Wacko Conservatives -- Dr. Laura and the "Ground Zero" Mosque Opposition

Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the conservative talk radio advice and insult dispenser, recently sprayed the airwaves with "n______" in response to an African-American caller who had been upset by some racial slurs, specifically n______, directed her way. Dr. Laura wondered if maybe the caller was too sensitive, too thin-skinned. After all, she argued, black people use n_________ all the time with one another. By the end of the call, Dr. Laura had used the term many, many times as she explained why white people might be confused about whether the term is permissible.

I'm not confused. Who's confused? White kids on occasion, sure. But adults? I'm confused about how anyone could be confused about it. What? African-Americans start using the word with one another (and for the record, I think it's a bad idea even for them) and suddenly it's open season for white people to use it? Who are the white people just waiting for tacit permission to say "n________" so that they can get down with their black bros? Who are the white people stupid enough to think that's going to be cool?

This needs to be explained to adults?

An NPR commentator provided a good analogy explaining why the permission to use "n_____" does not extend to anyone who isn't black. "I can say things about my sister," he explained, "but you can't say things about my sister."

So Dr. Laura apologized, but also told Larry King that she would quit the show so that she could speak freely. "I want to regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what is on my mind, in my heart, what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry."

She's an idiot.

She never lost her First Amendment rights. The Bill of Rights protects us from the government, not from the displeasure of others. Does she really believe that the First Amendment protects her from other people taking issue with her? She has every legal right to say and think just about whatever she wants.

The First Amendment exists for the very purpose of allowing people to piss off other people and not get killed or jailed. We don't need a First Amendment to protect supporters of say, moms and puppies. We need it for ....

Muslims, I guess, in this country. But . . . conservatives have forgotten this.

Conservative commentators -- following in the footsteps of their ideological ancestors who persecuted Catholics and some wayward Protestants, not to mention Jews -- have conflated Islam with Nazism because a Muslim leader, an imam who has been chosen by President Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and the FBI as a liaison with the Muslim community, wants to build an Islamic cultural center two blocks away from Ground Zero to better serve his growing flock. “Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust museum in Washington,” Newt explained.

He has also argued that you can't find churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia, so why should we allow mosques here! Great idea, Newt! Let's use Saudi Arabia as the standard for religious tolerance.


1.57 billion people, 23% of the world's population, are Muslim.

To conservative Newt Gingrich, they are all Nazis . . . or the moral equivalent. For you young 'uns out there, Newt is a presidential aspirant, and former Speaker of the House. No conservatives have stated that he's crossed a line here. None of them seem to get it that when we suggest that all Muslims are morally nefarious, craven, and maniacally genocidal (i.e., Nazis), we might create a few more enemies among them.

And, yes, unfortunately the spineless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agrees and our mealy-mouthed qualifier in chief, President Obama, can't take firm stand. (For the best commentary on this, see here.)

So Dr. Laura believes that her First Amendment rights are violated if people disagree with her; Newt believes that the First doesn't apply to people with whom he disagrees; Democratic Party leaders side-step the issue at best; and as is often the case, the only people who seem to understand the First Amendment are the people who need it most.