Why does Dr. Laura still have a job and Helen Thomas doesn't?

[kpete]

Why does Dr. Laura still have a job and Helen Thomas doesn't?


just asking
http://racerelations.about.com/b/2010/08/14/dr-laura-shows-how-not-to-address-racism-via-her-n-word-filled-rant.htm

[NYCGirl]

1. Because Helen Thomas was a White House correspondent and

Dr. Laura is a talk show host? I would think the standards are somewhat different for the two jobs.

[MattBaggins]

11. It's something else

Hint: Why was Sherrod fired lickety split while any other individual would have gotten a "we need to examine the facts before acting" response.

Hint: Why did Congress rush to illegally de-fund ACORN yet to this day Blackwater is fleecing Americans for millions?

Hint: Why are people across the nation trying to shut down Mosques yet no one has proposed such action against Catholic churches?

[NYCGirl]

12. No, it isn't. One can't compare the two jobs. The standards

are completely different.

[Raineyb]

17. Yes it is. Black people can be disrespected with impunity. It's only verboten to disrespect

certain groups. It's pretty obvious by now.

[NYCGirl]

19. If Ms. Thomas was a talk show host and said exactly the same

thing, she'd still be employed.

In fact, it might've increased her ratings.

After all, those teaparty types sure love us Jews. :sarcasm: for this sentence only.

[oberliner]

22. Also - if Helen Thomas was caught on video saying the n-word repeatedly, she'd be out of a job

I cannot imagine that Helen Thomas would have been able to continue in her position if she had been caught on tape repeating the n-word.

[Raineyb]

36. No she wouldn't. And her multi-decade record wouldn't have been trashed for

a single comment either.

[malaise]

49. I agree 100% n/t

[MadMaddie]

52. Yes it is! I agree with you!

[tblue37]

55. And why are Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel the only ones

in the crosshairs of the House Ethics Committee, when we know perfectly well that a lot of other reps are guilty of much worse transrgessions than they have been accused of--and that Waters at least is probably not even guilty of at all?

If someone is liberal, a Dem, and especially if he/she is a member of a targeted minority. . . .

[axollot]

62. The answer is simple. Obama has never been able to clean up from the last..

..administration, Clinton, Bush SR and Ray-Gun. The same connected people that do not need a vote to be put in office are still in their comfy chairs doing their job for corporations.

The obstruction in this country is staggering. What people fail to remember are all the people appointed to positions that are still in them. From big to very small.

Look what JR (whopper) did to our nation when he politicized the Justice Department - many appointee's that still remain.

That is one of the reasons no matter which way we vote we end up with the same assholes - political appointees.

cheers
Sandy

[Enthusiast]

66. Isn't this amazing when

Democrats have a numerical advantage.

I guess this is to teach us a lesson. You just can't trust African Americans in office, they are subject to corruption. :sarcasm:

[ThomCat]

24. No, because there is a double standard for concervatives vs

liberals.

Conservatives don't hold their own responsible. They blow off concerns and criticisms as long as you show results and serve a purpose within the conservative community.

But if there is any opening to take down a liberal, no excuses are allowable. No openings can be tolerated for a way out. It is open season immediately, and everyone fires all guns at once.

In both cases, conservatives have to be satisfied with the outcome. Nobody cares what liberals think of the outcome.

Our concerns were invisible before, and they are invisible after. The conservatives framed the debate before, they framed the question of what was a transgression, and how to punish it, and when it was successfully over and done with.

[NYCGirl]

25. I don't agree. If a conservative White House correspondent

working for a serious major news organization (which exempts Fox) said the same thing, I believe they'd be gone.

[ThomCat]

33. Imagining that a serious corespondent who is professionally concervative

would ever come out with a statement matching Helen Thomas' positions is a serious stretch right from the very start.

I think you are the land of fantasy right there.

But beyond that, it would depend on the correspondent's ratings. If he or she was popular enough then that would be what determined survival. Ratings determine everything.

[SemperEadem]

60. that's true.. look at limpballs

in fact, today, I'm sure everyone is waiting with baited breath to hear him excuse miss schlessinger and make the caller out to be the thug in all of this... and his sponsors will laugh with him all the way to the bank.

[DallasNE]

58. Sad But True

Also sad is the fact that only on obscure web sites like this will these facts be aired.

[Enthusiast]

67. Yes, there is a double standard.

But is has grown so glaring in recent years.

