"[The child's mother] can punish the whole world because of this affliction of her son. She can punish everybody who doesn't want to call this normal. But it's not normal. And it's not nice."

June 13, 2001 11:24 PM

"[The child's mother] can punish the whole world because of this affliction of her son. She can punish everybody who doesn't want to call this normal. But it's not normal. And it's not nice." Dr Laura on . . . children with Tourette's Syndrome. Words fail me. Nice story of how people networked on the Net to respond though.
posted by aflakete (22 comments total)

She thought Deuce Bigolow: Male Gigolo was a documentary? She's denser than I suspected.
posted by raysmj at 12:14 AM on June 14, 2001

Excellent link. I thought she was a right winger, but now I know she's just plain stupid. Someone with a PhD in any medical field should know better.
posted by skyline at 12:15 AM on June 14, 2001

Idiot that she is, I blame the callers more than her. Ever heard her show? The people that call in just do not know how to make any sort of decision in their lives. "Dr. Laura, I have a red and a blue sock - which should I wear today?" Ninnies. Mindless sheep. Get my point? (of course, I like to listen to ninnies which may make me a mindless sheep)
posted by owillis at 12:34 AM on June 14, 2001

It says she has a Ph.D. in physiology - isn't that thing where you determine people's personalities by the shape of their skull?

Ducks flying bottles
posted by GriffX at 12:54 AM on June 14, 2001

You're thinking of phrenology. I know you probably know that, but any chance to post links to phrenology sites I get, I take.
posted by Ezrael at 1:06 AM on June 14, 2001

While I agree that it isn't right to call people suffering from Tourette's abnormal, I'd agree with her that it is within the caller's right to not invite someone with Tourette's from attending the wedding.

On the topic of her radio show, while it ran on the local talk show station (which recently dropped it), I was constantly amused by the people who call basically asking for a tongue-lashing from Dr. Laura (e.g. "Dr. Laura I'm having affairs with multiple men while my husband was at work and I'm pregnant but I don't know to who. What should I do?")
posted by gyc at 1:35 AM on June 14, 2001

I don't belive Dr. Laura is as stupid as she seems, more likely unable to determine the line between a wind-up and just plain bad.

Not that I'm defending the evil old crone.

Phrenology bums me out, by the way.
According to it, I've got JonBenet's panties in my glove box.
posted by dong_resin at 1:39 AM on June 14, 2001

F£ck me!
posted by leafy at 4:20 AM on June 14, 2001

Listening to the callers of the Dr. Laura show makes me feel happier about my general intelligence and station in life.
posted by Hankins at 5:23 AM on June 14, 2001

Listening to the callers of the Dr. Laura show makes me feel happier about my general intelligence and station
in life.

and it makes Dr. Laura feel superior too. She only puts on people who are absolute wimps...."Gee do you think I should send my father a birthday present even though my wife doesn't like him."
posted by brucec at 6:06 AM on June 14, 2001

>"Gee do you think I should send my father a birthday present even though my wife doesn't like him."

No, the question is, "Is it MORALLY CORRECT for me to send my father, etc." The idea that this round-heeled, bigoted, hateful, lying, stupid, jealous c-word is now the most well-known Solomon of our times is what chaps my ass.
posted by nance at 6:27 AM on June 14, 2001

Agree with owillis - I enjoy listening to the show periodically as a source of amusement and often find myself wondering who the hell these idiots are that need to be told that staying with a physically abusive husband is bad and dangerous, or told that inviting a sister that slept with their husband to a family reunion is a recipe for disaster. It seems as if many of her callers are just Springer-show wannabes. Some of "Dr" Laura's comments, however, are on-target...and I at least appreciate her bluntness at times. But with the Tourrette's Syndrome issue, she is so far off-base and insensitive that you've gotta wonder if she's just doing it to drum up her ratings or something - could she actually BE that ignorant?
posted by davidmsc at 6:51 AM on June 14, 2001

I don't know why everyone's surprised at the insensitive comments this woman makes. It's already been established that she's a narrowminded bigot who hides behind some kind of twisted "morality" to back up her opinions. I'm actually kind of interested to find out who she'll "demoralize" next.
posted by amyscoop at 7:00 AM on June 14, 2001

Argh. This one hurts to the quick.

