Dr. Phil today......

[llmart]

If anyone can watch today's show and still think the police officers in the Michael Brown, Eric Garner et. al. instances were justified in their behavior, then they are hopeless racists and hopeless human beings. I don't normally even watch his show, but today's show was worth it. This should be rerun in prime time because it's truly important.

[rurallib]

1. It would help if you could give a short synopsis of the show

I think old Phil is little more than another TV charlatan. Unless someone gave me some real good reason to watch him there is no way I would waste what I consider to be valuable time on my part.

[llmart]

5. As I said......

I don't normally watch his show because, like you, I think most of it is self-serving and I honest-to-God cannot stand looking at his ridiculous stepford wife with her plastic face and 12" waistline, sitting in the audience nodding her head like a toy German Shepherd dog in the back window of a car.

However, for some reason I turned the TV on and the previews showed he was going to have the family members of some of the African American men who were murdered by the cops plus Al Sharpton and several other guests and I figured I'd watch it and boy, was I glad I did. Dr. Phil went on a rant about the DA's role in the acquittal, bringing up what many of us DU'ers knew already about the misleading instructions given to the Grand Jury. Where else on the mainstream media have you seen someone bring this up and be so downright irate about how unethical it was?

Forgive me if it's been on other shows because I only get about 7 stations on my antenna and rarely watch TV.

I think you'd be surprised if you watched the show. I think he did a wonderful service to this country by airing this.

I'd like to add that from what I understand from my female friends who watch him, he has done a great deal to fight violence against women, and when he uses his powerful voice to say "you never put your hands on a woman in anger, NEVER" I can't help but wonder how many women get some sense of empowerment by hearing a man say that.

[boston bean]

7. Seems like you are ok with Phil, but really can't stand his wife...

[Phentex]

9. never watches but manages a bold description of the wife...

[PasadenaTrudy]

17. Once you see that face

you can't quickly forget it. Scary

[llmart]

10. No, I'm not really OK with his personality either.....

I said he was normally self-serving, always touting what his sons are doing and how they published his book, blah, blah, blah, and how his wife has this beauty products line and all she's supposedly done. He even at one point interjected something about "what I taught my sons when they were young adults about dealing with the police" which almost made me turn it off, but I stuck with it.

You seem like a judgmental person.

[boston bean]

11. LOL... It was just an observation. You should take a look in the mirror, bucko.. LOL

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. the irony is STRONG with this one (meaning YOU)...

feel the hate FLOWING THROUGH you...

sP

[Iris]

12. It's not just his wife. They do this weird thing where they walk out together.

It's like some weird "honoring my wife" sort of thing. Like she's on some kind of pedestal when all I can see that she's done is have a cold drink (iced tea) for him when he returns home and make a low-fat banana pudding dessert for him when he started putting on weight.

But I think for the most part he does more good than harm. In the shows I've seen, he cuts through people's bullshit and then sends them back home to more professional help. I would suspect he's saved a few lives along the way.

[Avalux]

4. Yes, he's a fool, but occasionally, even a fool can do something worthwhile.

If his show has an impact and spreads the truth, I don't much care that he's the messenger.

[llmart]

6. Thank you.

You are exactly right. Some on DU have their own biases but of course think because they're a DUer it's OK to have their prejudices and biases. Closed mindedness isn't just for Republicans.

I thought it was an important show and believe me, I rarely even watch TV.

[Suich]

3. Watching the repeat now.

Excellent show. Makes me very sad.

[llmart]

8. It made me sad too....

because I'm 65 and I came of age in the 50's and 60's and to see our country reverting back to rampant racism disheartens me. The fact that he's actually from the South adds an extra layer of oomph to his comments and stance on racism.

He showed clips from the upcoming movie "Selma" which I hadn't heard about but will make it a point to see now that I know it's coming out in January. Some of us lived those times and remember it clearly, but younger generations need to know the history.

[rurallib]

14. I am the same age as you and thus have similar memories

although in the agricultural midwest we were about as far from the any actual involvement as possible.
I see the reversion you see, but somehow this one feels different - meaner somehow. Somehow it feels like it has more of an edge.
That would be almost hard to believe considering how bad things were in the 50s and 60s.

Maybe it is because it is more open. One real difference is that now you have mainstream media fueling the rage and seeking to widen divisions whereas before there were basically 3 networks that did try to be somewhat fair. I could be wrong. Probably am

[Quantess]

13. I'll take your word for it.

Let's not watch Dr Phil and say we did.

[gollygee]

15. I don't like Dr. Phil

But I must say that it's good that his audience is hearing this, if I'm understanding how it went.