Dr. Laura....Parent of the Year

[tecoyah]

Its almost like taking Marriage advice from Hugh Hefner:


"Dr. Laura son linked to lurid Web page


The soldier son of talk radio relationship counselor Laura Schlessinger is under investigation for a graphic personal Web page that one Army official has called "repulsive."
The MySpace page, publicly available until Friday when it disappeared from the Internet, included cartoon depictions of rape, murder, torture and child molestation; photographs of soldiers with guns in their mouths; a photograph of a bound and blindfolded detainee captioned "My Sweet Little Habib"; accounts of illicit drug use; and a blog entry headlined by a series of obscenities and racial epithets."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5934072?1

[ngdawg]

Plumbers have leaky faucets, auto repairmen drive junky cars, priests give marriage advice and celebrity 'doctors' have fucked up kids.
This doesn't surprise me at all. The woman has made a public crusade of 'family values' for years,obviously forgetting that it must start with one's own family....I hold absolutely no stock in anything she, Dr. Phil or the rest of the lot, preach.

[Reese]

There's a lot of sick and twisted shit on the internet made by completely normal people. I don't know his reasons for making the website, maybe he is a "godless crazy person" I don't know, honestly I don't care. What does this have to do with his mother's parenting? In my opinion, Nothing.

[ShaniFaye]

The OP kind of leaves out the part of the article that says it could have been faked by someone else pretending to be her son and thats being investigated, if nobody else bothered to read the rest of the article they would completely miss that.

[tecoyah]

Originally Posted by cybermike

There's a lot of sick and twisted shit on the internet made by completely normal people. I don't know his reasons for making the website, maybe he is a "godless crazy person" I don't know, honestly I don't care. What does this have to do with his mother's parenting? In my opinion, Nothing.

Dr Laura makes her living by giviing advice to those who are in need of help. She claims to be a competent advisor to her audience, and regularly dishes out advice on parenting and family issues.

Her son is a direct reflection of her skills in practice, just as mine will reflect on my own skills as a parent.

[ShaniFaye]

also, the article was written by someone who's got a big beef with her so it seems and has been misquoting her concerning some previous speaking engagement

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273334,00.html

Dont get me wrong, I cant stand the woman and her show....but I think all the "facts" need to be presented before the mud slinging at her son continues

[tecoyah]

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

The OP kind of leaves out the part of the article that says it could have been faked by someone else pretending to be her son and thats being investigated, if nobody else bothered to read the rest of the article they would completely miss that.

Thus the link to the article......it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Kadath]

He should be into classy, old-fashioned nude pictures.


http://www.konformist.com/drlaura.htm (NSFW)

[ngdawg]

Originally Posted by Kadath

He should be into classy, old-fashioned nude pictures.


http://www.konformist.com/drlaura.htm (NSFW)

Whoa!!

[highthief]

Dr. Laura = hypocritical scum worthy of scorn. I hope its all true.

[Dilbert1234567]

so what? her son turned out bad, that's not necessarily her fault... my uncle has been a junky since his teens, my grandmother is a wonderful mother, he just fell down the wrong path his 2 sisters did just fine.

and what is wrong with some nude pictures, can we get past this whole naked thing for once? it's just your body, can we stop giggling like school girls when we see a penis of a vagina, come on, grow up nation.

[Willravel]

I am always skeptical of people who are 'self proclaimed' anything, let alone self proclaimed moral leaders. I listened to Dr. Laura a few times and decided quickly that she was rather useless. I hope people came away from her with some good advice, but it seems more like they got Judeo-Christian fundamentalist (sometimes extremist) talking points more often than not, which serve the interests of the few at the detriment of the many.

As the son of religious people, and someone who hung out with other kids of religious people, I can understand at least on the surface the nature of rebellion from draconian moral rule. I was lucky to have my parents both grow less draconian on their own as I grew up, or I may have rebelled in a similar way. Of course I'm not saying that all parents that use draconian moral rule aren't doing the right thing or don't mean well, I'm sure that most parents out there love their kids and want what's best for them, but most adolescents in our society rebel in some way as they become their own independent person, and something as imposing as a parent like Dr. Laura would make that rebellion against morality an easy avenue.

