I said acting not attacking but the difference between the two is a matter of viewpoint.
Suppose I was a hardcore racist. And I had a radio show carried on a hundred affiliates. And the message I was conveying via my radio broadcasts was “White people should rule America. Vote all niggers out of office.”
Obviously, an extremely offensive message conveyed in an extremely offensive manner. But nonetheless a political message that is not advocating anything illegal.
Now if the FCC said that they were going to cancel the licenses of any radio station that broadcast my message then, in my opinion, I would feel that I had valid ground for saying my first amendment rights were being violated. The government would be taking action to prevent me from broadcasting a legal political message. And it would not be unreasonable for me to claim that the government was attacking me and my message. So I might decide to leave my radio show and convey my message via print where the government has less ability to take action against me.
I’m not saying that this is the same situation that Schlessinger is in. But nobody has shown that it isn’t. Is this just other individuals responding to what she said or has there been any government involvement?
Again, please provide a cite that she falsified her credentials. Here’s a quick hint - saying that she is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist is not falsification. Nor is referring to yourself as Dr. when you have a PhD in physiology.
First of all, you were quoting me, not conway. Not sure how that happened.
Secondly, I’m all for finding out the facts. Have at it. I’m just saying that this particular fact seems very unimportant. Either she’s not qualified to offer help, in which case she shouldn’t be, or she is qualified, in which case she’s doing a very poor job of it. And if the truth is somewhere inbetween, does it really matter? In any possible scenario, she’s still offensive.
Would you rather go under the knife of a licensed surgeon who kills 100% of his patients, or some random schmoe, who also kills 100% of his patients? Which one is less qualified to perform surgery?
Even with a doctorate in family counciling/therapy, getting meaningfull advice based on a 10 minute (if that) phone call is pretty much worth what you paid for it. In other words: It’s just another person’s (probably ill-informed) opinion.
I know this. You (probably) know this. Most listeners (probably) know this. I wouldn’t care if her doctorate is in nutrition, or whatever. She’s now, bluntly speaking, in the entertainment buisness.
I honestly think that this diversion into credentials is an “attack the messenger” instead of a debate on the message. Folks around here don’t like her, so they look for ways to discredit her, and use that as an excuse to disregard anything she says without having to really think about it.
For example, someone mentioned her [marriage] infidelities. Seems to me, someone who says “Don’t do this. I know. I’ve done it, and I can tell you that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” has more buisness giving advice than someone who had led a saintly married life.
Aren’t we supposed to not hold someone’s impulsive youth against them later? (“I smoked, but I didn’t inhale…” )
I won’t defend her latest gaff, but she ain’t Hitler, either.
Sure, email USC and get some confirmation that she has anything which could be accurately described as “post-doctoral certification” in marriage or family counselling.
The FCC would not threaten to pull the license of anyone who broadcast a show. If they did get involved in this situation, such as by investigating or issuing a fine, they would announce it themselves and it would not be a secret. And Schlessinger would certainly be making it clear that the government was getting involved. Here’s a transcript from Media Matters of her Larry King appearance. She is clearly not talking about the government:
“I want to be able to say what’s on my mind, and in my heart, what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent, and attack affiliates and attack sponsors. […] You know, when I started in radio, if you said something somebody didn’t agree with and they didn’t like, they argued with you. Now, they try to silence you. They try to wipe out your ability to earn a living and to have your job. They go after affiliates. They send threats to sponsors.”
As for the illegality? Do you really have to ask if it is illegal to represent yourself as a licensed medical provider when you are not? Here’s some clarification from a quick search (bolding mine):
I’m no expert on her show, but I have heard it quite a few times. The most recently was probably nearly 10 years ago, so again grains of salt required.
But at that time, she was very self-righteous. “I am my kid’s mom” was her big schtick. I don’t remember her ever saying, “I did this and it was a bad idea.” I remember a lot of sneering about divorce and working moms. Actually, I remember a lot of sneering in general. At the time I was listening, I was a conservative, but I found her pretty unbearable. My sister loved her though (and internalized a lot of her BS).
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