Kamala Harris' Husband Slams WSJ Op-Ed Urging Jill Biden to Stop Calling Herself a Doctor

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Doug Emhoff, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' husband, on Saturday criticized the Wall Street Journal for publishing an op-ed urging Jill Biden to "drop the doc" in her name.

In the op-ed, essayist Joseph Epstein calls President-elect Joe Biden's wife as "Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo," before arguing that "'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,'" Epstein said. "A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child."

Emhoff, the incoming second gentleman, defended Biden's title and implicitly accused the publication of sexism. "Dr. Biden earned her degrees through hard work and pure grit," he tweeted on Saturday afternoon. "She is an inspiration to me, to her students, and to Americans across this country. This story would never have been written about a man."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kamala-harris-husband-slams-wsj-op-ed-urging-jill-biden-to-stop-calling-herself-a-doctor/ar-BB1bSAwD?li=BBorjTa&ocid=DELLDHP

[3catwoman3]

1. "This story would never nave been written about a man."

He’s damn right about THAT!

[Demsrule86]

2. Notice how he sneers at the dissertation? That asshole doesn't hold a PHD...fuck him.

[TimeToGo]

13. You might be surprised at what people say

About people with PhDs — even men.

(That said, the whole thing was stupid, ill timed, an unnecessary slam, and he is prob sexist)

[RVN VET71]

16. No "probably" here

Little dude is clearly a sexist, though I'm sure he'd say "Moi? Sexist? No way! I love the little ladies!" Ignorance can be blinding to the afflicted.

[TimeToGo]

23. Sure - I get that

But he also taught college for years without a PhD - I suspect there’s a fair bit of jealousy in his diatribe.

[catrose]

58. He was an adjunct--Northwestern said so in their statement.

[TimeToGo]

59. Yea

There are lots of adjunct who have PhDs — many don’t.

[catrose]

60. Many don't. I was hired while I was completing my MBA.

And there's always been the problem of not enough jobs of PhDs, the reason I didn't go on for another degree; I figured I was educating myself out of the job market.

[TexasBushwhacker]

56. He's a homophobe too n/t

[niyad]

3. F'n sexist little bastards, yes????

Kiddo ???? Arrogant, patronizing, insulting sob.

[Joinfortmill]

4. Here we go again.

She's Doctor Biden. Get used to it.

[dawg day]

15. And... she has delivered a child...

presumably with the aid of an MD.

Just sayin'.

""A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child."

Wise MAN... call HIMself ... HE has...

I've delivered two children, and I'm not a HIM. Or a "doctor". This is straight out of the 1950s medical textbooks, pretending that male doctors deliver babies and give them to those lazy 'mothers' who are just lying there the whole time.

[SophieJean]

20. Perfect response

Yes, who exactly is doing all the work during those "deliveries." It certainly isn't the physician, and mine happened to be a woman, not that it mattered, as well as a few hardworking nurses. Go Fuck yourself to hell Epstein.

[susanr516]

33. This

I guarantee that I worked harder than the MDs all four times I delivered children. Moreover, the Drs. work was done once my babies drew their first breaths. My job of rearing, and now, nurturing them still continues. I'm their mother until the day I die.

[Pacifist Patriot]

48. Years ago I was at a holiday party my OB happened to be at too..

Can't remember what got the conversation in that direction, it sure wasn't me. But at some point someone asked who delivered my children. He whipped around and said, "She did. I was just the catcher for the last one."

Recently found out he isn't OBing anymore, just GYNing. Shame, he was awesome in the delivery room. Let me cut the umbilical cord.

Never forgot that line. Thought it remarkably humble for a doctor.

[HUAJIAO]

50. "....... she has delivered a child..."

BINGO !!!!!!!!!

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Not a journal, just right wing toilet paper /nt

[Fritz Walter]

19. I call it the "Wall Street Urinal"

One that desperately needs flushing!

[Ligyron]

34. Oh, that's a keeper!

[Meowmee]

41. 😹

[Marie Marie]

6. Dr Biden is an accomplished woman in her own right - more than we can say

about our current FLOTUS. What a disgusting Op-Ed.