[hobbit709]

2. Because of that "liberal" media bias.

Extreme :sarcasm:

[liberal N proud]

7. +1

[msongs]

3. dr. laura generates tens of millions in corporate profits is why nt

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[Warren Stupidity]

8. I'm not blaming the jews.

I am observing that unconditional support of Israel is an uncrossable line in american politics. However your re-interpretation of that statement as 'blaming the jews' is exactly what I am talking about.

[slackmaster]

6. Because everybody hates Negroes and loves Jews so much

:sarcasm:

[Kalyke]

9. In corporate AmeriKKKa, this is probably true, slackmaster.

No sarcasm in my statement.

[DFW]

10. Laura Schlesinger doesn't ask uncomfortable questions

Helen always did.

[SocialistLez]

13. Blacks are not nearly as respected as Jewish people....or because Dr. Laura has a smaller audience.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. Helen had almost no audience.

I'll go with your first choice.

[oberliner]

15. Helen Thomas is 90 years old and retired earlier this year nt

[Raineyb]

18. Helen Thomas was FORCED to retire after her comments about Israel.

No one stays unemployed for long for disrespecting black people. In this country it's perfectly fine to disrespect us and expect to keep a job.

[oberliner]

21. If Helen Thomas was caught on video saying the N-word repeatedly, she also would have retired

I do not think Helen Thomas would still have a job if she was caught on videotape repeating the n-word.

Do you disagree?

[Raineyb]

34. Yes I do. I think not only would she still have a job but there would be people

trying to parse out the when it is and is not acceptable to use the word and for whom while decrying the double standard of white people not being able to use. You know exactly what happened with "Dr." Laura.

[Raineyb]

16. Simple. No one will go broke disrespecting black people in this country.

I pointed this out during the whole Helen Thomas brouhaha and apparently it was considered out of line.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

20. I think your answer and the one about Dr. Laura generating corporate profits..

...are the most likely reasons.

[NYCGirl]

23. Yep, just ask Don Imus and Jimmy the Greek, two reprehensible

individuals who deserved what they got.

Imus eventually got another gig, because there's always some sucker willing to compromise ethics for money.

[Raineyb]

35. Don Imus got a job not too long after losing his. Bob Grant merely changed stations

Pat Buchanan still goes on the airwaves as though he were someone worthy of respect, Rush Limpballs doesn't lose sponsors over his racism. And as for Jimmy the Greek, I'm sure he landed on his feet.

[NYCGirl]

39. As I said, there's always some sucker willing to compromise

their integrity for a fast buck. And their employers can always use the "but he/she's an entertainer!" defense not available to the employer of the White House correspondent.

[Raineyb]

53. Because you won't go broke disrespecting black people in this country. Which I believe was my point

to begin with.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. Earl Butz Lost His Job Thirty Five Years Ago For Making Racist Comments

Also see Don Imus, Jimmy The Greek, and Al Campanis.

Dr. Laura is a talk show host. As long as she has advertisers to pay for her nonsense she will contnue to spew it.

[slackmaster]

Was he the "loose shoes", etc. guy?

Secretary of something?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

32. Yes

~

[Canuckistanian]

27. Because blacks have no AIPAC equivalent

That's why.

[oberliner]

30. This comment seems a bit out there

Do you believe that Helen Thomas would still have a job if she had been caught on tape repeating the n-word?

[cascadiance]

42. I thought the same exact thing before seeing this response too...

If Dr. Laura had also went into territory where she flew directly against Israeli / American military industrial complex interests that the AIPAC represents, she'd probably be pushed out for that too.

AIPAC controls BOTH sides of congress, unlike the NAACP, which one side takes pleasure at taking shots at. Neither side "takes shots" at AIPAC casually. There is a lesson to be learned from that!

[Canuckistanian]

44. Probably not.

But then, equating "Dr." Laura and Helen Thomas is also "out there".

[oberliner]

64. Yes, there is certainly no comparison between those two people

I don't know too much about Laura, but she seems awful.

[malaise]

50. Ding ding we have a winner

:applause:

[Douglas Carpenter]

28. because Helen Thomas offended major institutions of power far more deeply

so deeply that her long distinguished career was considered less important than on brief gaff for which she apologized. In fact she had 53 years of experience challenging and frequently offending major institutions of power. In contrast Laura Schlessinger has a much shorter career in pop culture psycho babble reinforcing major institutions of power and promoting their interest under the guise of authoritative advice. There are a lot of people who will never listen or watch a serious newscast or read a serious newspaper, but would tune in to Dr. Laura dispensing right-wing ideology along with her brainless psycho babble.

[oberliner]

29. If Helen Thomas had been caught on video repeating the n-word, would she still have a job?

Do you honestly believe that Helen Thomas would still have a job were she to have repeated that word several times on tape?

