Is there a doctor in the house?
It has come to my somewhat distracted attention that a rather large, bald frog has made a big splash into the stagnant pond of daytime television. It is an article of faith with me never to watch daytime television. If I want a lobotomy, I’ll contact a brain surgeon.
Unfortunately, I get exposed to a lot of promos for that vast wasteland because I occasionally endure the evening news. It’s part of the price I pay for being a news junkie.
These promos appeal to my morbid curiosity. It’s the same phenomenon that causes me to gawk at fatal accidents on the interstate. In this case, it wasn’t curiosity that killed the cat. Boredom and revulsion did the trick.
I confess. I actually tried to watch the phenomenon known as Dr. Phil. Now, anyone with the brains of a turnip should know that any psychologist recommended by Oprah had to be a crock.
Oprah is just one of the reasons that daytime television has become a cesspool. It seems to have become a refuge for sleazy soap operas and talk shows that give otherwise unemployable cretins a living wage. Well, fine. It keeps them off the welfare rolls.
Back to the subject. Dr. Phil has raised the general scum of daytime TV to an art form. I make modest claims to some credentials here. I am a registered counselor and spent a lot of time in divinity school concentrating on pastoral counseling.
Naturally, I resent the fact that some yayhoo who apparently got his degree from International Correspondence School is raking in the big bucks for giving questionable advice to mentally disturbed victims. I have to assume that Dr. Phil’s TV patients are mentally disturbed. Otherwise, why would they seek advice from an obvious charlatan?
Dr. Phil is a parasite of the worst sort. He exploits troubled people in order to build himself up as some sort of psychological authority. His advice is what most people would refer to as common sense. Dr. Phil is smart enough to realize that it is not that common.
So he has made a career of dispensing platitudes that anyone can access with a simple search on Google. But that’s not enough for the good doctor. He seems to have some innate need to denigrate the people who come to him for help. That may be good television, but it’s lousy therapy.
God help the poor unfortunates who are so desperate for advice that they agree to appear on his show. They certainly aren’t going to get any help from Dr. Phil. They will be exploited, humiliated, and then thrown into the trash heap of daytime TV. The advice they receive will be worth exactly what they pay for it.
This show is nothing but cheap bread-and-circuses entertainment for the brain dead. That, in itself, is not a crime. Exploiting emotionally vulnerable people for profit should be a crime. And Dr. Phil should be the first person prosecuted. Capital punishment is too merciful.
2:11:40 AM 
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