Dr. Laura Schlessinger's meltdown continues…and I don't know where to begin.

First, in a move that basically makes Schlessinger's half-hearted apology invalid, the talk-show host is attempting to paint herself as a First Amendment martyr while attacking those who express outrage over her comments:

In a recent interview with NewsMax, here's Schlessinger playing the victim…

Where are our First Amendment rights headed if we as Americans are no longer free to speak out on these issues?

Well, when you have Nancy Pelosi saying she's going to investigate the people who feel profoundly, deeply, that a mosque should not be on Ground Zero, I think you can see where the First Amendment rights are going. It's bullying and it's scary. We're going in the direction of Russia, for goodness sake, where if you say the wrong thing you're toast. I find it very alarming. I do not find it as a bipartisan issue, I really don't... I don't see the flip equivalent of Media Matters.

[…]

I sat down at my desk and said 'I'm done trying to help people in a situation where my First Amendment rights don't exist, where special interest groups and activist groups can make a decision to silence you. It's not American, it's not fair play. I would like for people to just say, 'Hey, I didn't quite understand what you meant by that, let's have a debate at the LA public library.' You know, debating and discussing is kind of gone, attacks are in. You can see that in politics, you can see that everywhere.

Instead of coming to grips that her racist on-air rant was wrong, Schlessinger attempts to paint herself as a First Amendment martyr. This is not not only laughable, but offensive to those who are outraged by her remarks. Basically what Dr. Laura is saying that she has the right to say anything she wants, but the public does not have a right to challenge her statements.

CNN's John Ridley echoes my thoughts:



Next, if Dr. Laura's attempts to play the marytr isn't offensive enough, during a recent interview on CNN, Schlessinger fails to understand that her use of the n-word was the least of her problems

The day after she engaged in the racially charged rant which eventually led to her deciding to step down from her radio show, Schlessinger apologized for having "articulated the "n" word all the way out - more than one time." But as the Rev. Al Sharpton pointed out, the repeated use of a racial slur wasn't the only problem with her comments - the "whole line" of her remarks "was extremely disturbing."

Tonight on CNN, we found out why Schlessinger neglected to apologize for some of those additional comments - she doesn't think there's anything wrong with them.


Roberts brought up her comment that "I really thought that once we had a black president, the attempt to demonize whites hating blacks would stop, but it seems to have grown, and I don't get it," and noted that "some people thought that was really a racist point of view." Schlessinger replied, "I don't. I think that was an observation."

Roberts then raised Schlessinger's remark that "without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black... it was a black thing." Roberts raised a Columbia University professor's statement that Obama did not receive a substantially larger portion of the black vote than John Kerry got in 2004.

Schlessinger did not respond to Roberts, instead attacking her original caller for her purportedly "racist statement that whites are afraid of the black man taking over America," and pointing out that she had responded to that statement by pointing out that whites had been responsible for Obama's election since blacks make up such a small percentage of voters. She then attacked Roberts for not having played the caller's statement. Incidentally, the exchange Schlessinger was describing came on the other end of the commercial from the one that Roberts brought up.

So there we have it. On one hand, Dr. Laura "regrets" using the n-word, but on the other hand, doesn't regret everything else she said in her exchange with the African-American caller.

During the same interview, Dr. Laura is caught lying about Nancy Pelosi while attempting continue the "my first amendment rights were violated" defense:

ROBERTS: You said that you're leaving your radio show to regain your First Amendment rights. How did you lose them?

SCHLESSINGER: Well, I think everybody in the media risks that. I'm not the only one. I don't see myself as a victim in particular. It's the atmosphere in America today where there is very little debate and just the attempt to silence voices that somebody disagrees with.

ROBERSTS: But does this go beyond being disagreed with? You said something that was very offensive.

SCHLESSINGER: Well, yes. And I was trying to make a point about the hypersensitivity of racial issues. And I made it the wrong way. I instantly realized I had blown it.
ROBERTS: But you seem to be, and correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Schlessinger, saying that you've taken yourself off your radio show because other people are not allowing you your First Amendment rights even though you were wrong to have said what you said.

SCHLESSINGER: My decision was not based on this incident. My decision has been percolating for about a year when I realized more and more that -- like Nancy Pelosi saying we should investigate people who have a problem with the mosque being built at Ground Zero. Investigating these people?

ROBERTS: That's not what she said.

SCHLESSINGER: And I'm just pointing out --

ROBERTS: Well, what she said it would be good to have the same transparency --

SCHLESSINGER: You know, it would be good if I could finish a sentence.

ROBERTS: I'm sorry. You're being inaccurate in what you're saying.

SCHLESSINGER: All right.

ROBERTS: I'm just trying to correct the record.

SCHLESSINGER: Well, I apologize for being inaccurate.

ROBERTS: She said in the same way that there should be transparency behind the mosque funding, there should also be similar transparency behind the people who are opposed to the mosque.

Lets not forget what Dr. Laura said to the caller during her rant. Schlessinger told the African-American female caller who's married to a white male that she had a chip on her shoulder, being hypersensitive to racial remarks, and should not of married out of her race if she couldn't take questions from whites.

...which brings me to my last point.

The caller at the center of Schlessinger racist outburst was Nita Hanson…and during an appearance on CNN, she came forward to speak out about her encounter with the talk show host:



At this point, everyone should be offended that WLAD continues to stand behind Dr. Laura and should call upon the radio station to drop the disgraced talk show host from their lineup.

Please tell WLAD to drop the Dr. Laura Schlessinger Show:

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