Sometimes Things on the Internet Make My Head Explode

OK boys and girls, gather around for a minute. Today we are going to start to prepare for that big final exam next week by reviewing some events of the last couple of weeks and putting them into some sort of historical/political/sociological perspective. Here goes:

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a ultra conservative radio talk show host. (BTW one note: Dr. Laura has a Ph.D. in physiology from Columbia University in 1974. Her doctoral thesis was on the "Effects of Insulin on 3-0-Methylglucose Transport in Isolated Rat Adipocytes". She is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, just a bit of a quack...) Two weeks ago she was in discussion on her show with a black woman, who was upset that her white husband made disparaging and racist comments to his white friends. Rather than provide support or attempt to comfort the woman, Dr. Laura just loses it on the air. In a maniacal diatribe, she asks, among other things, why black comedians can use the “N” word but not anyone else. During this diatribe she herself used the “N” work 11 times. She ended her program that day with this gem:

"If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry outside of your race."

The next day, Dr. Laura apologized for the rant, saying:

"I didn't intend to hurt people, but I did. And that makes it the wrong thing to have done. I was attempting to make a philosophical point, and I articulated the "n" word all the way out - more than one time. And that was wrong. I'll say it again - that was wrong."

Now, the story gets even better. A mere 5 days later, after presumably talking with her publicist and handlers she said on the Larry King Show that she has decided:

"not to do radio anymore so I can say the things I wants to say. 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."

So she is going with the old First Amendment, freedom of speech argument, and feels she can’t do that on her radio show because special interests have decided to silence her. So this raises a first issue. Are the “special interests” she is talking about her bosses on her radio outlet that don’t want a loose cannon spewing racism on the airwaves or is she referring to the general outraged public who called her out on this?

Then, the next turn occurs. Our good friend, Half Governor Sarah Palin, could not wait to jump into the breach on this one. She tweeted her support for Dr. Laura :

"Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")," Palin then tweeted, "Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice”

For those of you unfamiliar with tweet shorthand or with Palin propensity to create new words, I offer this explanation of Palin’s words; she says Dr. Laura was forced out because she exercised her First Amendment rights and that activists were silencing her, those damn constitutional obstructionists.

So now my second issue, almost the same as the first. By activists and constitutional obstructionists is she referring to Dr. Laura’s bosses or to the general outraged public?

A third issue: When Dr. Laura apologized the day after her rant she said she was wrong, admitted being wrong and in my book, the story was over. However, 5 days later she said she was quitting because she wanted to regain her free speech rights. This begs the question did she LIE when she apologized and said she was wrong or was she WRONG when she apologized for what she said.

A fourth issue is the argument made by Dr. Laura, where she said during her rant that black comics use the “N” word, so why couldn’t she. Now I know that I am going all “Godwin’s Law” on you here but to use this argument is like saying that because Hitler killed Jews, it must be ok for all of us to do it. Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? Because black comics use the word, it must be ok for all of us to use it. Yep… (Didn't their mother ever say to them "if your friends jump off a bridge, would you jump too...")

Next up, a couple of disagreements with dear Sarah. If you are going to say that the “N” word falls under the guise of free speech, then how is that different than when she criticized White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded" against liberal activists protesting U.S. debt management. Palin called this comment a "sick and offensive tactic." And she noted that Emanuel's "retarded" comment was as unacceptable as using the "n-word.” She called for him to resign.

Also covered under our First Amendment rights is freedom of religion which again sticks in the craw of dear Sarah. She also tweeted about the plans to build a mosque in lower Manhattan, on hallowed ground. Of course if anyone were to tell her where she could or couldn’t build a church we would hear about that on Twitter, you betcha! And as for the hallowed ground bit, why is it still just a hole in the ground, surrounded by Starbucks and McDonalds and people selling t-shirts and other souvenirs. Perhaps because of the First Amendment? To use her own words, it “isn’t America, isn’t fair” to criticize other Americans.

I can only come to one conclusion. These women, Dr. Laura and Sarah Palin are racists. Oh, and they are idiots too. Two conclusions...