Wall Street Journal writer sparks backlash for calling Jill Biden 'kiddo,' suggesting she drop 'Dr.'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Yahoo News

The writer of a Wall Street Journal opinion story that encouraged Jill Biden to drop “Dr.” from her title, drew backlash from celebrities, politicians and teachers. Now, the author tells Yahoo Life that the public reaction is "surprising."

“Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D.” reads the title of the Dec. 11 piece written by Joseph Epstein, the author of Gallimaufry: A Collection of Essays, Reviews, Bits” which was published in October.

“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,” he wrote. “Any chance you might drop the ‘Dr.’ before your name? ‘Dr. Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.”

Epstein pointed out that Biden’s degree is an Ed.D., a professional degree to teach education, which she earned at the University of Delaware. Biden currently works full-time as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, a position she will keep when her husband becomes president (just like she did as Second Lady during the Obama administration). According to the New York Times, Biden was known for grading papers on Air Force Two and carrying formal clothing to work, so she could transition from the classroom to White House events.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/wall-street-journal-writer-sparks-backlash-for-calling-jill-biden-kiddo-suggesting-she-drop-dr-title-230447069.html

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A bit of advice to Epstein, it's better to be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.

[Freedomofspeech]

1. He is obviously an idiot.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Another bit of advice to Epstein.... fuck off, douchebag.

[AZ8theist]

22. Exactly. Misogynist fucking asswipe.

[Bengus81]

28. Guy with a last name of Epstein talking about "labels"

I guess we could "label" him as tied to a dead child sex trafficker.

[happybird]

3. Good.

What a misogynistic creep.

[brush]

4. The last sentence is exactly right. What a fool he is. Wonder how WSJ women...

Last edited Sun Dec 13, 2020, 04:00 AM - Edit history (1)

and others will respond to his idiocy? Bet if he'd earned a doctorate he'd use it.

[a la izquierda]

19. He's getting roasted by us women PhDs on Twitter. nt

[electric_blue68]

23. Good! 👍

[Phoenix61]

5. The only time in my life I had an issue with

someone going by Doctor who had an Ed.D was a co-worker who was a mental health counselor. His clients assumed he had a PhD in counseling but he didn’t. It just seemed deceptive.

[CaptYossarian]

8. Don't forget Bill Cosby.

He actually has a teaching degree, but the Doctorate is most likely honorary.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. No, it was real

Bill Cosby’s doctoral thesis was about using ‘Fat Albert’ as a teaching tool

By Valerie Strauss
Reporter
November 24, 2014 at 1:42 p.m. EST

(snip)

According to Michael Eric Dyson, a sociology professor at Georgetown University and an acclaimed author of “Is Bill Cosby Right?” and numerous other books:

[Cosby] dropped out of high school after he flunked the tenth grade three times. He enlisted in the Navy, where he got his GED, and then enrolled at Temple University, where he dropped out to pursue a show business career. His unfinished bachelor’s degree from Temple was eventually bestowed on him because of “life experience.” Cosby enrolled as a part-time doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which awarded him the Ed.D. degree in 1977 for a dissertation on Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

But not even that degree was unsullied by controversy: A professor who served on Cosby’s dissertation committee, Reginald Damerell, said that Cosby hardly took a class — and that he got course credit for appearing on Sesame Street and The Electric Company, “and wrote a dissertation that analyzed the impact of his show.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/24/bill-cosbys-doctoral-thesis-was-about-using-fat-albert-as-a-teaching-tool/

I started UMASS in '79 and he was still living in the Amherst area at that time (I also had an uncle who got his Masters there in the late '60s and used to live in Amherst while taking those courses, before moving to NH in the early '70s, and as kids, we got to go visit my aunt and uncle when they were up there).

UMASS had some program for undergrad/grad students where those involved in it could come up with their own curricula and course work. I think it was their "University Without Walls" where with the help of a sponsor, students would design a "major" and work through a series of interdisciplinary courses (and that included "life experience" stuff like a current job) that would be credited towards a degree.

[CaptYossarian]

41. "Experiential Learning" is quite common today.

I just thought the Doctorate was like Frank Sinatra's--after a major donation.

Thanks for responding.

[TryLogic]

12. What if I told you that mental health counselors have a more client centered code of ethics than...

than psychologists? There is more that could be said, but I won't.

PhD is a research degree. To earn one, you need to have a better understanding of statistics and research methodology. I know this because of my own educational and professional experiences and because my wife and one of my daughters both have PhDs.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Shabby, spiteful contribution from a Wall Street Journal writer. What a shock.

Joseph Epstein

[CaptYossarian]

7. I was an Education major and we needed a B average to stay in the program.

The ones who couldn't maintain that GPA moved to the Communication Department (Journalism) that only required a C average. This also attracted a lot of student athletes.

He should STFU.

[niyad]

9. I hope WSJ gets LOTS of flack for publishing that sexist, misogynistic, patronizing, condescending t

BS.

[amb123]

10. Another neutered coward who's afraid of strong, accomplished women.

Those with only bachelor degrees
shouldn't throw stones at Ed.D's!

From now on Mrs. Bidens First Name is DOCTOR!

[CRK7376]

11. My parents were both

PhDs from University of Missouri. Dad was in Microbiology and Mom was English Lit....They were always addressed as Dr or Professor....

[Renew Deal]

13. It was a surprisingly ugly comment for a mainstream publication.

One that probably has several PhD's running around.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

21. I used to subscribe to the WSJ

I dropped it after Rupert Murdoch bought it. He turned it into a print version of FUX Noise.

