in Oregon
@catclub:
Still OT, but my favorite variation of that came out of this year’s Comicon: J’Onn J’Onnz 3:16
Chyron HR
@Alex:
I wonder why you didn’t just go look at the archives to see how John, et al. addressed it.
Oh, right, because it’s easier to criticize people for the things you imagine them to have said.
gex
@Sly: Oh, I see. I always thought their complaints about political correctness were just warning shots. As in “I’m about to say something really ignorant and offensive, you’ve been warned…”
DrDave
@Sly:
That’s just what I was thinking. I don’t understand why anyone gives a shit what this woman thinks nor do I understand why she isn’t regularly called out on her academic title, which in no way gives her credibility to give advice on any subject other than physiology.
Good bye, good luck, good riddance.
Mnemosyne
@gex:
No, they signal that by saying, “I’m not a racist, but …”
roshan
@Alex:
Dude, just fuck off with your high brow comparison shit, mmkay? Sometimes even we liberals get bored by it. And next time stick to the topic at hand.
Catsy
@Sly: My other half and I quote the crab puff line to each other sometimes when we see a wingnut get served.
Joshua Norton
So how long before Fox Noise snatches her up? She and Beck can out-crazy each other every night.
Surly Duff
@gnomedad:
Absolutely awesome, as well as apt, description.
roshan
@Joshua Norton:
Nope, Fox can only use blond broads as shit throwers, old hags like Laura are better behind the scenes on radio or short stops on the Hannity and friends interview circuit. Something tells me that that is exactly where she is going, or else there are enough opportunities in the tea party arena. She can easily help Pam Geller increase her output by a couple tens of decibels.
Paris
Until this recent brouhaha, I had no idea that mean old hag was still alive.
path
Perry Como won this thread by a fucking mile.
WereBear
The real question is how wingnuts skip all of them.
BC
I like this part, from LA Times:
Now, let’s see if there is anyone we could agree has degraded the debate. (Hint: It’s not on the left side, if you are wondering)
BC
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s because she and Larry King are this close. No lie, Larry loves him some Dr. Laura.
Third Eye Open
I also, too wish that I could use the term ‘niggah’ when talking to my Elmer’s Glue-hued friends. That is why I am brining back ‘Crackah’ in a totally non-pejorative and banteriffic manner: “That Art History major was totally frontin’, so I had to tell him to get the hell outta my face, crackah!”
Bill Murray
@Alex: that is not correct though. By advocating the speaker not be allowed to speak, you are going against free speech. The equivalent here would be to have the speech then to have a response explaining how the speaker was incorrect.
Bulworth
Just shutup because that’s why.
Xopher
Anything that gets rid of this stupid honky paleface roundeye bule gringa is fine with me.
What?
licensed to kill time
I love the fact that a woman who has been blathering away on the public airwaves for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week for almost two decades is concerned about her right to free speech.
Uh-huh. I got the world’s tiniest violin here…
Erik Vanderhoff
@Perry Como:
You win the thread.
Tara the antisocial social worker
Interesting that the story quickly morphed into her being “fired.” She quit, but “fired” makes a better victim story.
eric k
the “N-word” thing is just a distraction from how offensive her entire conversation with that woman was.
That she is focusing on that thinking that if she just hadn’t used the magic word everything would be fine shows that she really doesn’t get it.
licensed to kill time
Hyphen-Bomb Explodes on Aisle 88 in Oddly Enough Thread!
Clean-up is required, paging any front pagers!
ETA: Wow, that was quick clean-up.
Tonybrown74
Ugh! I find I no longer White W[h]ine …
Zifnab
@eric k:
Which is what really amazes me. The PC culture we’ve developed is in which a woman can engage in race-baiting and gay-bashing and general hate speech for decades, remaining completely immune from repercussion.
But she drops an N-bomb and it’s game over. Like it was solely the magic word that offended people and not the noxious surrounding context.
It makes absolutely no sense. At the end of the day, you’re just left dazed and confused, questioning why the hell she was fired. Clearly, the station doesn’t give a shit about her rancid opinions. What is so magical about this singular word?
NonyNony
@Zifnab:
Soundbite culture. Nobody wants to sit there and listen to a half an hour of Dr. Laura’s awful rambling to make a judgment. So as long as you don’t provide a soundbite, there’s no judgment. As soon as there’s a soundbite it will get picked up and disseminated.
And keep in mind it’s not like she just said the word once – she dropped it multiple times while taunting a black caller. A black caller who was asking her for advice about dealing with racist crap she was getting from her husband’s relatives. So this is the kind of story where as you find out more about it, the worse it gets.
Basically the steady state of “Dr. Laura is a horrible person” wasn’t enough to get her show yanked. It might lead to an occasional sponsor here or there yanking their advertising once someone in their ad buy area actually hears what they’re supporting and decides that their brand might being sullied instead of helped. But those sponsors are easily replaced. Something like this creates a media event that focuses those ad buyers on yanking their ads all at once, and drives away new potential ad buyers.
Miss T
Something about your website causes the text to meander all the way across the page, under the “Tunch” sign and to the other side. This doesn’t happen with other blogs I access.
Any ideas?
Tonal Crow
“Doctor” Laura has a 1st Amendment right to spew her bilge, and I have a 1st Amendment right to point out that it’s bilge and to boycott her sponsors.
And no, I’m not sorry I hurt your precious fee-fees, nor those of the people who keep your pernicious program on the air, “Doctor” Laura.
In other words, GET OVER IT.
licensed to kill time
@Miss T: If you are using IE, try this:
DonkeyKong
She described her father as “petty, insensitive, mean, thoughtless, demeaning and downright unloving”. Her mother, she said, had “pathological pride”, “was never grateful and would always find something to criticize,” and “constantly expressed disdain for men, sex and love”.
The turd didn’t fall far from the goats ass I’d say.
JohnR
@4tehlulz:
You’re generous. My kids, my siblings and my self all got through the obliviously self-centered offensive stage somewhere about 4-6 years old. A fair number of my classmates took a bit longer, but almost all the relatively normal ones were through with that by about the 6th grade. Only the bullies and the real social failures kept that sort of vicious taunting going into high school, and then it was often deliberate or some sort of weird passive-aggressive crap. These hard-core right-wingers all seem to have really screwed-up (by my standards, anyway) parents. They’re like the inner-city teenage single moms – full of anger and resentment and spoiling for a fight. For what it’s worth, that’s never seemed to me to be a racial thing, either, although some of my own family see it that way – more and more we’ve got young white women in that position around here, and their behavior is indistinguishable from their young black counterparts.
bcinaz
Dear Dr Laura
Boo Effing Hoo!
What a coincidence; you believe your rights under the 1st amendment have been abridged; the same amendment that guarantees the right of the Muslim Community to build whatever they damn will please on their private property.
Cereative Anarchy
@beltane:
I’ll go one further and say that everyone who has whined about their first ammendment rights being infringed has probably organized a boycott or in some other way tried to repress freedom of expression of someone else. Dr. Laura has certainly done her share of that. I guess payback’s a bitch.