I would hope that if Dr. Laura's son has issues to work through he'll see a good councilor, someone who may be the polar opposite of his mother like a liberal Jungian or Ericksonian therapist, but anyone other than his mother could help.

BTW, I've seen some myspace pages that make the myspace described above look like a Disney movie. The article and story are hype, and this should be a private matter.

[thingstodo]

Is she really a Dr.? I don't really dig her.

However, in her defense, she really can't control what her kid does not matter how well she may have raised him. He could have some sort of mental illness that manifests itself like this. I completely agree with Dilbert that one has nothing to do with the other.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Is she really a Dr.? I don't really dig her.

She is a doctor of physiology, and is certified to practice marriage and family counseling from USC.

[FoolThemAll]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

However, in her defense, she really can't control what her kid does not matter how well she may have raised him. He could have some sort of mental illness that manifests itself like this. I completely agree with Dilbert that one has nothing to do with the other.

One more vote for this initial reaction.

Originally Posted by willravel

I hope people came away from her with some good advice, but it seems more like they got Judeo-Christian fundamentalist (sometimes extremist) talking points more often than not, which serve the interests of the few at the detriment of the many.

My mom's a regular listener, and I've often found myself responding out loud, "What the hell? That's not necessarily true." But while I think that Dr. Laura's advice is sometimes ridiculously black and white, I've never felt that I was listening to a fundamentalist. Just a religious person who doubts the seriousness of extramarital commitments.

And she has given good advice, at least by my watch. It's often when the caller is excessively mired in a 'shades of gray' mentality and needs some clarity.

Originally Posted by highthief

Dr. Laura = hypocritical scum worthy of scorn. I hope its all true.

I must be missing something. Is this just a reaction to her nude pictures being out of sync with her stated morals, or is this just a reaction to her morals being less than palatable to you, or did she kill a hobo while I wasn't looking?

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by FoolThemAll

My mom's a regular listener, and I've often found myself responding out loud, "What the hell? That's not necessarily true." But while I think that Dr. Laura's advice is sometimes ridiculously black and white, I've never felt that I was listening to a fundamentalist. Just a religious person who doubts the seriousness of extramarital commitments.

One man's fundy is another man's moderate. My parents were listening to her durring the first Clinton administration, so it's possible her message has changes since then, but I was put off by how often she would use the phrase 'shacking up', despite the fact that most of our society is find with people moving in together before marriage, and I personally see it as a necessary step towards marriage. The idea that she tried to use language intended to shame reminds me of something a funy would say. Also her views on things like homosexuality and such are in line with many conservative Christians.

Originally Posted by FoolThemAll

And she has given good advice, at least by my watch. It's often when the caller is excessively mired in a 'shades of gray' mentality and needs some clarity.

I suppose that makes sense.

[FoolThemAll]

Originally Posted by willravel

One man's fundy is another man's moderate. My parents were listening to her durring the first Clinton administration, so it's possible her message has changes since then, but I was put off by how often she would use the phrase 'shacking up', despite the fact that most of our society is find with people moving in together before marriage, and I personally see it as a necessary step towards marriage. The idea that she tried to use language intended to shame reminds me of something a funy would say. Also her views on things like homosexuality and such are in line with many conservative Christians.

Well, I guess you summed it up nicely: one man's fundy is another man's moderate.

She still uses the phrase 'shacking up'. I wouldn't make the argument that it can't help a couple prepare for marriage, but I imagine that she sees it as an invitation to temptation or procrastination, and she's probably at least not completely wrong there. And yes, she has the conservative view on homosexuality, but one wouldn't be crazy to suggest that it's also the biblical view. Not that I agree with her. I just wouldn't put her in the same category as the literal interpretation people and the Robertson-type evangelists.

