Dr. Jill Biden - This really became an argument?? (1 Viewer)

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    wardorican

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    This is the Op-Ed that started it all from 83 yr old Joseph Epstein.

    Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the “Dr.” before your name? “Dr. Jill Biden” sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title “Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.” A wise man once said that no one should call himself “Dr.” unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.

    I taught at Northwestern University for 30 years without a doctorate or any advanced degree. I have only a B.A. in absentia from the University of Chicago—in absentia because I took my final examination on a pool table at Headquarters Company, Fort Hood, Texas, while serving in the peacetime Army in the late 1950s. I do have an honorary doctorate, though I have to report that the president of the school that awarded it was fired the year after I received it, not, I hope, for allowing my honorary doctorate. During my years as a university teacher I was sometimes addressed, usually on the phone, as “Dr. Epstein.” On such occasions it was all I could do not to reply, “Read two chapters of Henry James and get into bed. I’ll be right over.”

    I was also often addressed as Dr. during the years I was editor of the American Scholar, the quarterly magazine of Phi Beta Kappa. Let me quickly insert that I am also not a member of Phi Beta Kappa, except by marriage. Many of those who so addressed me, I noted, were scientists. I also received a fair amount of correspondence from people who appended the initials Ph.D. to their names atop their letterheads, and have twice seen PHD on vanity license plates, which struck me as pathetic. In contemporary universities, in the social sciences and humanities, calling oneself Dr. is thought bush league.

    The Ph.D. may once have held prestige, but that has been diminished by the erosion of seriousness and the relaxation of standards in university education generally, at any rate outside the sciences. Getting a doctorate was then an arduous proceeding: One had to pass examinations in two foreign languages, one of them Greek or Latin, defend one’s thesis, and take an oral examination on general knowledge in one’s field. At Columbia University of an earlier day, a secretary sat outside the room where these examinations were administered, a pitcher of water and a glass on her desk. The water and glass were there for the candidates who fainted. A far cry, this, from the few doctoral examinations I sat in on during my teaching days, where candidates and teachers addressed one another by first names and the general atmosphere more resembled a kaffeeklatsch. Dr. Jill, I note you acquired your Ed.D. as recently as 15 years ago at age 55, or long after the terror had departed.

    A bit after this it's behind the paywall, so I won't include it.

    there has been a lot of backlash on him.


    This is from the Editorial page editor...

    Paul Gigot, editorial page editor for the Journal, defended Epstein’s op-ed in a piece published Monday, arguing that the commentary is “fair.”

    “The issue of Jill Biden’s educational honorific isn’t new. As long ago as 2009, the Los Angeles Times devoted a story to the subject. From the piece by Robin Abcarian: 'Joe Biden, on the campaign trail, explained that his wife’s desire for the highest degree was in response to what she perceived as her second-class status on their mail. ‘She said, “I was so sick of the mail coming to Sen. and Mrs. Biden. I wanted to get mail addressed to Dr. and Sen. Biden.” That’s the real reason she got her doctorate,’ he said.’”

    Gigot also defended Epstein’s use of the word “kiddo” to refer to Biden, saying that her husband, now-President-elect Joe Biden, also “used it to refer to his wife in the context of his many proposals of marriage” during a speech in 2012.

    “Mr. Epstein also infuriated dozens of educators defending their doctorates. But that status isn’t sacrosanct or out-of-bounds for debate. Mr. Epstein’s point applies to men and women and his piece also mocked men for their honorary degrees,” he wrote.

    “Mrs. Biden is now America’s most prominent doctorate holder and is taking a leading role in education policy. She can’t be off-limits for commentary,” Gigot added.

    “If you disagree with Mr. Epstein, fair enough. Write a letter or shout your objections on Twitter. But these pages aren’t going to stop publishing provocative essays merely because they offend the new administration or the political censors in the media and academe. And since it’s a time to heal, we’ll give the Biden crowd a mulligan for their attacks on us.”


    So, is this a thing? If you have a PhD, or Ed D, or JD, if you want to be called Dr... so what? Are MD's the only ones allowed to be called Dr? What about DO's? Dentists?

    They're always going to be a little ribbing in the fields, but her degree isn't an honorary one like the opinion writer's. Where's the beef?
     
    That article probably got clicked a few million times.

    Mission accomplished.
     
    Tucker Carlson offers his opinion
    ===============================
    Tucker Carlson has mocked Dr. Jill Biden's title, likening the incoming first lady's title to Dr. Pepper and accused her of using 'Dr.' because she has "status anxiety."

