Readers of The Daily Dose of Reason and Life’s a Beach have repeatedly asked for Dr. Hurd’s opinions of celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, popularly known as “Dr. Phil.” Here, Dr. Hurd replies to some of Dr. Phil’s comments as they appear in the famed psychologist’s own words, based on his website and interviews over the years.

Dr. Phil.: “You will not solve your relationship problems by becoming more alike in your thinking. Men and women are wired differently. Attempting to blur your fundamentally different viewpoints is unnatural and even dangerous.”

Another infuriated and not quite coherent liberal writes in to Dr. Michael Hurd the following:

Obama seeks to redistribute the wealth... upward. I understand you have reasons for your opinions. As a doctor you really do appeal to subjective emotion. Take the title of your article, "Rosie O'Donnell and the Terrorists She Loves." Does she really love terrorists? This is the kind of libel that is acceptable and without liability. I'm fine with that but such sensationalism degrades professionalism in my view. I am flexible but will never allow myself to write some things because my principles prevent it. I just received my J.D.

Businesses can make you do things. They're called private security contractors, and privatized forces will and have put down anti-capitalist and anti-western resistance. So there you go.

Dr. Hurd replies:

Redistribute wealth "upward"? What does that mean?

Under unhampered capitalism -- not crony capitalism, like we have now, but unhampered capitalism -- the standard of living rises for all. Jobs are continuously created, government intervention is nonexistent and the profit motive rules. Downturns are temporary and rare, not the norm (or even permanent) as they have now become, under intensive government regulation and redistribution. 

Dear Dr. Hurd: I have been unemployed for four years as a result of a combination of abnormal circumstance (a health problem in conjunction with the depressed economy). As the length of time that I've been unemployed increases, my odds of finding a job seem to decrease, trapping me in a death spiral of chronic unemployment. A relative who is a small business owner has offered to compose a fake resume and provide a fake reference stating that I've been working for her during all the years that I've been unemployed. I do not believe that I can accept this offer since I would be lying to prospective employers to trick them into giving me a job that they would not give me otherwise. Do you agree? Is there any circumstance under which I can justify taking such an offer?

Dr. Hurd's reply: Let's walk through what would happen, if you took such an offer.

You lie on your resume. And then you're hired, based on those lies. Immediately, you have a double burden in the new job. One, you have to prove yourself in the new job, as would be the case in any new job. Two, you have to maintain the lie. You have to remember that there are, in a sense, "two realities." One is the truth, and the other is the truth as you presented it. You must never slip up and forget both of these. In addition to doing the job well, you have to do a good job of preserving the fraud.