Dr. Laura
4
I think what I love most about Dr. Laura is her ability to get people to reveal what they really are inside. Her detractors fly into a rage using terms like "self righteous", "judgmental", "insensitive" and "hypocrite" as if they find her shocking. Where does this emotion come from? Hmmmm... I wonder.
It doesn't matter if you love her or hate her, several undeniable facts are self-evident:
• People call HER for advice-- not the other way around.
• She is consistent. There are no surprises in what she has to say. If Bob calls and says he's got a honey on the side and doesn't know what to do about it-- whose fault is it that Bob is taken aback by the brutally honest response? If you ask my advice, is it "judgmental" of me to give it to you? Perhaps only if you don't like it?
• Agree with all her philosophy or not-- she's tells most people something they need to hear that no one else around them is willing to say. Even if her advice is oversimplified (it IS a radio show after all), it doesn't mean it's completely irrelevant to the situation and it is usually at least a solid partial solution to the caller's problem. At very least, it's a perspective that someone should consider if they are honest with themselves.
• The fact that she once had her picture taken nude has ZERO impact on the inherent truth in her advice. Let's say Bob once embezzled money from his boss but tells Joe to stop robbing banks-- is that advise somehow invalid because of what Bob did years ago? She once made a very pertinent response to accusations of hypocrisy-- "Someone who does a thing on one hand then criticizes someone else for doing it is a 'hypocrite'--someone who ONCE did a thing, has learned from his/her mistake and now tells others not to do it is called a 'teacher'". People who constantly pull up her old dirt are really just saying "See-- what I do isn't so bad because she did that". Keep in mind-- Dr. Laura isn't critiquing anyone's old dirt-- only responding to immediate issues they are putting under her nose and asking her to appraise.
The bottom line is, most criticism about her is a red herring thrown out there by angry people who just don't like what she's saying. Most people, especially most people who call her show, go a long way to causing their own problems or at least fail to fix them. If pointing a finger at someone for telling people their own contribution to their problem is "judgmental", how can that person ever have personal responsibility? Sure the problem is bigger and more complex then can be discussed in a two minute phone conversation, but all that CAN be addressed in that time is the part that the caller can fix himself.
We're so trained by modern thinking that calling a person on his faults is "judgmental" or "hypocritical" we can't even stand it when the person ASKS for it. Or, are we really that mad at Dr. Laura for giving callers what they want, OR are we mad at her for telling us what we don't want too hear about ourselves?