Ya Gotta Love Bob Carroll

[Barkhorn1x]

From his latest Bunk Post, in respons to Sylvia on LKL telling a poor Japanese girl that her mother is dead (BROWNE: I'm positive!);

"Of course, the caller was never heard from again. Neither King nor Browne will give it another thought. They are not going to follow up and see if the mother is dead or not. Why? They don't have to. The woman's dead. Sylvia "saw her as gone." That's all you need to know. Next caller, please. It doesn't matter that Browne just says whatever pops into her head, no matter how silly or stereotypical. She's little! She's Japanese. She must be little. Even in death the Japanese are little. Nice to know this stuff. Could come in handy. Everybody else who called wanted to contact the dead, so why would Sylvia assume this lady from Japan was any different? A mother and daughter with unresolved issues. The daughter wants to make contact. The daughter is not dead, so it must be the mother who is dead. The mother is the difficult one, of course. What would Browne do if she was confronted with the fact that the mother is alive. She said she was positive the mother had died. She could always say: I never claimed to be infallible. Sometimes I get it wrong. Let's move on. This is a win-win situation for the psychic. If the client can make sense out of what you say, you're right. If the client can't make sense out what you say, you're also right. And if the client can make sense out of what you say and find you in error, you're still right because you never said you were always right. Therefore, when you're wrong, you're right."

Testify Bob, testify!

The rest is here;
http://skepdic.com/refuge/bunk22.html#kingedward

Barkhorn.

 

[hgc]

I agree. Bob lays it out pretty well. Here's another call recorded in the latest Bunk...

CALLER: Hello, Larry. I was just wondering, I had two friends just recently pass away, one from a suspicious fire and one from a suicide. I just wanted to know if they're OK.

BROWNE: Yes. The suspicious fire -- you're right, it was an arson.

CALLER: Oh, wow. It's been suspected. They don't know what happened. They don't know if she committed suicide. They don't know if it was an accident. They don't know if she was murdered.

BROWNE: Honey, I just got through telling you it's an arson.

CALLER: Wow.

KING: Who said...

BROWNE: Arson means that somebody set it.

KING: But she said -- you're talking about two people, right?

CALLER: Yes. Another one committed suicide...

BROWNE: Yes, but she...

CALLER: ... shortly after she did, actually.

BROWNE: Yes, but she was...

CALLER: Or shortly after she died.

BROWNE: She was bipolar, honey. She had a mental illness.

CALLER: I got you. I could see that.

BROWNE: And that's the hardest because I work with a lot of doctors. That's the hardest. But you know for a fact -- you were with her -- she'd have up days, down days, up days, down days. We all do, but I mean, she'd go into these real high highs.

KING: What happens when a suicide dies?

BROWNE: Well, if they're ill, then...

KING: Mentally ill?

BROWNE: Yes. Then that's fine. If they do it out of spite, then they just have to recycle and do it...

KING: Some do it out of spite?

BROWNE: Oh, yes. Just to be mean.

This is a real dialogue between two adults on national television watched by millions of people. Enjoyed by millions of people. Any further comment seems pointless but I can't help but wonder if there weren't a few mental health professionals watching this show who were a bit surprised by Browne's apparent self-diagnosis on national television.

First of all, notice near the top what a nasty bitch Browne is in saying, "Honey, I just got through telling you it's an arson." But, Bob's remark, with the implication of how absurd it is that two adults are having this conversation on national, is very nicely put. I would also add that Larry King is an employee of what used to be self-termed "the world's most important network," and its leading ratings getter.

I wonder if Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons thinks this is an honest way to make a buck.

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

BROWNE: She was bipolar, honey. She had a mental illness.

Oh, I think she's talking about herself in the third person here.

Stupid, idiotic, freakingly appalling twit.

Edited to add: Holy psychic cow! I hadn't even read that last paragraph when I went ballistic and posted this message. So the diagnosis has been confirmed.

~~ Paul

 

[SFB]

I wonder if Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons thinks this is an honest way to make a buck.

Probably not, because he'd say it's not about honesty but entertainment.

 

[hgc]

Probably not, because he'd say it's not about honesty but entertainment.

Perhaps in an unguarded moment, he'd say that about CNN. You know, speaking the truth inadvertantly. But let's bottom-line it: It's not, in the end, about honesty or entertainment; it's about profits and the stock price. Any protestations of assumption of any other kind of responsibility are pure fiction.