I know much, if not all, of what you mentioned happened many decades ago- before her show- and I know she used much of it as example of “what not to do”. I think we’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t and are not proud of. Despite that, does that make what she is saying wrong? Aren’t the words she speaks still true, despite her past?
I disagree with her much of the time (she’s a big proponent on the radio of freezing out family members — when I prefer to go with Jesus’ methodology of forgiving 70 x 7), but even if I were to agree that her words were true (although they are often so rudely and unthinkingly cruelly proffered that she should probably just keep her mouth shut), the speaker of the words is not someone worthy of admiration. It’s like saying that if Bill Clinton came out against extramarital sex today he’d have some moral authority, because his actions were all in the past.
Dr. Laura (who by the way is a Ph.D. in Physiology, not in any therapeutic or psychological area) is someone who had her fun, lived her life as she wanted to, and then saw a way to make a lot of money telling others, in the harshest and most soundbite-friendly way possible, to live their lives in a totally different way than she did and does. The naked photos were from many decades ago. As far as stay-at-home Mom issue, she chose not to be one and now her children, IIRC, are grown — so telling others to stay-at-home, after her time to do so has passed, is something she really has no moral authority to do (again, it’s like Bill Clinton telling people to give up extramarital sex after beta blockers impact his sexual prowess); her husband remains not a breadwinner (except as her manager); her Mother died recently. And now she’s taking her toys and going home because she’s getting flack on the radio — something Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, and Glenn Beck have managed to weather for years. So she’s spoiled and thin-skinned on top of it all.