To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Observercast

Sarah Advises Dr. Laura

on

BY KENNY BELFORD

Right-wing talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger found out it’s offensive to use the “N” word repeatedly, when speaking to an African-American female caller. Dr. Laura got so upset she couldn’t even finish her program and quit an hour early.

The next day she issued repeated apologies for her outrageous comments, which was followed by General Motors, Motel 6, and probably other advertisers deciding they didn’t think it was such a swell marketing idea to be associated with a program that intentionally demeans and denigrates individuals, so they cancelled their advertising. It was their right to do so.

The day after that, Dr. Laura announced she was “quitting” her program.

In case you haven’t actually heard what created the firestorm, an African-American woman, married to a white man, called Dr. Laura seeking advice because her husband’s friends repeatedly used racial language directed at her in her own home. That prompted Dr. Laura to roll out the “N” word over and over and over – actually she used it 11 times – and basically informed the caller she shouldn’t have any objections, and it was probably her own fault.

You would think that would have been just about the end of the story, but you’d be wrong. An individual who’s no stranger to the taste of her own feet weighed in on the subject.

Always amusing in a Three Stooges buffoonery form, and never hesitant to display her dazzling ignorance, Sarah Palin went on her Twitter account and posted, “Dr. Laura: don’t retreat … reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence”isn’t American,not fair”)” Then Sarah added, “Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice, America!”

Now isn’t that interesting?

It’s pure fantasy, actually it’s just another of her lies, to claim Dr. Laura’s First Amendment rights ceased. But Sarah Palin thinks America isn’t fair. She came to that conclusion because she believes Americans don’t have the right, or shouldn’t have the right, to criticize something found objectionable. She must really hate that “freedom of speech” part of the Constitution, and those “socialist” Founding Fathers who wrote it.

In the shallow depths of Palin’s knowledge about the Constitution she believes anyone disagreeing with her is a “Constitutional obstructionist.” What she clearly admires is a form of government where dissent in restricted, perhaps totally prohibited. She must revere The Taliban and Iran – they’ve mastered what she holds so dear to her heart.

But, unaware of the absurdity of her remarks, Sarah Palin encourages Dr. Laura with this piece of advice, “don’t retreat.” That’s the advice served up from one quitter to another, from one loser to another. It must be a terrible burden for Palin to want to be an influence to a country she hates so much, and a Constitution she holds in such disdain.

Kenny Belford lives in Tulsa, OK and is a regular contribution to The Oklahoma Observer

Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton became editor of The Observer in September 2006. Previously, he served nearly two decades as the Dallas Morning News’ Oklahoma Bureau chief. He also covered government and politics for the San Jose Mercury News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Tulsa Tribune and the Oklahoma Journal.