Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

She used the "N" word several times on a show, not to call someone a name but to make a philosophical point. Two sponsors pulled over it

What do you think?

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Sanitize the thread! Sanitize the thread!!

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Then why does anybody advertise on hbo where they constantly use racial language.What a joke

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

I've always loved Dr. Laura. I listened to the call and as expected, found her comments to be fairly accurate. Her "apology" was made the next day, and I found that to be acceptable, as well. Hopefully, her point won't be lost in all the hub-bub. It's too difficult for many to discuss without hypersensativity and emotionalism.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Motel 6 and Government Motors are the sponsors who have "pulled support".

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

She's pulling her show now.

Here's her rationale:

"My contract is up for my radio show at the end of the year and I've made the decision not to do radio anymore," Schlessinger told King, who also happens to be on his way out this year (for less incendiary reasons).

"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, 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."

She's not retiring or quitting, she added, but rather, hopes to be "stronger and freer to say the things that I believe need to be said for people in this country."

http://www.comcast.net/articles/ente...00818/b195834/

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

I doubt she is really quitting the business. I'd say she is pulling a Palin, except actually waiting until her contract runs out, instead of just quitting in the middle of it. Like Palin, she probably has something more lucrative lined up.

As far as her being treated fairly, I think if she would have censored herself it would not have been a big deal. The point could have been made without her repeated usage of the word.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Isn't everyone now so properly trained to react in the fashion they have been taught sans any common sense.

These sponsors prove it well.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

It would be interesting to see what the sponsors would have done had the caller used the words instead of Dr. Laura. It probably would haven't even come up on their radar.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Well, duh. The sponsors aren't paying to adverstise on the caller's show. They are paying to advertise on Dr. Laura's show. If her content isn't what they desire, they have every right to pull their sponsorship. Happens all the time.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Well, duh. The caller WAS on her show. They could have bleeped the caller too.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

They could have, but if they didn't have the common sense to bleep the word when Dr. Laura first used it , it stands to reason they thought the word was okay to use and wouldn't have bleeped the caller either.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

I'm waiting for someone to pull advertisement for the derogatory use of redneck etc.

I'll not be holding my breath though.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Oh, never mind.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Cool.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

lol, that would be interesting.

Probably won't happen though. Redneck does not have the same horrible connotation as the word in question.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

And how is she going to do all that? Write?

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

She always has the option to follow Howard Stern's footsteps and be on Sirius XM - however, she did say she was finished with radio.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Dr. Laura was on Larry King last night, but I didn't watch it all.

From what I gleaned in the little bit I saw, she indeed will be writing. Her last show will be around Christmas...

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

"Dr." Laura is the WORST thing to happen to radio in the history of that medium. She is borderline verbally abusive to almost every caller. Why anyone would call her and ask her advice is a complete mystery to me.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Why not?

When spoken in a derogatory fashion it is meant in just a hateful manner as any other derogatory word including the one in question.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Not sure how fair it is, but it's how things go. If I said something like that at a work-sponsored event, I'd probably be let go too. She's employed like you and I in that way.

Wish her luck on her internet broadcasting, which it looks like what she's getting into.

I don't see eye-to-eye with DL on all things, but I enjoy her insights on making marriages work. Her child rearing is another story... and though there's a place for her "whip in shape, figure out their problem in 5 second" approach, sometimes it's over-the-top and falls short... but makes for great radio and she gets to make her point :)

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Doesn't have near the emotional power as the historic N-word.

Any word can be spoken with the same hatred, but like it or not, that word carries with it a century of not just hateful attitudes, but incredibly tragic events.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Well I don't get the inconsistency.

If hate speech is wrong then hate speech is wrong and should be dealt with across the board.

Of course I am not one that believes that controlling speech... even hate speech... is in keeping with freedom of speech.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

lol, the very fact that you will type out "redneck" but not the word in question leads me to believe that you know why one is more acceptable than the other.