[DENVERPOPS]

7. She probably will

if RepubliCON politicians quit calling themselves "lawyers"..........(as in "upholding the laws&quot

[Evolve Dammit]

8. It's Dr. Biden dipshit. What you got?

[bluboid]

24. OMG, EVOLVE DAMMIT!

brilliant name!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Evolve Dammit]

45. Thanks. I find myself impatient with the lack of progression in our species. Welcome to DU!

[demigoddess]

9. Epstein's just afraid Dr. Biden will inspire other young ladies to go for their dreams.

worst thing in the world to a guy like him.

[dawg day]

18. Yes, notice he taught at a major university (after WWII, I think)

with just a BA. Now that would never happen unless you were maybe a major novelist-- everyone in the tenure track have doctorates.

Bad enough, he probably thinks, that they're hiring WOMEN to teach in universities. Requiring doctorates too! Why that means... he wouldn't get hired now, despite the hugeness of his postwar white male privilege!

So he's got to hate on women AND doctorates, and women with doctorates, double damn!

[GB_RN]

46. Northwestern University

And they have scrubbed his name from their website since this Op/Ed came out. If that tells you anything about the “man”.

[Pepsidog]

10. FU WSJ! Disgusting paper, write about the disgusting Peggy Noonan if you want to bash a woman.

[Vivienne235729]

37. Agreed. Noonan is trash. Would rather see her drug through the mud.

[left-of-center2012]

11. "no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child"

I googled that quote and found nothing except the WSJ article.

So, apparently the 'author' made it up.

[blitzen]

29. It's BS. For example, professors are customarily called "Dr." more than "Prof."...

at the large university in the South where I teach.

Not to mention that it's a stupid quote, since I'm sure only a small fraction of medical doctors these days have ever delivered a child.

[lastlib]

32. I believe that she HAS delivered a child....

She and Joe do have a daughter, do they not?

That aside, this is as disgusting a condescending and misogynistic truckload of utter CRAP as that right-wing birdcage lining has printed since Rupert bought it--but the bar is low with those shit-eaters.

DR. Biden, continue to use the title that you have EARNED through hard work and high intellect. I am in awe of you, as are millions of others. As for the worthless sh*tstain who wrote this--until YOU have produced a doctorate in anything north of closet basketweaving: STFU!!

[StClone]

12. LOL 2021 soon and it this BS yet

[yuiyoshida]

14. BAM!!! Head shot!!!

[still_one]

17. This is the jackass who wrote this

"In September 1970, Harper's Magazine published an article by Epstein called "Homo/Hetero: The Struggle for Sexual Identity"[8] that was criticized for its perceived homophobia.[9] Epstein wrote that he considered homosexuality "a curse, in a literal sense" and that his sons could do nothing to make him sadder than "if any of them were to become homosexual."[9][10] Gay activists characterized the essay as portraying every gay man the author met, or fantasized about meeting, as predatory, sex-obsessed, and a threat to civilization.[11] In the essay, he says that, if possible, "I would wish homosexuality off the face of the earth", a statement that was interpreted by gay writer and editor Merle Miller as a call to genocide.[12] A sit-in took place at Harper's by members of the Gay Activists Alliance.[13][11]

In 2015, Epstein wrote an article for The Washington Examiner in which he mentioned the Harper's article from 1970. He wrote, "I am pleased the tolerance for homosexuality has widened in America and elsewhere, that in some respects my own aesthetic sensibility favors much homosexual artistic production... My only hope now is that, on my gravestone, the words Noted Homophobe aren’t carved."[14][15][16]

In 2015, Epstein also wrote an article for The Weekly Standard in which he claimed that Barack Obama was an "affirmative-action president" that was elected "not on [his] intrinsic qualities."[17][18]

In a December 2020 Wall Street Journal opinion piece, he suggested that Jill Biden stop using the academic title "Dr.", which she earned as a Doctor of Education, saying that it "feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic".[19] The piece, which opens by addressing her as "Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo", was criticized on Twitter by several public figures.[20] He also critiqued the title of Biden's dissertation, "Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students' Needs", calling it "unpromising".[21]"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Epstein_(writer)

In other words, he has shown a pattern of behavior aligned with sexists and racists

[HUAJIAO]

51. ".... that in some respects my own aesthetic sensibility favors much homosexual artistic production.

...."

Jeeze, that;s just another keeper .....