[Daniel_]

First time I was in the States, I heard her on the radio, and for about 10 minutes I thought it was a comedy programme lampooning the self-help gurus that seem to blight AM radio.

It was only when it got to the end of the piece with no punchline that I started to think that maybe it was serious.

The USA frightens many people from Europe. You do know that, don't you?

[Willravel]

Do you think the queen would mind if California joined the UK? Cause we're right there with ya, gubnah.

[Judy Taber]

The word schadenfreude comes to mind.
We peasants love it when the rich and famous trip and fall.
Makes us feel better about our own wretched lot.

[Ourcrazymodern?]

My advice,
quite unqualified:
Don''t listen.

It's as if we search for things to disagree with. Children reflect on their parents only indirectly. Intelligence wanders off every which way.
Dr. Laura was probably busy with other things when she might have been noticing her child becoming the way he has.

[jorgelito]

Good point Shani, let's wait for the rest of the facts before we rush to judgement.

[highthief]

Originally Posted by FoolThemAll

I must be missing something. Is this just a reaction to her nude pictures being out of sync with her stated morals, or is this just a reaction to her morals being less than palatable to you, or did she kill a hobo while I wasn't looking?

She's a hypocrite, she's holier than thou, and I love seeing such people fall, again and again. It amuses me.

[FoolThemAll]

Originally Posted by highthief

She's a hypocrite, she's holier than thou, and I love seeing such people fall, again and again. It amuses me.

Yeah, she has less-than-perfect consistency. But that's a personal flaw, and I'm just not seeing why it'd be any of your concern. This is a gripe I have in general about people shouting "Hypocrite!". It doesn't affect the quality - or lack thereof - of her advice.

'Holier than thou'? Is that code for 'she believes she's right'? Of course she believes in the superior value of her own words, or else she wouldn't be offering those words daily as a radio personality. Other than that, I'm not sure what you mean.

Guess Judy Taber was right this time. But I can't relate to this Springer-for-rich-people mentality.

[Reese]

Originally Posted by tecoyah

Dr Laura makes her living by giviing advice to those who are in need of help. She claims to be a competent advisor to her audience, and regularly dishes out advice on parenting and family issues.

Her son is a direct reflection of her skills in practice, just as mine will reflect on my own skills as a parent.

You can't put the blame on the parent for every bad, weird, immoral thing a person does. There's more that influence kids than parents can control. Even perfect parents are going to have problems out of kids. It's how you handle and remedy the situation that's the true test of being good parent.

Yes her advice is very Black and White. It has to be that way because nobody's going to listen to someone's advice when they don't sound committed to it's effectiveness.

[highthief]

Originally Posted by FoolThemAll

Yeah, she has less-than-perfect consistency. But that's a personal flaw, and I'm just not seeing why it'd be any of your concern. This is a gripe I have in general about people shouting "Hypocrite!". It doesn't affect the quality - or lack thereof - of her advice.

Well, well, I don't see how my opinion is any of YOUR concern either.

See how silly such a statement is?

We all have our opinions, amigo, I don't like hypocrites (who give crap advice a lot of the time, BTW) and am always glad to see them fall. It makes me happy.

Celebrate!

[FoolThemAll]

Originally Posted by highthief

Well, well, I don't see how my opinion is any of YOUR concern either.

See how silly such a statement is?

I could've worded it better, I suppose, but "I don't see how..." was an invitation to you to enlighten me. Why does her hypocrisy matter to you? Is there anything in this beyond Taber's accusation of schadenfreude?

But, fair enough. We'll just disagree, then.

[smooth]

Originally Posted by willravel

I am always skeptical of people who are 'self proclaimed' anything, let alone self proclaimed moral leaders. I listened to Dr. Laura a few times and decided quickly that she was rather useless. I hope people came away from her with some good advice, but it seems more like they got Judeo-Christian fundamentalist (sometimes extremist) talking points more often than not, which serve the interests of the few at the detriment of the many.