If you really thought both words were just as bad, then you wouldn't have typed redneck, but would have censored it like the other word.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

I used a quote from the post I was replying to.

And... any failure to spell out one word over another wouldn't have to do with my own inconsistencies but those of others.

As Laura found out... there is no context in which you can type or say certain words that won't bring the thought police out of the woodwork to ensure an end is brought to you and your ability to speak freely.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Still holds true. You spelled out redneck, even though you deem it as derogatory and hateful as the other word. If they are the same, go ahead and use them both in a post. lol, don't worry, I'll wait.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

I'm not an idiot but I live my life and form my actions in full recognition that others are.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

So you think both words are the same, but you won't spell one out, whereas you have no issue saying "redneck".

Yeah, that was a pretty lame argument to bring up if you were't going to follow it through to its logical conclusion. Either you believe something or you don't.

Don't just bring something up to try and help an argument if you don't believe in it.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

GM's largest single shareholder is the United States government. So, wouldn't this be a case of Dr. Schlessinger's First Amendment rights being impuned by the Federal Government?

I can't speak to the comments for which she has apologized, but the multi-racial character of the caller's family resonates with my own experiences. My own father is perhaps the most "racist" person that I am related to - and his "problem" stems from the fact that he was never "white enough." He married about the "whitest" person he could find (my mother) and as a result I was harassed as kid for being "too white." Thanks dad... I think?

Color is nonsense. I've been trying to find reason and meaning in this discussion for my whole life and all I've ever come up with is nonsense.

I am constantly reminded of that Star Trek episode where the two half white and half black men were hatefully fighting each other. The characters were "disgusted" by the appearance of each other. The crew of the Enterprise, however, could not see any difference between the two men. Then, finally, one guy points out that the other fellow is "black on the wrong side and white on the wrong side." Only then does the crew (and the viewer) notice the "difference."

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Yeah, your show has far more listeners than hers. :blah:blah:blah

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

I don't see how. She has the right to say anything she wants. No one said she could not say it. She just has to deal with the consequences of her actions. Same in nearly all jobs.

In this case, her sponsors thought she was not best representing them, so they pulled their plugs.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

It's best if white folks just not use the N word. To much history to the word that touches sensitive areas of them that have been called it.

It even sounds like penetrating word, almost like a spirit is attached to it or something.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

The VBulletin software on AFF is set to automatically delete several known "bad words" in the English language. In my next post I will demonstrate (and probably earn an infraction!).

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

n... [came through]

........

........

you're a p... [came through - though in the past I thought that this was one that was auto editted]

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

"The List" isn't as extensive as I thought. Sorry. Just testing.

http://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com...ons/icon11.gif

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

Yeah, they definitely came through all right. lol

Whether VBulletin allowed them or not wasn't the point. D4T said that "redneck" is just as hateful as the other word, but he would never think to say or write down the other word, whereas he has no issue doing so with "redneck". Therefore, he must know that the other word is much stronger and hateful than "redneck".

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

To each his own. For some, she speaks their language, for others she rubs the wrong way. Her ideas are great, though, no matter the medium of style.

I have an incredible wife, and she goes on and on about how much of her ideas about marriage were shapped by DL. So I suppose I have some indebted gratitude toward her.

The Proper Care and Feeding of a Husband was the book my wife raves about. I don't complain: i'm property cared for and fed, and in return I like to think I do a pretty decent job keeping her happy.

Re: Was Dr Laura Schlessinger treated fairly?
 

The United States Federal Government "pulled the plug." That would be the very definition of "censorship."

I was thinking and wondering "out loud" more than trying to make an argument. GM was one of the companies that famously used "product placement" types of advertising on HBO's The Sopranos.

The Sopranos used "the n- word" frequently, yet no one complained and GM still sought and received the coveted product placements. It's only when someone who is perceived as being "conservative" uses the word - even in an academic fashion as Schlessinger appears to have done - that the big money Liberals attack.