    The reactionary Fox News host has waded into the discourse surrounding Joe Biden's wife's honorific which has been heavily debated in recent days.

    "Jill Biden is not a doctor, no. Maybe in the same sense Dr. Pepper is," Carlson said on Monday night's installment of Tucker Carlson Tonight.

    "In 2007, at the age of 55, she got a doctorate in education, so she's got the same degree as Dr. Bill Cosby."..................

    Tucker Carlson Mocks Dr. Jill Biden, Compares Her Degree to Dr. Pepper (msn.com)
     
    Tucker Carlson offers his opinion
    ===============================
    Tucker Carlson has mocked Dr. Jill Biden's title, likening the incoming first lady's title to Dr. Pepper and accused her of using 'Dr.' because she has "status anxiety."

    The reactionary Fox News host has waded into the discourse surrounding Joe Biden's wife's honorific which has been heavily debated in recent days.

    "Jill Biden is not a doctor, no. Maybe in the same sense Dr. Pepper is," Carlson said on Monday night's installment of Tucker Carlson Tonight.

    "In 2007, at the age of 55, she got a doctorate in education, so she's got the same degree as Dr. Bill Cosby."..................

    Tucker Carlson Mocks Dr. Jill Biden, Compares Her Degree to Dr. Pepper (msn.com)
    So sick of the Trump Party taking any and every opinion that is the latest hot take to attempt to diminish the Biden administration's legitimacy. It will be so nice once Biden is inaugurated for these crackpot's to be muted.
     
    So, is this a thing? If you have a PhD, or Ed D, or JD, if you want to be called Dr... so what? Are MD's the only ones allowed to be called Dr? What about DO's? Dentists?

    They're always going to be a little ribbing in the fields, but her degree isn't an honorary one like the opinion writer's. Where's the beef?

    I have heard this argument made before saying that the title "Doctor" should only be used for medical and something else should be used for every other discipline

    "When I say, 'Is there a doctor in the house?' I don't care about your doctorate in medieval history. I want to know if anyone here can help this guy who's having a heart attack"

    But as we've just seen the title "Doctor" even in the medical sense isn't the end all be all

    "You're an anesthesiologist not an infectious disease expert" or whatever the demon sperm woman was a doctor of
     
    And she got her degree in 2007 which means she was referred to as Dr. Jill Biden all through the Obama admin and I never once heard one thing about it then
     
    Make zero mistake, if it was a man you wouldn’t hear this from these guys. Ben Shapiro weighed in also, with about as cringe-worthy a take as you’d expect.

    Who objected to using Dr. Kissinger? Anyone?

    The only time I’ve seen complaints is if someone who gets an honorary title then tries to use it all the time. Her title isn’t honorary, she earned it. Just because some don’t use it doesn’t mean she shouldn’t if she wants to. It’s her choice and all these men criticizing her just give off (pardon my language) small dick energy.
     
    These complaints and attacks are so transparent. Sour grapes misogyny is what I'm calling it.

    WSJ deserves to be criticized for being so petty and not rejecting this op-ed. It adds absolutely nothing to the conversation other than show us all the sad state of affairs of conservatism straight from its standard bearer.
     

    This is the Op-Ed that started it all from 83 yr old Joseph Epstein.



    A bit after this it's behind the paywall, so I won't include it.

    there has been a lot of backlash on him.


    This is from the Editorial page editor...




    So, is this a thing? If you have a PhD, or Ed D, or JD, if you want to be called Dr... so what? Are MD's the only ones allowed to be called Dr? What about DO's? Dentists?

    They're always going to be a little ribbing in the fields, but her degree isn't an honorary one like the opinion writer's. Where's the beef?
    I college I had a few courses taught by grad assistants, but the vast bulk were taught by PhD's. I called each and every one of them "Doctor" regardless of sex. I would call a Nobel prize winner with a PhD "doctor"

    The degree itself is a doctorate, which is awarded after the successful completion and defense of a doctoral dissertation.

    Brian May of Queen holds a PhD in Astrophysics. he is entitled to be called doctor.
     
    This pretty much sums it up. It's been the same GOP strategy for a while:




    The Trump-led GOP hates people smarter and better-educated than they are. Unfortunately for them, this encompasses a wide swath of the population. Donny hates intelligence because it shows his own semi-literacy, and his sycophants fall into lockstep.

    Doctoral degrees do not necessarily confer intelligence. The ability to attain a degree just might mean a person is well-focused in a certain area.

    That said, I'm all for a game of Trivial Pursuit between the Bidens and the Trumps :hihi:
     
    131903784_10224970899038349_5361832376945341089_o.jpg
     

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