Sincere? Or just a ploy to save her show? I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest she doesn’t still believe the things she said, no matter how ‘ill-chosen’ her words might have been.
Here’s what immediately caught my eye in the above story:
When a show is so dull that the only way to make it more exciting is to STOP PRODUCING IT, they have more to worry about than the host’s tendency to open her mouth too wide and fall in.
“What do you think, J.D.? We decided that it would spice things up if we turned off the cameras.”
“Good idea, folks! This blank screen is MUCH more entertaining.”
I think it was a ploy to save her TV show. I’ve listened to her radio show a few times, and judging from the personality she puts forth on the program I don’t think she is capable of making a sincere apology.
Taking advantage of a religious holiday to apologize also strikes me as kind of wierd. After having read various news articles and such about her, I always get the feeling that she’s trying to advertise her religion. Don’t get me wrong–I have no problems with religion, only with people who wear it on their shirtsleeves while acting in a manner totally inconsistent with their religion’s teachings.
I hate half-assed “apologies” like this. She has basically said that she still holds these opinions, but she regrets how she worded them. Oh, yes, thanks for now saying that homosexuals are “abnormal,” or “zoological anomalies,” or some other synonymous description. That makes it so much better.
Basically she’s saying, “I’m sorry - sorry that this turned into a big issue that interfered with my ratings.”
Just like Dubya, “I’m sorry - sorry that people heard me call him an asshole, not that I said it.”
One thing it’s important to understand about Judaism is that Judaism doesn’t try to dictate what’s in a person’s heart, but, rather, holds us up based on our behaviour. It may not seem right to some people, but here’s an example. Someone may be a bigot in their heart and hate black people. But if they never act on or speak of their bigotry, but treat black people as they would any other human being, they are not condemned by G-d for their feelings. It boils down to how we treat people - period. And if that person does act or speak in a bigoted manner, then they are required to make amends for their behaviour, not for their feelings.
As for Dr. Laura “using” the Jewish holiday to make her apology, I have to take issue with that. It’s this time of year that we Jews are supposed to take stock of our lives and our behaviours and consider their impact on those we’ve touched. Sometimes when we do that, we see things that aren’t very pretty and that we must apologize for. All of us, not just those whose apologies can be misconstrued to be self-serving. I don’t think anyone is in a position to assess another person’s apology and decide for themselves how sincere that person is. (And isn’t it bad form not to accept an apology when one is offered?)
And for the record, I do not agree with the statements Dr. Laura made about gays and lesbians or her feelings on the issue. I do, however, accept her at her word that she is sorry for having hurt people with her words, whether they were ill-chosen or meant from her heart. She hurt people by saying them and for that she is sorry. That’s all that Judaism requires of her/us.
Well, I still think she was fucking cunt prior to Yom Kippur, she can apologize up the yin-yang but until she fixes what she did wrong I won’t believe her.
“Sheila, I know it’s been eight months, but yesterday was Yom Kippur, so I thought I’d tell you now that I’m sorry I smashed up your car.”
“Well, Dr. Laura, what perfect timing! Are you going to pay me for the damage finally?”
“Well, I didn’t say *that[/].”
When she goes back on her tired little show and says she was wrong to foster a spirit of hatred and bigotry towards the gay community, that we’re no more an aberration than her sorry ass, that’s the apology I’ll accept.
I find Dr. Laura, disagreeable, condescending, and flat-out wrong on many counts. However, I don’t think she has “blood on her hands” any more than any other person who speaks their mind.
If you tell some kid that he’s a biological mistake, and then the kid kills himself, is that your fault? Probably not, but it’s not really helping the matter, is it?
Actually, now that I think about it, I remember there was a study that found that a good way of reducing teen suicide was to tell gay teens, who kill themselves in a disproportionately high number, that they were actually not the horrible worthless people society and religion say they are. So does that mean that Dr. Laura, who says that gay teens ARE worthless and sinful, is helping increase teen suicide?
I guess that’s something for her to think about next Yom Kippur.
Is that book a fucking JOKE?
I mean, isnt’ Dr. Laura always saying that homosexuality is something people are born with anyways?
Now it’s something that can be “cured”?
As if it needs to be “cured.”
If only we could “cure” Shitslinger’s bigotry!
She writes a newspaper article for heaven’s sake. It’s not like she said the words impusively! I read it myself a few years ago, she directly called gay people “evolutionarily backwards” and “mistakes” and shit like that. (At least, that’s what I remember). That’s not slipping out or wording something badly.
And while I CAN understand her right to free speech and free opinions, it doesn’t mean I have to agree with them or not despise her for it.
Yom Kippur IS the time to make apologies, so I suppose that’s right… But still. She’s a bigot, judgemental and refuses to see any other view but her own as “right”.
fumes some more
I REALLY dislike her views, in case you couldn’t tell.
Good lord, look at her picture! She looks like a female version of Fire Marshall Bill!
OK, someone help me with Dr. Schlushinjuice’s opinion of gays, because it just doesn’t make much sense. No, I’m not talking about her comments about “biological mistakes” or “deviants” (those can’t be logically explained), but her argument as a whole. She claims that gays destroy the family structure and family values. How?
Dr. Shlocknjoad aknowledges that gays are created biologically, they don’t choose. So she can’t blame kids for being gay any more than she could yell at someone for being left handed (oh, that reminds me, check this article out http://www.winternet.com/~joelr/leftles.html ). What does she want to do with them? Banish them from society? How does that help family values?
In case Dr. Slurpiegin forgot to take biology, neither sex of gay couples can have kids! How are two concenting adults without children in the household destroying family values?
What if there are children? What if two gays decide to adopt? Dr. Suckingiz admits that even a one parent households are better than no parent households when it comes to orphans. So how is a two parent household bad, even if they both happen to be of the same sex?
It seems stupid asking these questions to a forum that agrees with me, but it’s something that Dr. Stepenwolf won’t answer so I’ve got to ask them somewhere.
I find it odd that any rational, intelligent person would give a flying fuck about what this shrill, bigoted, hateful woman has to say about anything.
However it is disturbing that she seems to have some influence on so many people.
I have watched the tv show, and listened to the radio show.
I get the impression that most callers (radio) are just looking for reinforcement for what they already want to do.
Even the people she rags on always say “Thanks Dr Laura”, like they knew they were “wrong”(in her view) but had to be qualified by Queen Laura. So now they can cry for a while, and then go “take on the day” without feeling guilty.
Classic pop psychology, and she has become rich off this crap. While I agree she is a homophobic bigot, I guess she has the right to talk her shit, just as groups like stopdrlaura.com have the right to rally against her.
I think your second observation explains your first. Rational, intelligent people DO have to care about what she says precisely because of all the people she influences. We have to deal with them.
Enderw23: Fire Marshall Bill–that would have had me spewing beverage on my keyboard, if I’d been drinking anything at the time. “A” for effort, though. It’s the thought that counts.
I can’t stand Dr. Laura. She’s downright rude and condescending to people who call her radio show,
and I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would seek advice from her.
MY problem with mrs. shitslinger is that she thinks the greatest thing a woman can do is be a stay at home mom.
she sell shirts that say “i am my kids mom/dad”
i know that i do not have the temperament to quit my job and stay home with the kid for the first six or so years,
i would go crazy, and i do not hate kids. I FEEL it is
asking a lot to assume that every single woman wants kids so badly that she is willing to stay at home for so long.
i only know one stay at home mom— but her kids are homeschooled.
if anybody gives me a shirt that sez that i will strangle them with it!
