This week, Dr. Laura Schlessinger made headlines when she blamed former governor Eliot Spitzer’s wife for her husband’s unethical behavior, saying, “I hold women accountable for tossing out perfectly good men.” Yesterday, on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes, Dr. Laura again shifted blame to women:
COLMES: Isn’t it the jerk who cheats on his wife? Doesn’t the responsibility lie with that adulterer and that man who makes that decision?
SCHLESSINGER: His responsibility for cheating is his. The responsibility for mistreating her man is hers.
Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2008/03/laura520.320.240.flv]
When Colmes asked whether men who cheat on their wives were “narcissistic,” Schlessinger said, “No, the wives haven’t been respecting them.”
Transcript:
SCHLESSINGER: OK. The first part of that, which they left out, of course, was that I said if the man is a narcissist, a sociopath, bipolar, a number of things, all bets are off. He’s a jerk.
However, it is…
COLMES: Yes.
SCHLESSINGER: And you know, I was here for The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands.
COLMES: Yes.
SCHLESSINGER: And we discussed this then. When women do not — when women ignore, neglect, don’t nurture, don’t love, don’t kiss up, don’t do all those wonderful things to their husbands, they’re more susceptible. That doesn’t mean they are not responsible for their actions.
COLMES: Isn’t it the jerk who cheats on his wife? Doesn’t the responsibility lie with that adulterer and that man who makes that decision?
SCHLESSINGER: His responsibility for cheating is his. The responsibility for mistreating her man is hers.
COLMES: And just because a man cheats does not mean he was mistreated. He could just be a horny guy who…
HANNITY: Oh!
COLMES: Jeez, you never heard that word before?
SCHLESSINGER: And I said, if he’s narcissistic, sociopathic, then all bets are off.
COLMES: Right.
SCHLESSINGER: That he’s a jerk.
COLMES: And aren’t most men who cheat on their wives — fall in that category?
SCHLESSINGER: No.
COLMES: They’re narcissistic?
SCHLESSINGER: No.
COLMES: They’re not respecting their wives.
SCHLESSINGER: No, the wives haven’t been respecting them.
COLMES: Really?