[Douglas Carpenter]

31. probably not -

but we do see in the case of Fox News several key figures who have repeatedly made some very blatantly racist remarks, but remain on the job. We also remember Pat Buchanan's racist tirade and he still has work.

[Bluenorthwest]

37. I've wondered why Laura has a job for years.

"Rights. RIGHTS! RIGHTS? For sexual deviant . . . sexual behavior there are now rights. That's what I'm worried about with the pedophilia and the bestiality and the sadomasochism and the cross-dressing. Is this all going to be 'rights' too, to deviant sexual behavior? It's deviant sexual behavior. Why does deviant sexual behavior get rights? Don't understand that to start out with." - Dr. Laura, June 9, 1999
When we have the word 'homosexual,' we are clarifying the dysfunction, the deviancy, the reality. We change it to the word 'gay,' and it makes it more difficult to pinpoint the truth. So one of the things that the homosexual agenda did was to change the name. Just like somebody complained to me yesterday that 'ethnic cleansing' - that it sounded like your washing machine - as opposed to murder. And they were right. 'Ethnic cleansing' sounds nice. 'Murder' is the truth. Well, 'homosexuality' is the truth. 'Gay' isn't." - Dr. Laura, August 12, 1999

[howaboutme]

38. Hypothetically would Dr Laura have answered

the question in the same condescending mocking manner and with the same rationale had the caller said I'm of the same faith as you and my husband is a (some other faith) and he and his friends are always mocking me and calling me something (pejorative to her faith)?

I actually disagree with the current media hyped philosophy that off-hand statements reflect racism unless they are said repeatedly. Racism is about persistent actions (hiring practices, etc) not a few off-hand words.

I still believe that Helen Thomas has actionable cause to go after the media for defamation in reporting and in headlines what she did not actually state.

[Rex]

40. One is an entertainer and the other is a journalist.

Talk show hosts are worthless pundits.

[ecstatic]

41. Both should be fired

along with Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, etc.

[Odin2005]

43. Because Power always finds excuses to silence The Left.

especially when it comes to criticizing the Theo-Fascist state of Israel.

[LatteLibertine]

45. The same reason

BecKKK and Limbaugh are still around.

[Politicalboi]

46. Why Rangel and Waters

And not Ensign and Vitter, and the Gov from S.C who went hiking. Why Dan Rather and not Beckkk or O'Lielly?

[TheKentuckian]

47. The Reich is not responsible or accountable and will cover their own if they eat a live toddler

On national TV.

The only thing to ever be done is to truck the bastards and prosecute their constant criminal activity.

Who doesn't see that when Democrats don't hold Republicans culpable there is no other mechanism in this society to put the fear of the night into them and to put their worst out of circulation.

[Skittles]

48. repuke whores are a dime a dozen

Helen was one in a million

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

51. Why does Helen Thomas have a fan club on DU, but Dr. Laura doesn't?

[kenfrequed]

69. Uhm...

Because you are at Democratic Underground and not the Free Republic.

[jmowreader]

54. Dr. Laura is a conservative. Helen Thomas is not.

I'm sorry to sound so harsh, but if Dr. Laura was a liberal and had said the things she did, she'd be out of a job too.

OTOH, if Helen Thomas was a tea party favorite, FreakRepublic would be all "you go, Helen!"

[nemo137]

56. Dr. Laura has a very specific set of fans to keep her on the air.

Helen Thomas had fans, but worked in a different medium where that made less difference.

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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[The Wizard]

59. Helen Thomas spoke an uncomfortable truth

Europe's Jews had their property seized (stolen) and those who stole the property didn't want to give it back to the rightful owners because they wanted to be rid of the Jewish problem and at the same time retain ownership of ill gotten gains.
The Jewish state in Israel was created by Europe's wealthy elites for selfish purposes, altruism was a second hand excuse.

[customerserviceguy]

61. I actually used to listen to her show for entertainment

when I lived in Utah. She's a scold, and we like to watch people getting scolded. That's the premise of the judge shows, the Jerry Springer-like shows, and even American Idol.

We sometimes like to make ourselves feel better by watching someone else get chewed out.

[cbdo2007]

63. Helen Thomas bowed out quickly after making her comments. She didn't want to fight but

if she would have everything would have died down in another few days.

[valerief]

65. "Dr." Laura works for the all-powerful enemy. nt

[smiley]

68. and to top it all off...

Tom Delay remains a free man.

[oberliner]

70. Dr. Laura says she's ending her radio show

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