This is my opinion of her and her advice, as well.
BTW, I read on wiki that her marriage and family therapy license has been expired for years.

highthief, I agree with you
FoolThemAll, it looks like her opinion doesn't matter to highthief other than he personally enjoys seeing hypocrites hoisted up by their own petards...and they give bad advice.

being a hypocrite does affect the quality of someone's advice...if you don't practice what you preach how can you attest to its viability?

[FoolThemAll]

Originally Posted by smooth

being a hypocrite does affect the quality of someone's advice...if you don't practice what you preach how can you attest to its viability?

Well, I'd first say that Dr. Laura, to a significantly large extent, probably does practice what she preaches.

But let's take two pure hypotheticals, for two possible answers to your question.

Person A advises people to practice monogamy with the protection of condoms, yet spent his life doing neither and ended up with multiple STDs. Person A can attest somewhat to the viability of the advice because he can point to himself as an undesirable alternative.

Person B advises people never to embezzle, yet continues to embezzle himself and never gets caught. Person B might not be able to attest to the viability of the advice at all. But the quality of the advice is unchanged. It's still damn good advice.

If you're alleging that hypocrisy harms the credibility of the advisor, well, sure. But that doesn't necessarily imply in the slightest that the advice is bad. It could mean that the intended audience was looking for excuses not to follow good advice.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by smooth

This is my opinion of her and her advice, as well.
BTW, I read on wiki that her marriage and family therapy license has been expired for years.

I believe that the licensing only lasts for 2 years.

[Ourcrazymodern?]

I believe that the willingness to counsel others is both a blessing and a curse.
The one for the others and the other for oneself.

[tenniels]

I used to like listening to Dr.Laura, I thought she was kinda funny. But I started to realize that (in my opinion) she was just a judgemental bitch. I think it's very ironic that her son is an alleged freak and somewhat amusing as well. I do realize she cannot control her son though, but none the less, considering the way I feel about her, this post did make me laugh a bit.

[smooth]

Originally Posted by FoolThemAll

Well, I'd first say that Dr. Laura, to a significantly large extent, probably does practice what she preaches.

But let's take two pure hypotheticals, for two possible answers to your question.

Person A advises people to practice monogamy with the protection of condoms, yet spent his life doing neither and ended up with multiple STDs. Person A can attest somewhat to the viability of the advice because he can point to himself as an undesirable alternative.

Person B advises people never to embezzle, yet continues to embezzle himself and never gets caught. Person B might not be able to attest to the viability of the advice at all. But the quality of the advice is unchanged. It's still damn good advice.

If you're alleging that hypocrisy harms the credibility of the advisor, well, sure. But that doesn't necessarily imply in the slightest that the advice is bad. It could mean that the intended audience was looking for excuses not to follow good advice.

I disagree.
First of all, someone can give bad advice that accidentally leads to good results...it doesn't make their advice "good."
Just like one can make an invalid or faulty argument with a true conclusion--that doesn't then make the premises or overall argument valid.

In the case of person B: listening to the hypocritcal "don't embezzle" is not "damn good advice"...it's poor advice. Good advice would be embezzle like me, this is how I don't get caught. That is what he has experience with and it's those experiences that give him the ability to dispense with credible and reliable advice.

In Dr. Laura's case, however, she happens to be a hypocrit *and* dispenses bad advice. She's just plain wrong most of the time when she opens her mouth and lets judgemental crap fall out of it. Perhaps some of her stuff had a place in the early 80's...maybe when her training and credentials were still valid...but it doesn't have any legitimacy anymore from what I know about relationships and how to raise a family from a personal and professional perspective (I'm not a therapist, but they come from my school and my wife was a juvenile counselor).

[MySexyAssJ]

Either way, Dr. Laura makes me want to break something with some of the things she says. If this act was in fact by her son, It doesn't surprise me. I'd be a rebel too and possibly make a lot more mistakes.