What on earth is a homosexual artistic production ?

[still_one]

52. unbelievable isn't it. Also, he only was able to achieve a "bachelor degree", so based on his

logic, he didn't have the stuff to get a PHD, or even a Masters for that matter

[soothsayer]

21. in light of the WSJ op-ed I thought I'd re-up this deposition of my mother in 1984.

Link to tweet

?s=21


Conor Dougherty
@ConorDougherty
I've Tweeted this before but in light of the WSJ op-ed I thought I'd re-up this deposition of my mother in 1984.

[orleans]

25. !!! love this!!! n/t

[flibbitygiblets]

28. This made my night! Thank you for sharing.

[still_one]

53. EXCELLENT!!!

[keithbvadu2]

22. 'Essayist' - in good company with Melania and her Xerox machine?

'Essayist' - in good company with Melania and her Xerox machine?

[Crunchy Frog]

26. These articles should refer to him either as Joey, or J. Epstein.

[Mr. Ected]

27. Then let's get back to calling Melania by her proper salutation

What would that be for a porn model? Certainly not Dr. ....

[Aussie105]

31. First crumpet?

What title sums up the 'I am yours for a price' that goes with her job?

[Aussie105]

30. Doctor of education?

Lots of PH. D. holders who can and do call themselves doctor.

Reserving that word for medical doctors who delivered babies only, is just stoopid. Get a brain, morAn!

'Doctor Jill' has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

[Maru Kitteh]

35. But a low-rent harlot with fraudulent immigration status calling herself a citizen

is no big, right?


Okay.

[PurgedVoter]

36. Joseph Epstein has a history of this sort of thing

In the seventies he wrote a homophobic article that may or may not have been an endorsement of eugenics. His career survived that, but this time may be different.

As a wise man, who I did not just invent to enbiggen my argument once said, "It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.

Epstein, if you ever read this, as an author you might well understand that more than a few of us are reading between the lines and what we are reading is an embarrassing and comical character reveal.

[lamp_shade]

38. The President and Doctor Biden.... has a nice ring to it.

[Withywindle]

39. He also wrote THIS masterpiece in 1970 (warnings for epic homophobia and racism)

Link to tweet

He's only the SECOND worst Epstein of all time, but that's because the first worst set the bar so low.

[smirkymonkey]

40. I quite like Mr. Emhoff.

He is definitely a mensch and I think he will make a very good "second gentleman" if that's what he is supposed to be called, although I know he is much more than that in his own right.

As is Jill Biden and many of our latest "first and second ladies" with the exception of Melania. They deserved to be recognized for who they are, apart from their role as the spouse of a President or Vice President.

[Gothmog]

42. Do.Jill Biden is an amazing woman

Dr. Jill Biden has earned the right to be called Doctor

[world wide wally]

43. Would this also apply to Dr. Martin Luther King?

Or is it only a woman thing?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

44. Or Dr. Henry Kissinger if you want to put it in a way a righty can understand,

[rlegro]

47. Three words, often heard on Republican tongues for decades

Dr. Henry Kissinger.

Three more words: Dr. Condoleeza Rice.

Dear WSJ: Shut the frak up.

[Blue Owl]

49. Fuck that POS Epstein

Just fuck him -- twice since it's Sunday today

[rateyes]

54. Sexist POS. And, btw, Dr. Biden DID deliver a baby!

The baby’s name is Ashley Biden. That’s something that Mr. Epstein will surely never do!

[Bad Thoughts]

57. As a PhD myself, I prefer people don't use "Doctor" in public ...

... except in a narrowly defined professional context. I don't even think physicians should be called doctor. And unless people are in a setting calling each other "doctor," I normally insist that I am called something else. Even when I teach, I ask for "Professor" or even "Mister." It's more democratic that way.

Nevertheless, Jill Biden has the same right to be called doctor as anyone else who has earned such a degree.

[GaYellowDawg]

61. As someone else with a PhD, here's the bottom line:

I earned it. I have the right to use the title. No one has the right to tell any of us that we don’t.

My personal feeling is that I got through 7000 and 8000-level courses in genetics and science Ed, oral and written comps, wrote a 352 page dissertation, and defended it publicly, so I feel it appropriate to use that title in any setting I choose.