Why would he do that?

We don’t know. Why does Dr. Phil do anything?

Years ago, we saw him on television, in New Orleans, where the flood waters from Hurricane Katrina were still lapping at people’s second-story windows.

Dr. Phil was hugging all of these people. Women and children seemed swallowed up in the vastness of his immaculate, freshly ironed shirt. He embraced firemen and police chiefs, some of them almost as large as himself, so that their noses showed over each other’s shoulders. Everyone was crying.

Dr. Phil has broad shoulders, literally and figuratively. He also has a really good mustache.

Lately, Dr. Phil has been doing interviews for his network, MeritTV, with US Immigration enforcement (ICE) border czar Tom Homan in Los Angeles. You can see them on NetFlix. Dr. Phil has not been embedded with ICE lately, as he was previously in Chicago.

In Chicago, an immigrant recognized Dr. Phil. “How do you know who I am?” Dr. Phil asked incredulously; he had believed himself to be in disguise.

“From watching ‘Dr. Phil’ on TV,” the man answered.

Dr. Phil is pretty famous. His televised interviews with Homan are larded with spectacular scenes of arrests and protests.

Speaking of the protests against ICE, “That is not free speech,” Dr. Phil observed.

According to Denise Gilman, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas, Austin, Dr. Phil’s ICE videos are “immigration enforcement as spectacle with the specific intent to terrorize our immigrant neighbors.”

Dr. Phil is quite a showman. Who doesn’t remember scenes like the one where he reunited families right in his TV studio, shouting out to distraught parents, “WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF I TOLD YOU YOUR BABY DAUGHTER IS HERE WITH US RIGHT NOW?”

It was so reminiscent of the early days of television, shows like “Queen for a Day,” and “This Is Your Life.”

You used to want to ride around with Mr. T.

Mr. T hates a bully. No one would mess with you, not when they saw you hanging with Mr. T. But you don’t see Mr. T around much anymore.

First, you go to the mall. You were sadly lacking in the dress-for-success department.

“Look, I’m not going to tell you you gotta change. You gotta feel good about yourself,” Dr. Phil is telling you. He was never like those people on “What Not To Wear,” who made fun of people’s cow sweatshirts, or, more recently, the glamorous internet influencers who make you feel like you have to buy their products. I mean, if you’re from Vermont, or for some other reason choose to identify with cows, Dr. Phil is not going to criticize you, but you can bet he will encourage you to get real.

Riding with Dr. Phil in your car, you become so excited that you exceed the posted speed. A police officer pulls you over. Before he even has time to say “Do you know why I stopped you?” Dr. Phil is out of the car, giving him The Look. The police officer falls into Dr. Phil’s arms, weeping.

“You gotta take care of yourself before you can take care of other people,” Dr. Phil tells him. “You gotta lotta stress in your job.”

No ticket is issued. Dr. Phil brushes off his sleeves and gets back in the car.

“Look,” he tells you, “You gotta get real. You want me to drive?”

You DO want him to drive, but you know that isn’t the right answer. You know you have to Take Charge of Your Life.

“I’ll drive,” you say. “Sorry.”

Dr. Phil has arranged a meeting between you, your boss, your estranged wife and your teen-aged son, as well as the director of your library, where you have many overdue books.

Dr. Phil listens carefully to what all of these important people in your life have to say about you. “Is this true?” he asks you.

You try to explain that you tell pushy people where to get off.

“How’s that workin’ for you?”

Dr. Phil fools with his cufflinks without taking his steely eyes from yours, and for a moment you wonder if he has his doubts you’re worth the effort. But then he says, “This is going to be a changing day in your life.”

Remember to give Dr. Phil a call in six months and let him know how you’re doing.

Have a good week.

(Martha Allen, of Keene Valley, has been writing for the News since 1996.)