[still_one]

32. The editorial page was always conservative, but after murdoch, it is just another right wing rag

I did the same thing you did, after murdoch bought it, I dropped them

I keep getting subscription offers from them, and I just drop them in the recycle bin

[ucrdem]

14. What a jerk.

Didn't take them long, did it?

[Aussie105]

15. She can call herself whatever title she feels comfortable with.

Be it Doctor Biden, Doctor Jill, Mrs Biden, Joe's better half, whatever.

She is a nice person and a great replacement for whatever it is that is in the White House now.

Classiness returns to the White House! Can't wait!
Hopefully #44 and wife will get lots of dinner invitations from the Bidens. Tan suit optional but bring your own dijon mustard.
Or just to sit around and watch a game while discussing business.
Kamala will need to be there too, of course.

[ancianita]

16. She's already done more for humanity than that sniveling snark nothing, and has earned her title.

Any thinking person would call her a Dr. long before they'd call Elise Sole a writer.

[Warpy]

17. Your advice is spot on

On another site, Epstein was described as steeped in misogyny, a random asshat with a penis who couldn't make the academic grade, himself, and is twisted with rage that a mere woman outdid him and expects recognition for it.A

At least these days people are raking him over the coals for it.

[SunSeeker]

18. Yet Mr. Epstein did not complain about Melania's actual fraud of claiming she had a college degree..

...and her claim that she could speak 5 languages...and her claim that she immigrated to the US legally.

[OhioTim]

20. Tacky,But...

People with academic degrees (non-MD) are usually referred to as Doctor only in professional settings, but not in public. Most newspapers only refer to a person as Dr. if they have a medical degree. There are so many clinical doctorates now that it's likely that your pharmacist, physical therapist, nurse practitioner and even occupational therapist has a doctorate. I agree that she should be called Doctor if that's what she wants. We could call Rachel Maddow Doctor since she has a PhD, but I don't see that happening.

[BumRushDaShow]

26. So to hell with (the Rev.) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

This whole manufactured controversy about PhDs vs M.D.s is ridiculous.

If someone took the time to get a post-graduate degree that confers some type of "doctorate", IMHO, they earned the title if they choose to use it. I expect some do and some don't.

[cab67]

30. I don't entirely agree.

I've been quoted in the press several times about my work, or work done by colleagues. I'm often referred to as Dr in these articles, even though I merely have a PhD.

As for Rachel Maddow - if you don't see "Dr.", it's because titles as a whole are often disregarded. When was the last time you saw someone referring to her as Ms Maddow or Ms Rachel Maddow?

[bucolic_frolic]

25. I suggest Epstein drop the "E'

Oopstein suits him better.

[Bengus81]

27. I've yet to see a HS Principal where I live that doesn't go by Dr. and deservedly so...

I have a daughter in education who has a Masters and will be working on a Doctorate once we get past Covid. If that assFUCK thinks it's easy maybe he should try.

[cab67]

29. This dude better be glad he didn't try to pull that on one of my former students.

That goes double for the women who've gotten PhD's under my direction.

[mainer]

31. Dr Henry Kissinger demoted to Mister

Oh wait, men with PhDs are allowed to call themselves Dr.

[Paladin]

33. This article should follow Epstein around until the day he dies.

And that day can come sooner rather than later, as far as I'm concerned.

I got your "kiddo," motherfucker.

[DeminPennswoods]

34. As if he would say any of that claptrap to Jill Biden's face

a snowball's chance... for sure.

[IsItJustMe]

35. The POS have no respect for anybody. Not even themselves or their families.

To expect anything else is delusional.

[paleotn]

36. Maybe WSJ writers....

should stick to money grubbing and theft. Stuff they're all familiar with.

[mdbl]

37. just another asshole Murdoch employee

there are so many of them.

[rurallib]

38. Didn't "doctor" originally mean "teacher" and indicated someone who was

an expert in a subject so they could teach others?

No doubt Jill Biden will be the target of misogynists galore for the next 4 years.
As for Epstein - another one for the dustbin of history. He's had his 2 minutes of fame.

[Skittles]

39. does he think dentists deliver babies?

LOL

[Redleg]

40. My dentist calls me "doctor"

and so do the staff. I am surprised by that every time I go there for a cleaning. I started going to his practice right after I received my Ph.D. and must have checked Dr. instead of Mr. on the intake form. I was more touchy about the "doctor" thing back then than I am now, 18 years later. Hell, I don't even correct my students when they call me "Mister," even though the title grates on me from my days as an Army officer candidate and then company-grade officer. Picture how James Cagney said "Mister" in the classic film "Mister Roberts."

Having said that, I know that there seems to be a convention that only M.D.s are referred to as "doctor" outside of their professional environment. I don't understand the reasoning behind it and don't think people should get bent out of shape when a person with a Ph.D. or Ed.D. uses the title "Doctor."

To add, the only people I have ever heard say the phrase "piled higher and deeper" for Ph.D. were people without Ph.D.s.

[intrepidity]

42. An interesting tweet:

Link to tweet

[CTyankee]

43. I hope you saved that paper with his nasty remark. What a vicious SOB.

I was lucky in grad school, except I had one prof who hated me cuz I worked at Planned Parenthood (she was a nun so ok). I shudda got top honors for the work I put in on that course (it was in Economic Theory and it served me right for believing in Econ but I took it so I could better understand Paul Krugman).

[intrepidity]

44. (well it wasn't me, but point taken)

I wanted to know more about why he was so certain she hadn't written the paper herself.