My son developed Tourette's-like behavior in second grade, but it's actually evolved into full-blown Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as he moved into his early teens. (Tic disorders are placed on an OCD spectrum, by the way.) I can't tell you how hard it is to navigate the unaffected world when your kid has OCD movements, even with meds and therapy which only reduce the occurrence of symptoms for someone as severely affected as my son.

GYC, I don't have a problem with someone not inviting us to an event because of our son (although he doesn't have the corpolalia symptoms --which, incidentally, only affects a small minority of Tourette's sufferers). I know it'll happen. But I have to point out that when people do -- and do so repeatedly -- then you'll never see us again. We know the bitter taste of exclusion so well that we have to turn out backs on people just to avoid repeated heartbreak.

It's bad enough that his disorders marginalize us as a matter of practicality; it's made worse by people who turn us away. Even family. Out of all our relatives, only my mother makes the time and takes the effort to know, understand, and spend time with my son.

Shame on Dr. Laura for her short sightedness. Someone in her position should know what the word compassion means. Thanks, lady, for telling us to go hide in a corner so the world won't have to be inconvenience by our presence.
posted by debrahyde at 7:05 AM on June 14, 2001

I know someone who actually called her show re: a problem with a (then) 10 yr old son who was being picked on at school, and having emotional troubles because of it. All the father wanted to know was what Dr. Laura thought (as a *supposed* expert) would be the best way to handle it all the way around.

The call screener told the father to have the 10 year old call back, and they would take the call. When he voiced concern about having a troubled 10 year old speak on the air about being picked on, the call screener told him, "Well, you don't run the show, do you?" She disconnected him and that was the end of it.

Obviously, you can't get through to talk to her unless you're spineless, ninny, sheep, as mentioned above - or ten years old.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a screener for day to day life so you only need to deal with people that you can squash like bugs?
posted by pattiann at 7:58 AM on June 14, 2001

Yes, I used to listen to Dr. Laura on the radio at work. The only reason I did that is because its much better to listen to something than sit in the back of a library in complete silence and it was the only thing that came in. Anyways, it finally got to the point where if I listened to anymore of her I would have gotten up and punched somebody in the face. She is such an idiot.
posted by rift2001 at 7:58 AM on June 14, 2001

Debrahyde already made the point, but it bears repeating: corprolalia (yelling "Fuck!" and the like at unpredictable intervals) is a relatively rare trait among all Touretters. Other tics include such things as echolalia, a fascination with spinning objects, found or created rhythms, and all kinds of other stuff. Since corprolalia is, of course, more "interesting" than anything else, it gets more attention (I'm thinking of an old episode of "LA Law" which featured not one but two lawyers with Tourette's--oh, haw haw haw, those crazy swearing lawyers).

That Dr. Laura--degree in physiology, for Christ's sake--maunders on about something she clearly knows nothing about is par for the course.
posted by Skot at 8:22 AM on June 14, 2001

yes, f$ck her. no cent key on the modern keyboard? The people who call in have their answers already. Dr. Horta just points out the obvious. After a while, one begins to frame the anticipated response and low and behold, your practicing obvious psych. She is useless. Most sufferers of tourettes dont yell obscenities, the article should have tried to give us the play-by-play from the original call. But that would just help affirm what any rational person already knows. Dr. Sorta is an example of someone profiting from virtually nothing. A monkey could do her show.(I wonder how many nanny cams this woman has, i guess 4.)
posted by clavdivs at 8:54 AM on June 14, 2001

I can see the point here FUCK but I'm not sure the good Doctor Laura COCK really understands the subject she's SHIT talking about.
posted by metaxa at 9:27 AM on June 14, 2001

Why don't the just get her to do the "final word" segment on Springer? The callers/guests seem to have the same demographic overlap...but then I guess they wouldn't really need Jerry for anything...
posted by DiplomaticImmunity at 10:38 AM on June 14, 2001

Still.. she looked ok in those old Hotel photographs. A little skinny and light on the top, but acceptable. Karen Carpenter-like.

Those days are long gone. That may explain her vorciforous moral contrition.
posted by Perigee at 11:57 AM on June 14, 2001

Michael Moore's letter to Dr. Laura , written as a response to her anti-gay sentiments, is hilarious.
posted by hazyjane at 3:02 AM on June 15, 2001